It’s been…something…these last few days/weeks.  Time I was hoping to use on writing was hijacked by life events and yet I’m feeling giddy.

Why?

Because I finished the 8th draft “read-through” of my latest Corrosive Knights books (#6 in the series) and while it was a struggle to find the time to work through it (as well as to re-re-re-read it), towards the end of the book I realized/came up with something significant which clears up one of the bigger problems I had with one of the characters in the book.  This realization not only makes perfect sense, it also makes the book significantly better than before.

And the really funny thing about this is that in retrospect this change is so damned obvious I can’t believe I didn’t think of it from the very beginning!  The change fits so naturally into the story I doubt anyone will realize it was quite literally a near last minute change/add-on!

That’s the funny thing about writing.  While I don’t subscribe to the notion of “characters writing themselves”, there are times I’m surprised when something like what I described above happens.  Perhaps this change/add-on lay in my subconscious all this time and took eight revisions for me to finally “see” it.  Or perhaps it was one of those lucky breaks you get, where the stars align and all works out for the best.

I know, I know, I’m being very vague about this change/add-on but this is deliberate as it involves one of the bigger reveals toward the very end of this novel.

Anyway, as of this morning, here we are:

Over my right shoulder and in that blue folder is the latest read-through of Corrosive Knights book #6.  I’m seconds away from starting the rewriting process and, once finished with this latest draft, will of course print the new draft (#9!) out and give it another revision.

We’re getting closer to the end but it is difficult for me to estimate when I’ll feel this book is “done”.  I’ll have a much better idea when this draft is finished, printed out, and re-read but as of this moment I suspect I’m at least two drafts away from finishing up (I know, I’ve said this before but, as I said above, it is difficult to estimate these things).

Regardless, I remain excited.  The book is progressing and with each draft I’m getting closer and closer to the end.

Let’s hope it comes very soon because I’m dying to get to the next novel.