It is shocking to come back here and realize my last post was from November 16, some two plus weeks ago…!

Sorry for the delay in getting back here!

I’ve been crushingly busy, what with issues regarding my parents’ estate (which will drag on into the new year), their business (which is very busy at this point), and the topic at hand: My new 2021 novel.

Last time I did an update about the novel was October 25 (you can read it here). One of the things I pointed out in that post, which I wrote when I finished up the 4rd Draft of the novel, was this:

 I doubt the novel will be good enough to publish when I’m done with this 4th draft, but it wouldn’t shock me if it winds up being one of the last drafts needed. At this point, I’m guesstimating the novel will require at least two, if not three, more drafts and before its done.

Not much has changed from what I wrote above. As of today, I’m halfway through the 5th Draft of the novel, ie the readthrough and the red-marker revision phase. I have to now take all the revisions/corrections I’ve made on paper and transfer them into my latest computer file and, once that’s done -and this will take a little while, there are plenty of revisions I’ve made!- I print the whole thing out and start all over again.

Having said that, its really difficult to express how happy I am at the moment.

Yes, there are a lot of revisions that need to be placed into the Word file but after going over this revision, I’m ecstatic with where the story is at this moment.

It feels like I’ve set all the major elements/characters/situations in their proper place (for the most part) and I’ve created a rather unique, scary, and hopefully entertaining novel which should surprise and delight readers…

…at least that’s what I hope!

Alas, we’re already into early December and while I may be able to put all those revisions into the computer (it’s certainly possible) before the end of the year, December historically tends to be one of those months where things get really complicated for me and I’d say the odds of me getting the revisions in before the New Year are 50/50.

Which means regardless of whether or not I get the revisions in, the novel will be done in 2022 and, hopefully, early in the year. If that’s the case, it should be released by no later than the middle of -or earlier- of next year.

Trust me, I’m as excited to get this out as I’m certain others are getting it but, like all my novels, I don’t release something until I feel it is ready to be released.

With this latest revision, we’re almost there!

Last week Thursday, the 21st of October, I finished the 3rd Draft of my new 2021 novel and…

…we’re getting close.

There were issues regarding the motivations of certain characters within the book and, as I was banging out the newest draft, that stuff sorted itself fairly well, I think.

After getting that done, I spent Friday the 22nd working on another story, this one a fairly short one, and got the first draft done. By the end of Friday I was feeling pretty burnt out with all this writing and work I’ve been up to and resolved to take it easy during the weekend.

For the most part I managed to do just that, though I did slip in a quick second draft of the short story. Today, Monday, I managed to get a 3rd draft of that story done and sent off to my collaborator.

Now, I’m purposely not giving out too many details about this particular story. It’s off the beaten path of the other stuff I’ve done to date and I’m hopeful it bears fruition and finds itself published, though that remains to be seen. Regardless, even if nothing comes from it, I’m happy with what I wrote and may eventually post it here if nothing does come of it.

Regardless, I’m feeling a little recharged now. Perhaps not fully so, but enough to feel like its time to print up the latest draft of my novel and get to work on its 4th Draft.

The bad news: I doubt the novel will be good enough to publish when I’m done with this 4th draft, but it wouldn’t shock me if it winds up being one of the last drafts needed. At this point, I’m guesstimating the novel will require at least two, if not three, more drafts and before its done.

That may seem like a lot, but it feels like the worst of this is over and my focus is turning toward revisions involving the process of story telling versus actually creating the story. The later is always much harder than the former!

Here’s hoping!

A few days back (you can read it here) I offered my last update on my latest novel and wrote:

This current draft is a very serious one

It occurs to me this line needs a little explanation.

After all, each time I sit behind my computer and stare into the monitor with whatever current draft of whatever novel I’m currently working on… am I not taking the work seriously?

Yes, yes I am.

But there are times when one is simply fishing around for ideas, where you have a general notion of where you want to go but are searching around for the proper way to get there.

I can’t tell you the number of times I sit in front of that computer and sit there… and sit there…

…and nothing seems to come of it. I may move the proverbial ball a few inches forward -I usually do- but truthfully the end result might be almost negligible and I feel like Sisyphus pushing that boulder up the hill. Yeah, I’ll eventually get there and the boulder rolls back down the hill and I’m back to the start with that new novel, searching for a new and interesting path to take that boulder up that hill.

The current draft of the book is a serious one because I see the path now to the top of this particular hill, where in earlier drafts that path might not have been so terribly well defined.

Or, to put it another way, the novel’s skeleton is complete and I’m moving on from coming up with the story proper and feel like I’m about to move more solidly into the revision phase, where its not so much what I’m presenting, story-wise, but how I’m presenting it.

It will still take time, of course, and I’m not quite there, but the boulder is getting that much closer to the top of the hill.

It’s 8:30 pm, the first of October 2021 and I’m sitting here before the computer having finished another day’s bit of work entering new revisions into my Word copy of my latest novel.

For those keeping track, this is the 3rd draft of the book and, as of today, I’ve reached the halfway point in this particular revision process. The word count is just shy of 90,000 words, 195 pages single spaced 10 point.

I was hoping the book would be done before the end of this year but I’m coming to the realization this looks unlikely, and that depresses me.

Not that I needed much more to feel that way.

The fact is that after what happened to my parents at Champlain Towers, I’ve been not only overwhelmed -along with my siblings- in getting their affairs in order, but also working extra hard at the family business. This past week I’ve had to run it alone and coming home, I’m fucking exhausted.

Still, I’m determined to get through these very tough times. Whenever I can, I’ll find time to move the revision process forward, just as I’ve done today.

This current draft is a very serious one. I have all the general details of the story set up and I’m making sure that there is a logical flow to the work that makes sense. I do feel once this is done, the novel will be very close to being finished but will still need some polishing, which may take me through the end of the year.

Anyway, I’ll soldier on.

This novel will get done!

Two days ago, on Thursday the 2nd of September, I finished the read-through and red-ink revision of Draft #3 of my 2021 Novel (no spoilers yet regarding its title) and begun typing those changes/revisions into the computer.

I’m very happy with the book but, given the events that have happened to me, there’s a great melancholy to reading through the book. There are things that occur in it which… I dunno. It’s almost like when I started this book and finished up the first draft and as I worked through the second draft I had -unknowingly- a premonition of the things that would happen to me.

Mind you, I don’t believe in psychics, I don’t believe in most of that supernatural stuff, but I have read studies I don’t entirely comprehend regarding the nature of time and there are some who feel it isn’t quite the linear process we tend to feel it is.

Do we sometimes get a hint of things to come? Can the future affect our present?

Again, based on some of the stuff I wrote I wonder.

Regardless, I’ll soldier on. I truly hope to finish up this book and release it by later this year or, at worst, early next.

It’s another good one, if I do say so myself.

Please forgive me the lag between postings.

Either Thursday or Friday of last week -I can’t remember too well!- I finished the 2nd draft of my new 2021 Novel and I’m very, very happy with it.

It still has a little ways to go before I feel it can be released, perhaps another three or so Drafts, but like my previous novel, Terminus Island, it feels like I’m much further along with the story versus some of my other novels. Those novels, as I mentioned before, required up to 12 Drafts before I felt they were good to go.

I suspect this one might take between 6-8 Drafts, if that many.

Despite all the major stuff my family and I have gone through these past couple of months, I’m cautiously optimistic I may find the time to finish off this book and release it by later this year.

No promises, mind you -I don’t want to curse myself!- but if things work out, it might just happen!