Jan 31, 2016

I’ve attained the dizzy heights of 40 pre-orders. Yay. Go me. 
Quill is still in reach, but will be hard work.

Meanwhile I have been editing. I’ve been told there is a bit too much description, and I appreciate the criticism.
I originally intended the book to be educational as well as interesting. I have since decided to abandon all attempts at education in favour of keeping the pace up. 

To that end, I have been fairly ruthless. A great deal of description, especially background explanations as been expunged.
Some descriptions remain, but they are tighter now and more built into the action. This came from a writing tip I saw on Twitter. 
"Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." Chekhov 

The process is still ongoing but has resulted in the loss of about 300 words so far. 
Getting it below 55,000 words seems like a sensible goal. So 231 to go. 

Meanwhile, could I ask anyone who hasn’t pre-ordered to dig deep, and anyone who has, please recommend me on Twitter/Facebook/carrier pigeon/smoke signals etc.