Howdy! And my sincerest best wishes for you and yours through whatever hand this mad time may have dealt you.

Just a quick update. Earlier this week, I received my third editorial letter for Bane of All Things from my awesome editor, Sarah Nivala. Sarah is quite happy with where we are with the current draft and so am I.

Through two rounds of developmental editing that enriched description, provided more context for readers to be better be able to get a handle on the complexity of this story, and to make my characters and their interactions with each other more engaging, BoAT has gotten a little thicker -- from 129,000 words as first submitted to Inkshares, to 158,000.

Formatted as a trade paperback, this equates to about 500 pages. That’s still relatively lean compared to many of the epic fantasy titles out there these days that are bending bookshelves, but Sarah has offered some great ideas on how to tighten up the story. (Hint: Chapter Four may be the new Chapter One).

Over the next month, I will be working on those revisions, and then BoAT will be handed off to Inkshares CEO Adam Gomolin for his thoughts.

At present, we still don’t have a publication date. Due to the impact of pandemic lockdown measures on bookstores and the kind of public gathering launch events that are key to a successful kick-off for a new book, Inkshares is not releasing any new titles until 2021.

As soon as I have insight on when BoAT may finally be in your hands, you will, too.

On the cancer front, I have continued to be in good health since my last update. Today marks five weeks into my one year of gene therapy medication that promises to beat this thing forever. I am glad to say that the side effects of the meds have so far been less severe than I had feared they might be.

Stay tuned, stay safe, and thank you again for your continued faith and patience.

Cheers

Leo