It’s been a couple weeks since our last update, but for good reason: Sorcery for Beginners has finally been shipped to the copy editor! For all intents and purposes, the last draft of the book has been completed. There may be some small final tweaks, but my last major pass on the story went out last Wednesday. 

I have to be honest, it’s a bit weird. I’ve been working on this novel off and on for four years, so to hit a point where there can be no more changes and tweaks feels odd. I feel good about the book, and I think it improved a lot in the last month, but there is still some George Lucas-y part of me that wonders if I should go back and make more tweaks. Maybe add some more people screaming "Nooooooo!" (Kidding.)

Juliane is hard at work on the illustrations, Kevin is working on the layout, and we’re discussing ideas for the back cover art. Very soon all the creative work on Sorcery for Beginners will be all finished, then we have to sit back and wait for the orders to come in. 

But before that, I wanted to introduce you to Euphemia Whitmore. Whitmore is the mysterious, intelligent figure who owns the Codex Arcanum, and sells Owen his copy of Sorcery for Beginners. She is also the author of the original edition, which was deemed too esoteric to understand, so Juliane and I were brought in to make it more of a novel. I’d like to say it was a fun experience working with her, but it was not. She is extremely demanding and condescending toward anyone who can’t cast spells at her level. (Which is pretty much everyone.)

Still, I’m grateful to her for letting us help tell her story. I only hope she doesn’t magically erase our memories to prevent us from saying anything about the Codex Arcanum.

If you haven’t done so already, please add us to your Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and other favorite bookstore wish lists. It encourages them to order more books. Thanks again for all your support!

mh