Dear readers, 

I am making good progress on my novel, and I’m excited by how it’s coming together. The process of editing takes a long time, but I’m happy to report that my storyboard is almost finished. The editor and I have agreed on the story except for three items where I have additional work to do: I need to strengthen the storyline of one of my key characters, I need to tighten up the action scenes in a couple of crucial places, and I need to work on the theme. Obviously, the theme is the most challenging of these three. However, I am in agreement on what needs to change with the theme and how it needs to be improved to make it consistent with the overall plot. My goal is to make these edits to the storyboard by the end of the week and get the green light to proceed—and then I will begin rewriting the manuscript. Hopefully with all of this pre work, the rewriting will not take that long. I’m excited to get this book into your hand as soon as possible, but I also want it to be the best book it can possibly be.   

It’s August again.

One year ago, The Slave Prince entered the Geek & Sundry Fantasy Contest. Boy oh boy, weren’t those days fun? I remember hustling you for support, checking my book’s status daily, and worrying if I could tough it out till October. It sure doesn’t feel like a year ago with such an experience. But, I’m glad I did it all.

One year later - this very month itself - The Slave Prince begins production. Yes, the ball is rolling! But as much as I’m celebrating, I have my work cut out for me. And I have to say, it’ll take a while before the book will be in print. 

A week ago I received developmental notes from Inkshares’ Story Head, and just last Wednesday I responded with my rewrite outline. To make The Slave Prince better, some scenes have to be changed, more world building needs to take place, and a deeper drive must be given to the characters. So, I’ve decided to put writing the sequel of my trilogy on hold to focus on this novel. And I hope, I really hope, that I’ll be able to get the book ready for copyediting by the end of this year.

With all that said, there’ll be silence in the coming months. But the next time I write to you, I should be done with developmental editing. Now, it’s time I put my gameface on - it’s time I finish this race.