Happy Holidays readers!

So, I’ve been spending my Holiday break refining the latest (third) draft and we are now sitting at about 94,000 words, twenty-three chapters, a prologue, epilogue and a partridge in a pear tree. I’ve beefed up the novel with more detail, more backstory, and a parallel series of flashbacks that take place in the swinging sixties that’s adds more context to the motivations of the main characters. I also think the addition of a prologue (much like the cold opening of a Bond film) and an epilogue (much like the post-credits scenes we see so often nowadays) really adds a bit more bang for your buck, story-wise as well as leaving the door open for future installments. It’s a constant process, but I think I’m just about the point where I can hand this off to beta readers to get some much needed feedback. 

And what say you, faithful followers, about possibly relaunching an Inkshares campaign? Not now, I’m not at that point just yet, but perhaps in a couple of months after Holiday fatigue has worn off. The novel has evolved so much since I first started working on it over a year ago and I feel much more confident that I can get people excited about it and see it become a reality. Without the pressures of a contest or a crowdfunding campaign over the past few months, I’ve been able to really crack this open and refine it and there’s still more work to be done. Exciting times!

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and Happy New Year!

J