What I’ve Been Working On
Judge of Dooms is late…. WAAAAAY late. Tears of Rage readers will be happy to know that it’s almost here. Even before the first draft of the book was finished, my editor pointed out some things that needed work, continuity errors, nuts and bolts kind of stuff, etc. In fixing those things, I wound up coming up with something for the end that I thought was infinitely cooler than the fight I had in mind at the end of the book that really wasn’t anything new or interesting. A few people did some cool new things with miracles and such, but on he whole… just another fight scene. This new ending, which added something like 40,000 words to the book due to putting all the right pieces into all the right places, is going to blow you away. I hope. I know I can’t please everyone, but if I can please most of the people that have stuck with Julianna and everyone thus far, I’ll be happy.
While going back and forth with the editor tidying up last bits on Judge of Dooms. I’ve been fiddling with the opening of Halloween Jack and the Red Emperor, done three different prologues, scribbled a bunch on the outline, and gone back and forth on which character to open the book with. The problem is, because I’ve had to keep one foot in Tears of Rage land, I haven’t been able to really dive into the mindset of Halloween Jack land. The voice and tone of the two series is fastly different, which is why I think I’ve been floundering in the early work on that book. Well, as it happens, I got an email from my editor Sunday morning telling me that the meaty stuff is all done in Judge of Dooms. Now it’s down to mostly line edits and a few consistency things…So…
CANNONBAAAAALLLL!!!
Halloween Jack here I come. Went on a spontaneous writing date with my pal, Brian Buhl. We hang out at Starbucks, chat for a bit, and then do nothing but write for a solid hour. WE do this a couple times a week, and it’s part of the reason I managed to push through a couple rough spots leading up to the awesome ending of Judge of Dooms. Tonight I didn’t get much in the way of word count, but I did figure out the opening and the focus for this year’s Halloween Jack adventure. It’s going to have a slightly different tone, new friends (and some old ones), but mostly, and most importantly, I’m pretty sure we’re going to get to see how Jack handles things when he doesn’t have time to prepare. However, don’t quote me on that. Jack has a way of surprising even me.
For those of you who have been reading Spellpunk and waiting for more, after consideration and conversations with people close to me, family, friends, editor, the story is in limbo until after WorldCon at least. I might, just might, be looking to land a traditional publishing deal with Spellpunk. I’ll keep you all posted.
No matter what happens with Spellpunk, I’m going to try like hell to have “Legend of the Dragon Bone Flute” and “Jaludin’s Voyage” completed by the end of the year.
And that’s what’s going on in my writing world. I’ll leave you with one last bit, the first line of Halloween Jack and the Red Emperor.
“Heroes were not supposed to smile like that.”
