Today is November 1st, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month. It’s not like I have to start writing a new book in November, but it feels good to do it out of habit at this point.
So, let’s take a status check, since I’ve not updated this blog in a while:
* Totality: The Militiaman -- I had another beta reader finish reading, who gave some excellent feedback. I have a few things to change. I also put together an automated process for turning my manuscripts into ebooks, and used this book as a testbed for a print-ready PDF. The results were less than perfect, but the next version should be much improved. Currently, I am going through the printed copy and marking it up with intended changes--mostly very minor ones. After that, I would need to finalize a cover design and then it should be ready to go!
* Totality: The Star Mother -- This one has been handed off to a second beta reader. The first beta reader is about halfway through, but progress is slow. Hopefully I will have a completed beta read soon! This is another one I will have to print and mark up by hand. It is much longer than the first book, so it will be significantly more work in that regard.
* Totality: Fortress Ghosts -- No beta readers on this one yet, but that should change once one of them has completed reading The Star Mother.
* Totality: Zero Avalon -- I will start writing this one today. I've done a _lot_ of prep work which I am pretty happy with. I first did an outline, briefly summarizing each chapter. I then embroidered scene breakdowns into the chapter outline, which gives me a better sense of what will be happening in each chapter at the scene level. I also came up with chapter titles (always tentative, just something to start with so I don't struggle to reach for something), and wrote up descriptions for the new characters in this book. There are quite a few! But I officially start writing tonight, and will continue on a daily basis through November, then slowing down to five days a week. If I keep up a decent pace, I should be done with the first draft by late April.
And that’s where things stand now. I may check in occasionally throughout the month. If nothing else, I’ll try to keep the book progress widget updated.
If you’re writing, too, I wish you the best of luck!