It’s been a while since I’ve made an update here, but I’m glad to say that the first book is done! I have been working with a wonderful lady by the name of Deborah Murrell that I contacted through Reedsy (www.reedsy.com ) to help me complete the final editing. She has been very helpful to my progress as a new author, correcting a lot of mistakes that I was too close to the work to see, and helping me get the manuscript to the point where I can either self-publish or continue soliciting to literary agents for representation. (I highly recommend her talents for anyone looking for similar help!)
I am resolved to tell a story that will be considered long by many standards, but I am encouraged by a recent message I saw posted by Tad Williams (who is not known to be shy with the word-count!) – you can read it here: https://www.tadwilliams.com/2021/11/newsletter-from-tad/
As much as any author may hate to edit their own work, there was something he said = he felt “honour-bound to give each plot-line and character their full arc” – that makes me feel encouraged to tell the story I want to tell, and not leave out pieces that give the characters their depth and reason for acting the way they do. I hope this is something the reader will appreciate in my story.
Anyway, while I take some time to refine my query letter and give myself a deadline to get some attention from a literary agent, I am also looking at options for how to add a mailing list to this website. My goal will be to see if there is anyone looking at this site who might be interested in seeing the completed novel before it is published. This will mean investing the time to learn a little – or a lot – more about how to use WordPress, but hopefully the effort will be worthwhile!
EDIT: well, it turns out ‘done’ wasn’t actually ‘done’. More than a after this original post, 40-50 agent rejections later, and several revisions/improvements-based-on-a-few-beta-readers later, yeah, I think I’m done and ready to move on…
