Crossing the Finishing Line

My next novel, Darkness Beckons, is done!

Well, it's written. I'm currently busy with the buffing and polishing ahead of its publication at the end of next month. I'd prefer to have had more wiggle room (I'm quite partial to a wiggle, after all), but sometimes life intervenes, and distractions occur. Still, it's finally done, the finishing line is in sight, and the book will be published on time (hurrah!).

It came in slightly north of 100k words, though I generally shave off around 5k during the editing. It's always interesting to finally read back a draft in its entirety. When you're in the midst of getting the words down, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Sometimes, what I've produced is better than I thought it was going to be, and sometimes... well, sometimes, there's some head-scratching and sleeve-rolling required to whip it into shape. As this one took much longer to write than most of my recent work, I was concerned that the long delivery might have adversely affected the baby, but I'm happy to report that it seems like a healthy and bonny child! Although, of course, it's hard to be entirely objective about your own children. Still, so far, so good!

And all will be revealed on 29th September 2024!