DONE

So this happened over the weekend:

At last. At long, long, lllooonnnggg last! This book took very nearly an entire year to get done, after I started it for NaNoWriMo last year. Oy!

By way of stats, the first draft topped out just shy of 194,000 words, which is longer than Stardancer and The Wisdomfold Path, but not as long as Amongst the Stars. I really am trying, as this series progresses, to keep each book in the same ballpark, length-wise. I don’t want to have a problem with massive ballooning once I get to the latter part of the series, a problem which vexed JK Rowling with the Harry Potter books and George RR Martin with the Song of Ice and Fire series.

By way of story, this book launches the middle third of the larger story. Things start to get darker this time around (but never fear, I have no plans to go “Full Grimdark” in these books), and the story starts to get, well, larger in scope. The action is no longer limited to just the planet Xonareth. And if you like the lindiath–the six-legged bear-cats who always seem to turn up when most needed–this book will be for you. Lots of lindiath in this one! And not all of them are nice.

What’s next? The usual “fallow” period in which I don’t even look at the manuscript for at least three months, and then first edits. First edits result in the draft that goes to beta readers, and then based on their input I generate the second edits. Then the final version goes off to those who proofread…and then, it’s time to get the thing ready. The upshot is that I wouldn’t expect this book to be out in the world until early 2020, at my most optimistic.

But still, it’s done. Huzzah!

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