Phew... and I mean that.
The first draft of A Good Day to Die was done a few weeks ago and now the second, tidy up and check for consistency, draft is also complete. August 6th to October 22nd, not too shabby an effort.
A Good Day to Die - opening lines... not a bad Blurb either (if I say so myself, and I do).
When you leave someone to die a long slow painful death, stick around to enjoy it. Start a fire, cook some food, have a drink, and revel in the pain you've inflicted. Sing songs, throw insults, but most important of all, make sure they're actually dead before you leave.
They didn't do any of those things and they're going to regret it. Every single last one of them.
100,600 odd words and 57 chapters (at one point it was 55 chapters because I'd messed up in Word and forgotten to tag chapters as chapters) of fantasy is now ready (almost) to go off to a first reader or two - some proofing, some more editing and tidying up to be done after that. After that, and if the feedback is good, it'll go off to a few well-chosen, selected agents... and after that probably to some more agents... and so on. Meanwhile, I'll go back to Last Winter Sun and do a re-read and tidy up of that.... or Rivers of Song and Shadow and finish the rewrite on one PoV for that... or play TESO on the Xbox... or the guitar... or go back to Corin 4 which is half written. Choices, choices choices... Anyway, have some of my favourite quotes from A Good Day to Die (they are all subject to change, to editing - and may not accurately reflect the final product... but they do really).
And so, with this book done, I am ready to start my prep for BristolCon where, once again, I will be speaking on a panel, coping with impostor syndrome, nerves, social awkwardness and forgetting everyone's names on a regular basis. I hope to see you all there... whatever your name might be!