A Writer's Week #123: Remembering & Feeling Thankful

 Hi everybody! This Memorial Day weekend, it's appropriate to remember and celebrate those who gave their lives to make, and keep, our country free. I am thankful for and grateful to them for their sacrifice. Thanks to them, we can all enjoy a way of life in which we are free to be whatever we wish. This way of life is continually evolving and while we've experienced some hiccups along the way, I am confident that we are working our way toward an even more free and tolerant society.

In addition to the holiday, I am feeling grateful for all the family and friends who have helped and continue to help and support me on my writer's journey. 

My journey is moving forward with the release of the second edition of The Deliverers:  Sharky and the Jewel. Now, artist Emily Hurst Pritchett is almost ready to send me the final draft for the cover of The Deliverers Book 2: Order of the Crystal Lion. Very excited to see that! 

She is also working on a new map for the book. Check out this Instagram link to a short video of the map in progress. Just click on the picture:

In addition to work being done on the existing books, I'm moving forward on The Deliverers Book 4: Sparkling Mists of Time. I've written another 2,200 words and have reached a very tense, exciting moment in the book. I'm looking forward to getting it all down on "paper".

In the coming weeks, I'll share chapter 5 of my work in progress and will be announcing several appearances I'll be making in the fall. I'm looking forward to seeing some of you in person then. Plus, some time in June I'll have the new cover reveal for Book 2!

Until then, have a great holiday weekend and let's make a toast to all those who have come before and given everything to keep our country free!

A Writer's Week #122: Forging Ahead

 Well, it's been a while, but I'm continuing to work on the fourth, and most likely final, book in The Deliverers Series. In the last week I've written a little over 2,000 words, bringing me to 20,250 words over 92 pages. 

Although shy of my regular goal of 2,500 words per week, I'm pretty satisfied with the output. That's because this has been a really busy week. I drove down to Georgia and back over 4 days to pick my daughter up from school. Although I did not do any writing on the trip, I was able to lock down the plot details for the first part of the book (I'm thinking of calling it Act I) as well as some ideas for the book's second act. Plus, I think artist Emily Hurst Pritchett and I have hit upon the right scene for the cover of The Deliverers 2.

Thumbnail sketches for Book 2

Hammering out some of the Book 4 plot details also helped me answer a question that I have been debating ever since I had the idea for Book 4 almost eight years ago--would the series run for five books as I'd always envisioned, or would Book 4 end it all? Originally, I thought that the material that will make up Act I would be Book 4, and that my idea for Act II would have been Book 5. The trouble is, Book 4 would have been the shortest book--probably about 170 pages. I would have ended rather abruptly, too, with book five picking up right where the previous book left off. In other words Book 4 would end in a "cliffhanger", but why? Yes, I know it might create interest for the series finale, but it seems better to move from one part, or act, right into the second.

So, that's what I've decided to do. Now, there's always the possibility that as I'm writing Act II I discover that the series is not quite done, but as of now I'm pretty confident that The Deliverers will be four books. Once it's complete I can concentrate on the next adventure. What that will be I can't say for sure, but I'm looking forward to whatever challenge awaits. Have a good week everybody.