Monday, May 20, 2013

III Crimsonstreak and II Crimsonstreak latest

Not much of an update here, but I thought I'd post something today.

I finished my first draft of III Crimsonstreak and read through it (via Kindle) this weekend. I think it's in much, much better shape than its predecessor. An outline did wonders for the book, something I will one day blog about. It's...uh...right next on the list to the Jurassic Park book vs. movie post that I've been planning to do. Anyway...it's nice to have a first draft done. Plenty of work is ahead, of course, including revisions, the addition of appendices, and the incorporation of reader feedback.

As for II Crimsonstreak, I received feedback from my publisher and my second-round edits are due near the end of May/beginning of June. We're on target for an October release and should have an exciting cover to reveal soon. The same awesome cover artist is on the case, so I know we're getting something fantastic.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

II Crimsonstreak revisions and notes on III Crimsonstreak

I'm wrapping up the last book in the Crimsonstreak series. I didn't set out to write a trilogy...it just kind of happened. Currently, the end of the book feels a little too much like the end of Peter Jackson's Return of the King. By that, I mean there are several plot threads/character moments to resolve. A few character threads got lost throughout the first draft and will need to be added during revisions.

It's tough saying goodbye to these characters. I'm not saying I'll never revisit them (in fact, I have an idea for a book based solely on Mortimer P. Willoughby that traces the history of Morty and the various Crusading Comets), but I'm going to take a break from this particular group of superheroes. I can't say much about the book (or II Crimsonstreak for that matter), but Christopher Fairborne goes on quite the journey. He has to learn to say goodbye and let go of many of the people close to him. So, as he says his goodbyes, I say my own to those characters. The ending packs an emotional punch...and I hope it translates for readers.

III Crimsonstreak is a long way off, though. That manuscript will have to be revised, I need to come up with some appendices, and my Super Beta Reader will have to Super Beta Read his way through it. Even in the best case scenario, in which I turn it in at the end of summer, we're looking at we're looking at a spring/summer release. But I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself.

Let's talk about II Crimsonstreak. I received edit notes back from the massive revision I did on the book. Seriously, it was like performing major surgery (or at least my fictional conception of what performing surgery is like). Mastermind Kate at Candlemark & Gleam was very pleased with the edits. I have about two weeks or so to go through the additional markups and make any changes, a process I plan to start this weekend after wrapping up III Crimsonstreak's first draft.

Make no mistake, II Crimsonstreak revisions were a major undertaking. The book had a great concept, but my execution was lacking (I'll do a separate blog post about this soon). I twisted myself up in plot threads, had dodgy character motivations, and underutilized a major character. I some parts, our fair protagonist acted like a jerk simply because it was convenient for the plot.

No more.

I've fixed most of that, meaning that my biggest concern revolves around whether Falcon Gray has a beak or not. I think I can live with that.

We're shooting for an October release.


Monday, May 13, 2013

Decent writing weekend

I didn't have a great writing weekend on III Crimsonstreak, but I turned in a decent effort. Friday netted only 1,000 words. I rebounded with 3,000 words on Saturday.

I fared better on Sunday despite a terrible start. After several hours in front of the keyboard, I ended up with only 1,600 words. I went back in the evening and pounded out another 3,000 words, bringing my total for the day to 4,600 words. For the weekend, I finished with 8,600 words. That wasn't quite the success story from a couple weekends ago, when I averaged 5,000 words over a three-day span.

The first draft now stands at more than 82,000 words. I'm wrapping up the main storyline now. The last act will need some major revisions--I'm again juggling a lot of characters and my "character geography" is a little off--but the important thing is that I kept at it. I think the first three-fourths of the book are solid since much of that is revised from a previous, inferior version of the story.

I will end up making a flowchart for the final battle because I need one.