March certainly sucked as far as productivity is concerned—as my previous blog entry indicates. I am happy to say that matter is now behind me and well under control with a very low dosage of medication to stop the irregular heartbeat. I’m back on track and working furiously away at finishing Nobody.
The end of the book is truly in sight! The narrative will soon be wrapped up and I’ll enter into the final edits.
As far as my plans for a March 21 release…. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. (Go read the link in the first paragraph above.) I’m pretty certain I can get this done and out in April.
For those of you who have been waiting so patiently, thank you. For those of you who haven’t been quite so patient, bear with me. It’s just a little bit longer.
It is said the first book an author writes takes the longest. In my case, it’s been about four years. Which, it turns out, seems to be the average. Does that mean it will be another three or four years for the next book in the Aggadeh Chronicles to come out?
Hell no! I expect I’ll be able to produce book two much more quickly. I’m setting the target of summer 2014 for book two. (See the second link above and find a few grains of salt to go with my intended schedule.)
Looking back, I was making no ground writing Nobody until I got serious about actually writing. I set aside all other projects and most other activities and went all in with writing. Only then did I finally begin making headway. I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be a multitasker. I do well when I focus on just one thing. When I find myself doing more than one activity, I get bogged down.
In just a few months, one of the biggest draws on my focus and energy will be coming to an end. So, at last, for the first time ever, I’ll be able to focus wholly on writing. This other task, in my opinion, slowed down by nearly two years getting this first book out. Without this, I’ll be able to ramp up my production and work faster.
And, my phone won’t ring a dozen times a day anymore. Each time the phone rings, I’m looking at a delay of one to two hours before I get back into the flow state of writing. In fact, I won’t have to answer my phone at that point.
Learning from those mistakes, I’ve got a better idea now how to maximize my productivity. No more extracurricular activities for me!
Where does the story go from here?
For one thing, many people have expressed an interest in Nem’s back story. Who is he? Where does he come from? Why does he know all this stuff? How come he can’t use magic, yet he seems to do things that appear to be magic?
That’s one of the key points in the Aggadeh Chronicles. To reveal who Nem is just a little bit at a time. A piece here, a piece there. The reader should be as in the dark as to who Nem is as the characters are in the story. The reader should get to know him as do the characters in the story.
We know Nem is from a place called Aboria. We know he can talk to dragons—or rather, dragons will talk to him. We know he has an unusual sword called Dragonclaw. And we know he is well educated.
For that matter, who is Ophelia? Why does she keep dreaming about Nem?
Eh? What? You mean Ophelia hasn’t been mentioned yet? Of course not, because those chapters have only just been added to Nobody. Ophelia appears in the preface, which was not included in Nobody (The Pirate Arc).
You’ll be seeing, or dreaming with her, soon.
Back to work…
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