Well, I hit a significant word count milestone recently. About two weeks ago I reached 43,000 words which was 1,000 longer than the lengthiest effort in the past (of a story I may still finish some day). That was a huge boost for me, because I was still going strong, where as with the previous attempt I had already started to fizzle out on my writing. And as I am writing this (at work, on my lunch break) my WIP at home is sitting at just over 60,000 words. The story is really starting to get momentum as I approach the final stretch.
There have sure been some bumpy sections that have been much harder to write than others. Some felt like I was just trudging through tar, other times I felt like Clark Griswold sledding down the hill in Christmas Vacation; my typing unable to keep up with my brain. While there are still some plot elements that need to be worked out, I think overall it’s going to come together nicely.
As for release information, right now I am hoping for a September/October release. Though I am going to push myself to have the rough draft finished in the next couple of weeks, I will still need to read over it myself (following Steven King’s advice on not reading the manuscript until the rough draft is finished), then make adjustments of my own at which point it will be kicked off to my lovely wife/editor and one or two alpha readers, then after the editing pass is completed I will be sending it out to a small group of beta readers. Oh yeah, and about that time give or take we’ll be having a baby, so things might get a little bit crazy đŸ™‚ but hopefully the readers will give good feedback, at which point I’ll finish it up, do the cover art work, and send it to the presses.
If you are interested in being a beta reader, please shoot me an email: fluduh AT gmail DOTCOM – I am going to keep the beta readership small, so let me know soon so I can make sure to add you to the list. Check out my previous post for a bit of insight on what the book is about. It’s a post apocalyptic genre.
I am very excited to be completing this book. While it’s been great to get back into writing, and has been enjoyable, I am excited to move on to my next book which will not be a followup to this book or anything I’ve written in the past. It’s an idea I’ve kicked around in my head for years and I think my current writing has been a good exercise to get back into the swing of writing, and now I am ready to take on this beast of an idea.
I am looking forward to the coming release, and to hear what y’all think of it.
Best,
AJ
Twisted Lexicon 