Book 2 Update – Beta Readers & Cover Art

Good news: The Knave of Souls, Book 2 is in the beta-reader stage!

That means the manuscript is complete, and it is in the hands of a few smart reader/writer types who are giving me feedback. They’re looking for problems of consistency, clarity, engagement, fun-factor, etc. In fact, it is now in the hands of the last beta-reader, and I hope to hear from him next week.

After next week, I hit it with revisions and tweaks, and then it’ll be time for the copy editor. 🙂

In the meantime, here’s a look at the full cover art, including the wrap-around to the back cover (which is the left half of the painting). The characters on the front cover, from left to right, are Harric, Fink, Caris, and Spook. 🙂

 

THE KNAVE OF SOULS – Progress Update

SORRY FOR THE LONG GAP IN POSTINGS

I posted like mad over my November retreat, but stopped during winter break, and though I’be been writing since, I haven’t posted. I was in France for some of that. Here is a terrifying picture of my family and I at 13,000 feet in a glass box over an icy crag of the Alps. 

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SO! ENOUGH FOOLSHNESS! AN UPDATE! 

I’m sending Chapter 52 (The End) for peer crit this Saturday! Feels great, too. I’m pretty happy with it. PLUS, for those of you who agree with me that 2.5 years to write a book is too long, it’s coming in at about 160K words, which is 30K words more than the first book, so, hopefully that 20% more Harric, Caris, Sir Willard, Ambassador Brolli, and Father Kogan will make up for some of the wait.

Below, some of the crit notes from the Chapter 51 peer crit session. I love scribbles. I find beauty in these artifacts. Hope I don’t become a hoarder.

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THE KNAVE OF SOULS is posted on Wattpad!

Last night I finished the 90% Beta draft of The Knave of Souls and posted all 35 chapters on Wattpad. Check it out!  The cover is just a temporary image, but the text is all there. wattpad_logo_280

< Click here to see it!

 

Wattpad is free, you just have to register to read, and there is a handy phone app for reading on your phone. It allows you to make inline comments to ask questions or give feedback, and when you do, it sends me a note so I can respond if you want. Great interactive media for authors and readers! 🙂

I look forward to hearing from you!

Knave Update: Cafe Fiore All-Day Push

Today begins a string of all-day writes. 

Goal: Complete Beta draft to 85%, and send it to Beta Readers. While they read, I finish the last 15%. BOOM!
Notice the headphones: Thanks to the inestimable Martin Shoemaker (a 2015 Writers of the Future winner) for showing me that Instead of typing or writing at a desk, I can dictate passages while I hike or walk. 

So often it seems I face the choice between writing and exercise, but thanks to Martin’s revelation, I need not always face that choice. Today I will transcribe* two “foreshadowing” passages that I composed on a walk I took while waiting for a ferry in Fauntleroy .

*Martin actually pays a service to transcribe for him. He composed a novel this year commuting in his car to his day job. Kevin J. Anderson also composes this way.

Some of my “Foul Papers”