I completed the first draft of Tower Lord approximately ten minutes ago. The word count runs at just over 237,000, which means it’ll probably shrink to the 230k mark after rewrites. On the whole I’m happy with it; no unsightly gaps that need filling or superfluous characters (I hope) but, inevitably, there are some things that need fixing before it’s ready for delivery – plot conflicts, prose-tyding, deciding if I’ve killed off enough characters, that kind of thing.
Currently feeling the anticlimactic fugue state that tends to set in after I finish something. Hopefully it’ll wear off tomorrow. I’ll be taking a break from Tower Lord for the rest of September, Dead Space 2 won’t play itself after all, and it’s usually a good idea to get some distance from a draft before starting rewrites. There won’t be any more updates until I’ve actually finished and delivered to my editor, probably in December, so please accept the following answers to some likely questions:
– No, I don’t know when it’ll be released.
– No, I don’t know when Blood Song will be available in print either.
– Sorry, but I don’t need alpha, beta or proof readers but thanks for the offer.
Oh, must dash, someone’s calling. I think it might be my much-missed friend sleep.
PS. online sales of Blood Song passed the 30,000 mark last weekend. By the souls of the Departed I swear undying gratitude to you all.