Figured I would post an update for everyone on how the new novel is going. So far I am only a little over 18k words into “Tears of the Western Moon” which, considering I am not writing on the weekends (which believe me is kind of hard because I do want to write) and only aiming for the tiny goal of 1k words per day of writing, I think I am doing well. I am maintaining my pace and not rushing the novel which was the way I wanted to do this one to see if I could avoid a lot of the errors that I caught when editing “Shadow of the Western Moon”.
So far, when it comes to the journal entries I mentioned in my last post, I have added only one more journal entry. Right now I am planning in there being about 6 to 12 total, but right now I am still working out exactly where to place each one. So far I have let the placement come naturally, but I suspect that when I get down to editing this novel I will have to rearrange where they fall, but so far that doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Also, I am considering, due to the length of the first novel and the projected length of the second novel, that I may end up combining the two novels into one novel, making them part 1 and part 2. As for the third book, with what I have planned, I think it will fall around to about 100k words so the current plan is for it to stay a novel in its own right.
Also, as a slight update on my characters. I have had a new character added to the story, though I still don’t know if he is a main character or not. His name is Jackson Lee and at first he appeared to be the crazy eyed, foul smelling hobo type (Though he does clean up quite nicely) who no one would want to keep around, but, as it turned out, due to events that transpire, Sephira is able to see Jackson’s true nature and warms up to him as a friend. She even went so far as to invite him to join the group as they travel southward since Jackson has not seen any of the outside world (he is from the Underground of New Babylon) and was very intent on learning what he could from her. As a result, I now have five characters traveling together which consists of the main three, Jonah, Alissa and Sephira, as well as two sub-characters that may or may not be main characters in the end consisting of Doctor Sliss and Jackson Lee. On top of that, there is a mysterious Ibian that keeps popping up from time to time that appears to be following the group as well.
In other news, I have officially sent out my query letter to the first agency that I am considering using. Considering that this was my first time ever writing a query letter, I hope that I did a semi-professional job with it. It took me around 6 hours to write it as well as double and triple checking it before mailing it off. I am extremely nervous about it and want to hear good news back, but I also realize that this is my first query, so as optimistic as I want to seem, I realize the chances of rejection, before even getting the chance to send part of my novel to them, is high. But, as I like to say, I’m crossing my fingers but not holding my breath.
Also, while I wait on a reply, I am thinking about sending my novel off to a professional editing agency to do a quick edit and possible critique. Not sure if I should or not, but it is something that I am considering.
Anyway, thank you for your time today and I hope that you found this little post interesting. Sorry I haven’t included any more excerpts, but I hope that you will understand if I want to keep the remainder of the excerpts off the blog until I have finished the novel and gone through the editing process like I did with the first one. Till next time then, take care.
