I set a deadline for October 1st.
And here we are—September 17th—and I’ve finished the first draft of the third book in the Erafeen series … two weeks ahead of schedule. It’s 128,500 words, but expect that to grow with the second draft.
I’ve decided to turn the release of each book into its own theme of blog-worthy gifs. When I blogged about Erafeen #2 (The Untenable) throughout its editing and design process, I used an excessive amount of Michael Scott gifs (from The Office).
Expect a heavy dosage of Ron Swanson with Erafeen #3, and a sprinkling of other Parks and Rec characters.
Anyway, back on topic:
I went on a grind to achieve this. It involved drastic improvements to my work habits and self-discipline, but I persevered. It also helped that I was able to remove Halo (a video game) from my life. Now if I could only fix my energy drink addiction.
Yea, I’m talking to you, Red Bull and Nos.
But in all seriousness, energy drinks are the only reason why I can make it through the 60th straight night of writing without wanting to kill someone.
So what does this news mean?
It means that the goal to have Erafeen #3 release by January is more than realistic! The only roadblocks will be financial ones. We’ll see what happens.
I must also add that the transition between the first and second draft will be a lot different than those of The Jestivan and The Untenable. With those two books, I took so long to write the first drafts that there wasn’t much for me to add when I reread them. I wrote Erafeen #3‘s first draft at such supersonic speeds that I missed a lot of scenes that should be added to sure up the flow.
It should be an interesting experience. Instead of losing words, the second draft will likely end up significantly longer than the first. Then in the third draft, I’ll begin to trim the fat.
Well that’s the big news for the day. I kept my promise; no more long gaps between books. Don’t expect a title or cover design reveal anytime soon … Maybe by the middle to end of November.
And in the words of Archaic Director Senex, “Have an ethical day.”
