Okay, so it's a June-July-ish update.
Superheroes Con
Well, all in all, it went well. Low attendance, but I sold 11 books. So, I'm putting that in the "win" column. I tried charging a credit card and failed, miserably. So, there's at least one kink in the system that needs to be worked out.
Overall, it was a good experience. I'll probably be doing another convention sometime before the year's end and maybe even the West Branch convention in 2024. More updates to follow.
The Next Book
Well, I'm still working on it. I've got about three-quarters (if not more) of this book already completed. I'm sitting on Chapter 22 as I write this, with other chapters written and ready to be integrated into the manuscript. I think I have, roughly, 5 chapters that still need to be written, but then the rough draft will be complete. I'm also having my wife read the chapters I've completed and patched up while I continue my progress toward the end. She's dying to read what I've got down already and had been bugging me all through July to hand her something - so I am. The story is still pretty rough, and I'm adding elements sometimes after she's read the chapter. Normally, I'd wait until I've done a few revision passes and made it presentable for beta readers, but her work schedule at the school starts up again in late August. I want her to give me her feedback before I hit the beta readers in earnest. Secondly, if the wife wants to get a sneak peek...you give it to her.
I've been a little down on myself as to the direction of this book. I've changed plans and directions at least three times now and I've started to feel a little rudderless in my writing. Ironically, stopping development and patching up a few chapters forced me to look at the stuff I've already put down and make an assessment of what I've produced thus far. I thought it would all suck. Surprisingly, it doesn't. I've gotten through the Prologue and all the way through to chapter 18 by the writing of this post. I'm feeling much better about the book, the twists and turns in the story, and a bunch of the elements.
I was going to dump the prologue because I felt it was weak. Then, my wife told me how much she loved it. So...I guess it stays in, huh?
I think I should have the rough book complete by mid-August. Then a couple of editing passes, and it's off to the beta readers. Of course, I've set deadlines before and missed them. But, whatever.
Next Steps
I've made so many plans at this point, then changed them, I really don't know what's coming next.
I'm trying to trademark a logo and a name. So that's going to cut into writing time.
I need to sell books. That cuts into writing time as well.
I want to get two books out in 2024. The next Halsedric book will be fairly large (probably larger than THE WIZARD'S STONE), so if I do put a second book out, it'll probably be 50,000 words or less. I have more ideas than time, to be frank. I'm still eyeing the Halsedric origin book, but as I stated before, I've made many plans and reversed them at this point. It's probably better I don't make any more. The one upside to the origin book for Halsedric is that I have several chapters already done. Pounding out that as a novella would be relatively quick and painless.
Relatively...
I'm looking to open an online store. Part of me dreads that. It'll mean I have to do fulfillment...which cuts into writing time. I have some other things to do before that, however.
Conclusion
Conclusions cut into writing time, so I'm going to forego one for this post.
Go, go #ironage.
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