So this blog entry is about a month overdue. Hard to believe that it has taken this long to revisit the blog. I want to give a detailed update of where the Elarra Solstice is and some thoughts on plot and character.

First of all I know that updates and notices of progress have been few and far between lately. I want to reassure you that the project is alive and well. In fact I’ve never been more excited about the project. The outlines and plans I’ve completed for revisions are really going to enrich the story and I’m excited. The biggest frustration is that I can’t wait to get to book 2 and beyond because the whole story builds and builds and right now I’m the only one that knows where it’s going. I can’t wait for readers to experience that! However I know that there will never be a book 2 and beyond if book 1 isn’t exceptional. So my current project is to make book 1 exceptional.

I’ve outlined all the changes and have detailed scene descriptions for book 1. Essentially I’m taking the backstory and making it the first chapter of the saga. I spent too much time in the narrative of what was book 1 (Whispers and Shadows) establishing the backstory that is so critical to the whole thing. Per recommendations that I received from a trusted associate, I’m extracting about 30,000 words from the manuscript as the basis for the new book 1. That leaves 80,000 to start with for what is now book 2. That also leaves me about 80,000 words to write for the new Book 1. While that is a lot of writing to do, my pace is usually about 2000 words per 90 minutes of first draft material. Now that is just the first very rough material that I usually edit about 7-8 times-a process that I really enjoy. I’ve already finished about 10,000 words of new material for book 1 and have gone through the revisions process at least four times since it is the new opening for the brook and that has to be great. So good progress is being made!

My problem right now is protecting my writing time. The last 4-6 weeks have been especially tough but that has only toughened my resolve. I want to finish my first draft of book one by July and then have something submittable by September.

So that’s the plan and I hope you enjoy the updates. They will be more frequent from here on out.