(Here’s Jack climbing the wall of the Palace in Obann, in Book No. 6. Artwork by Kirk DouPonce)
The Throne (Book No. 9 in the Bell Mountain Series) is done. I’ve just typed up and polished the last few chapters and sent them on to my editor.
Now what’ll I do?
You work on a book practically every day for six months, hours at a sitting, and thinking about it when you’re not actually writing about it, and suddenly it’s over. Someday you’ll have to start the formal proof-reading, write the cover blurb, and see the artwork for a brand-new cover; but that’s not quite the same as writing it.
No, I can’t just sit down and start writing the next one. Months will go by before I can even begin to do that.
For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, go to the top of the page and click “Books.” See the covers, read the blurbs and sample chapters. And the blog archives are full of reviews, to say nothing of the Customer Reviews on amazon.com.
We will try to put The Temple (That’s Book No. 8) on the market in time for Christmas. But if we can’t make it–well, look, there are still seven of them out there, and they’ll make great presents.
I know what you’ll do. You’ll lie awake thinking of all the changes you wish you could make!
Believe it or not, Greg, that’s one thing I don’t do! That way lies madness.
Yes. Yes, it does!
Congratulations! Only a little while ago, you said you had finished The Temple. Did you write both of them at once?
No, they were written about a year apart. But after the book is written, there’s tons of editing to do, cover blurbs to write, cover art to provide, and so on. It can take longer to prepare a book for publication than it takes to write it.