So about my prediction of the sequel being ready this year… yeah, that may have been a bit optimistic. Life, as usual, had other plans and I’m currently prepping for yet another move. (I would also like to point out that downsizing your household via Craigslist is amazingly cathartic.) And I’m really not sure how things are going to shake out and whether my situation will be better or worse as far as getting in some writing goes. So, no more predictions at this point and time. (And, yeah, maybe someday I will be less cryptic and actually talk about what’s going on in my life. Maybe.)
The good news is that first draft is sitting at 86,000 words, so not too far from the 97,000 of book one. It’s obvious the sequel will be longer, though; I’m thinking around 120,000 words, so significantly longer than the first book but not a doorstopper by any means. And part of the reason I write pretty slow-ish is that I tend to stop a lot and think things through before plowing ahead to satisfy a word count–so I generally don’t have any massive re-writes when it comes time to edit. Also, editing is something I can do in smaller chunks, whereas the actual writing I tend to need a few hours to really get into the flow of the story; so what I’m saying is that once I can manage the first draft, I think things will pick up, since that sort of task is actually easier to fit into my life right now.
And I don’t know why I’m explaining myself since nobody really visits here at this point, but I like to make sure my many failings as a human being are a part of the public record. You know, for posterity.