...slowly.
I thought it was time all you lovely people had an update.
First things first: those backers who have pledged for the radio playlist, please don't forget to get your lists of tracks to me as soon as you can. It would be wonderful to get those shows broadcast before Christmas so that I can provide them as early presents for you lovely people.
Now...
The gears are indeed grinding slowly. This part of the process seems to be the slowest. Unbound have my manuscript, and I'm awaiting the availablity of an editor to guide me through the next stage. As I'm sure anyone who's ever had anything published knows, editing is at least as important as the initial writing, so I'm bizarrely looking forward to that process, despite having felt that I've written and rewritten the novel sixty squillion times. There's a small number of you who have read a very early version that is about half the length of the what the final novel will be, and you'll see that, even in its current form, it's completely transformed. I can't wait for you all to read it.
So, hopefully we will have some news about the editing stage very soon, and then we'll move relatively quickly on to the design stage and the journey into bookstores.
On other writing projects, I've been quiet, as you may have noticed. A huge amount of stuff going on in the day job and personally, including us moving house, have meant other things are on the back burner at the moment. I have a Commando story coming out soon about the WWII Coventry bombings, and I hope to get a few more of those under my belt soon. My next novel has a working title and a complete structure, so I'm ready to go on typing 'Chapter One' any minute... now!
I'll keep you updated on that one! For now, all I'll say is that, like A Hundred Years to Arras, there's an element of fictionalised semi-autobiography about it and it is set over a fifty year period, up to the present day.
Before that, of course, the main focus will be on getting Arras in your hands. I remain so grateful for your support. The crowdfunding process was incredibly difficult and it was often misunderstood; in fact, some people were downright hostile about it, but I've been bowled over by the kindness of strangers and the generosity of you all.
I hope, as we roll forward into the darkness of winter, you all have glimmers of light to guide you through.
Love and mud,
Jason