ALL SMOKE RISES: MILK-BLOOD REDUX is complete! Well, mostly complete. It's been written, and it's been read. A wonderful list of beta readers agreed to read it, and now it is in the hands of Julie Hutchings, who is doing the edits. After that, a couple more beta-reads, and it will be ready.
That is a year and a half after MILK-BLOOD (part one) was published.
I am amazed at authors who can put out material on a quicker basis. (many of them do, and it's great stuff.) I'm amazed not only for their writing skills, but their mental fortitude. Writing stories turns me into an obsessesed, manic kind of dude. I rattle single sentences around in my head while I try to sleep, thinking of ways to change them. I listen to my family talk, nod my head and smile, while I am internally preoccupied with the voices of characters from my story who talk to me non-stop. I kill them in my head, bring them back to life, have them talk to each other, change their motivation, all of this while I go about my real life. I suspect all authors experience this, and the obsessive nature of writing is probably part of the reason it attracts me.
If I could stick my hand in my heart, and spill it all over the page, it would probably feel less painful.
All that makes one book a huge effort to write, and some do this 2-3 times a year, and they are herculean. Similar to running a marathon, which I maxed out at two a year but really one was reasonable, I find those that do more are of a different breed. Mutants, even, and they live among us, well-disguised. You’ve been warned.
Check back here for a cover reveal coming soon, created by Kealan Patrick Burke of Elderlemon design.
And Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and God Bless Us Everyone.