Sooo… What I really want to do is leave this update until May 15, because that’s when I have to get in the final edits for Gods of the Hollow Wild. But a promise is a promise.

So here goes: I made it 35 000 words into Book 3 before I had to return to the final edits of Book 1. I wrote an entire subplot of 25 000 words, which just felt like it worked, and discovered some new characters in that part of my world that completely surprised me in the best possible way. I can’t wait to get back to them, and to the story at large in Book 3—some huge stuff will be happening there!

The May 15th deadline on Book 1 is consuming all my attention now. My editor has sent me back her edits and I’ve been working hard on the manuscript. I could have done what she required pretty quickly, but… I want this book to be as awesome as I can make it, so I’ve spent some long hours ruthlessly interrogating every aspect of my story and forcing out all the words that shouldn’t be there! Out with you, extra words! I’ve cut the first 125000 words down to 114000, just by sharpening things up. I know it seems late in the day to be doing this. Why not do it in the last eight years?