Yesterday, I moved my tractor out of my garage and into the new building. It is only temporary because we still have to have a protective coating placed on the floor. But it felt good to be able to walk around the garage without squeezing between the tractor and the garage wall. But there’s more.
Toward the evening, we had a severe weather alert. Usually, my truck sits outside all the time. It is constantly at risk of hail damage in larger storms. So, on a whim, I drove it into the new building for the night just to be safe. Plenty of room!
The really good news, however, is that I got to the end of Renegade. Notice I didn’t say I was done. I still have to go through it and clean up some comments I made in the margins. Then, of course, it is off to the editors to make the first two edits. Someone asked me what is the longest part of any book and I always say the editing. Editors have their own schedules that may or may not fit with mine. And then, after each edit, I must go through it again. And you all thought it was quick and easy!
A couple of interesting side notes. When I am into a book, I usually find a point or two at which things stop making sense, or I have an additional idea to make things better. So, I start making changes. Over time, I learned to save the most recent draft before I start revising the next version. Normally I might do that between five and ten times over the span of a book. My latest revision is number thirty-one! I attribute that to having a more complex book than before, and, of course, by dragging my feet so often, I get new ideas. Still, thirty-one individual revisions is a lot. I would rather not have that many. It makes keeping track of things more difficult.
Another side note comes after somebody asked what I meant by choreographing battle scenes. I guess there are writers who can keep a complete series of battle events in their heads, including ship movements, loss, replacements, etc. I’m not one of those. I’m a picture-oriented person. Here is just one of the forty scenes I used in preparing this book.
Thank you all for being patient. It felt good to type the last of 96,600 words in Renegade!
Feel free to ask questions.
