Yes, Retribution will be delayed. My editor’s comments (all good ones) require a considerable re-write which will take some time. I learned years ago that speeding a book to market is counterproductive when it can be improved. For those of you who have a desire to write (and I hope many of you are), you need to realize that first products are seldom good to go as they are. Typically, my books receive at least four separate edits from different people and two to three Beta reads (from volunteers who read the book and make general comments). Believe me, it can be frustrating at times, but worth it in the end. That is why, by the way, a book can take as much as a year to go from the first word typed to launch.
As an added piece of information, I never started out to be a writer of a series. Yet here I am in my second one. How did that happen, you ask? The characters made me do it. Yes, characters have a lot to do with what happens in a series. They have incomplete tasks, goals, ambitions, and even romantic needs. Every character makes his or her own demands over time— at least they do for me. They take on their own lives.
One of my writing mentors, Bob Mayer (NYT Best Selling Author), chides me for having too many characters, thus making the story more difficult. It isn’t uncommon for me to have as many as fifty characters in a book. They are not all primary characters, to be sure, but I have to admit he is probably right. Lately, I have been trying to reduce the number of characters, but it is hard for me. There are so many voices crying to be heard.
Anyway, this is just a note to let you know that my earlier estimate to launch Retribution in the Spring is being challenged by reality.
Stay with me as I work to put out the best product I can.
