A Novel Update

This is just a quick post to answer some questions about the Novel. Hopefully, the next update will say, "ITS FINISHED!"

The first draft was finished back in May of last year. As this was obviously the first time I'd ever written a Novel, I didn't really have any idea what to expect. I thought I'd take a month off and then go back and respell a few words and that I'd be done around August of last year (or sooner). But when I sat down to read the book, I began to notice a few subtle problems with the first two acts. And then I read the third act and nearly freaked out at the large problems that were there. I wasn't the only one who'd read the book and had these thoughts. My Dad has been pretty much my chief sounding board during this entire process, having read the synopsis and the first draft in their entirety.

So, first I had to figure out what was really wrong. Then I had to figure out how to fix it. Then I still had to go through and adjust all that creative spelling and rephrase certain bits to make them sound like they were written in english. And after all that, then I had to actually sit down and rewrite all that. The book was 1155 pages long and that, as it turns out, is a lot of pages to edit.

The good news is that I am approaching the end of the rewriting phase. I have about 20 chapters to go. The great news is that, so far at least, it seems I have corrected all the major problems with the story. Everything that remains now can be adjusted with minor tweaks.

So, I'm looking to put this puppy to bed once and for all in the next three weeks or so. And quite frankly, I'm ready to bury this thing in a lead vault 20 feet below ground and never look at it again. Every word on every page has become torture for me - like the final six hours of World War I, knowing that an armistice is just around the corner. Somewhere that last analogy works...

Anyway, thanks for the prayers and the well wishes. I will be looking for people to read the completed magnum opus in the near future - but not until all the I's are crossed and the T's dotted ;)