Yesterday afternoon, while my kids were playing with some friends, I fixed the last thing on the list of revisions to my novel. I've been working on For Love, For Power for more than two years, and it has been fun, difficult, and occasionally heartbreaking. The heartbreaking part was two years ago Thanksgiving, when we had a break-in and both our computers were stolen. I was fortunate in that I only lost two and a half chapters of my work. Rewriting those two and a half chapters did make them better, but still...
This novel takes place in my Varin world, which some of you are familiar with and others of you might not have heard of (especially if you've joined the blog recently). It's a world I've been working on, and working in, for twenty years or more. The first story ever published from it was "The Eminence's Match," in Panverse Publishing's Eight Against Reality anthology. In fact, that was the first time I felt I'd really achieved a story that executed this world in a way I could be proud of. And I'm happy to say that For Love, For Power has built on that. I love how it turned out.
This means I am very very nervous now. I'm not sure how many of you have projects that have been this long in their creation (world + novel), but I'm sure you have projects you care about deeply. Whenever something like this is about to hit the world and be evaluated, I get super-nervous! Feedback is really important to me, so I have one more person looking at it (and may ask one more) before I send it to my agent. That's when things get really serious.
Yes, I am rather fried in my brain. Getting this out was a huge effort that required an enormous amount of drive and concentration, and right now I just want to sit and cuddle my cat! But I will keep you all updated as the submissions process on this one begins.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me! You're the best.
Congratulations on completing your book. I hope you get helpful and encouraging feedback.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Raquel!
DeleteCongrats! I can't wait. I'm beginning to warm up to the idea of e-books, but I still prefer the old paper relics. As such, where/how soon might one find your book on a shelf near oneself? I'm excited to get to play in Varin. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePS 20 years in the making is quite the endeavor. [tips hat to you]
Realmwright, there's a process still before you'll be able to see it. The first step is getting it to my agent (next week, I hope). Then if he feels it needs revision, I'll have to do that, and if he feels it's ready, he'll pitch it to publishers. If it's sold, there's in-house editing etc. and thus it will be a while! Honestly, I didn't intend to spend 20 years at it when I started! :) If you would like to get a peek sooner, you could check out my story in Eight Against Reality. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will be a while.
DeleteCongratulations, Juliette, and courage on the journey that still lies ahead!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Siri!
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