For those of you who weren't already aware, on July 25th I officially released Offworld Chronicles 6: Dark Wanderings on Smashwords and a number of other major ebook retailers.  So if you've been waiting for book 5, it's not available to download and read.  Now, with that said, I'm happy to say that I've also started on book 6 now that 5 is finished and ready to publish.  However, wow, I'd almost forgotten how much fun working on rough drafts could be.  NOT!  haha.  And that's not to say that I don't enjoy writing, as I very much do, and would do just about anything to make it my full time occupation.  However, the toughest part of writing any novel is creating the initial rough draft, and the toughest part of editing that same book is the first several draft edits immediately following, mostly because the story is still raw and is in dire need of some major revisions to get it up to the level it needs to be for publication.

The work doesn't really get any easier until you've overcome those hurdles, and this week's editing spree has reminded me of that insane little fact.  I think, as an author, the parts of editing that we all look forward to the most are the last several edit passes that occur right before the book is considered complete and publishing ready.  By the time the book, and the story, reaches that point, it is entirely complete, and only needs a handful of minor tweaks and modifications to make it just right.  And it's at that point in which we slowly transform ourselves from blood thirsty editors and hardened critics to excited little children who finally get to ingest the story in its entirety, and enjoy it in its entirely, with very little more than a few bits of spit and polish here and there to help make the story the best it can be.

It's sorta like an artist painting a masterpiece.  When they first start out, their painting is little more than a blank canvas covered in a smattering of random brush strokes that look more like the aftermath of an afternoon of paintball target practice, rather than a masterpiece in the making.  The same is true when creating novels, only with us it's words rather than the foundational layers of paint that an artist uses.  Even so, with that being said, I look forward to, over the coming months, continuing to work on OWC6, and to get it cleaned up, polished, preened and primmed, and made ready for publication, hopefully sometime around early February.  But, until then, I will be spending every weekend getting it ready for its eventual release date.  After that it will be down to simply completing book 7, and finally, after five long years of work, putting this series to a much deserved bedtime.

So what do I plan to do after that?  Well, just look at my previous blog update about OWC5 and point number 3, which details my upcoming projects.  Exactly which one I'll actually tackle first, I'm not certain.  I won't know the answer to that until OWC7 hits publication quality, as all of my energy will need to be focused on this current series until then.  But after that's completed, then I will have a much better idea where I will be taking things going forward.  So, if I don't make an official decision before August 2021, then you can be certain you'll hear from me around that time as to what will be coming next on the writing docket.  Until then, enjoy the latest Offworld novel, and please, if you'll kindly consider it, please don't hesitate to give me a review and some feedback on what you think about the book.

Thanks!!