Back in early September,
You may recall that I revealed that I've resumed writing after a 12-year hiatus while battling depression due to the pandemic. Things were crazy and the story was progressing at a pace that was a little frightening. I don't know if it's because I've had these ideas and concepts and characters in my mind for so many years, but in a little over 5 months I had written 431 manuscript pages.
Well, everything kept falling into place and I continued to write at the same crazy pace. On December 9th, not quite 9 months after starting working on this project, I finished the first draft of The Evil That Men Do! =)
The plan was to let it lie there for a couple of weeks and then get back in the saddle during the Holidays to work on the 2nd draft. There are two timelines, the past and the present, and à la GRRM early on I elected to work on them separately instead of alternating between the two. Finished working on the past timeline, which represents about 75% of the tale, on September 28th. My crazy pace slowed down a bit when I switched gears, but I was still producing 50+ manuscript pages a month while completing the present timeline's sequences.
As planned, I started working on the second draft on December 27th. Incorporating scenes from both timelines and putting together a cohesive and well-balanced whole was tricky at times, but overall I believe I did a good job. Finished putting the second draft together on Tuesday and now I'm going through another rewrite to make sure that everything works well. The manuscript currently weighs in at about 164,000 words and 593 manuscript pages.
I wanted to wait till the 3rd draft was done before querying my agent to see if he wanted to take a look at it, but I caved in. It's been a decade since he made any money with me, so I wasn't sure if he'd be willing to give the manuscript a shot. But while he waits for the new Tad Williams and Patrick Rothfuss, why not, right?
Well, I'm pleased to report that he's delighted to discover that I've written a new novel and he wants to read it! =) You guys know how hard it is to find an agent, so I wasn't looking forward to going through the process once again. I'll be forwarding him the manuscript as soon as I'm done with the 3rd draft.
I know it doesn't mean anything, but I'm excited! ;)
As I mentioned, it's Glen Cook's The Black Company meets Steven Erikson's The Bridgeburners meets GRRM's A Game of Thrones. I have ideas for a sequel titled Blood for Blood and a prequel titled The Gallipo Uprising.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and hope for the best. =) And I'll keep writing, no matter what. That 12-year hiatus was a mistake and I need to make up for lost time!
Wish me luck!
17 commentaires:
That's fantastic news! I've been following your blog for about a decade, and you've been a great guide in my fantasy reading. Really glad to hear that your project is progressing, I look forward to reading it!
That's awesome Patrick! Good luck!
Love reading this post. Best of luck!!
Wow, great news! Based on your description, I'm definitely interested in reading it :)
Congratulations. I hope all your hard work pays off and that I have the opportunity to read it someday.
Excellent news looking forward when the book comes out!
Good luck Pat, looking forward to reading it.
That's awesome! Congrats!
That sounds great, thanks for sharing this! Best of luck to you!
Congrats for your progress. I am having your blog as Start page since forever (that time GRRM recommended you in his Not a blog), but missed (forgot over time?) that your are writing books. You said you had a long break. Are your previous books published/ available?
Sadly, no. We were not able to sell the rights for my first two novels. Close but no cigars, as they say.
I did edit an anthology for Subterranean Press about a decade ago, but that's it so far.
I am crossing my fingers for you. Great News! I hope I get to read it sometime soon.
That's great news. I hope it can get edited and published. Good luck with the next steps
That's fantastic news Patrick can't wait to get my hands on a copy when it's released!!!
I will most certainly buy and read this Pat, well done!
Very happy for you Pat, well done and best of luck.
Haven't been by in a few years, so thought I'd catch up by browsing the archives, and really glad to see this. If nothing else, writing a fantasy novel shows you just how hard it is, and you can better appreciate the skill that goes into every book, in even the smallest ways, like getting a character out of a room. Since you've already written two novels, it's no wonder your reviews have always been insightful. Congrats on this achievement and I hope we'll hear more about it.
Post a Comment