Sunday, December 11, 2011

Expendable Few Draft Completion

The Expendable Few novella has become a small novel, and I'm finished drafting. I had several goals and a story to tell with this book, and I think I've accomplished what I set out to do.

Now I'm doing my last editorial pass, and sending chapters to both my editors as I finish polishing. The Expendable Few became a very difficult project. Some chapters took several weeks to think through, and I've never had a short work generate so much cut material. The cut material isn't the result of sloppy writing, most of it was experimental content that didn't work for the story, the characters, or it took the book in the wrong direction.

Like any experimental work, I was actually a little afraid to finish it, and I'm terrified to release it. History has shown me that, as long as my editor(s) sign off on the story, the book will do well, but the jury is still out.

I expect to finish my pass early this week, and the editors are already getting new chapters. Here's hoping that this book meets their standards. If it does, I may be looking at a release around Christmas Day. If the editors tell me it needs a little more work on my end, I expect it'll come out in late January or February.

After Expendable Few is finished I'm taking a month off to clear my head. For the last few months my brain has been occupied with the Expendable Few and Broadcast 7. I've taken some great notes that will help me finish 7,  but I want to clear my head before I sit down and edit what I have, then get to work on the second half of that book. I'm glad I wrote Expendable Few, it was instrumental in figuring out a few things for Broadcast 7 and beyond.

I'll share the editor's verdict once they share their thoughts.

Thank you for your patience,

RL

8 comments:

Molly said...

YAY! Hopefully, this will be a Christmas Present for all of us! Cant wait to finally read the rest of the story.

Scott ~Night Hawk~ Schneider said...

woo that will be one of the best Christmas presents to get this sure if it is able to come out :) looking forward to it :)

Cmptrwhz said...

This would be such a great Christmas present for......... myself lol. I also can't wait for 7 to be released.

AndyLeonard said...

Enjoy your time off, sir. You deserve it. Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

I just had a out-of-the-blue question. How do you separate fantasy from scfi. It seems that some of my favorite fantasy books are in the scfi section and vice versa.

Randolph Lalonde said...

How do you separate scifi from fantasy?

That IS an excellent question.

RL

KleverKilva said...

Easy, simply say that your mind powers are technological instead of magical

RUlaughing2 said...

I started reading the first Spinward Fringe book about 3 weeks ago. I just finished number 6 and find myself frustrated waiting for more. Thank you Mr Lalonde for inviting me into this turbulent Universe. Although fraught with peril, it's a wild ride.