Here are the facts:When I started writing this series at the beginning of 2008 it had been almost three years since I had done work on long fiction.
I was more of a technical writer, every sentence had a period and thoughts were rigidly separated.
I didn't expect anyone else to enjoy the material I turned out for practice at the beginning of the year (First Light Chronicles Omnibus), but I had great fun doing it.
Here's what happened:
I loved the storylines that sprung out of the three novellas contained within the Omnibus so much that I started the unlimited series; Spinward Fringe. To my surprise people enjoyed the First Light Chronicles so much that they wanted more and enjoyed Resurrection, Awakening and Triton.
So MobiPocket took me on as an independent publisher and people started reading these high technology science fiction novellas on their blackberries, other cellphones, ebook readers and laptops. Now that's a happy irony! These books are perfectly suited to small devices as far as I'm concerned. The books have sold quite well for something available mostly on a fringe market (eBooks are still quite unpopular compared to the printed, tree wasting kind), and I'm so happy to have an audience for more Sinward Fringe novellas/novels so I can easily justify more novellas and novels.
The problem:
It had been almost a year to the day since I started writing this series and I needed a refresher. I remembered what happened in the First Light Chronicles, don't get me wrong, but I needed to go through the books once more to clear up some vagaries and make sure I wasn't leaving any minor plot strands dangling loose.
Even though my editor has been through the First Light Chronicles, I also wanted to make sure that there weren't any rough edges left. You know, sentences and paragraphs that were correct, but not smooth. So, another read through / edit was required before I moved on.
The result:
I've enjoyed re-reading the First Light Chronicles, and yes, there were a few squarish sentences and points that needed a little more explanation. I'm happy to say that those have been all rounded out and expanded. Have there been major changes? No! The worst thing I could do is go back and make sweeping (or minor), plot changes that would chance the universe and stories I've already told. The edits I made were actually quite minor, and I can honestly say that I've done everything I wanted with these books.
The Future:
I'm going to take this week to revisit the Spinward Fringe Series; Resurrection, Awakening and Triton. I know Resurrection needs some polish and there are some details I absolutely need to have straight before I go on and finish my work on Spinward Fringe Frontline.
About Fronline:
Spinward Fringe Fronline, simply put, takes all the charm, excitement, characterization and plot craft that you've seen in the First Light Chronicles and the Spinward Fringe series thus far and draws from it. Everything that was exciting and compelling about those novellas (all six of them), is getting pressed into this book just so I can tell the story contained in Frontline properly. I'm not finished, I actually had to take a break at page 166 so I could take this backwards look then make the next mighty leap forward.
I'm hoping to have Spinward Fringe Fronline (the seventh book), completed by Christmas, but if I miss my date it'll be on MobiPocket in January 2009. It's been a great year, and reviewing it this way is a fantastic method of preparing to write in the next.
Amazon.com?
After all that's finished I'll be sending all the books to Amazon.com, where they'll offer copies of the printed book for sale. They're going to use their own presses to print copies as people order them and apply the same specials / shipping savings to my books as they do to everything else they offer on their site. Everyone will finally have a good, trustworthy, well known online store to order printed books from, maybe even in the UK!
So stay tuned, there's more Spinward Fringe news to come!
RL
Oh, about the Afterword that will be added to the First Light Chronicles Omnibus; it's with my Editor and THAT will be out before Christmas. I know, it's not much compared to another Spinward Fringe Novel, but it's the best I can do at the moment, unless someone manages to add an hour or two to our restrictive 24 hour days...
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