Tempting Fate - Schedule for Release



Last week I wrote the words "The End" on the rough draft of Tempting Fate. I'm deep in the rewriting phase now, so I haven't properly stepped back yet to see the significance of those words. Frankly, they don't mean, "The End" yet.  They mean something closer to "good job, now you have something to sink your teeth into."

This is not to say there aren't bite marks all over the rough draft. The early parts were written over a year ago, and there are whole sections I grin while reading. "Really? I wrote that? That's cool." There are scenes I know are missing because I didn't stop to add them during the mad rush to the finish, when a sudden direction change made them necessary. And, as I work through the rough draft, I find the threads I wove into the design that now need to be pulled all the way through.

So, here's the scoop on Tempting Fate:

Rough Draft - completed.
First Draft - revisions in process and happening quickly.

First Draft to Editor, then notes and revisions - A crucial part, and the first time anyone but me will have read the entire draft as a novel. Does it hold together? Are there any holes that I can't see because I'm too close? Do you believe it? Care?

Second Draft to Beta Readers, then notes and revisions - Again, vital. Some of those readers have read Marking Time multiple times, more recently than I have, and believe me, if something doesn't work, I'll hear about it.

Final Draft to editor and copy editor - Apparently I'm a major rule-breaker about capitalization. I'm debating writing my own rules.

At this point, the e-book will be ready to convert to an html doc and upload for publication, so I'll create that file separately. Then I need to do the interior book design on the print book (font size, page margins). Only when I have a final page count can the full cover be finished, since the spine measurement is down to centimeters.

Then, finally, publication. Whew!

So, while I don't have an actual date for publication yet, I anticipate it'll be ready to go in June. I'll start getting busy with the blurbs and promotions after the first draft is done, so I apologize in advance for the hype that's forthcoming. To all the readers who haven't been flogging me out loud to get this book done, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your patience. And to the floggers... well, I know who you are. And I love you.

If anyone is interested in getting an advanced reader copy of the e-book for review on blogs, Amazon and Goodreads, please message me directly and I'll put your name on the list.

And in the meantime, back to work.

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