I’ve had to take some time off, recently, and I’ve been using that to clean up the garden, do the weeding, transplant the plants while it’s cold and wet, and generally do repairs and maintenance and all of that. The weeds themselves were shocking. The sticky-weed not so much, since I attacked that last season and got rid of pretty much all of it, but the dandelions, grass, chickweed and the clover have gone ham. That’s what happens when you can get a break for months at a time.
There’s still more to do, but that’s not the point. The point is that the garden is looking miles better than it was, the gutter isn’t leaking any more, the lights are up in the pantry and the verandah is now a useful space instead of being a dumping ground. Progress. And that progress means I get to spend the remaining hours doing something that I love doing, which is writing.
Hence, this post. I’m happy to announce that the tenth book in the Paranormology series is now under the second draft – Somerset Gardens Ghost. Along with this, I’m making the front cover and working on the blurb nice and early. These are two things I tend to forget about until they become urgent, and then I’m freaking out. So here’s the current iteration while I’m at it:
It’s a milestone, the 10th in a series is. I’m considering making the series into a box set to this point, being such a nice, rounded number. Not only that, 10 is Joey’s favourite number, so this one is going to be a bit special. Without giving too much away, this episode sees the Professor dealing with an unusual investigation that hits too close to home. Our protagonist is directly affected, and his own inexperience and insecurity leaves him vulnerable to an evil entity.
As for a timeline, it’s currently July and I’d really, really like to get this out before October. So let’s say, then, we’ll go for October 10th. The 10th day of the 10th month at 10:10. Lock it in, Eddie. That means head down, bum up, and no slacking. There’s the usual stuff, the third draft and printed-out editing, updating the series chart, uploading via Smashword (or Draft 2 Digital, depending on how the merger is going) and all of that, but there’s also the audiobook that needs recording, proofing and publishing, the hard-cover as well, and everything else in between.
I’ll keep you posted.
