Tag Archives: Power’s Shadow

Well, That’s Done

Posted on by
Our Founder

Actually, Marta came first in a short story called “Treedle.” But the Long Look was the first in the Laws of Power series. I just didn’t know it was at the time. But, unless I have some sort of divine revelation, I’ve just wrapped up both their stories. The Final Chapter and Epilogue of The Seventh Law of Power are done. In rough first draft. I still have to do the rewrite. But I usually rewrite as I go, so I don’t expect it to take that long.

I’ll post when I have a publication date. I have no excuse for taking so long to get the darn thing done.

Paperwork

Posted on by

Quick update. After finally getting the paper version of Power’s Shadow completed and live, I finally realized that, having done that, the series still wasn’t complete (as in, complete up to the final? physical book, yet to be written).  The Long Look exists only as an ebook, and the only paper copies are a few used and leftover hardcovers from its first incarnation as a Five Star Press edition.

So, to make sure the entire series will be available in paper when I finish the series, I’m putting together a new edition of the book in paperback. It’s tedious and time-consuming, but it needs to be done. I’ve made myself a promise that any future editions of anything approaching novel length will get its paper edition at the same time or darn close. Naturally, that only applies to projects I take on myself. Anything done through a trad publisher will be up to them.

There was a time when it was much easier to put together an ebook than a paper book, but with new tools and a little patience you can basically drive both editions off the same text. There’s really no more excuse for not turning both out at once. The only other exception is for books less than novel length, though I’ll have to consider those case by case.

If only writing was all I had to do, but there’s too much else that goes along with it and you can’t ignore that, either. Lord knows I’ve tried and I’m paying for it now.

Power’s Shadow, Physical Edition

Posted on by

Now the paperback edition of Power’s Shadow is live. It came together a little quicker than I was expecting, despite the fact that I had to reformat the entire manuscript and cover. Not that I’m complaining. In the process I found a few embarrassing errors that never should have been there to start with and one whopper of a continuity oops. Which goes to prove the old adage, “You haven’t edited your story until you’ve edited it stone cold.” I apologize for any past mistakes, but I do believe they’ve been fixed, in both the digital and paperback editions.

Now I’m thinking of doing the same to The Long Look, first in the series. Otherwise the physical edition is only available from third party sellers, since it’s long out of print. That way when I finally finish the fourth—and final—book in the series I’ll have everything available in both formats. Something to consider, anyway, though I do not want to get bogged down in my backlist when there are more books to write.

On an entirely separate note, I almost had fresh tomatoes this year. I picked up some heritage plants at the Cooperstown Farmer’s Museum and even got them planted in good time. First the deer damaged one plant, which lived but never bloomed. The second was doing great and had tomatoes almost ready, but then they disappeared. Poof. Gone. I don’t think it was deer this time, but I am noticing some very well-fed squirrels loitering about. Oh, well. Try again next year.

In Which I am (Dis) Organized

Posted on by

Powers-Shadow-Rough-3If you write long enough, one thing you eventually learn is that actual writing is only part of the picture. A big part of the rest is keeping up with what you’ve written, and the longer you spend in the trenches, the more of a pain keeping everything organized becomes. There are different approaches. The system I use is adapted from one L. Sprague de Camp wrote about using, and if anyone reading this has forgotten or never knew who he was, Google is your friend. Regardless, with some updating it works well enough for me. I keep five separate text files: a Works List, a Submissions List, a Sold List, a Bibliography and a Trunk List.

These are all pretty self-explanatory but I’m going to explain them anyway, if for no other reason than to remind myself how it all is supposed to work, because sometimes I am lax. Ahem. Continue reading →

Flying South

Posted on by

IMG_0377Up at 4AM to take Carol to the airport for an early flight. She’s attending a workshop down in Florida, so I’m on my own—save for Da Boyz—for the next few days. On the way back I could see several large V-formations of Canada Geese heading south as well. I won’t be. The first real snow of the season is on its way tonight. I have my studded snow tires, my snow shovels, my salt. I’m as ready, I guess, as I’m going to be.

I’m still astonished at the number of crows that call the Mohawk Valley home. On the return drive I passed a flock that I swear stretched out at least half a mile. I’ve never seen so many crows in one place before in my life.

One casualty of the dead hard drive and missing backup is that the completed manuscript for Power’s Shadow is gone. Poof. Fortunately I do have the ebook edition, but this will delay the print book for quite a while. I’m behind on The Emperor in Shadow for obvious reasons, so it has to take priority for the next few months. I still hope to see a print edition of PS, but don’t ask me when because I have no earthly idea.

On the plus side, I’ve shifted enough boxes to reach the other wall of my new office, so that’s something like progress. I have plans for wall to wall bookshelves. A man can dream.