First, you might have noticed, the title changed. Jethro 5 is now titled Gods of War. I had the original title long before I wrote the First A.I. War. While writing J5 I got into A.I. names and realized Ares God of War wasn't appropriate.
Second, I have finished the first draft just before a rather late lunch today. It is 564 pages so far, I expect it to top out over 570 by the time I add the TOC, edits, and back matter.
I was told by some of the betas, plus other people that I should split the book. Have act I and II as 1 book, act III as the second. There is a lot going on in the third act, it is... 31 chapters long. lol Usually I have it at 15 chapters.
There are 2 endings.
If you want to know why, go over to the Facebook Fan Group. Remember to vote!
I've been told that the feeding frenzy is slowly picking up speed. I've already gotten the first nips from some of the betas. lol
I've got a ton of edits to wade through, some other corrections, and Wayne's act II edits, plus spell checking act III before I farm it out to the first of the betas tomorrow or Wednesday. It should be interesting how it goes. :)
It should also be interesting to see who among the betas (other than Wayne) who lines up first to read it. :)
Third: I am going to do the cover art later this week then look at working on that Sluggyfreelance.com guest strip I pitched to Pete Abrams and Mechmaster a while back. I might take a couple weeks to play with that.... depending on how it goes and how the temperature is. (I hate rendering when it is 100+ ouch, which it will be all week! GRR!) I am not sure when I'll get around to more content for the wiki. We'll see.
Fourth: Given that J5 took a bit long to write I can't guarantee it will be out next month. Maybe. Highly doubtful though.
Fifth: There were a lot more retcons than expected. I didn't realize I stepped on my... ahem, anyway, confession time... (tugging on collar) ...I messed a few things up in writing Pirate Rage and Retribution. Getting them sorted out has been a headache.
Sixth: The next book is up in the air again. I said I'd do Shelby Logan's adventures but I'm seriously tempted to go back and play with the short stories in the Foundation time period.
Yay! with baited breath...thank you, thank you...and I just looked at FB....LIVE, I vote LIVE....LIVE.....LIVE (that is a vote for LIVE in case I was being too subtle)....I can hardly wait!!! Keep that fertile brain of yours cranking!!! thanks!
ReplyDeleteLIVe also, and Shelby Logan's adventures sound's like a good one
ReplyDeleteLol
ReplyDeleteI've passed the first version to the first 2 Betas. We'll see what they say.
The short stories have been hit and miss, the last collection was good in parts, but spent way too much time beating the same horse or should I say planet? It's made me wary of anthologies.
ReplyDeleteYou basically have 3 story lines running concurrently and sprawl is an ever present danger. Adding a 4th with Shelby is great, but the anthologies thrown in here and there need to flesh things out without being bloated.
By the way, Weber's latest Honorverse e-arc is an 800 page work of bloat in need of a lot of editing and justification for the book. Don't become that guy, other than the sales part.
Yes, shorts can be hit or miss. I agree. And yeah, sometimes I get carried away with a theme.
DeleteI have 3 concurrent story lines so far. Shelby will add a fourth but hers will be off on her own tangent with only some minor cross over to the others for a while.
Weber: The latest book, you aren't talking about A Call for Vengeance are you? The actual Honoverse one? I know there is a new Shadow one, Shadow of Victory which is the sideline not the main line. Yeah, I tried to read the first 19 chapters on Baen and got lost.
The latest Shadow book, which started with a thanks to someone for all the Slavic naming convention, now that's a clear warning sign when the author is using names and phrases he doesn't know himself.
DeleteThere was nothing wrong with the stories in the anthologies in of themselves, sometimes editing means being told, delete that or save it for later. Especially important in a collection of stories.
The voting seems overwhelmingly LIVE. Hope the betas note that. As for the short stories, I agree. They offer a great way to flesh out your main story lines without full blown books or character development that takes away from a main story line in a primary story arc. If you are hinting that Shelby is going to be a primary arc, does this mean that the Admiral/President is now going to be a passive secondary?
ReplyDeleteYes Shelby will have her own arc. She's going to be off on a tangent though, not really influencing the main story for the moment.
DeleteIrons has been a passive secondary for a while. I can't have him off doing stuff since he's the President. People sort of frown at putting their head of state in the firing line. (okay, most people do)
But he's going to have some stuff going on in The Gathering Storm.
Awesome, dude! You must have a HUGE white board to keep all the moving parts synch'd up. Plus having the strategic story lines kept straight. Bravo! I can hardly wait for J6 opps, I meant j5, but 6 is not bad either! hint hint...the 'force' is strong in that one....hint hint...live live...if only for the comic relief of him coping with his kittens growing up and driving him crazy! LOL...
DeleteYeah that might be interesting but I would think that it would take a bigger time skip than what I am projecting for J5. (I have only read act 1 so far so I only have a guess on time span J5 covers.) Though I also agree that I would like to see Irons more active. He was one of the main reasons I got into the series in the first place.
DeleteOK, can't wait to read it
ReplyDelete