I haven’t made as much progress as I wanted this month. I got sick again! Plus I’ve been recovering at home from a minor procedure – nothing important, but it still stopped me from sitting at my desk for a little while. I did finish one chapter and started the next, which I thought was the next to last chapter, but realized there is actually two more after it to complete Book 2 of the novel.

Also, as I was writing, the timing of the journey hit me as wrong, which caused me to dig out the maps again to replot the end of the journey. I have them taking a whole day to travel a distance that could be covered in a couple hours, unless there where obstacles on the road, but I didn’t write any in. So I have to make a little change there, one way or the other – either add some obstacles or have them arrive further down the road. That’s what I’m working on now.

I also don’t know if I’ve mentioned the writing program I’ve been using. Like everyone, I started out on Word, but as the book got larger, it was just too cumbersome to find a spot in the body of it if I needed to make a change. So I switched to Scrivener. I like Scrivener, there is space to keep everything related to the book, from notes to maps, the cover, front and back matter. And once I learned it, it worked well. But I found with my short stories that it didn’t format the stories well for KDP – I had to convert them back to Word and reformat them (sometimes multiple times) to upload them to Amazon/KDP. That seemed counter-productive and a lot of unnecessary work. So I heard about a newer program called Atticus and I’ve been giving that a try. I like it. Like Scrivener, everything is broken up by chapters, so I can easily find a section that needs correcting or changing. There is a place for all the front and back matter, along with the cover. I don’t think I can upload my maps, but to be honest, I like the feel of working from a paper copy that I can mark up and make notes on. And the program is supposed to allow me to get the book into a publishable format with the click of one button. I’m still learning Atticus and I haven’t tried to format anything, or export it anywhere yet, but I will be exporting what I’ve completed to my editor soon, so I’ll see how that works for me.

I want to ask my readers something. How do you feel about chapters having titles? I read all kinds of books and some have that and others just number them. I’ve noticed that titling chapters is more common with fantasies, which this book is (Dystopian Fantasy, I would say). So far, I have titled each chapter with a glimpse or clue of what to expect, such as: The Neighborhood, Medical Emergency, or Final Plans. What do you think about that? Use the contact button to give me your opinion. Thanks!

Hopefully, my April update will show I’ve completed more writing – no procedures planned, no more sickness, and the ambition to get this done!

I have made some progress on the novel. I’ve finished another two chapters and I am only two chapters from the end of Book 2 of the novel. I also had to do some new map research, which took a little time getting reacquainted with Google Earth, which of course, has changed since I used it last. But I got it done and printed the necessary map pages, which I needed for the current traveling in Book 2 and will need the details (a large printed map) for Book 3. I also added a few characters, or actually re-introduced characters from an earlier chapter. I realized that they were part of the journey and have an important role in Book 3.

So I am getting the first two books of the novel ready for my editor to review while I finish the last third (Book 3). I am pretty excited with the progress I’ve made and the direction the story is going.

I also hired a designer to do the cover, which I am pleased with. I’m not revealing it here though, that will only be revealed on my Newsletter – Writing Whispers – shortly before the book goes out as a Pre-order. So if you want to see the cover ahead of time, sign up for the newsletter (and get a free short story!). I also think I will be releasing Generation Zee as an ebook and as a paperback, hopefully early in April.

And I have made some social media decisions. I have deactivated my X account – to be honest, I was never too thrilled with it and wasn’t really planning on using it. So instead, I have signed up with BlueSky (@seknightauthor) and with Threads (@seknightauthor). I haven’t started using them yet, but once the book is ready for publication, I will be posting there and on Facebook and Instagram with book trailers and author trailers. So stand by for that!

All of that has gone on while I’ve been fighting another bout of a viral infection with a horrible cough. This has been a very rough winter! I am looking forward for some warmer weather and walking outdoors to clear away the cobwebs AND the germs!

I have to admit I haven’t gotten as much done as I wished. But between health (a cold that will just NOT go away plus a bout with Norovirus) and just the blahness of winter, I haven’t been as motivated as expected. But I have made some progress.

I managed to get past a tricky section of Generation Zee: rethinking and deciding not to kill off a character, instead having a miraculous recovery, which will be important later in the story. Plus adding another group of characters (or more precisely, bringing them back from earlier in the story) to play an important role towards the end. And I had the cover redesigned.

A contractor that had contacted me through Facebook, one of many, offered to do a cover for me at a reasonable price, with the hope of future work from me. I liked the way she presented herself, professional and using proper English in her communications with me (an absolute pre-requisite for me). In order for her to design a new cover, she had to see the old one and I had to write up a synopsis for her so she could pull relevant things from it to add to the cover. That was a first for me.

So after many emails back and forth she created a cover that I am very pleased with. But I will not be sharing that new cover here. I am only going to share it on my newsletter. So if you want to see it ahead of publication, get a free short story and hear about my writing process and other updates, sign up for it here:

https://subscribepage.io/VlXkqk

So I have gotten some writing done between the synopsis, work on the novel and new articles for my newsletter. I just haven’t moved forward with the novel as much as I would have liked. I will need to really buckle down and get it done in February!

I haven’t gotten a lot done with my writing this past month. What with holiday shopping, travel prep and the obligatory winter cold/flu (not covid, thankfully) I haven’t done a lot of writing or marketing. Things right now are somewhat at a standstill.

But both short stories are ready for editing – my editor has cleared some time for them at the end of December, so I should be ready to publish early in January. Then after Christmas I have quite a few Marketing webinars to review and some new things to try to advertise my stories. I just discovered Book Brush, which seems to have some excellent tools to build ads and marketing videos, and I am looking forward to checking them out.

I also got a little written on the novel before I got sick and before travel. I was going to kill off a character, but realized she had a part to play in the ending of the book, so decided to let her live. She was going to die from natural causes, but instead she has had a miraculous recovery, and I wrote that scene. But, of course, that delays their progress on the journey, just by a day or so, but they have no time to spare. It adds a little bit of ticking clock suspense.

After the holidays and my travel adventures are finished, I plan on knuckling down and getting the writing done. My original goal in January 2024 was to have this book published by the end of December 2024. That didn’t happen, necessitating some new goals. My updated goal for 2025 is to get this book finished by the end of March, then have it edited – I might have to find an editor and pay them as my regular editor is way too busy to edit a whole book, I’m sure – and then get it published. Also, during this final writing period I will start some preliminary advertising, to get the book out there visible to readers and develop some interest in the book. I might investigate getting copies out to some Advanced Readers to get some reviews for when it’s published. And I might do pre-orders which also helps get some reviews up before the actual publication date. Lots to plan and organize on top of actually writing the book!

I predict a busy few months ahead of me.

Whatever holiday you celebrate in December, I wish you Happy Holidays!

I’ll post again in January 2025. 😉