The Music of the Spheres

Almost Done

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So I’m about one to two chapters away from finishing The Music of the Spheres. So glad to have this one (nearly) complete. I’m guessing one or two more days and it’ll be done. I’ll send an email out to those of you on my mailing list, inviting you to take a look at an Advance Reader Copy once I’ve gone through it a bit myself, first. There’s a few characters who haven’t said anything in awhile, and I don’t want them just to be window dressing for the main action, so I have to sidle up to them and listen to their thoughts and words for a bit. Nothing that’ll put me off finishing it, though.

Once I’m satisfied and have sent out copies to the ART (Advance Reader Team), I’ll make it available for pre-purchase on Amazon. Expect this no later than February, though it may be sooner, depending on how long it takes for the team to get back to me.

Hard to believe I started this novel wa-ay back in 2013! I did get stuck somewhere around the middle of it, where my preliminary outline broke down. In fact, if I hadn’t had the time during my trip to Guatemala last August to look at it again, I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish it at all. Sometimes, the ideas just take awhile to simmer.

I do anticipate at least two more Jonathan Munro Adventures in the future. I have no idea when I’ll get at them. I know many of you are waiting for the last mile of Jefferson’s Road, and I promise it’s next on the list. I do work on it periodically, but there’s nothing like finishing a book to keep me distracted. In all fairness, MOTS has been waiting a lot longer than We The People, so it’s only right that I wrap it up.

Besides, looking at the way so many have responded positively to Nicholas, I thought it might be wiser to make available another Christian adventure novel before all that Christmas goodwill evaporates like snow in Spring.

Just a Quick Update

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I thought I’d just give you a quick update. This past week not only have I started writing regularly again, I’ve also renewed tracking my day to day output. I’ve discovered this is a very effective way of exercising the necessary discipline to write.

I’ve taken the remaining four and a half months of the year and divvied them up–giving myself one month per book. For the half month remaining of August (’cause I started about a week ago), I expect to write upwards of 1,070 words per day–every day. This should give me just over 86K words by the end of the month, which should be enough to finally put A More Perfect Union to bed.

September I’m wrapping up The Music of the Spheres, the next Jonathan Munro Adventure. I’ve scheduled only 683 words per day to finish this book, bringing it also to 86K words. October will see the end of The Blood-Eater Coven, the second book in the Dragon’s Eye Cycle, which has been lingering far too long on the shelf. I need 1,059 words per day to wrap it up. November I’m working on Wizard Sky Pirates!, aiming for 1,411 words per day to finish it at 100K words. Or so. Then, finally in December, I’ll finish New World Order: Anarchy, which needs exactly 1,500 words per day to complete it by December 31st.

Given that National November Writing Month trains writers to churn out 1,667 words per day, each of these is attainable. Rather easily, in fact. Okay, maybe not “easily,” but especially given how few words I need to write in September, I have a feeling I’ll be able to get a jump start on these other books to wrap them all up by the end of the year.

So that’s the plan. And I really do believe that daily tracking of my writing goals is the key to completing projects quickly. This is what I’ve attained so far this week:

And I’m not done.

Total words per day
14-Aug 68,225 1,481
15-Aug 69,331 1,106
16-Aug 70,497 1,166
17-Aug 71,930 1,433
18-Aug 72,552 622
19-Aug 73,802 1,250

I reached my target today and then some. I’m already 432 words ahead of where I need to be.

Feels good to be writing again.