Sunday...

In preparation for the release of the new book, I've slashed the prices of all my e-books on smashwords.com. Check out the new prices here: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/gwernin

Thursday...

Updated the graphics and ordered the first hard-copy proof to see how they look. There will certainly be at least one more proof round after I get the rest of the proofreaders' feedback, but in the meantime this will let me see what else (if anything) I need to change. Proof copies are also useful as ARCs for reviewers, so it's not a loss.

-GRG

Wednesday...

Just a quick post to display the back cover copy for the new book:


The printed version will also have the bar code, isbn, etc in the lower right hand corner.

-GRG

Tuesday...

After a couple of days off, I've been back at work on the new book. The proofreaders are busily reading, and so far only finding minor typos. Today I finalized the back cover, and have uploaded the project onto Lulu, pending final revisions of the text file. As soon as I get that, I'll order the first proof copy. Next comes the text reformatting for the e-books on smashwords and the process of feeding that through their converter - say another week, all told. If all this goes well, I should have pre-release copies for reviewers before the end of October!

New pictures next time...

=GRG

Wednesday...

The second draft is finished and has gone to the proofreaders. At this rate I should have the e-book version of The Druid's Son out by Samhain, and the hard copy available before Christmas, on Lulu if not on Amazon etc. Still a lot of work to do, though - finish the map and the other front matter (copyright page, etc), incorporate whatever changes the proofreaders find, finish the back cover design, reformat everything for the e-book version, tweak the hard copy version and get it uploaded to Lulu... etc, etc, etc! Oh, and work on finding reviewers and doing other publicity stuff.

After that I may take a brief break before starting on Gwernin's next book...

New publicity item: business card sized handout for the book:




-GRG

Friday...

Spent last weekend at the Long's Peak Scottish / Irish Festival (aka highland games) in Estes Park, Colorado. We had excellent weather for a change, too. Then Tuesday a weather system moved through and gave Denver twelve hours of much needed slow rain - I haven't needed to water for a couple of days.

I'm still working on the second draft of The Druid's Son. So far I've only found a couple of short sections which needed some rewriting, along with a large number of minor changes. The latter includes things like making sure spelling of names and capitalization of certain words is uniform, checking moon phase / time correspondences, etc. I know there are a couple of sections in the next two chapters which will need revision / expansion, and one or two minor loose ends I need to deal with, but on the whole everything is on track to go to my proofreaders by the end of the month.

Meanwhile the seasons are changing. We've started having distinctly cold nights - this morning's low by my backdoor was 40 F - and cooler days. Tuesday was particularly good in this respect, and I took advantage of the milder weather to make a small batch of chutney with some of my garden surplus (tomatoes, sweet peppers, etc.). The beans have got ahead of me, as they tend to do at this time of year, but I remember from last year that the late season mature ones make great fresh shell beans, so that's OK. Not sure how long we have before frost - probably two or three weeks, but we'll see. Time to enjoy the morning glories while they last:



-GRG

Thursday...

Behind on blogging again, but I've had some distractions. After a few days off, I've started on the second draft of The Druid's Son. Not really rewriting anything, just changing a word here or adding a phrase there. I'm also making a list as I go of things to check, change, add, explain, etc. I don't think I have any major loose ends, but there are a few threads here and there which I think need to be developed a little more or tied off more securely. So far, though, things are looking good. When I finish this draft I'll pass it on to a couple of friends who've offered to proofread it for continuity, clarity, typos, etc. While they're doing that I'll finish the map(s) and the back cover. Then it'll be time for a final draft, and a e-book friendly version to upload to smashwords. After that I'll work on getting it through Lulu and on Amazon etc. I'll also be looking for blog reviewers at that stage.

All in all, still plenty of work to do, but the e-book at least should be out before Christmas, and perhaps proof copies of the paperback as well!

Then on to the next book....

Garden picture today: pumpkin-squash hybrid (they're cross-fertile, so growing them close together results in some strange fruits sometimes).



You can see a normal dark green immature pumpkin in the background, but this fellow has been yellow from the beginning.

-GRG