It is six days until my new novel, Radwinter is available on Amazon… and I’m getting a little nervous now. I think it is the best thing I’ve written… But what will my readers think?
I have been working really hard on it, and last night I went to bed very tired. The writing is hard, but it’s fun, when my mind is engaged and the characters are busy leading their lives it is exhausting but exhilarating to write. However, the editing is not such fun; I have been through the text several times now, checking and re-checking, not just the spellings, grammar, punctuation, but the factual side of it, because part of the story is set in the nineteenth century. There are parts where a different language is used and I am very lucky because I have two kind friends from those countries who have helped me make sure I’ve used the correct language… does that intrigue you? I hope so!
The novel is divided up into what might be called chapters, but they are dated as if Thomas, the ‘voice’ of the novel is writing notes on his research. I highlighted the dates as headings in bold and I also used bold in other parts too. I inserted the cover, and the first pages of title, thanks, dedications, copy-write, etc., which I put in a different sized font to make them stand out. Then I downloaded it onto my Kindle to check through and make sure it looked OK… just as well I did because the font was so massive that the title, Radwinter, went over three pages! So back to the text and changing all the font sizes back to normal, underlining the date chapter headings so they stand out… and doing lots of other bits and pieces…
There are good and not so good things about self-publishing… editing is hard and boring, and anxiety inducing… but I hope I do it carefully enough to help my readers fully enjoy Radwinter!
Lois Elsden 