Almost there

I am so nearly at the end of all the editing and other processes with my next book and it’s a curious feeling; it’s a mixture of being nervous, anxious, relieved and lost.

I’m nervous because I know that even with all the editing in the world, no book can be perfect, and for someone like me without any professional support and only my own experience and judgement to rely on, and that of my in-house critic (husband) I’m bound to have some inconsistencies and yes,, some mistakes in my new book. Maybe they will only be annoying little typos, but maybe there’s some inconsistency which even with all my read throughs I haven’t noticed? Maybe the actual story isn’t very exciting, maybe my characters are becoming irritating… Or maybe it’s all ok and I’m nervous because I’m nervous!

The extreme end of nervous is anxious, so I’m anxious because of everything I’ve mentioned in the above paragraph, but I’m also anxious because the perfect title I have for it gives away the outcome of one of the plot lines. I’m anxious because another plot has turned out to be more complex and convoluted and can’t all fit in one novel… the final answer to one of the puzzles can only be told in another book. I think I have come to a satisfactory conclusion of the first part of it, and the open-ended end of that story-line is realistic – it’s the genealogy thread and anyone who explores their family history knows that some lines of enquire are never and can never be closed! But will readers get to the end and be disappointed? Or will they be satisfied with the conclusion so far and look forward to an eventual solution?

I’m relieved because a few niggles aside, and some tidying and neatening and finishing of has to be done, and the actual book has to be topped and tailed (cover, introduction, dedication, final words back cover, blurb etc.)I am just about in view of the finishing line. What I’ve done I have done, and I declare that to all intents and purposes this story is complete. I’m beginning to feel a tiny sense of achievement – not least that I whittled the word count down from 138,000 to 114,000. This is a big lesson learned for me – I was juggling too many balls while I was writing this and I lost sight of what should have been my priority and even though I always waffle on too much, this time it was ridiculous! I repeat, a good lesson learned!

I don’t know life every writer, artist, composer feels the same when the thing they have been wrestling with is taken out of their hands and almost out of their minds? Is it a little like an empty nest syndrome? I have other little chicks of stories and projects to move on to, but I really don’t want to completely let go of this one. In the past, when I was at work and could only write one thing at once, the story would continue after I had finished writing it, and the characters would pursue their lives in my imagination. Sometimes this turned into another story with new characters, but they would still be there. Now I am planning another Radwinter story, a very different one, but there will be somewhat of a gap between the ending of this one and the events of the next.

So, nervous, anxious, relieved,lost and not a little frustrated because I still can’t pin down a title!

Here is a link to my books – I would love you to read them, and please let me know what you think; I would appreciate a comment on Amazon too! Thanks so much!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lois+elsden