Monday 23 September 2013

NEW STUFF!

Hello, hello, hello, and happy Tuesday, Dear Readers! I hope everyone had a productive weekend and, if you were lucky enough to glimpse the sun, that you made an effort to get out and soak a bit of it up (through properly applied sunscreen, of course).

Today I bring some updates. First of all, Book Two of The Name of the Blade, aka Darkness Hidden, aka The Sequel That Ate My Brain is FINALLY finished, approved and off to copyedits, whhooop! No more structural changes, no more arguing minute yet vital points of character motivation, no more asking myself and my editor 'Wait, does she know that yet?' no more waking up in the night in a cold sweat crying: 'What about the tone of the first scene in chapter three?!?' The ms will, of course, be back to me in no time at all, covered in precise and picky notes in red ink - but after everything it's taken to get the book to this stage, frankly, I care not at all not at all. Tee hee!

*Jumps in the air, clicks heels together*

Onto the next thing! Remember when I told you about this anthology, to which I had been invited to contribute, and mysteriously hinted about the story I was going to tell for it? Well, having spoken about it to both the anthology editor and my U.S. editor at Candlewick Press, I can now share a few more details.

I'm hoping to tell the story of a young Akira (from Shadows on the Moon); what her life was like, how she ended up dancing for the Moon Prince at the Shadow Ball, and what happened next. The working title for this story is 'Stormclouds Fleeing from the Wind', although that may change as I go on. I'm thrilled to be able to shed light on what's always struck me as an incredibly romantic and tragic backstory, which sprang from one of my all-time favourite characters ever. I know from talking to readers that many of you love Akira as much as I do, and are really keen to know more about her. So I'm also a little tense and apprehensive about writing this. It's a lot of pressure; Akira deserves the best. This has to be goooood.

I have a clear stretch of time from now until the 31st of October, when I'll be heading off to World Fantasy Con in Brighton, and I hope to get at least the rough draft finished before then. Wish me luck with it, my duckies.

Which brings me onto the next thing: The Name of the Blade Book Three! Soon (soon, my precious!) I will be able to concentrate my full attention and love on this trilogy ender which I adore sossososososo very much. I cannot wait. I've got just over 50% of this drafted and a very clear idea of how everything should proceed but still - wish me luck with that as well, OK? I left the ms at a really tricksy moment and I'm hoping I'll be able to enmesh myself back into it all again without too much rending of hair and garments. I normally find the middle and ending of a book much easier and more enjoyable to write than the beginning, but you know trilogies. They don't always follow the rules. And this is going to be pretty emotional to finish. You guys literally have no idea what... er. Hmmm. Spoilers. Never mind.

*Evil laughter*

Anyhoo, that's what-up with me. What about you? Share in the comments!

9 comments:

Q said...

I'm still indebted to you for the good daily writing habit I started in July. After I set my more intense goal of 750 words 6 days/week, I kind of feel unstoppable––the WIP is at almost 42k words, most of which got done in the last month. Making and keeping goals is very empowering!

Amy said...

That all sounds great, good luck with book three! And I can't wait to read about Akira :D

Zoë Marriott said...

QL Whooot! I'm so pleased to hear that - but you need to give yourself the credit, because you're the one whose dedication and hard work has gotten those 40,000 odd words down on paper. Good luck with finishing!

Amy: Thanks! Still working on an overly detailed OCD outline for the story, even though it's only supposed to be 2k words long!

Isabel said...

SO excited about the short story!!

Zoë Marriott said...

Isabel: Eeep. Ahem. I will do my best!

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

I LOVE the idea of hearing more about Akira! Definitely one of my favourite characters.

Zoë Marriott said...

Clover: Akira is so fun to write, but challenging too. Each word that comes out of her mouth is backed up by about a page of deep thoughts. I'm really going to have to be tough to make this story stay on the word limit!

Rebecca Lindsay said...

I can't wait to read about Akira! :D
I have definitely been falling behind with your blog. I moved to Canada (from Scotland) three weeks ago to study for a year and everything is all over the place.
Are any of your books published in Canada?

Zoë Marriott said...

Rebecca: Thank you! Of course everything is up in the air at the moment - don't worry, the blog will always be here waiting for you to catch up. All my books ought to be available in Canada through Candlewick Press.

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