Friday, December 7, 2012

Splitsville

I need a vacation.  While an all expenses paid excursion to a tropical paradise would not be turned down, it is not the kind of trip I'm going to take right now.  It's time to go back home to Solstice and check on all my friends, see if they missed me.

I have missed them, but I have stayed away from the series for months now because I've needed to focus on promoting The Last Prospector.  That cause is not being abandoned, do not fear, but I do need to finish editing the second book.

Here's the thing, books one and two were originally one REALLY LONG book.  Two months of daily writing had earned me nearly 900 pages of story, all of which needed to be there.  Once I finally realized the actual size my debut novel would be, I panicked because that was a lot of commitment on the part of a reader for a new author.

Then came the agonizing decision to split the book in half, I fussed and fretted for many days because there didn't seem to be a natural break anywhere in the middle.  After a great deal of thought and much trial and error, I did find that break but it needed to bolstered a bit.  I added some chapters and, in the end, was much happier with the final product because this first book is now all about Prospector.

However, most people in my circle know about the book splitting thing, they know that it is pretty much ready to go and have been asking about it more and more lately.  Which I'm taking as a very good sign, by the way, they read the first one and want more.  More is one of my favorite words, so how can I deny them?

So far, each new book in the series starts just before the ending of the previous book, so Travellers & Tramps picks up right after Amlyn Logialle finds the orange baby.  The world of Solstice really opens up in the second installment; we meet the caravaners and one of my favorite characters, Billo Karn.  Billo was named for my all time favorite teacher in college but looks suspiciously like David Tennant, mostly because I think David Tennant would look AMAZING with bright blue hair.

Book two is much more about Soleila and Awnyx, but Prospector and Tonyo are still prominent.  They have a road to build and Prospector has a destiny to meet; perhaps it is at the end of that road.  No spoilers here friends, you'll have to wait and see.  Travellers & Tramps has more adventure, more action, than The Last Prospector and some heart strings will be tugged, but it's a great story that I can't wait for everyone to read.

Especially my mother in law, she is gonna love this.

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