I have just finished the final edits (on my end) of Dead to Rites, the second volume of Jake and the Dynamo.
As usual, the process took me (embarrassingly) longer than I predicted. Although this phase was supposed to be just proofreading for final edits, I ended up deleting a scene, fixing some minor inconsistencies, shuffling a few other scenes around … you know how it goes.
Nonetheless, this book required less extensive reworking than the previous one did, which means I was able to dedicate most of this time to the nitty-gritty points of grammar and style—and that means a better experience for the reader.
If the publishing process is the same as last time, the galley will appear on my desk just once more, asking for my approval after it goes through a final round of someone else’s edits. Then my work on it is done.
I’m jumping from this straight into my next project, which is producing the final, submission-worthy draft of Rag & Muffin. I previously intended to work on my Christmas novel Son of Hel first, but after I realized how much research it will require, I decided to finalize this other novel that’s already written instead.
If things go as planned, I will have two books out this year and two out next year. That’s not exactly pulp speed, admittedly, but it is at least better than average.
Roffles Lowell is also working on the illustrations. I couldn’t resist, in the header, showing this detail from one of the pictures he’s sent me (I will have to struggle to resist showing them all before the book is published). This is not the first time he’s drawn Dana Volt in her non-magical form, but I think it’s the first time he’s drawn her as such for a book illustration, and I love it.
