It's September Already!
Goodness ... I can't believe it ... it's aleady the end of September. I have been writing practically non-stop since January 1st. Time flies when you're having fun. And I definitely am enjoying myself.
It all started with Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers, my ancient Egypt information book with Annick. I spent the first ten weeks of the year researching it and then writing it. Since then I've been rewriting, revising, and tweaking. The book is all but put to bed now, and then it's just a matter of waiting for it to hit the stores. Once the original draft of that was safely off to the publisher, I went full-speed ahead on the second book of the Zach & Zoe series for Lorimer. I sent the first draft of Zach & Zoe in Double Trouble off to the editor in mid-July, just in time to begin editorial revisions on Return to Bone Tree Hill, which is scheduled for release with Thistledown Press sometime around May of 2009. It took me a while to get my head around the concept the editor was trying to get me to embrace, and for a whole month I just let the manuscript sit. But once I had a plan of attack, I went at it full tilt and turned in the revised manuscript within a week. I've received the okay on the revisions, so the rest is in the hands of the publisher. A few weeks ago Annick approached me with the concept for another information book, (no title yet) and as soon as they locate an expert on pre-colonial Africa for me to work with, I'll be off and writing again. In the meantime, the editorial critique for Zach & Zoe in Double Trouble has arrived, and I'm working on those revisions. My goal is to have them done by the end of the month. The contract from Napoleon Press for The Last Superhero should have arrived by then, and if the publisher decides she wants it for a Fall/09 title, I'll have to switch gears and get moving on that.
For a change of pace, I've also put on my reviewer's cap again. I received a book in the mail a couple of days ago, accompanied with gentle urging to get the review done asap -- which I shall. As a writer, I know how important those reviews are, and it's no fun to have to wait.
So, with just three months left in 2008, I'm not anticipating any dull moments. This has definitely been a year to remember.