So, what’s the big news?  Well, for a start, Glass Block kicks off what could be a series of close to 50 books.  There’s a whole sub-story that’s now made itself apparent that I didn’t really think about before but makes a lot of sense.
I’m still plotting the timelines etc, but it’s all looking good.

And even bigger news – Glass Block is officially released on the 29th January!  I’m just doing final edits now.  It’s less than six days till I give it to friends to read, and then another ten until it’s out.  I’m very excited.

So, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is the dissertation is done – and that it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to write, but it was handed in happily.  With about 25 minutes to spare  It also, in the end, became the start of ‘Clone Sake’, which I’ll give you more news on in the next few days.  Well, maybe.

Glass Block is due out in just over a month – having gotten through dissertation hell, I’ve decided that the most important thing right now is to tell the story, and tell it well.  Which is what I intend to do.

The bad news?  I can’t release anything more about either of the books – Elliot is having a sulk that we’ve ‘only’ got 194 fans on Facebook, so I was wondering if those of you that hadn’t fanned me would mind adding me?  That way, I can do the big reveal, secure in the knowledge that Ell isn’t going to sulk and refuse to co-operate for the next few weeks.

This is one of those rare posts I’m going to cross post. If you think that people you know will want to see this (for example, you know that someone won’t see it otherwise) please share it.

Four months ago, I chose to start working on the final elements of Glass Block. Knowing that I should be graduating sometime at the beginning of May, and feeling pretty confident that my dissertation could be written with relative ease. (my average day right now is 6k of non fiction – it’s not difficult and it’s all highly lauded work – I then go off and fight with my fiction for a bit). I’ve often described what I do as unearthing something rather than writing – I feel like an archaeologist in my own head sometimes rather than a writer.  So the dissertation was trundling on and I got editing done on Glass Block.
And that’s where the horrible thing happened.  I’m not going to point fingers and say (x) caused this, or Y happened.  It just, all, did, and now, I’m left with a decision I don’t like.
What’s worse about this right now is that it’s the longest standing semi-intimate relationship I’ve ever had. I don’t view writing as creating a somehow being pregnant and delivering, but there is something about the characters being there, even when others aren’t. Elliot has been my constant companion for close to eight years now. He started as an idea in the bath just after I split from my ex, and grew into someone who inhabits a whole universe in my head. He and Farran, another lead ‘actor’ in my novels hang out *together* in what I fondly refer to as ‘the green room in my head’  and they talk.  They actually have conversations.  Sometimes Farran slips and forgets he’s talking to a policeman and starts talking stuff that leaves Elliot in a state of consternation, but so far, they get on quite well.

But lately, Elliot’s been a bit distant.  I’m not sure if he’s got worse stage fright than me, or if it’s the medication (I’m bipolar for those that don’t know) and he thinks he needs to shut up a bit, but editing isn’t the same without him.  On top of that, like I’ve already said, I work full-time, and then, when that’s done, I go off and write.  And there aren’t enough hours in the day.  After being awake for the third night in a row and switching between my dissertation and Elliot’s stuff while waiting for the server to come up, till 3am, I decided, with a very heavy heart that I have to postpone this.
I don’t normally talk much about some of the people I know through my work, but one of them, who for the sake of argument is called Adi , told me it goes something like this and that I shouldn’t feel so bad.

“You’re this great actress and everyone knows it, but so far all you’ve done is give back to the community and lurk.  You’ve never had a role big enough to be credited, which makes us, your fans, a bit annoyed.  So when we hear that you’re headlining on Broadway, we cheer.

Two weeks ago you announce you had laryngitis.  Ok we think, this is it, it’s going to be postponed, and we’re sad, but we know it’s not your fault.  THAT was your computer crash.  You soldier on.  rehearsals every day until your throat is raw and you’re quiet .

Today, at two weeks to go, you announce that you’re having to go do something massive – that’s your dissertation  – and you can’t do it.  We already know you’ve fought through illness.  Those of us that are real fans know that it’s not your fault, and we’ll wait.  Sometimes things just get delayed.”  Adi

Everyone’s been telling me roughly the same thing since I floated the idea of postponing.  I’m not happy about it, and everyone that knows me really well will know that I’m worried about letting people down, but I had plans for the project and they’ve slipped, one by one.

So I’m begging indulgence and encouragement – could you wait a few more months?

Thanks Bryce!

Other than that, I’m about a fifth of the way through it, and my dissertation is almost complete in its first draft form.  I’m looking at a transgressive way of viewing a certain event, which, in itself goes against many taboos, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work out – I always feel that my ‘transgressive’ stuff is very stiff and unyielding, which leads me to believe it’s bad, but it’s not – it’s just ‘arty’ I guess.

There is also a world after Glass Block – and though I dearly adore Elliot and Morri and the others, I’m going to take the rest of the year between release and Nanowrimo to work on one of several other novels.  I might finish Isolde and Wilson next, or I may find my way back to Near Earth.  What I do know is that I can’t wait for Scrivener to hit final version so I can buy a copy and really get stuck in.

First up – I’m having to do a major rethink of the edits that I had hoped were going to be light ones, which also means a major rethink on what I’m allowing to appear on the blog.  It’s difficult to explain, so instead I’m just apologizing and rethinking the promotion project.  Or, at least, delaying it.
Instead, I thought I’d talk a bit about the process of writing, the process of editing and post snippets as I’m going.  Hopefully that’s not too much of a let down, and I apologize if you’ve been hoping to explore Elliot’s world though the stories I was going to share.

And, for those interested -

The edits are going – I’m at 2 out of 14 chapters right now, but I’m having to add some major components back in after the sparse approach didn’t work – at first I thought it was OK, but after some discussions with friends, my beloved and specifically two best friends that are writers, I’ve decided to pull it ‘back’ again and work on making sure the piece has the best balance I can give it, and that the back story, of which there is quite a bit, isn’t dumped in any one place.  Basically, I’m making sure it’s all really good – and working with another editor, just to be entirely sure.  I’m still aiming to release on June 4th, which is why I’m holding the post every two days project.

One of the custom coded plugins I’m using to share the files and split them at appropriate points has devoured the content I was going to post.  Unfortunately, this is a run by blogging on my phone, so I’m going to work on getting a bumper crop of stories posted tomorrow/Sunday for you guys, and queue as much as I can for the rest of the week the ‘old fashioned’ way.  Thanks for your patience and I hope you’re looking forward to ‘The Wall’ and ‘Elliot and the Merry-go-round’ – appearing at the end of the month!

For reasons I can’t explain right now, I’ve had to pause sharing some of the stories I had planned.  Someone that was beta reading pointed out that I’m not explaining everything and that the stories don’t make sense without some of the group introductions.  Problem is, the group introductions are tied up in other case files…so I’m editing them frantically and fixing it

Sorry!

“Tell me?” he said.  Morri turned and looked at him, before bilinking, the sheen lifting slightly – her eyes shifting from unfocssed to focussed.
“It’s Jack,”

The Nano virus
Released by the Naiere cult, the nanovirus is an oddity – it creates ‘creatures’ out of fairytales out of people- with four major strains .  Elliot’s team aren’t heavily involved in that at the beginning of the universe setting, but as the books progress…..

VR – virtual reality – outlawed tech.
If you use it while jacked in, it could, theoretically infect CORTEX, so Virtual reality of all kinds was outlawed years ago.  Theoretically, everyone complied, but at least two officers in the police force have VR machines, one being Elliot….