So… Delays

I'm not one for dragging out news, either bad or good, so I'm just gonna spit this out. The bad news? The release date for One Gray Day has been pushed out from the end of March to mid-May. Why? Well, I guess that's the good news. Now a member of The Society of Professional Editors and Proofreaders in the U.K., it appears that my editor has become someone in high demand. 

When I finished my revisions and was ready for a full copy-edit for One Gray Day, I “assumed” that I'd have a slot on her calendar, even though I’d given her no indication whatsoever as to when that might be (yep, I know, it sounds so arrogant that I'm wincing as I type). Well, guess what? It turns out that she does have other clients who DID properly book all their slots for her services. Duh.

Still, our relationship is so strong that she actually apologized to me. Can you imagine that? What a rock star. But she knows that I tend to be machinelike with production (the books), push to market (publication) and brand awareness (marketing) and when she told me that she couldn't even start working on my manuscript for another six weeks? I think she actually thought that I'd sacrifice all to meet my deadlines and go off and find another editor.

Why didn't I? Well, besides the fact that doing so would make me an ass, there's something else. So far, in this writing gig? I've learned to stay one book ahead of myself. “Write this one/Plan that one.” And, well, can I tell you a secret? My next book is a literary novel (gasp!). Already at 370 pages and only a 1/4 complete, it's going to be a book that takes me to my limits emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Not coincidentally, I'm currently reading Journal of a Novel by John Steinbeck. In it, he lays out the entire creation of his book, East of Eden, but, more importantly (and to my awe) he reveals the profound importance of his relationship with… drum roll please… his editor. 

No, I'm not comparing myself to John Steinbeck, and no, I'm not saying that I'm trying to write the next East of Eden. As a simple dude just trying to tell the next story clanging around in his head, though, I'm learning that I can't do it alone. I'm going to need a seasoned hand by my side, whom I can trust to critique the manuscript and call me out when I'm not advancing the plot, or have an underdeveloped character, or a waning narrative thrust. And yeah, someone who knows me well. In short, I need my editor. Unless, of course, she raises her prices (I put that in case she reads this:).

So, all that to say, I hope you can hang in there a little longer for One Gray Day. It is, after all, the end of a trilogy. It needs love. It needs patience. It needs to be done right. And it needs to be done shoulder to shoulder with the right person. 

As always, thanks for all your support.

Tony