It is done. I finished writing on Thursday.
This is the point I've come to think of as “end of principal photography.” Quite a lot of editing and post-production remains. (And probably more than a few pick-ups and reshoots.) But I no longer have to suffer the terror of coming in every morning to face the blank page. (Yeah – it never goes away.) And I no longer have to rent my entire head out as a full-time story engine/narrative designer/idea generator/character arc developer/plot problem fixer/dialogue polisher. I can actually just take a run and enjoy it – thinking about whatever I damn well please.
The freedom is delicious.
As usual, the task was cognitively all-consuming – to the point where most of what I could manage outside of it was, maybe, spooning some gruel up to my mouth in the evenings. (This has made me a rather poor friend, brother, son, and partner. This is also a very poor excuse. But it's the one I've got.) I was definitely trying some harder things (again) – and maybe even pulled some of them off. That was part of the thrill of getting to the last page: all my set-ups seemed, somehow, actually to pay off. I could hardly believe it. And, again, the feeling of relief was just sublime.
Here's a sneak preview of Glynn's awesome cover for the book (which you're only seeing here, and definitely first).
We also have some super-special – and extra-super-secret – surprises for Arisen readers around launch time (again, mentioned nowhere but here). Basically, between now and Christmas is going to be a heck of a ride, and perhaps the Age of Arisen.
Or it might be said… we are building our Empire.
