In two months, my first self-published novel will be out.
Well, at least it will be at the time I write this blog. It’s titled Grayson’s Magical Mishaps and is part of the Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch collaboration – eleven Urban Fantasy romances written by gay authors.
I usually spend years on a novel but this one needed to be completed in five months. Part of this is my fault because I was still finishing a draft of another project for several months when I could have started this one.
Right now we are in Brisbane, halfway through a trip visiting family, but before we left, the beta readers gave me their feedback. Then, rewrites were completed and some scenes were dropped, while several new chapters were developed.
I finished the third draft of Grayson before our holiday.
So as we packed our bags, many of the earlier scenes were polished while the later scenes were still brand new.
During our first two brief stops, it rained constantly. We couldn’t do any sightseeing so I took the opportunity to tweak some scenes. Once we were in our AirBnB in Brisbane (where we stayed for ten days), I decided it best to read the novel right through again before reworking the newer scenes.
I was able to read half the book in one sitting, and another quarter in the next. Then I had insomnia at 3 a.m. so I took the opportunity to read the last forty pages until an argument began next door. This dispute spilled onto the street and soon, the police arrived. After that I tried to review at least twenty pages until I was sleepy.
I finished my read through in the days that followed.
It’s worth noting that we also brought books to read on this trip. I have only a quarter left to go of Stephen King’s The Shining, while Holden Sheppard’s King Of Dirt is waiting for me. Neither have been touched while I work to my deadline.
As I was reviewing the new final chapter of my novel, I realised I made a big mistake. The scene takes place in the home of Milo’s mother (Milo is Grayson’s love interest) but somehow I reimagined the layout of her house. The kitchen moved close to the front door instead of being way down the other end, as it is in three other scenes.
With nearly two weeks to go on this trip, I’m at a stage where only four chapters need work. Those scenes have been individually copied as four new word docs, and are in their own folder in my laptop. There is a txt document outlining what changes need to be made to each. With luck, I’ll find time on this holiday to rework them, but if not, I will make time when we get home. Then Grayson will be ready for my editor.
With two months before publication, I’m confident.
I have a good comedy novel with only several scenes to fix.
If you’d like to pre-order an eBook copy of Grayson’s Magical Mishaps, please CLICK HERE.
kevin klehr 