I take it as a high compliment when folks ask, “When can we expect your next book?” I look at self-published YA writers like Cookie O’Gorman and Kelsie Stelting and marvel at the number of books they write. They write YA series books that are not for everyone, but I have read a few to see what they are doing. The books are clean, each is different, well done, and come out with great regularity. And, they are selling.
So, back to the question, “When can we expect your next book?”
The Ship from Wolfskill has been done for three years. It did a short stint on the query trail and was honored by the first agent who saw it requesting a Full—two years ago. So why don’t I publish it? The answer is simple: it is not ready.
You may wonder what would have happened if the agent had offered representation? Well, after panicking, I would have gone into a frenzy of checking, re-reading, tweaking, and revising. The truth is, I never expected an agent to request a Full. I only wanted to see if The Ship from Wolfskill would garner any traction.
Helpers
My critique partners have been through the book, so here I am, reading it to myself. Reading it out loud to my wife. Running it through Grammarly. Running it through Hemingway. Having my wife read it. (again) Having Donna read it. (again)
I am not advertising for Grammarly, but it catches errors I have looked at ten times and not noticed. I am not advertising for Hemmingway, but it helps point out “hard to read sentences.” Hemingway used to bark at me for too many adverbs. Apparently, I have been cured of my propensity for adverb sprinkling.
Calming Influence
I am a happy guy who is extra happy in the mornings. Some mornings I tell Ruth, “I going to get Wolfskill out pretty soon.” As she has done for over fifty years, she says, “Don’t rush it, Honey. Members of the Cast is right, and you want this one right, too.”
This is sage advice. So, I tell my readers who ask when my next book is coming out, “I am working on it.” If it were only January, I could say, “It will be out in the cough-cough quarter of this year.”
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