Midsummer 2014 Update

Had a sudden spurt of productivity this week and so as of yesterday the first draft of Chapter Twenty-Three is complete. It'll be a memorable one. Together with the final two chapters it takes place within a twenty-four hour period, so we're well and truly into the climax now.

I'm extremely reluctant to set myself any kind of deadlines when it comes to writing - after all, sometimes you can knock out a chapter in a few days while other times a page takes weeks - but since the start of this year I've been fairly consistently averaging two chapters per month. (The observant among you may note that this is considerably faster than I wrote The Two Empires - I guess actually having people reading my words is a strong motivator.) On that basis it's not impossible that the first draft could be completed by the end of July, at which point I'll be be able to give you more information about it.

Having said all at, I've probably now cursed it and Chapter Twenty-Five won't be complete for another year. 

Even more speculatively, an actual release of the second book this year is looking almost feasible. I wouldn't say it's likely, though. The honest reason: it's a lot easier to make time for actual fresh writing than it is to sit down with a pen and edit that writing into something less awful. Feel free to nag me if I'm not editing fast enough.

No wild animals this week, so here's a picture of my dog Tilly from last year: 

She doesn't like to get her feet wet.