My second book in the Thomas Riley steampunk series is coming to a close. I'm 5 chapters away from being done with the draft and I'll tell you... it's been quite the journey.
Yes, it's taken A LOT longer than expected to get this beast finished but I have a good reason. Well, I think it's a good reason. As most of my readers know, I traveled extensively in 2010 for the book. My travels took me everywhere from South Carolina to Victoria British Columbia. Fifty seven different events in 2010 alone. Book stores, cons, book festivals and book fairs... everything was fair game. And I have to say... It was amazing. In 2011, I got a divorce. Most people have no idea what that will do to you mentally and physically. There is constant stress, drama, problems, anger, frustration, friends that turn their back on you... you name it.
For me, it was like starting completely over, like there was a massive fire and everything you once owned and relied on was simply gone. I remember one of the first nights in my new place and I got a frozen pizza. I had no utensils, or plates or anything... So I sat on the empty floor, used the pizza box as a plate and ripped the pizza with my hands. While it was sort of funny in an insane way at the time, those kind of things take tolls on you that you might not realize. Then there are the money issues... wow... Dirt poor is the best way to describe it. We went through several months of eating ramen and hamburger helper for nearly every meal. Needless to say we can't even look at hamburger helper commercials anymore without feeling sick.
Needless to say there were about 1241235987612351235 of these happenings and that saps you in every way. You don't feel like writing, you don't feel like being creative and you really are not inspired. To get through it, I had to take a lot of time to finish the next book. And I have to say without the unwavering encouragement from Elizabeth Darvill, I would probably never have gotten done. Also, I have to thank my publisher, ZOVA Books for being unbelievably patient with me. That means a lot because most publishers would absolutely hate me by now. So there you have the abridged version of why this is taking so long.
Soon I'll post again when the draft is done and I can show you the cover (once again being done by the absolutely amazing Will Routon) and yes it is bad ass.
Till next time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Nick! You may, or may not, remember me... we met at Gen Con on your 2010 tour and talked about boardgames. Regardless, it is terrible to hear the struggle you have been through, but you know what they say about adversity making you stronger. I had my issues as well and I do agree that it saps the creativity from you.
ReplyDeleteWith any hope, this will bring a measure of happiness.... after we met, I decided to get serious about my writing. Something I had always dreamed to do. That same Gen Con, I took a couple of the writing track seminars. Later that fall I won NaNoWriMo and had taken two continuing ed writing courses. With that under belt, I completed the first draft of "The West Wind" in time for Gen Con 2011 - 126k words that took me a full year of writing through all the ups and downs of 2011 to complete. I put together a blog (dwbeyer.com) though I must confess I have lagged in updates... and I am about to embark on my first re-write. I have submitted two short stories to anthologies and joined a regular writing group. Ideas for the next took are already starting to take shape in the deep recesses of my writing brain.
The point I want to make...Despite all the troubles you have had and yet to face, do not ever forget that you have had the unique opportunity to touch the lives of hundreds of readers through your writing, and more personal, you have inspired and given confidence to another to take up the pen. And for that, I sincerely thank you.
Don
Thanks Don! That is an amazing story! I'm proud of you and you should be as well! I plan on hitting the road again in 2012 to some extent and I really hope to see you out there. Seriously, congrats on your successes!
ReplyDeleteI hope this blog post didn't come off as a sad thing. While I'm still recovering in some aspects, I'm happier now then I've ever been. I thought this post was prudent as people are seriously wondering what happened to Thomas Riley.
Again congrats on your successes, I wish you all the best!