Writing Update 2018 week 49

Mike GristWriting Leave a Comment

Today I almost finished my 2nd thriller! It’s a helluva feeling to put the capstone on a book. Euphoric, really – even more so because I woke up with a real sense of unease about the story this morning, which carried through until I wrote this pivotal scene.

I’d pushed things to a really grim extreme yesterday, left on a cliffhanger. I still have my doubts that people would want to read this degree of horribleness. Today I closed it out, and yes, it feels good. Just desserts reverberate back throughout the story – leaving the reader in no uncertain position as to where I, the author, stand.

It’s not quite finished. Loose ends need to be tidied up. But those are always some of the most fun sections to write. Closing loops is rewarding and easy. There doesn’t have to be dramatic tension – it’s the tail end of all the dramatic tension, where answers and a few leaps forward in time are most welcome.

So, the full update on thriller book 2:

  • Word count: 92,000 ? up by 15,000 from 1 week ago. Around 2,000 words a day. Speeding up for the end.
  • Number of vehicular crashes: 2 big ones plus 40 small ones.
  • Body count: Big spike since last time. 50+ and climbing. Mostly baddies now.
  • Locations: 6 major ones. Rural and City and Suburb and Plane and Rural and Sea.
  • Anticipated wordcount: 96,000.

Agent update:

I’m sending a few most days. Got two quick rejections – one just said ‘Not for us.’ That is a lame-ass rejection. In your copy-paste reply, afford me a few paragraphs (of boilerplate) at least to cushion the blow! Three words is just so dismissive.

Plans:

  • The Rot?s War comes out in audio on Dec 18 – I?m still planning a big push for book 1, The Saint?s Rise. I’ve heard some of the audio chapters, and they are great!
  • I may take a month off from writing thriller 3 to edit the Ruin books to a high sheen. I got covers for them made about a year ago now – and just been waiting on the time to edit them up. Would be good to drop the trilogy fast from January.
  • Working to get into Amazon Advantage, which allows book ads in the uk, which apparently could be a goldmine. Two ladies in my marketing group are doing that and making real bank.

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