Hello all.
It has been some time since my last front page post on the website. So I decided to provide a couple of updates, especially for those not on the linked social media sites.
- Book 2 – Angels Fall is still the working title for the second novel. The manuscript sadly has not saw any progress since Spring 2024 due to the greatest enemy of all writers…writers block. A completed manuscript was written by the end of 2023 and during the re-reading phase which I do, I found aspects of the plot and the flow of the story were not up to standard. Also the word count was horrendous.
My aim had been for the second novel to be roughly the same word count and thus printed size at the first in the series, Praetors Blood – Shattered Peace. However we were looking at extra 40000 words on top of that. Should that be expected for a first draft? Absolutely, which is where the “Murdering of darlings” happens.
Sadly despite my best intentions, the novel manuscript turned into a bit of a mess as I tried to improve the flow of the story and the pacing. The solution however happened in May 2024, when I had a sudden thought. What if I placed the penultimate arc at the start? But as sudden as that brainstorm hit, so did the reason for my extensive absence.
2) Injury – I sadly during the course of my work suffered a significant injury on my dominant arm. This meant I was unable to use any electronic device larger than a mobile phone without excruciating pain. 4 months on post-injury, the pain has subsided and I can finally do the things I once could, which includes typing. This also means however I have returned to work, which will once again sap into my spare time. The other components of my time will also involve further physiotherapy to return my arm to as close as to its original.
3) Charity auction – Some good news once more. As part of my current career, there exists a lovely charity which provides extensive rehabilitation facilities. I was able to enjoy those facilities for 2 weeks and it has greatly helped in returning me to a fitter condition. As part of my stay, I took part in a few charity events, two of which involved my role as an author. A book reading was performed, with my oration of the first 15 pages of the first novel, this was well received and garnered significant interest. And thus we had a charity auction where a signed copy of my first novel was won after a quite significant donation.
I will over the coming weeks, seek to improve the website, adding more sections. One section which I realised was missing is a “Contact Us” style page where a webform can be completed. Once I realise how one is added, it will be.
I am hoping to provide further updates before the end of 2024. So I hope to once again see you all here.
JMac
JMacNovels 