Writing update
I’ve been slowly cutting words from SKOF. I’m down from 113,500 to 110,000. Most of those cuts were scaffolding and unnecessary sentences. I’m getting rid of everything I can see* that doesn’t add anything to the story. The problem so far has been that, with the first half of the book, every scene has been necessary. I’ve only been able to cut three words here, another three somewhere else, and maybe ten or fifteen if I get rid of a whole sentence, though I did get giddy-happy when I deleted 500 words at once two days ago.
And today I’m happy again. I think I might be able to combine the next two chapters and cut somewhere around 2k! I’m desperately trying to get this monster under 100,000 words. Did some more research on genre word counts, and it looks like anything over 100k is one more hurdle I’ll have to overcome. SKOF is written in first person present; I don’t need any more hurdles.
* I’m so going to need another round of beta readers on this. I’m afraid I’m too close to the story to see stuff that isn’t necessary. Plus, I’m worried some of the plot changes I’ve made aren’t completely making it from my head to the page. The only way to know for sure is to have someone unfamiliar with the story give it a read.
On my nightstand…
Books I hope to read in October. No new-to-me authors this month. Just some of my favorites.
It’s not easy to tread lightly wearing steel-toed boots.
Sirantha Jax isn’t known for diplomatic finesse. As a “Jumper” who navigates ships through grimspace, she’s used to kicking ass first and taking names later—much later. Not exactly the obvious choice to sell the Conglomerate to the Ithtorians, a people whose opinions of humans are as hard as their exoskeletons.
And Ithiss-Tor council meetings aren’t the only place where Ambassador Jax needs to maneuver carefully. Her lover, March, is frozen in permanent “kill” mode, and his hair-trigger threatens to sabotage the talks—not to mention their relationship.
But Jax won’t give up on the man or the mission. With the Outskirts beleaguered by raiders, pirates, and the flesh-eating Morgut, an alliance with Ithiss-Tor may be humanity’s only hope. Which has Jax wondering why a notorious troublemaker like her was given the job…
(contains spoilers for book one, so highlight to read)
Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin’s life. The Godking’s successful coup has left Kylar’s master, Durzo, and his best friend, Logan, dead. He is starting over: new city, new friends, and new profession.
But when he learns that Logan might actually be alive and in hiding, Kylar is faced with an agonizing choice: will he give up the way of shadows forever and live in peace with his new family, or will he risk everything by taking on the ultimate hit?
Written on Your Skin by Meredith Duran
Beauty, charm, wealthy admirers: Mina Masters enjoys every luxury but freedom. To save herself from an unwanted marriage, she turns her wiles on a darkly handsome stranger. But Mina’s wouldbe hero is playing his own deceptive game. A British spy, Phin Granville has no interest in emotional entanglements…until the night Mina saves his life by gambling her own.
The jaded spy who vowed to forget her…
Four years later, Phin inherits a title that frees him from the bloody game of espionage. But memories of the woman who saved him won’t let Phin go. When he learns that Mina needs his aid, honor forces him back into the world of his nightmares.
In lives built on lies, love is the darkest secret of all…
Deception has ruled Mina’s life just as it has Phin’s. But as the beauty and the spy match wits in a dangerous dance, their practiced masks begin to slip, revealing a perilous attraction. And the greatest threat they face may not be traitors or murderous conspiracies, but their own dark desires….
Sandy Astor, writer of paranormal romance 