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Words I've Never Typed Before

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“The End.”

I've never typed those words at the bottom of the final chapter of a book before. Perhaps because in my head, the end of a given book wasn't really "the end" - not of the story of Amaranthe. But now...well, you guys know. Cue all the bittersweet tears and early-onset nostalgia….

But first, one more epic, thrilling, multiverse-altering adventure, and those 2 little words mean the Naked Singularity Zero Draft is done! It clocks in at just over 111K words; if I had to guess today, the finished book will probably be about as long as The Theory of Everything, but we'll see - I still have a lot of work to do.

What's a "Zero Draft"? Why isn't this a "First Draft"? A Zero Draft means I've written substantive words in every scene from my outline of the book. The problem, of course, is that writing all those scenes inevitably exposed scenes that I didn't realize I was going to need - so now I have to go back and identify and write those. Also, some of the scenes have words, but...barely, so I need to flesh them out a bit more before I can rightfully consider them a real draft. Once I do those things, it'll become a First Draft. Then the real fun begins!

Live in the Inland Northwest? Come see me at the Halloween X-SPO in Spokane this Saturday and Sunday. It’s a SFF-focused geek convention with all the merch, swag, art, cosplay and guests you expect from such celebrations, plus 200% more ghosts and goblins. I’ll have a table in the main hall all weekend - come by for signed paperbacks, conversation, or just a picture together.

It’s a busy couple of weeks for appearances. Last weekend, I got to do a lovely SFF event, “Spellbound Spokane,” at Page 42, an awesome used bookstore in Spokane. It was my first outdoors event, and the weather Friday was terrible, so I was worried it would be a miserable affair. But the sun came out strong for us Saturday morning, it was a beautiful day, and I got to met a wonderful group of regional authors and local readers.

Is the Naked Singularity cover scribbled out on the banner in the pic? YES, yes it is. The cover made the banner because I obviously didn't want to have to order a second banner in a few short months (and how awesome is my shiny new tension fabric banner?!). But this cover, guys. It is going to knock your socks off - it was instantly my favorite cover. Yes, out of all of them. When you see it, I want it to be in full-res, full-size, technicolor awesomeness, not some tiny thumbnail. Therefore, scribbles.

Belatedly - far too belatedly, I apologize - I have updated the Amaranthe apparel at my Zazzle store to reflect all the series in the Amaranthe universe. This graphic is available on a variety of t-shirt designs, hoodies and sweatshirts. You can check out these designs, plus mugs, stickers, keychains and art here: Zazzle store.

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It’s been a busy, beautiful, incredibly fun summer here. But now the weather is about to turn chilly, gray and damp - time to hibernate and make this most epic of finales everything Alex, Caleb, Nika - and most of all you - deserve.

Until next time.

P.S.: Are you a Halloween fan? Do you decorate your front yard with skeletons, ghouls and spiders, and craft elaborate costumes? Or do you forget it’s even a thing? I confess I haven’t been much of a Halloween person since I was a kid, but I am blown away by the creativity of people who are. Hit “reply” and let me know how you celebrate the spooky season.