The first Draft is finished! 130,171 words, or 444 pages, regardless of how you care to look at it. The final word was Dodds, which is Alice’s surname – a fine old Northumbrian name. The story is now complete.
That doesn’t mean that the book is finished, though. Far from it. Now, it has to be edited, and that is a task that will take several weeks to complete. At one stage, I won’t even have any control over it because it will go away to my wife’s cousing for proofreading. This is something that no writer can do themself. It has to be seen by another person who can spot the weaknesses that we fail to see because we are so close to the work. Proofreaders need to have a bit of a ruthless streak, so if you ever write a book, pick yours carefully. The editing process will ensure that the final word and page counts do not match the ones given above. Both will be lower.
So, when will it be on sale? Probably early May, but I will try to get it out in April if I can. I also need to make a cover. Working on that, but I will post it here when I have it.
Leave a Reply