At last--that's how it feels, anyway--SEVENTH DECIMATE, Book One of The Great God's War, has been published. Berkley in the US, Gollancz in the UK. Hardcover, digital, and audio. Of course, this isn't really "news," per se. The information should be widely available by now. But now I can tell you that the book has received at least a couple of good reviews, one on the Barnes and Noble sci-fi-fantasy blog, and one in--of all places--the Wall Street Journal. If you're interested (and you're better at web searches than I am), you should be able to find them. It's always nice to be reviewed by people who actually read the book--and actually understood it.
And I also want to mention that earlier this week I did an interview for the "StoryMen" podcast. I'm afraid I got rather carried away. That happens sometimes when I'm asked intelligent questions I wasn't expecting. You should be able to listen to the interview here: http://www.norvillerogers.com/seventh-decimate/
But from my point of view, the real news is that I've finished the first draft of Book Two. At roughly 200,000 words, it's 2.5 times the length of Book One. Of course, I hasten to add that I'm far from done. I revise a lot. I'll do one complete revision before I show the manuscript to my agent. Then--best case scenario--I'll do one more complete revision for my editor. (SEVENTH DECIMATE is an example of the worst case scenario. For that book, I did a total of 8 drafts.)
So how, you may well ask, did I end up with 200,000 words when I thought I had already written that much three months ago? Simple. I was wrong three months ago. And I've done a certain amount of restructuring to improve the balance between Books Two and Three..
Meanwhile, I've changed my mind about the title of Book Two. After living with KNOWLEDGE AND EVIL for a long time, I've decided I don't like it. It seems rather heavy-handed, and not especially apt. My current working title is THE WAR WITHIN. Of course, my editor make take a different view; but I'll bridge that cross when I come to it. ("Bridge that cross" is an in-joke for people who eventually read Book Two.)
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Be Well!
—Steve
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