The Work Goes On

February 2022

The winter sky as seen from my driveway

Has it really been over a year? I admit it. I’m a terrible blogger. 🥺

No, I’m not dead. Yes, I’ve had COVID. Twice even. Maybe three times. I wanted to be sure I had my share of it. Yes, I completely, 100% self-isolated every day except for emergency frozen pizza and popcorn resupply runs and going to my day job. JK. I believe very strongly in self-isolation. It’s one of the axioms I live by.

If you read my last post, then you know I’m way behind schedule. Like a year behind, but who’s counting? Anyway, I figured I’m overdue for another report.

Progress comes a little at a time and a little every day. Yes, I am writing every day. The first book in Vale’s story line, To Trouble with Truth (yeah, I think I’ll stick with that title… probably), is done and ready to go to the editor. It’s sitting at just under 200 k words. If you ask people “in the know”, they’ll immediately start screaming about how that’s too long. Seriously, I’ve seen it myself. Their pinched little faces turn red and saliva pours down their chins (most of them have at least two) like they have rabies because they’re so passionate about word count. Well, since I am self-published, I don’t have to listen to them. Ha! I write until the story is done. And I write epic fantasy. That takes time. A lot of it. Like, tons. That’s why I’m behind.

Did I mention it’s 3 am and my mind tends to wander before sunrise?

The second book in Vale’s storyline is currently with my lovely beta readers and is sitting at just over 250 k words. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of 2-3 traditionally published books, depending on genre. So, yeah. What I’m trying to say is, sorry for taking so long. I hope the wait is worth it. And before anybody says something, I know there are plenty of epics out there that are longer than mine. But size doesn’t matter. It’s all about how you write it…

Another bit of good news is the first installment of Chronicles of Candlelight has Darith sitting at about 100 k words into his journey. I’m thinking this one will finish around 120 k, so I hope to get it out soon as well. But once I’m done, then it still needs to go through beta testing, about six more edits from me, then an editor who actually knows something about grammar and stuff, then formatting, then cover design, then a final read through, then some generic, highly tragic, unforeseen circumstance will probably come along to mess with my timeline…

…As long as I don’t get hit by a van. 👀

I promise to keep everyone updated. Until then, feel free to reach out. If you’re lazy like me, there’s a Contact button just right up there 👆. Or my email address is will@willrivard.com. I totally check my email way more than I write posts for my blog.

Until next time, stay safe, stay awesome.

© Will Rivard

Website Designed and Maintained by Web Design Relief