I have some awesome news regarding my progress on the second novel in my Circle series! I have now completed four chapters in their entirety, with the remaining eight chapters already mapped out and the dialogue written! So the current page count up through chapter four sits right at 100, which is not quite as long as Circle 1: Destined was by the end of the same chapter, but it is still longer than I first thought Hidden was going to be at this point, especially considering the later chapters will cover a lot of ground. If I manage to keep the current pace (I’m knocking out about two chapters per week), I’ll have the first draft completed way ahead of schedule, and possibly even by the end of the summer.
Then, of course, comes the lengthy process of edits, rewrites, more edits, sitting on it to give it some time to breathe and then taking a fresh look before executing yet more edits. Then we have sending that millionth draft out to the first wave of trusted readers for feedback, suggestions, help identifying any plot holes or awkward sections, and three or five more rounds of edits before we actually make it to publishing.
But hey, at least the cover art is ready! The cover art is, of course, not the picture posted above...that’s just a fun sketch I made of some of the supporting characters who make prominent appearances in the book. Some are from old stories, some are new. Left to right: Killer, Brae, Derek, Wendy, Frostbite, Micaleth. If you’ve read Destined, you are already familiar with Killer and Derek (members of Ruv’s wolfpack), Brae (the leshii who leads them to Vesna’s cottage in the wood), and Micaleth (the niethera who prompts their journey in the first place). If you’ve read the short story “Faerie Stones,” published right here on the blog in January 2018, then you’ve already met Wendy (Cerridwen MacEunrig, the geologist). But Frostbite? He’s a new face, and I hope you are looking forward to learning his own story.
Hidden has a lot more action than the first book did, and—as my main protagonists are a few years older, and have a wider cast of supporting characters who join their journey—a LOT more flirting (and a few fun innuendoes). That said, not everything in this book is lighthearted fun and games. There’s a lot more darkness, too: shadows of history, legacies of death and deception that revive to play a significant role. It’s not something they can defeat with their customary sarcastic banter. And so the big question is, are my plucky heroes ready to face what they find at the end of their journey?
I have four more books planned in the series, so the obvious answer would be yes. But at what cost?
Stay tuned for more weekly updates (and perhaps even a few sneak peeks here and there).
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