The Bloated Beast

Oh, sweet victory!  The first draft of Clan, Honor, and Empire is done!  Sheesh, it’s only been a year and a week since I started it.  At over 140,000 words, it is a monster.  Who knows how much will be added to that count in the weeks of editing to come?

The journey has been more than worthwhile.  Seeing Rajhir as anything but the uber-calm, cool, and collected Dramok we met in Alien Embrace made it amazing.  Watching this young version struggle against parental control and his boss’ approval to become a leader in his own right has been a blast.  Then there’s the adorable behemoth Flencik trying to get past an unloved childhood, looking to find a safe place for his heart.  And the boy/man train wreck that is Breft ... one imagines how incredibly different his life would have turned out if he hadn’t gotten his volatile ass kicked one day, putting him on Dr. Flencik’s examining table.

I’m excited about this book.  I’m bouncing in anticipation for you all to read it.  Ah, but there’s the bad news ... it will not be ready until early April, possibly the second week.  Yes, the most intense part of the writing is done, but there is a ton of editing to do yet.  The book’s sheer size alone would make this a time-intense task, but I also have to finish re-editing and formatting Alien Conquest by March 21.  With new readers discovering the Clans of Kalquor series every day, it is imperative I have that book back up for sale once its contract with the current publisher runs out.  It has to take precedence over Clan Rajhir’s story.

Now that I see how Clan, Honor, and Empire is turning out, I realize it might have been smarter to release it as two separate books.  Had I done so, you would have had your hot little hands on Rajhir and Flencik’s part of the story already.  I could have released it in January, because Breft’s story is a totally separate entity with no bearing whatsoever on the first part.  Argh!!!  Stupid 20/20 hindsight!

Then again, would you have wanted just the first part, followed by the second story a few months later?  Hmm.  Good question ... but totally irrelevant at this point, at least where this book is concerned.

However, next year I will be working on Clan Clajak’s Beginnings book.  Having already plotted it out, I know it too will be a two-parter along the lines of Clan, Honor, and Empire.  If it had a single running storyline, like Clan and Conviction did with the Delir/Frenzy case, it would have to be one book.  But no, there will be one tale featuring Clajak and Egilka and a second unrelated one in which Bevau appears.  So depending on how long these stories run, I may be faced with the question of separating Clan and Crown into two books.

I’m curious to know what you all think.  If Clan and Crown ends up being as long as Clan, Honor, and Empire and it means getting half of it earlier, would you want it released in two parts?  Or would you prefer to wait a few more months and get it all at once?  Let me know and I’ll take your responses into consideration when the time arrives.

Meanwhile, I’ve got to get rolling on these edits.  Hang in there ... I promise to make it worth the wait.