Update on The Unfinished Song

It's not unreasonable to assume that anything which has taken too long already will never be completed at all.

This is certainly the point of view of my children regarding my progress on my main series The Unfinished Song. I can see their point of view; after all, I've been working on this story for longer than they've been alive. They have cheerfully told me that they expect the completion of my epic around the same year we establish a colony on Mars.

A colleague of mine also used me as an example of what NOT to do as a writer. She explained that I'd taken so long to finish my series, that although I'd had an audience once, it had frittered away and no one was interested any more.

Despite that, the greatest journey is finished only step after step, whether the steps are slow or not, and whether or not the traveller becomes frequently lost or lodged for a long time elsewhere.

So although I've also started (and yes, even completed) other series since I started The Unfinished Song, I still love it, I'm still working on it, I'm still writing it, and I'm still determined to finish it.

I have said, and now can confirm that I'm going to finish Book 11 and Book 12 at the same time. At the same time doesn't mean literally at the same time. Each scene has to be written each day, obviously. But from the point of view of Beta Readers, it will be at the same time.

And here's the good news: Book 12 is DONE.

It's ready for my Editor and then for Beta Readers.

I wanted to be sure of the landing before I got there. Now I know how it all ends, EXACTLY how it all ends. It made me cry to write it; I hope it makes you cry (a little) to read it. But it does have a happy ending, as promised. Mostly happy.

I hope your favorite characters make it out alive, but I can't promise.

Book 11, meanwhile, is still very undone. And I expect there will be a few changes to Book 12 based on what I realize is needed from Book 11. (Fixing such plot holes is the whole reason for doing them together, and honestly, I wish I had done Book 10 at the same time, but yet, I am glad it's published. Maybe I'll surreptitiously repair a few details after the fact.) 

For you writers, here's how it has to be done. Bit by bit, scene by scene, day by day. You do need inspiration, but wrapped in a lot of perspiration, as Einstein said.

To wit, I have 88 scenes left to write. 

If I write 4 scenes a day, I can finish in 22 days. Assuming I have 4 days of the week to write, that's about the end of July, I reckon. Assuming I only write 2 scenes a day or have only 2 days a week to write, that's mid-August.

I have a whole slew of other books coming out in the Autumn and Winter, books which I've written already, although I will need time to go over my Editor's comments and make any changes required. Furthermore, I'm the editor for my writing partner. (That's our cost-saving measure, I'm sorry, but it's true.) I hope to have most of August to do that editing. 

After that, all Hades breaks loose because I have to ready the kids for school. My eldest son is starting college! Wait, what! But he's still just a little scamp, how... ?! Time, you bastard, you run much faster than the heart.