About That Book Then: Time For A WALL#4 Update
Book alchemy…
Those of you who have been following the writing and releasing of Helen Lowe books since this blog began, way aways back in 2010, will know that I am always very reluctant to talk about a book at all while it is still a work-in-progress.
This is because I feel, very strongly, that “the book that can be spoken of is not the book.” Or more prosaicly, that discussing something that is still very much in progress may upset the creative apple-cart. Or perhaps it is simply writerly superstition and I fear jinxing the whole project! (Which would never do!!)
The Wall of Night series to date Photo: M Taylor
However, I am very much aware that this book has been in the creative process for a Very Long Time now and that some The Wall Of Night series readers, while not worrying precisely, may well be wondering as to progress.
So taking one thing with another, I feel it behooves me to post on the dread Book That Can Not Be Spoken Of, aka the work-in-progress, aka WALL#4: working title, The Chaos Gate.
In doing so, I’m going to focus on the four most frequently asked questions, as follows:
Q. 1: Is The Chaos Gate finished yet?
A: No. Currently I am still working on the manuscript (ms.)
Q.2 When is the publisher’s final deadline for the book?
A: The final deadline is 1 July 2019, which is the goal I’m currently working to.
Q. 3: Do you know when the book will be published?
A: No, I don’t know for certain, because that decision rests with the publisher, but publication is usually at least one year following submission of the ms by the author and acceptance by the publisher.
Q. 4: Will you let people know when the book is done and when there’s a confirmed publication date?
A: I certainly will. I’ll post both pieces of news here on the blog and on my website. I’ll most likely tweet the news as well.
Writing on…
I am very aware that the upshot of this Q&A means quite a wait still for series’ readers. As a keen reader myself I am aware of how difficult that can be. However, I can only hope—and do my level best to ensure—that the book will prove worth the wait.
I would also like to thank all my readers, most sincerely, for their patience and continued support for the series and the creative process.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them through the comments. However, if it’s about the content of the story itself, I may be obliged to neither confirm nor deny. 😉
Nooooooooooooooooo……..:(
2020 is another decade!
“I knooooooooow…” Believe it or not, I feel exactly the same! My most dearly held dream is that one day I will wake up and find my muse has transformed into a Maserati on a superhighway, with no sacrifice of quality. Roll on that day!!!
Thanks for the update! I just turned another friend onto the books, so I will have company close by to wait and discuss all the many possibilities with. The antici…..pation is delicious.
“The possibilities” is one of the reasons I thought I would have GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire with me on my desert island or the return trip to Mars — but then the TV series passed the book instalments and spoiled my fun. Thanks for turning someone else on to the series, though: much appreciated. 🙂
I’ll just have to see how many re-reads I can fit in between now (or after my dissertation hand in!) and then!
You’ve definitely gotta get that dissertation in—and all the very best for that! But afterwards” “reread at will!” I have to reread, too, as part of writing WALL#4 and I often pick up on a nuance I’ve forgotten. It’s why I do a final reread of the whole series before embarking on the final draft. #NotThereYetThoughAlas
Thank you for letting us know! Obviously eagerly awaiting the book but just glad to know the process is ongoing and 100% sure it’s going to be worth waiting any amount of time for!
I felt it was time for this post, despite the whole “Book That Cannot Be Spoken Of” shibboleth—which I slew with fire and sword, as you can see. But the process is definitely ongoing (Although I will confess to some metaphorical hair tugging and gnashing of teeth today) and part of the time factor is doing my level best to make the final product rewarding for readers, as well as doing justice to the story itself. Both really matter to me and although I sometimes wish I could, I don’t think I’m capable of writing “any old thing” just to say the project is “done.”
I second Kristen! We’ll still be chewing over plot points in the first three books on the day The Chaos Gate is published, and playing what if is SO MUCH FUN!!
As I’ve alluded to in other replies, I also spend considerable time chewing over those plot points, although all the big hits have been clear in my mind from the get-go. But sometimes it’s not what the story is, but how to best tell it that is the challenge. Keep having fun though, it’s a big part of what it’s all about, I reckon.
Thanks for the update. I’m sure it will be worth the wait. And you’re nowhere near falling into the category of what I call “lapsed” authors, authors in whom I still have hope.
I am glad you still have hope, Marta. I believe Haruki Murakami likened the writing process to going down into a dark dungeon everyday and (by implication) wrestling with its denizens. On those days when the oubliette has been particularly dark and the denizens particularly recalcitrant, keeping faith with readers is a big part of what enables me to keep going.
Thank-you for the update.
I hope the writing process is going well.
I can wait.
Thanks, June—especially as you have even moar to wait for, with a “Tuckerization” character! Who is now in the narrative and whom I hope you will like as much as Cheryl Graham told me she liked Che’Ryl-g-Raham. 😉
As for the writing, it’s a slog, tbh, but that was the same for both GATHERING and DAUGHTER so I hope and trust the outcome will be equally positive for readers.
Although it deeply saddens me that I still have to wait two years to read it, I wish you the very best of luck with it! I am sure it will be as brilliant as the first three! Thank you for the update! My mind is at peace now 😛
P.S. I hope that Malian and Kalan team up more in the 4th book, that’s the thing that irritated me about book two and three, that they were apart for most of it. (Though I perfectly understand why. I mean no offence whatsoever and its really not even a critique.)
No offence taken, Zainab! Although, alas, I can make no promises as to what will happen, or when, or how, because whatever I may put in my plan, the Muses take no prisoners in substituting their plan, juggernaut fashion.
But I shall gladly take that luck. 🙂