When you record CDs, you go through a lengthy and exhaustive process of recording (usually one track at a time), mixing and eventually, mastering. When you think you’re done (you never are but at some point, you “think” you are), you send it to the company you’ve chosen to replicate it and of course, by then you’ve done photo shoots and other “artistic stuff” to create a cover design. The good news is that within a month…often less…you’ll have your product in hand. Not so in the book world, at least if you are in a partnership with a publisher as I am. The process of creating the book is every bit as exhaustive (AND exhausting!) as making a record but once it leaves you and goes to the publisher, there’s often quite a lengthy lag time until it’s available to the public. My latest book, The Lights of Cimarron, came out this past May, so it’s still a relative newcomer on the market. In the meantime though, I’ve finished the first draft of my next novel, Halo Moon (yes all you smart-alecks, that DOES make it the “fourth book in the trilogy”) and am in the process of editing it in preparation to present it to my publisher. If they accept it, it will likely be twelve to eighteen months before it’s on the market. I’m now hard at work on a new project that probably won’t come out for a couple of years. In short, I’ve moved on down the road with what I’m working on. It’s easy for me to forget about my latest book because it’s been in my rearview mirror for a while now but I really don’t want to do that. I’m very proud of the work I did on The Lights of Cimarron and I think it’s a nice follow-up to The Big Empty, the first book in the spin-off Tommy Stallings Series. Christmas actually IS just around the corner now and both books (separately or together) would make nice Christmas gifts for your friends and family who enjoy a good read. If you’re reading this post, you’re already at my website so all you have to do is click on the Books link at the top of the home page and you can get your Christmas shopping done in a heartbeat.
