Beta Reading, Everybody

So, the 'final' draft of Just Drink (the name is now finalised) has been distributed to my kind and attentive Beta readers for their feedback and some final checks.  I've vowed to put the book down for a couple of weeks and come back to it once some initial feedback comes in and then start to do the final tidy.  This will be the final tidy before publication.

The cover has been created.  The ISBN has been registered.  The next three books in the series have been drafted and some initial talking-book samples have been created to see if it'd work in that format for another project.

Breathing space is... terrifying.  I'll admit, writing is a little like a drug habit and the ringing silence that follows when you put down your metaphorical pen (or pipe or whatever, I'm just mixing up this metaphor as much as possible here) is actually quite disturbing.

For a full year I've lived with these characters, exploring their motivation and living their emotional lives with them.  It's like watching a TV series, in a way, one that's fully immersive and when it's done, you don't quite know what to do with yourself.

Thankfully, I have other hobbies (obsessions), one of which is singing, another is composing and my next project will likely be purchasing some decent composing software and sound libraries and starting on that journey.  This'll complement the talking-book project.

And then there's the art - my passion for Anime has spilled into a desire to be able to create my own characters, so there's that.

But for all the waffle above, the key takeaway is (not sweet and sour pork, no), is that the book is essentially finished.  I believe it'll be ready for the Amazon and Kobo marketplaces by the end of June.

And then, there will be cake.