You may have noticed that my 2014 goals did not include blogging. However, I break radio silence to report some report-worthy news:

I have a contract for a new book.

It’s a book I’ve mentioned here and there over the last couple of years, including, most recently, here.

When I was writing it, I thought it was YA, but when I finished it, I realised it’s junior fiction – in a similar sort of pocket to my 2011 release, Surface Tension (Below in the US). I’m not sure how that works, but it does.

I worked extremely hard drafting and re-drafting this manuscript before finally submitting it. This means I only have approximately another 27 drafts to do before it approaches a publishable state. For me, this is an excellent result.

I’ve just learned that the book is tentatively scheduled for an April 2015 release, which means that all 27 drafts must be completed by October-ish this year. It’s totally doable. I just have a gazillion tons of backstory and world-building to stuff into the seams of the action.

My desk is currently awash with pieces of paper covered in editorial  notes but this is the one I keep coming back to, the holy scribble that will guide me through this process like a beacon:

For the benefit of those who are inexplicably unable to read my handwriting, my summary reads:

1. Drip-feed vs direct exposition
2. Embedding of backstory
3. Pacing – see above & pruning
4. Ending – tighten and shape
5. Bits & pieces – here & there, moment, this way & that, Dietz, inch, forward/backward, clot, roil, craning, and so much more besides, words rolling easily, narrow, tight, slim etc, dashes – em/en.

I confess … I cannot wait to get to “Bits & Pieces”.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of work to be done. If you need me, I will be over here, stuffing an unruly world into a few tight/narrow/slim lines.