I put Pariah to bed this morning.
That’s kind of a technical term I’ve picked up from other projects I’ve done over the years; in this case, it means I’ve sent the final manuscript in for publication. Assuming the proofs I see over the next couple of weeks turn out as fabulous as the last two books, it appears I’ll have made the August pre-order deadline with a bit of time to spare. While it will be hard to resist the temptation to take another run and tweak it just a bit more, it’s time to move on and begin to think about the book that will follow it.
As I note in the Afterword on Pariah, Vasily Korsokovach wasn’t originally destined for his own series; as I pen this entry, it turns out he’s got three books on his own now (Pariah, Ditched and Bygones), matching the score with his best friend, Sean Colbeth (who is featured in Blindsided, Outsider and Downhill). Vas is poised to come out on top, though, for as it turns out, I’ve realized I have a gap of time (chronologically) between the events of Outsider and when Vasily returns to Windeport in Ditched — enough of a gap that my writer brain decided it needed to fill it.
Tentatively titled Peril, all things being equal, it will be my June/July project, with a scheduled release around the Christmas holiday. I’m kinda interested in the challenge Peril presents, for I know where I need to land the plane (so to speak) but don’t quite yet have the flight plan established. On top of that, I need to back up a bit in how I portray Vasily, since he’s grown quite a bit by the time he reaches Bygones.
Remind me to write these in order next time…