I have begun the editing phase of completing my sixth century Byzantine novel, Hercules Knot! It’s exciting to take each chapter in turn and do rewrites that bring the action to life. Going from telling wayyyy too much to showing, which makes the action and characters jump off the page (even for the author), is an amazing process. It’s fun!

If you’re writing a book and wondering how that feels, this is what it’s like for me. In the first draft I explain what my heroine is feeling or what is happening to her. I’m slogging through trying to imagine what’s going to happen to her, what’s the setting like, would a Roman from that time period do…?, etc. In the second, third, fourth drafts I keep the action firmly in place in my mind and show what she’s thinking, feeling, doing, smelling, tasting, thinking, etc. Like I’m the director observing the actors in my film.

I focus on highly descriptive verbs which take out too much verbage. It’s important to remember that if the paragraph slogs for you, it will definitely slog for the reader. Take out the extra explanations and redundant phrasing.

Do all this process while advancing the plot: move, move, move! Then it becomes fluid and you’re not aware of yourself; the characters take over the action and the plot.

It’s a process and I’ve read that if an author sticks with it, each book gets better. I can report that it’s been easier my second novel than my first. But the story is completely different. Even my style of writing is different because of that.

I also might write a second novel in this series. I think the ending calls for it. The published book (by Nov. 1 at the latest?) will be about 500 pages. I don’t want to go too much over that, so a second book is warranted.

If you read Hercules Knot, let me know if you think a follow-up novel is called for.

And any reviews left on Amazon (or Goodreads) are sooo incredibly helpful for authors. I hear from readers who email or talk to me in person, etc., that they enjoyed my book but they don’t think to leave a review on Amazon. The algorithm won’t feature a book without enough reviews, unfortunately…