Editing Acacia

Right. So now for some work. Geez. I'm into the second installment of editing packets for Acacia: The War with the Mein (Acacia, Book 1). By the end of it I'll be about 400 pages into the book. The good news is I really like the thing and my editor does too. The other news is that, damn, this is a big book! If it was a normal-sized novel I'd be done already. Instead I'm about halfway through. So much has happened and so much is left to happen. There will probably be two more packets before we get to page 800... I remember reading an interview with Neal Stephenson after he'd finished his Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World). He talked about how exhausting the editing process was. I understand what he meant, although his project was quite a bit larger than mine - three books, each of them about 800 pages!

You know, there was talk as I was writing this about splitting it into more than one volume. We decided not to because there is a very clear narrative arc that wraps things up by the end. Splitting it would've been asking a lot of the reader to come back for the second part. Fantasy readers are often willing to do that, but with my first entry into the genre I wanted to deliver as complete a story as possible. It just happens to be a monster of an arc. I'm not complaining. I do believe the book delivers and that the length comes from the fact that there is a long, action and drama filled story in the pages.

And... I do have an idea for another book about this world. It would be just as big and just as full of serious issues. Officially, I'm waiting until the editing of Acacia is finished, but once it is we'll start talking about the next book. As tired as I am, I still excited about that prospect.