Once I completed and published my first novel, Rising Tide, I decided the ending left a question the reader could use their imagination to determine. This would leave an air of mystique surrounding the book’s conclusion and therefore, not be a good candidate for a sequel.
After being asked if there would be a follow-up to Rising Tide, I was hit with “A light bulb moment.” It took four months to complete the rough draft of book two titled, Eden’s Wake. Without a break, I began the first re-write. It went fairly well, but I knew I needed some time away from the book. I obeyed my “time away” inclination and turned to work on other projects. Needless to say, this new path didn’t last long and I found myself working on Eden’s Wake’s third re-write. After completing this stage of what was becoming the abyss known as Eden’s Wake, I began to pen the third book in the series, Deadly Reign. The new manuscript went surprisingly well and I found myself pleased with the first draft.
From time to time I would delve into my dark side for a good dose of self-abuse and pull out Eden’s Wake for yet another re-write. During this time of back and forth I completed Deadly Reign, including re-writes. I was satisfied the third manuscript in the series was ready for submission; however, (and this is important) when you are writing a series, the books are normally numbered 1,2,3 and so on; therefore, you can see my conundrum.
After another re-write or two with my parasitic twin, Eden’s Wake, I began a stand-alone science fiction manuscript titled, Terminal Core. As I wrote this new offering, I continued to work on Eden’s Wake. I finally made a decision that surprised even me. Being too hardheaded to trash the troublesome manuscript and having invested years, I made major changes. My new mantra was, gut, re-write, gut, re-write. This worked and seven years after Eden’s Wake’s conception, it was published, April 27, 2015 and I was finally satisfied.
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