The EMPATHY series has been my primary focus since our last update, with the bulk of the work concentrated on actual writing and revisions. This is, of course, the foundation of all things writerly, and I continue to enjoy tweaking and rewriting parts of the first two books to make them that much more engrossing once released.

Writing itself isn’t all I’ve been up to, though, so let’s see what else we have to look forward to in the world of EMPATHY!

The NEW Blog

I’m excited to announce the launch of a new site dedicated exclusively to all things EMPATHY. This post also appears on that site, which will feature short weekly articles on topics in technology related to EMPATHY, as well as more regular updates on the books themselves.

There will be a new post at least every Tuesday, so don’t miss out! Be sure to keep an eye on the blog to never miss a thing.

Book Blurb and Early Reviews

I’ve started work on the book’s blurb (the contents of the book’s back cover), and have also started reaching out to prospective reviewers in that community.

I’m pleased to report that both the blurb and securing reviews are coming along smoothly. Not only is the blurb beginning to take shape, but I’ve received a commitment from a New York Times bestselling sci-fi author to write a review for the book on a timeline that will allow me to use it in pre-release promotional materials, perhaps even on the book’s cover itself!

This is a huge deal to a young author like me, and I’m really thrilled this author has decided to give Imminent Dawn a read. I really hope they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Revisions and Deadlines

In the June EMPATHY update, I mentioned it was my goal to complete my revisions of Imminent Dawn by the end of June so that I could focus on its sequel, Mourning Dove, in July. Though I made fantastic progress on Imminent Dawn, I decided to work in some  major, previously unexpected rewrites to Mourning Dove that have kept me from sending my editor my final draft of Imminent Dawn. I made the decision to withhold sending book one for now in case I need to stitch in or remove details from that manuscript in order to better support the augmented direction the second book takes.

Quantitatively, this has led the manuscript for Mourning Dove to balloon from 86,126 words up to 94,255, with the bulk of the remaining revisions surely destined to only further inflate that number—but with good purpose, of course. Interestingly, I expected book two to eclipse book one’s word count of about 120,000 words, but even once I’ve completed my planned revisions to book two, it will still likely be sorter than Imminent Dawn, if only marginally.

Media Appearances

I’ve also now locked down the first of what I’m hoping will be a number of media appearances to talk about and promote EMPATHY everywhere! In the week of the book’s release, I’ll be joining the WROTE Podcast to talk about book one, the direction the series might be headed overall, and other topics in technology related to the series as a whole.

After having recently had the chance to meet one of the WROTE Podcast’s hosts in person, I’m even more excited to be a guest on their program.

Until then, though, it’s back to the page: there’s still much writing to do before Imminent Dawn, Mourning Dove, and its sequels are released in 2019 and beyond!

Be prepared when a new day breaks in January 2019. Stay tuned to this blog, my Twitter feed, and my newsletter for more. Thanks for visiting.