I’m getting back into the freelance swing of things again. I polished off the final draft of Marked for Death, the first in my Eberron trilogy, due out in March of 2005. Then I realized I’d made a big goof, and I had to fix that. (“That one-handed character is hanging from the edge of an airship while holding up a paladin with his other hand. I don’t think that’s possible. How about he just loses a finger?”) It’s all done now, and hopefully sailing through the editorial process.
I also had to come up with a map for the book. This was a snap, since the book takes place almost entirely in the Mournland, this mysteriously mist-shrouded, half-dead land in the center of the main continent of Khorvaire. I just scanned in the map from the Eberron Campaign Setting, marked it up, and sent it off. Thank you, Photoshop!
I’m working on outlines for four or five different novels this week and brushing up a few chapters of a nonfiction book about the birth of my four youngest kids (which happened all at once, making it the kind of thing you should write a book on). I finished up one of the outlines today and sent it off to the publisher. I already have a contract for the book based on my pitch, so now it’s just a matter of writing it, which should be a blast. I’ll tell you more as soon as I can.
These projects have me booked up through most of next year. I’m always keeping my eye on the horizon, though, and trying to see what I can do to keep myself on the edge of sleep deprivation, so more things are sure to come up. Wish me luck.
