The Princelings Books: Jemima Pett
All the news of the Princelings of the East books – fantasy for all ages
As always (maybe) followers of the Princelings series get the first view of the cover of a new book.
So here it is… another wonderful illustration by Dani English
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The book is currently on schedule for release on November 14th. Pre-order at iTunes , Kobo, and B&N right now. Amazon link now available.
If you’re in Eastbourne, England on the weekend of 28th September, you can meet Dani at the Wyntercon at the Eastbourne Sports Park 28-29 September.
Read more about the Chronicles of Marsh here.
It’s the same old story, really. Chronicles went to the editors, came back with a general comment about its structure, and I spent July rewriting it.
It seems to be a pattern, these days, rewriting the first half (well, third) of my books. I think with the first draft I was too complicated with my approach. Certainly one editor couldn’t work out what was going on at all.
So after a good long week or so of thinking, I got back into the swing of rewriting it, and editing it, and so on. My last edit this time was to read it through out loud. I think the guinea pigs quite enjoyed it, save for the occasional stops, mutterings, and typings before starting again with a different phrase.
Meanwhile, my lovely cover illustrator has been working away. Each time she sent me her ideas I gasped. They were all super, but I settled on this idea. This is not the finished version! But I thought you’d like to see it.
Well, I’ve just typed “the end” at the end of my book. The end of the series.
It felt really funny.
But I think it won’t really feel like the end till I’ve finished editing it.
I’ve missed a bit of business I was planning because it didn’t go with the flow or the narrative. Maybe I’ll find room for it in the next draft, maybe not.
Wow. The end of the series. It’s really sad.
Of course there’s plenty of work to do yet to finish them to publication standard. But I probably started writing the first book in spring 2009, so it’s taken ten years in the writing, although the first three books were all written in 2009. The only file I have with a secure date on it is for book 3, and that was last modified in September 2009. It makes sense, as I’d had the guinea pig Fred & George for two years then, whereas Hugo and Victor only joined me at the end of 2007, and I would have ‘met’ Dawn, my editor, in 2008. I wouldn’t have written the books imediately after that, I don’t think.
At present, both Chronicles of Marsh and Princelings Revolution are around the 45,000 word mark. I feel that I’ve left out two pieces of business I’d been planning to include in the Revolution, so that might grow. Then books usually lose words in the editing process. I tend to add more description in my second drafts. I hope to get the Chronicles to my external editor by early July, though. I must check to see if that suits her own workload. And also ask Dani to slide the cover into her workload – she’s very busy with commissions these days, which is great.
One thing I like about the last book, is that, while it of course focuses on Fred and George, all the other guinea pigs I’ve had get at least a mention; Victor, Hugo (who doesn’t actually appear, but is talked about a lot!), Humphrey, Hector (who’s been missed out of all the previous ones), Kevin, Colman (a mention, but they’ve been in several other books), Dylan and Dougall (also a mere name check at present, and I want to change that in the editing), Oscar and Midge (both have small roles), Percy (a lucky fixture in one of the other castles for a few books now), Bertie and Biggles, and finally Roscoe and Neville.
I’m still trying to pack in namechecks for other friends and people who’ve helped over the years. It’s fairly easy as I have lots of women friends and not many women guinea pig names!
Other favourites are there, but mostly in small roles or namechecks: Lupin, Nimrod, Baden, Mariusz (of course), Saku, Digby, Augustus, Roland. Willoughby plays a prominent role in both books. From bit part, to own book, to major player, he’s certainly taken the Realms by storm.
Chronicles of Marsh has a hoped-for publication date of early spring 2020, and Princelings Revolution, I’m aiming for spring 2021. But the date 6th May 2021 is significant in the final book. I don’t think I’ll wait for that, I think I’ll try to get it published sooner.
Meanwhile, we have a significant date coming up next week when George Guinea Pig World, (the blog run by the guinea pigs themselves) celebrates ten years. I think I’m writing the anniversary post on Tuesday 7th May.
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You deserve an update on the last two books, since it’s been four months since I last posted.
In that time I’ve mainly been working on my other series, and on other things entirely. That’s my excuse, anyway.
I read the first two volumes of a book recently, and hunted for the third of what was indicated as a trilogy. I couldn’t find it. There was no evidence the author was writing anything else. It’s possible he had an accident of some sort, but for reason I’ll tell you on my blog in a week or so, I think he’s suffering from the ‘finishing the series’ syndrome.
What I’ve discovered, is that however much I’ve been thinking about that last book—and I started writing it when I thought it was going to be number six—it is really painful to get going on it. Writing the last book of your darling characters is hard, especially when you’re going to put them through pain and torment.
I remember JK Rowling saying they had to lock her in a hotel room to get her to finish the last Harry Potter. I start to understand what she meant. All those plans, all the loose ends, all the final expositions, all have to come together in a way that your readers love – or hate, but come on the journey with your hero(s) to the bitter end, in hope it’ll all turn out well in the end.
The other day I got the start of the plan for the final book.
Now I have to write it down.
And then, maybe, I’ll be able to make further progress on book 9.
I think, as I have thought before, that I might even have to write book 10 to make sure that everything needed in book 9 goes in it.
Then again, it might just be one glorious book 9 to finish the series, and some novellas to fill in some gaps in it.
I don’t expect to be doing much actual writing, as opposed to planning, before the new year, though.
Watch this space 🙂