Yes it’s July already. Here’s your update on Princelings Revolution, its launch, and the audiobooks

I don’t feel that I’ve done much since the last update, but in fact things made significant progress… then stalled!

Princelings Revolution

April saw me finish the beta version of Princelings Revolution, the last in the series. My beta readers pulled out all the stops and gave me their time and wonderful insights into what I’d written.

When you’re writing a book, there are times when you really can’t see the story in among the words. You don’t know whether it makes sense on paper, even though you think there’s some sort of sense going into the computer from your head.

I’m very grateful to my beta readers for great feedback, gently delivered (always important when giving a critique!). They also patiently answered some specific questions I had on nuts and bolts and passing details in the story. And they even added support and encouragement – and a sense of sadness at the saga’s end.

Is it really the end?

Every time I read the last few paragraphs I am really sad it’s the end.

There are some things a reader might wonder about. What happens to some of the peripheral characters? Does Fred ever…?

I was tempted to do a bigger finish, but in a way, I am minded of JRR Tolkien’s ending to the Lord of the Rings. Yes, it was good to add the last few chapters and get to the Grey Havens, but really, I wish it had stopped sooner. I can imagine them all living happily ever after. In fact, I sometimes think it would be great if everyone wrote their own version of what happened after ‘the end’.

But my decision is made, and it’s stopping there. Unless I do some short stories involving other characters!

It would be fun to have readers do their own versions of what happened to x&Y, though. Maybe I’ll run it as a competion one year.

So I have made all the amendments and rewritten some sections in response to my betas’ comments, and one of them has a ‘safety’ copy (in case I go down with coronavirus) and she likes the changes (I think that’s what she said!)

And Dani is working on the final cover , and I’m working on the chapter illustrations.

We may even get it out for 1st October, It’s already listed on Smashwords, iTunes, B&N, Kobo and Amazon! You can pre-order most places (not Smashwords), and except for Amazon, the price is definitely an introductory one!

If you are a really good geek, you’ll remember that ‘October the 1st is too late’ was the password Mariusz and Saku worked out when Mariusz first went down the time tunnel, and needed to prove who he was if he got stuck there (book 4). It’s also the title of a book by Fred Hoyle that I still love.

On the other hand, releasing it in late November would be nine years after the first one came out on Kindle. Well, if it had been ten, maybe it would have been worth celebrating!

Audiobooks

The audiobook of Princelings of the East is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes, and has sold several copies! If you would like a free copy to review, let me know and I’ll send you a special code.

The audio files for the Princelings and the Pirates are complete. I just need to give them a final check against the kindle file and upload them. Then I’ll upload a new edition of Pirates so that Kindle’s whispersynch works with it. The changes are very small. Mainly a couple of words and a punctuation issue that should have been fixed years ago! The paperback book will stay the same, though.

And then… I need to give Chris Preece the tidied up/edited version of Princelings and the Lost City.

The main things I change in those edits are to do with style changes over the years. When I started, I used the old-fashioned ‘saif Fred’ most of the time. “Fred said’ is now the accepted norm. You should not notice either; it’s a tag when reading. There are also things that even now I realise I missed when I hear Chris’s production. Like using ‘use’ three times in three lines. Sometimes that can be deliberate, but other times it’s just boring – and you can tell which is which when you read it!

I’m interested to see how Chris solves the voice problem of Kira’s imposter. I’m going to suggest he uses Kira’s voice, but makes her always tenser, more worried – a style rather than an actual voice difference. There are a lot of girls in this one, but I’m sure he’ll cope. How he copes with the girls’ choir is another matter. I must find a recording of the song for him. I could have sung it for him a couple of years back, but my voice has cracked up completely during lockdown. And, of course, George is having trouble forming his words as he recovers from his head injury. I hope Chris is looking forward to the challenge!

Again, if you’d like a code for a free download of the audiobooks, as and when they’re published, let me know (and remind me when they come out).

I need some help!

I’m going to need help with the launch of Princelings Revolution. I’d love to do a blog tour again, so if you know of someone who organises good blog tours for these types of books, let me know.

If you know how to do trailers, and can teach me, or run up something simple… let me know!

Also, if you’d like to do a cover reveal or a launch page, let me know again. I can do special interviews as well.

Have a good summer (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere)!

PS: Watchout for a special Guinea Pig Appreciation Day Princelings offer/competition on Jemima’s blog 15-17 July.