I realized that it’s been
The second Roc Rider book is coming along, albeit much more slowly than I would have liked. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that this is my first time ever writing a sequel. The work involved in getting a sequel right is proving more challenging than I anticipated.
Not that I thought a sequel would be easy. I expected it to be hard. But still.
As I mentioned a few times on the blog previously, my beta readers needed quite a bit more time to finish going through the manuscript than I anticipated. I was happy to give them whatever time they needed, since I rely on them to help me make the book the best it can be.
However, that did mean getting a later start to my revisions than I’d hoped.
Also, and this admittedly is some ego coming out here, I was so confident in how well the new additions to my process worked going into this book I didn’t think my beta readers would find as much that needed fixing as they did. So, even had they gotten through it by my original deadline, I don’t think my initial timeline would have been realistic.
Most of them were overall positive about the book, but collectively enough stuff came out that the manuscript needs quite a bit of work yet.
All of this is to say that I, unfortunately, am no longer sure when the book will release. I was initially confident I could get it out the first quarter of this year, but as I continue working that’s looking less likely. I wish that wasn’t the case, but there it is.
My commitment, above all, is to the quality of the book I put out. I know not everyone will like it regardless of what I do, but
Okay, now on to the “other news” I mentioned. Those who subscribe to the newsletter already know this, but while Roc Rider Two was out with the beta readers I started working on a short story I intend to use as a freebie for anyone who subscribes to my newsletter when it’s finished.
This is very much a side project, and I haven’t been working on it much lately. What with my focus being on Roc Rider, that’s a good thing. I’m rather enjoying it, though, and I think you’ll find it quite a fun read once it’s ready. To give you a little taste: this story’s protagonist has to go up against some fire breathing rats in a battle for the fate of a church that excommunicated him.
I hope you all look forward to both of these stories when they arrive, as I’m definitely looking forward to getting them out to you.
In the meantime, cheers and happy reading.
Aaron Volner
