The Magiq of Aenya Production Diary #5

THE BOOK IS DONE!!!

Break out the champagne, folks! Cue the fireworks, drop the confetti . . . After three and a half years, I have finally completed (a draft) of my fourth Aenya book, The Magiq of Aenya. OK, to be fair, this celebration comes with a few caveats.

First and foremost, the book’s title will most certainly change, and I have already decided on a name, which will remain secret for now. While I would have loved to call it “something something Aenya,” a concept I borrowed from the Dune series, I realized that, stylistically, my prior books do not fit the same subgenre. Yes, it’s all fantasy, and Lilliea exists in the same world as Thelana, but Thelana doesn’t wear any clothes, and in this hyper-prudish society we (pretend) to live in, a naked tribal girl can’t be seen hanging out with a Hermione-esque heroine.

Secondly, my work is far from finished. The current word count stands at 172,595! This is roughly the length of my longest novel, Ages of Aenya. Not a monster of a book for Brandon Sanderson, but quite a hefty tome when compared to other debut novels, especially one meant for younger readers. This worries me a bit, because I don’t think I can cut that much out without lessening the dramatic impact and character development. Make no mistake, this is an EPIC tale of adventure, and I DO NOT WRITE fluff! My books, I like to think, are like houses of cards. Remove one chapter and the whole thing comes tumbling down. Either way, I am looking at a minimum of two months’ editing before I shoot the first three chapters over to my editor. This may or may not shorten the length, depending on what the story asks for, because fiction is an organic thing and we are all slaves to its needs! The book might even get longer, in which case I may consider cutting it in half. Lastly, I’ll be working with my editor to hammer out a query letter for the gods who sit in judgment in New York City, with a hope and a prayer that they love the book as much as my beta readers, enough to see it grace your local Barnes & Noble.

Finally, a book like this is never truly complete until it’s printed en masse. This might take about two-years as I wait for an agent or publisher to recognize its potential. In the meantime, I may rework those first few chapters into pulp while moving on to my Greek mythology project: THESEUS!

Hey! Don’t go yet . . . There’s a podcast about this!!! Click the link below to hear me talk about The Magiq of Aenya, what inspired it, and what it’s really all about.

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