OK, folks, this is going to be a rather short post, but with a BIG announcement! Before we get to that, though, I should mention that the final editing process is going smoothly. I am currently on Chapter 20 of 42, almost halfway there!
The thing about writing fiction is you really never know what you’re going to get before reaching the conclusion. Bias always creeps in, which is why distancing yourself from your draft helps you see things with fresh eyes. This is the goal every artist struggles to achieve: judging your work objectively when it’s so terribly personal. Too often, what you believe is a great story turns out to be a dud, which is why I always go into the final editing process with a bit of trepidation. Fortunately, I am very happy with the results of the book so far. The themes are strong, the plot is gripping, the pacing flows fairly well, and most importantly, the characters are endearing. My only concern is with the length — for a YA novel, it’s quite long at 170k words. The later Harry Potter books are well over 200k, but for a debut author who has yet to prove his market appeal? I fear agents/publishers will reject me out of hand or ask me to cut 50k from it, which I can’t do without significantly compromising the plot and character development. I admit there are moments I needed to cut, but I have also had to add words for clarity, reducing the overall length by only 1500 words. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the judges in NYC have to say. Another option is to cut the story into two books, which I have no problem doing.
OK … it’s time for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I originally planned to call my fourth title in the series The Children of Aenya, a subtle homage to The Children of Dune. But given how we live in the age of the algorithm and AI, I hesitated to use the name, mainly because, despite my continued protests, Amazon consistently miscategorizes my books. The Feral Girl and Ages of Aenya tend to attract the wrong kind of readers, readers who aren’t all that interested in epic fantasy adventure, and the last thing I want is for people to assume that the children in my book are acting in ways inspired by Stephen King’s It. For the same reasons, I dropped the name Aenya—a painful decision to make, given how I’ve devoted close to half my life (25 years) to developing a fantasy world with that name. My second release, The Princess of Aenya, was inspired by The Last Unicorn and The Neverending Story, yet Amazon advertises this beautiful fairytale to customers primarily searching for smut. Honestly, there is FAR more adult content in Westeros than on Aenya! I have even considered changing my name to combat the algorithm, but I am hoping the new title and Studio Ghibli-inspired cover art will (hopefully) convey the proper genre. If not, I can always change it again, along with my name.
And now, without further ado, the title of my upcoming novel will be . . . (drum roll please)
THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS
If you’re partial to The Magiq of Aenya, as I am, don’t dismay! From the beginning, this book was intended to be the first part of an ongoing series. And I realized that, just as Game of Thrones is the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, my series needed a name. This is something I plan to keep on the down low until—fingers crossed—the stupid algorithm recognizes Aenya for the epic fantasy setting that it is. When that day comes, I will be calling the series: THE MAGIQ OF AENYA!
So that’s it, folks. The Stargazers’ Daughters is going to be part one of The Magiq of Aenya. This will be my life’s work, I think, until I die, because at 51, I really don’t have time to plan much else. More importantly, I believe this is my best work, and that this series will go down in history as one of the greats. I believe this series will end up on The Folio Society’s webpage, in a gold-leaf, leather-bound edition, selling for hundreds of dollars. It’s what, I feel, I was born to do, and I can’t wait for you guys to discover it and love it the way my readers already have.
Next up: THE DREADED QUERY LETTER!!!
The Art of Storytelling 
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