Almost in the Can ...

After a marathon nose-to-the-grindstone month-and-some, the book upon which I have been working is done.

Well, the first-draft is done. I still have to do a quick rewrite, and then address editorial input, but at least I can lean back and coast a bit instead of pumping the pedals furiously in the the seven-days-a-week tour-de-keyboard I've been running, (and without any banned steroids to help, at that ...)

The book, which had to be finished before next week, is in the Star Risk, LTD. universe, by Chris Bunch. This is the fourth and final novel, working title of which is The Gangster Conspiracy. Space opera, not much in the way of plot or character development, rockets and ray guns, bodies hither and yon, all like that.

I hadn't intended to write this novel, or at least not very much of it. It came about when my friend Chris Bunch, after a short illness, passed away. He had outlined the book, but hadn't started working on it when he died. I offered to write it, provided my son Dal could work with me, to help out Chris's significant other, Karen, and to give my son another writing credit. (He has collaborated officially on one other novel with me, the novelization of the animated movie Titan AE, and done uncredited work on several other books.)

Unfortunately, life has a way of throwing curves at you. My daughter-in-law, who wanted a third child, became pregnant, which was good. The pregnancy was beset with some complications, not the least of which was the looming specter of pre-eclampsia, and times became most challenging for my son and daughter-in-law, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Not so good. My son didn't need another brick on that load, so I stepped in and wound up doing most of the work.

On the one hand, it's good to know I can still do a sprint if I must; on the other hand, working smarter and not harder is definitely the way to go.

Next posting, I'll offer up a bit about Chris Bunch, and how we became friends.