It's good to be back in the swing of things. Chapter 3 of AAATSL II will be published Friday. If you're lucky, maybe even early in the day. I just got it back from my editor, mitchell.0621. He's doing a really nice job. He's got chapter 4 in his hands already.
I was writing chapter 6 and noticed it had stretched to 44 pages. I generally write in Google Docs, and shoot for right around 25 pages per chapter. That was getting very long, so I found an obvious place to chop it and made it into quite a bit of chapter 7. That's where I ended up today. It's 2/3 finished.
I've been really happy with the comments and the downloads and the score. It's good to see some of the same names reading the new book and dropping their thoughts and predictions. One of the thoughts centers around Shelby. One person commented that she's comparable to G. Younger's "Tammy." I have to confess, I haven't read his books, so I am familiar with the "Tammy Troupe," but I can only say that Shelby is her own person in my mind. She's not really a manipulator.
Some of the overall themes of this book will be exploration, discovery and finding the self. That doesn't just mean Jake. Many other characters will find out more about themselves, grow and change as teens. Shelby will be no exception. We may even discover some redemption for other characters along the way.
Once again, the plan is to publish a new chapter every other Friday. So far, we're on pace to hit that. Life comes at you sideways though. Something could come up, so I make no promises. For now, please enjoy a chapter every other week and keep up the feedback.
Thanks again,
-Max