"They Also Breathe Fire" Progress Update
And a thank you to readers in Germany and the UK!
First of all, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to all my readers in the UK and Germany who have been buying my books and supporting my writing. Since it was first published, “The Good Killers” has consistently appeared in the top 100 of crime fiction in Amazon Germany and has also done very well in Amazon UK. The US market is oversaturated with books in all genres, and it’s so hard to make an impact in Amazon US. Any sales momentum in the US is extremely difficult for indie writers. When I see the sales for Germany and the UK, it gives me motivation and hope that people will actually read and like my books.
I also want to thank you all for being patient and hanging in there while waiting for the sequel to my novel, “The Good Killers,” which is titled “They Also Breathe Fire.”
New to the series? Here are some highlights:
They Also Breathe Fire (TABF) occurs about 8 months after the events in The Good Killers (TGK) so there is continuity with the first book. The returning characters have had time to process some of the events that happened and have begun to deal with the consequences. The book also takes place in summer, so expect a lot of sweating.
Some important characters from TGK appear in TABF, including Ben, Riley, and Frankie. However, there are new antagonists that are the focus of this book, along with other new characters.
TABF reveals a bit more about the secretive criminal organization, headed by the mysterious character “Dubs,” which appeared in TGK.
TABF is also set in western New York in the fictional Iroquois County and fictionalized versions of Rochester and other towns and cities. There are new settings compared to TGK.
You’re going to see a lot more of fan-favorite character Riley Lopez.
As I mentioned in the last update, my writing process relies heavily on editing and revision. I’ve already passed the 80,000 word target for the book so counting words as progress isn’t really meaningful. Instead, I count scenes and their status. This works so well for me that I’ve created a MacOS program that gives me a kind of dashboard for my book by scene status.
I use these statuses: Not Started, Brainstorming, Outlining, Drafting, and First Draft. I don’t have a “final draft” status because after all the scenes are in First Draft, I’ll pull them into Scrivener and continue the agonizing process there.
In my last update, TABF had 58 scenes. As I’ve worked through the characters and plot, I’ve cut down the number of scenes by combining scenes and eliminating scenes that no longer belong. I have created a few new scenes, so the net is actually 52. And along the way, I’ve been writing, so scenes are moving through the process, as you’ll see in the list below.
Here’s the status:
Not started (last update 14 scenes, currently 4): This status indicates that I’ve created character notes, scene notes, motif and other notes, and a general outline for the book but I haven’t actually done anything specific for this scene. This is the biggest change since the last update and shows that the overall scope of the book is really beginning to take shape. There is only 1 scene in Act 2 and three in Act 3 that I haven’t started.
Brainstorming (last update 13 scenes, currently 9): This status indicates that I’ve created the scene file and I’m just noodling ideas, snippets of dialog, descriptions, actions, and other stuff that I want or need to have happen in the scene.
Outlining (last update 16 scenes, now 15): Here’s where I map out the flow of the scene and the logical actions (Riley does this, Ben does that, Riley calls Ben a dumbass). Although the number has decreased, it’s actually an improvement because many of these scenes have moved on to the next stage.
Drafting (last update 15 scenes, now 19): Here’s where I settle down and start filling out the scene based on the brainstorming and outlining. I’ll write many versions of action and dialog in the drafting stage.
First Draft (last update 3 scenes, now 5): Here’s where I feel like I have a complete draft that is pretty close to what I was hoping would happen in the scene.
I’ve also done considerable reorganization of the middle act of the book to keep the tension and focus action appropriately.
Like many writers, I have a profession that pays the bills, provides health insurance, and allows me the privilege of pursuing this weird hobby. I’m happy that my books are selling (again, thank you, readers in the United Kingdom and Germany!!!!) but books alone will never support my family. It’s just a common writer’s reality that I’ve had to focus on that job over the past 10 months. I’ve also been dealing with recovery from a painful injury. Both situations have taken energy away from writing, but I hope that my overall situation will improve and I can continue to make quicker progress with the book.
My goal is to get “They Also Breathe Fire” to you this year.
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Your process is so fascinating different than mine! And congrats on the progress!!!