Valor's Worth--finally hit "The End"

As of about 11 pm on January 1st, 2013, I finally typed the last sentence of Valor's Worth, the third installment of The Windrider Saga. This project has languished in the word of creeping progress for far too long, so let me tell you, it has never felt better to write that last sentence.

You see, when projects linger too long, they lose their spark. You hear about writers drawing out a book over a course of years, nipping at it here and there, but I could never be that writer. Sure, those long-gestation-period books could become enduring classics, like the result of Tolkien's twenty-some-odd year labor on The Lord of the Rings. But I don't presume myself to be another Tolkien. As for me, I need to bull through, doggedly plugging at a project start to finish. Even putting something aside for a just a few days completely destroys the momentum on that project, and it's like I'm starting over when I open it again.

The main trouble I ran into with Valor's Worth is I did this pesky little thing called a book release for another series in the middle of writing it. Curse Bearer's release completely devoured from about June of 2012 to November. Sure, I tried to pick at the story in the odd moment I could squeeze out of my day, but my lack of immersion created a pronounced lack of ability to progress as well. And while I am thrilled two have both my "paper children" out there for readers, trying to perpetuate both of them simultaneously is very hard, I won't lie.

Although I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, I may actually make one for the first time ever this year: to move from a "many pots on the stove" style of working to forcing myself to focus on one project at a time only. (This means one writing project, to be clear. I will also have to be working on Spec-Con while I write.) Because the fact is, may people write, but very few people finish. I want to confidently count myself within the minority.

So now it's on to revising Valor's Worth. As much as I want to dive into the second book of The Risen Age Archive right away, with as limited as my writing time is, that book will have to wait. I don't like leaving my readers with eighteen months or more between books, but since the royalty checks aren't exactly robust enough to keep my family under a roof, that's the harsh reality of how I have to do business, for now.

So here's to focused projects on many things in succession for 2013. May your year be full of prosperous adventures. Lord willing, look for Valor's Worth sometime around mid-year.