I finished the zero draft of
Death Goddess Walking Sunday evening. Normally, I do a first editing pass before sending a novel to my alpha reader, but this time I didn't.
DGW was started nearly twenty years ago. I was roughly halfway through it when I made the mistake of showing it to someone. This person was a New York Times Best Selling author, back when it made a difference in a writer's reputation. This was before the new indie publishing started.
They said it sucked.
I was hurt and disappointed. I took their response to heart and put away the manuscript.
Until I was cleaning out some old files three years ago. I started reading the DGW manuscript and realized it wasn't as bad as my critic had said. I decided to finish it.
Unfortunately, I had other commitments, so I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the book until 2023 at the soonest. Then we had two parental deaths in 2022, which shoved my schedule back even farther, but the zero draft is done.
I even sent it to my alpha reader without making a first editing pass, which is why it isn't marked as completed on the public project list. Mainly, I sent it to get it out of my hands so I had a chance to focus on A Cup of Conflict.
Therefore, my main focus for 2025 will be to finish the Justice series and The Books of Apep series. It will definitely be a busy year.