Walker Papers
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Walker Papers: thud
Remember how two weeks ago I posted and said OMG there’s this bit in SHAMAN RISES I’d forgotten and it was like reading it for the first time?
Last night doing the final edits, I hit that bit again and the same thing happened. I think I can safely say nobody’s going to see that bit coming. :)
(No, it’s not that I’m losing my mind, it’s that I’d revised that section heavily and the changes haven’t settled in my mind yet, apparently. But then, there was a scene in URBAN SHAMAN that shocked me the first 15 or so times I read it, so maybe it’s just that I’m capable of surprising myself… :))
At any rate, so then this happened:
SHAMAN RISES is out in July! :)
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birthday day!
Today is my husband’s birthday, so I’m baking a German chocolate cake and we’re going out to dinner at a really good restaurant tonight. Mmmm. :)
I turned in the copy edits for SHAMAN RISES last night, which means the Walker Papers directory is one final edit pass from being moved into the Finished Projects folder. Pretty strange, after 14 years of working on them. Just, wow.
I note that the 28th of January is the 201st anniversary of the publication of PRIDE & PREJUDICE. This may be relevant to my interests. More to the point, it may be relevant to yours, if you’re interested in MAGIC & MANNERS. I’m just sayin’… :)
So much to do. I suppose I’d better get to it.
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an unexpected gift
I’m doing copy edits, which is the least fun part of anything, on SHAMAN RISES. They’re actually very light this time; the only real issue is that the copy editor and I have a violent disagreement over the Oxford comma (I am pro; she is con).
Anyway, so I was reading along and suddenly something TOTALLY UNEXPECTED happened in the book!
And then something else TOTALLY UNEXPECTED happened! And–it kept happening! I had completely forgotten all of the revisions that I’d done last summer, and I was sitting there reading my own manuscript with one hand clapped over my mouth while I held my breath and, wide-eyed, kept scrolling to see what was going to happen next.
This happens *incredibly* rarely. Like, I can pretty well read the Strongbox Chronicles because I wrote them so fast it’s like someone else’s work, and there was one scene in URBAN SHAMAN that shocked me every time the first 15 times or so I read it.
But this is a whole chunk, a good quarter of the book, that’s almost completely new to me. I’ve been having moments of “OH GOD I REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENS NOW” and “AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH NO OH NO AUUUUUUUUUUGH” and I feel like I’ve been given a wonderful gift, the ability to read the last book in the Walker Papers as a reader.
Obviously I’m the Ideal Reader for my books, but boy, if this affects my readers in general half as much as it’s affected me, I’ll consider this book a great triumph. Wow.
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OMG, it’s Petite!
Wrong color, but O.M.G:
1969 Boss 302 found in a barn after 40 years of sitting idle.
I can’t run a Kickstarter that fast, can I? I’ll pay you back if I win the lotto, I swear…!
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Shaman Rises cover reveal!
I thought I’d start the new year off right, with a cover reveal for SHAMAN RISES, the final book of the Walker Papers!
Would you like to know all the reasons this cover is terrific? Let me tell you all the reasons it’s perfect!
First: the colors. My publisher’s always been very good about discussing colors with me, and I very much wanted the final book in the series to have a light, bright look in direct and deliberate contrast to the first book’s cover. So what do I get? Spring green and whites: *perfect*, and also well in keeping with the time frame for the book, which is set in early April.
Second: Joanne’s pose. It’s *perfect*. It’s strong. It’s confident. It’s relaxed. It’s looking upward and outward, challenging without being afraid. It is, again, the *perfect* contrast to the dark, clench-fisted tension of the first cover.
Third: JOANNE HAS A FACE! Okay, granted, the face looks absolutely nothing like Joanne (and we won’t even talk about the hair!) but we actually finally get to fully see her, and it’s as a grown-up, confident woman, which actually–although I know perfectly well this was not the intention of the cover department; it’s just been the evolution of urban fantasy covers over the past eight years–really works beautifully well in terms of slow reveals. I’m just delighted with it!
So there we go, lads. SHAMAN RISES, the final book of the Walker Papers, coming in July 2014…
…and if by some chance you haven’t read NO DOMINION, the collection of Walker Papers short stories that fits between RAVEN CALLS and MOUNTAIN ECHOES, I *heartily* suggest you pick it up and read it before reading SHAMAN RISES…! :) (Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | B&N Nook)
