This is for my readers who have been wondering where Whelan, Larsen, Christie, Federov, Stensen, Maksym, Levell and the others are. On the face of it, or prima facie, as my former colleagues in law are known to say, the boys have been gone for a while. Not to worry. They're all alive and well in my imagination and anxious to complete their next venture into the world of techno-political thrillers.
The delay has been caused by a couple of factors—all of them legit, although time consuming. One of those factors is the demands of my career. The real estate market in Southwest Florida has recovered completely from the effects of the recession. There is virtually no inventory (1.1 months) in residential units, and commercial developers are scooping up the office and retail sites. As an investor and developer, my hair is on fire trying to capitalize on opportunities.
The second factor is the unexpectedly large demand on my time for editing, revising and rewriting Sleeping Dogs: The Awakening. I mentioned in an earlier post to this blog that I had hired a professional editor to do a complete line edit and developmental edit. She did a terrific job, but it took time. When she was finished, I spent weeks, even months, going over her notes and comments, then revising. I finished that task this morning.
My goal now is to republish the revised and updated version within the next few days. Then, I'll launch a marketing campaign. But I'll save that discussion for another post a few days from now. It's safe to say, however, that the cast of characters is "alive and well" and itching to come to life in the next book. Take heart—he draft of that book already is 32,000 pages long.