Never want to say Goodbye...

I just finished writing the last lines of Crow Two.

You'd think I'd be ecstatic right now - jumping and dancing and in general being a giddy pile of goo, but I'm not. Writing the last scene was bittersweet and left me feeling rather melancholy - not because the ending was sad, but more because I enjoyed writing it so much that I didn't want it to end. I wanted there to be more (and there is more, just not for the second book). It ended where it needed to end, and I know this, but I'm already feeling its loss. I want to keep writing.

Maybe this is a profound issue with me. When I neared the ending of the first book I procrastinated writing the last chapter for over a week. I dreaded it. Last night, as I got about halfway through the final scene, I found myself avoiding it and I realized, after being on such a writing frenzy for the past week or so, that I didn't want to stop writing it - but I had to.

I enjoyed Silas and Denora's new adventure so much, and I honestly hope that you will too. Denora makes some decisions in this book that may make some of you a little annoyed with her, but trust me when I say, I think the ending is wholly satisfying even though it leaves some things open for the next book. Now that it's finished I'm about to start putting my brain back in editing mode. I know there is a lot to do in that respect. I tore through this first draft with such fury that there are places all over the manuscript where I left notes like "Add description later" and "Input XYZ here", not wanting to slow my momentum. I just wanted to get the story out and not be slowed down by having to think about everything.

The first draft ended up clocking out at about 57,000 words. It's just shy of my target of 60,000, but I know that the second draft will be considerably longer, since I still have so much to add. My revisions always end up longer *shrug* Regardless, it's already longer than the first one was - so that's something.

For those of you wondering when you can finally get your hands on the next book, I'm anticipating having it published by mid to late September. I'm not setting an exact date (yet) as I want to see how the editing goes first. I want to have this one as cleanly edited as possible before I release it on all of you.

On that note, my next task is to do another read-through of the first book to rectify any outstanding editing mistakes. When I have the new version uploaded, I will start setting up some fun new Crow things for all of you. I'll also be hosting some giveaways, probably in September, so keep an eye on that.

Well, now that my writing is finished, I'm looking around my apartment and flinching at the chaos around me, so I'm off to do some chores and some deep thinking... and probably drink a cold celebratory beer once it's not stupid early in the morning. :)

Thanks for reading.