Call of the Siren: The Hardest Part is Behind Me

I spent an intense day last Saturday finishing up the hard edits for Call of the Siren, the second book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy.

I now have to work very hard on some of the new characters in this book, for many of them will appear in the third book of the Limbo trilogy: House on Top of the Hill. But good character development now will save me much time and regrets later. 

And with one of my sons currently battling COVID (which, means, of course, we all might eventually get sick again, too), Orthodox Easter next Sunday, working the following weekend, and then Mother's Day after that - well, I can't envision finishing this last major part of the novel until Memorial Day weekend.

True, I'll be working on these characters in fits and starts. But pieces of time isn't the same as a stretch of hours for focused work. Concentrations gets broken and then I lose more time in the reconnection. 

So I think Memorial Day is realistic, both for putting the finishing developments on these new characters and reading through the novel. 

At that point, I will give novel a good read and then send to my editor. Then comes cover design, formatting, reading through the proof, and tweaks.

This puts an estimated publication date in July, perhaps in time for my birthday.

I'm not sure why this book challenged me so much. I think some of the struggle was about "voice." 

The book itself had a voice that, much like my main character, I could "hear" but found really difficult to translate into words. Parts of it had an elusive, lyrical quality that I finally captured.

And then speaking of the main character, I cover forty years of her life. So although her voice changes, it still sounds like her.

But as I re-read through the chapters, I'm satisifed that I churned out the story I wanted to tell..

By the way, isn't the cover art gorgeous? Nancy Calkins, wife of Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, created it for the book - last year. But she works much faster than I do.

Sue Bass is haunted by dreams of her father, who died in a boating accident before she was born, alluring dreams of water and song. But then a soft-spoken outside man with an inside plan comes to town, and Sue's sleepwalking stops, only to resurface with greater magnetism when he leaves.

Two voices beckon. Which one will she heed?