It’s a question I get a lot when “being an author” crops up in conversation.
I used to find this question confusing at first. I mean, as if the drafting and the editing phases (oftentimes clocking in dozens of passes) aren’t enough… why in McDonald’s Happy Meal would any author want to read their book again once it's published?
Madness.
Or so I believed.
Like many things in life, the more rotations I clock around the sun, the more I realise there is a perception for everything.
People will “assume” the rich bloke in his yacht is happy.
What people don’t see is the countless hours and weekends he spends alone in an office.
People will “assume” the happy couple across the road are deeply in love.
What people don’t see is that they sleep in separate beds.
People will “assume” the shredded man or woman at the gym is healthy.
What people don’t see is that their strict calorie deficits are killing their hormone regulation.
As it seems to be the case with authors.
People will “assume” authors read their own work once it's published.
What people don’t see is the months of late nights and early mornings reading (and then re-reading) — line by painstaking line — their manuscript, half-wanting to start again, half-wanting to never look at another Word document ever again.
Many of my writing pals scarcely read anything of theirs once it is published, unless for analytical purposes.
I’m no different.
In fact, by the time I send off my work to the editor, I am already blowing the cobwebs off my whisky decanter to celebrate not having to look at the thing again.
Why?
Because it means I can focus on the next book.
And, thus, the cycle continues.
It’s a cycle I’ve completed well over a dozen times now, with my most recent publication being The Great Betrayal, which was shipped to the unwashed masses less than a month ago.
Was I happy to see the back of it?
You bet.
But was it the most fun I’ve had with any book in The Divided Region so far?
OH YES.
If the doubling of pages written doesn’t speak to that, then the breakneck action of this novel most certainly will. Anyway, for the uninitiated, The Great Betrayal is the fifth instalment in my fast-paced, epic fantasy series, and by no means the last.
If you like your fantasy lean, mean, and filled with morally grey characters, wizards, seers, prophecies, and a dark lord hellbent on reclaiming the region…
Then you’re going to love the latest sequel.
But you might want to add Books 1-4 to your cart as well; otherwise, the twists and turns will not hit the same way as they surely will for long-time readers.
To learn more, go here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/The-Great-Betrayal
DJJW