News Round-Up
Hello everyone, and happy Monday!
Days Till Release: 98 (OH MY GOSH WE DIPPED UNDER 100 AND I WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION!!!)
News: I am absolutely THRILLED to share the Kirkus review for Sea, which they said was “Epic, musical, and tender.”
Coming Soon: That ARC giveaway! I’m still gathering swag. 😃
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Today’s topic is:
The Multitudinous Drafts of the Book Formerly Known as The Whale and the Tree
November 1st-30th, 2006 – After brainstorming and outlining extensively, I fast-draft Whale during NaNoWriMo, and end up with 104K of a book that is 50% crying, 50% staring out of windows, and 100% crying while staring out windows (okay, it wasn’t quite that bad… but it was pretty bad).
2008 – I revise Whale, and somehow it swells to 118K (I believe I go through several drafts here). I begin to query it very late in the year.
2009 – I query while working on other projects.
2010 – I put Whale aside and write, revise, and query a new project. That summer, I receive a very thorough R&R request from an agent who had asked for the full a year previously. She has great advice, but my brain has moved on.
2011—2012 – I continue to query the new project, whilst happily side-tracked falling in love with, getting engaged to, and marrying my awesome husband.
2013 – I randomly start a complete rewrite of Whale.
January 2014 – I meet my critique partner Jen Fulmer through a Twitter matchup event, and we start exchanging chapters of our WIPs—mine is Whale. Her enthusiasm spurs me on to finish the revision. It has a completely different ending now, 70% less crying, and one less viewpoint.
August 2014 – I finish the rewrite and begin querying. I get a lot of requests, which is really exciting.
March 2015 – I get FOUR offers from agents, and sign with the wizardly Sarah Davies.
May — September, 2015 – I rewrite Whale two and a half times. We’re down to one viewpoint, 89K, and a vastly more coherent plot. A death that previously occurred halfway through the novel is moved up to near the beginning. We’re minus one betrothal, plus one ancient temple.
September 28th, 2015 – The newly renamed The Haunting Sea goes out on sub.
November 2015—January 2016 – I get an R&R request from an editor, and set about revising again, adding in a few elements that bring higher stakes to the story.
June 2016 – Interest from Page Street, hoorah!
August 2016 – I write three brand new beginning chapters for Page.
September 2016 – Official offer!!! 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼
January 2017 – Edits for Page Street, including a new best friend, new epilogue, and newly-invented, world-specific swears (Caida’s teeth!!). Word count about 97K.
Spring/Summer 2017 – Copyedits, pass pages.
November 2017 – Beneath the Haunting Sea turns eleven!
January 9th, 2018 – Publication day!!!
So there you have it—the ridiculously long timeline of how Sea came to be.
Until next time!
Joanna 🐋
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