Today, notice arrived from Gorham that The Blue Beacon’s First Editions are printed. After paying the final invoice, they'll be shipped from Centralia by Old Dominion. I expect to receive them, at the latest, either late this week or early the next.
Now I feel a little like an avalanche is coming. Meanwhile, I’m busy with this other stuff.
Audiobook editing
One mathematical rule for audio is that each hour of recording requires 2-3 hours of editing, and that's after you're used to it. I'm a moderately experienced audio editor, but it's kind of like guitar, where I don't play enough to pick it back up again without cobwebs. Also like guitar, I find audio editing to be gratifying work once I'm in the flow. To tidy up a series of missed takes and noise spikes and flubbed lines with a combination of visual alignment, fine motor movements, and listening skills is rewarding.
Unfortunately, I discovered that some of my recorded chapters aren't showing up, so the last few chapter may need to be read again. I still feel confident of reaching my end-of-August delivery deadline for digital files, especially with the eBook ready to go.
The right book at the right time
I'm currently reading Shoe Dog, Nike founder Phil Knight's autobiography ghost-written by J.R. Moehringer. Moehringer is also the ghostwriter behind Prince Harry's Spare and Andre Agassi's Open, and he's widely considered to be the finest ghostwriter alive.
As such, Shoe Dog is a precisely-told tale about a wild-eyed SE Portland kid-turned-entrepreneur with a uniquely Oregon-centric dream, and how he brought that dream to life. Knight's dream is personal to many of us who live here since we wear his shoes and the company he built sustains our state, and many folks we love. His story is a fiery distillation of what it means to be an Oregonian, and reading it alongside launching my own PNW-based product is a major jolt of inspiration.
Reading Shoe Dog now also reminds me of an idea I heard: The right books reach us at the right times. This is an incredible comfort, both as a writer (because it relieves me of anxiety over who who reads what when) and as a reader (because I don't have to feel so guilty about all those stacks I haven't got to yet).
The second book
Speaking of more books, this week I charted out a loose weekly word count target for Book 2, and wrote some scenes in the early chapters. While the story is still very early in the process, it's fun to get back to these characters, especially since rereads of The Blue Beacon have them so fresh in my mind. I know some arcs, but what makes a story great are the details, and there are hundreds of small ones left ahead to uncover.
But before that, I gotta get Volume 1 on the market! The wait won't be long now.
Thanks for this reminder about "the right book at the right time". It does relieve me also of some anxiety I've been having this week over the stacks.
Am looking forward to all you've got in store!