annabutlerfiction

Heart Scarab… the end, at last.

It’s almost midnight, it’s still not quite the end of October, and as I hoped, I’ve finished the first revision of the second Shield book, Heart Scarab. I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open and I definitely need chocolate. But here’s the proof:

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It’s about 3000 words longer than the first draft, which puzzles me slightly. Still, we’re only about a third of the way in, in the crit group discussions, and I’m sure they’ll make me trim it back again.

Mind you, no one will like the ending and the m/m genre readers will hate it like poison.

But it’s done.

That is so satisfying.

8 comments

    • It’s very satisfying, although there is still work to do on tightening it up and my regular Crit group will help there.

      I should stop procrastinating and decide if I should try and sell the Shield series to a publisher or self-publish it. The problem is, of course, that it isn’t a story that the ‘typical’ m/m reader expects and with no hint of a happy ending until the end of Book 6 (or 5, if I decide to strip out some of one and merge it into the books that stand either side of it), and with the heroes meeting and parting and having relationships with other people and probably not nearly enough sex to satisfy that urge… well, I don’t know if any publisher would touch it.

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    • And I meant to say, would you like the HTML script for the progress bar? It’s a lot easier to use than it appears at first sight, and all you have to do is drop it into a text widget here at WP for it to appear on your front page.

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  3. I just read the 2 books in the shield series and i couldn’t put them down but damn yes you eere right that ending killed me dead and i want to kill Rosie!!!
    Can’t wait for the next book. I LOVE Bennet and Flynn together (i love their conversation so much. They’re funny and so full of love) and am rooting for them and will die if they don’t end up togeher.

    Thank you for this awesome series!!

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    • Grins. I’m delighted that you’re enjoying the series, but poor Rosie!

      All I will promise for Bennet and Flynn is that circumstances will bring them back together, but not ‘together’ again immediately, because, well, military regulations will get in the way. But by the end of the series, who knows what will happen?

      I shouldn’t tease. Seriously, though, it’s not really a romance in the classic sense, so you’ll have to expect a little up and down to their relationship.

      I expect Makepeace, the third book, to be published somewhere around the end of the year or early next. I hope you enjoy it. It’s my favourite of the books so far.

      Thank you for commenting and letting me know you love my Shield boys.

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      • Thank you for replying! I actually can’t wait the next book and then the others. I even wonder what am I going to do until then!!!
        I really love the plot too and the characters (except Rosie but i guess you got it already! HA!).

        I like the fact it is not a romance in the classic sense but they have to end up together or i will die! (No, I am not being dramatic at all! ;P)
        Actually I was hoping Flynn would succeed to make Bennet break the military regulations! *wide eyes*
        But i guess i need to ger ready for major heartache… Sigh.

        Anyway I am SO glad I came across your series, thanks to a Gr friend who recommaded it to me!!

        All the best from France!

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