The saga is complete, almost 750,000 words all told! Though it will probably end up around 700,000. In terms of length, the Robert Jordans of the world have me beat (no snide remarks!), but my series is quite a bit longer than LOTR, which I believe was under 500,000 words.
Now I'm down to just a few more months of revisions. My publisher already has completed versions of Books 1 and 2. Book 3 just needs one more read-through. But Books 4-6 still need a lot of work.
I cried when I finished Book 6, but I cried at the end of all of them. I guess I'm a sucker for my own endings. Then again, I once wailed over an episode of Andy Griffith, so that tells you something about me. When it comes to the "sob part" of any book, movie, or TV show, my psyche is ready and willing -- especially if it involves any kind of father/son thing.
Otherwise, I cry very little.
I wrote the first word of this series on Sept. 3, 2004. It's probably going to take me until the end of October 2007 to finish all the revisions. I was aiming for three years, and came pretty damn close to making it!
How do I feel? Right now, a little numb. Maybe it won't hit me until I'm really done.
-- Jim
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About Me
- Jim Melvin
- Clemson, SC, United States
- I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.
The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.
4 comments:
Jim, wonderful sentiment and thoughts about your finishing your series, and what it's really like to accomplish your goals. Best of luck to you!!!
Chris:
Thanks so much for your comment. By the way, I finished your sci-fi novel Word Wars last night and was thoroughly impressed, especially with your grasp of technological theories and how simply you described them. I'm not nearly as good at writing sci fi as you are.
That said, your characters were amazingly well-developed for a standalone volume. I found myself caring for all the ones I was supposed to care for and rooting against all the bad guys. I ended up staying up an hour past my usual (already-late) bedtime just to finish it. That's always a sign of a great book!
I hope a lot of people find time to read it. They won't regret it! Anybody who might be interested should click on Chris' blog (Alpha Adventures) at the bottom of my blog.
Jim
To Jim Melvin
I reade the excepts you added to your blog and found them well writen:
there was suspence in the air the charaters live in my imagination and the
phrase "...invisibility is a state of mind" create a atmosphere.
Shlomo Korzac.
http://kafee.wordpress.com/
(Linkrefferal
Marcel:
Thanks much for your kind words! It was nice of your to visit my site. I'll check out your blog, as well. I'm working on a separate link so that the excerpt doesn't tie up so much of the home page. I did a lot of graphic design as a journalist, but no web design, so I struggle with html.
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