Marion G. Harmon, A Writer in Vegas.

It takes longer to write a novel than I thought. And you’d think I’d know better, having been through it once with Wearing the Cape. However, Hope fans will be happy to know that tonight both Villains Inc., Episode Four: Endgame and Wearing the Cape: Villains Inc. have been posted to Amazon.com. Approval and publishing takes a little while, but they should both be available sometime tomorrow. And what a race it’s been.

So, what can I say about the last run-up to my second released novel? I’d like to say I felt like this:But…much of the time it felt like this:

.

.

.

.

Someone said–and I paraphrase–“Writing is easy; you just sit down in front of your computer and think until you sweat blood.” So, why did I do it?

First, and this astounds me, the money is good. I’ve written for pleasure for years, never finishing anything although I always promised myself I would; I’d finish it to my satisfaction in my head, but never push through the painful process of getting it all down on the page. That was too much work and I was always too busy. Then I became a casualty of our wonderful new economy, and with lots more time and much less income, I found myself without excuses and a real reason to write: for the money.

Second, and this was also a discovery, for the sheer, incredible, freaking joy of Finishing A Story! How does it feel to finish a final draft and actually publish? Oh, I imagine something like this…

If some days it feels like climbing a mountain, well, there’s a peak up there somewhere and the view is amazing.

And each mountain is getting easier; Wearing the Cape took over a year, while Villains Inc. took about eight months. My goal next year is to finish two more books–first Bite Me!: Big Easy Nights, for the amazing number of Artemis fans out there, then a completely different story, Worst Contact, a piece of sci-fi humor that has been sitting in my head for years. Then it’s back to the Wearing the Cape series for a third Astra story, and after that we’ll see. So many ideas, so many mountains.

Which really brings me to my third reason: like a gratifying number of readers, I really want to see what happens next.

So HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody. For all of you who have patiently waited the completion of Villains Inc., thank you and I hope you find the ending worth the wait (Amazon reviews gladly accepted). I promise to have Bite Me out as soon as I can get it onto the page and polished to standard (I’m shooting for April, but can’t promise anything yet). It has been an amazing year, and I owe many, many people a deep debt of gratitude for making it such a successful one.

Sincerely,

Marion G. Harmon