I’m not always good at posting on the last Friday of every month, but I can just make the last weekend. As of today, there are under 10 days until the release of Far Removed (there’s a nifty countdown on my home page and my books page).
I filmed many unboxing videos this month. You can find my reactions to the paperback and hardcover proofs on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. It’s so surreal to hold your first novel.
Reflecting on Why I Wrote This
I share a lot about the how and the what of things but seldom the why behind them. Now that I am so close to publishing, I want to reflect on my reasons for sharing this story in the first place.
I’d like to think Far Removed has some profound moments, but I also aim to entertain and delight. I have an oddball sense of humour which comes through in dialogue, and might make more socially adept readers cringe. There are few things I love more than exploring environments and cultures that are built on different foundations to what we experience on earth. Knyads are biologically genderless (though they are aware of gender in other species and sometimes use pronouns to express themselves). While they don’t really struggle with sexism or homophobia, they live in a society that is flawed in other ways. A strict caste system and xenophobia curtail freedoms. Their circumstances raise interesting questions. If population growth was beyond our control, would that make us more adaptable, or more paranoid about controlling what we could? If future generations were dependent on healthy marine conditions, would we take better care of the environment? Are my two POV characters really so different from each other? Does lack make it harder for some to be generous? Can we forgive someone for being self-seeking?
Reviews
Part of publishing involves releasing a product into the world, knowing not everyone will like it. I plan to leave the review space alone in peace. However, I wanted at least one review with some weight behind it for promotional purposes. So, back in June, I sent my manuscript to Kirkus. This month, I got a positive review from them and was told it will be featured in the 15 September edition of Kirkus Magazine. I didn’t earn a coveted star, but apparently only 1/4 of their indie book reviews make it into the magazine. That is enough for me. When I next feel like I don’t belong as a writer, these affirming words will be something to look back on. You are welcome to search for the full review, though it does contain some spoilers so I’ve just included a screenshot here.
Final Steps
For every mountaintop experience – like opening a box of books or receiving a good review – there are countless hours of admin and redoing things you didn’t get right the first 1, 2, 3 … 12 times. I used to resent the fact that so many mundane tasks weighed me down, always taking longer than expected. But I am older now, and a little wiser, so I’m starting to treat delays as part of the process. I can move past them, it’s not the end of the world. Still, my head is spinning with all the things that need finalising in the next few days. Faith is a personal thing I don’t try to explain, but I doubt I could have pulled this off without God guiding my path, prompting me to remember things or sending helpful people my way.
This is my last post in the Journey to Publication blog series for Far Removed. Thank you for travelling this road with me. These blog posts have encouraged me to keep going. Whenever I look at my stats and see views from a few countries, I get excited.
While I will continue to provide updates on my writing, I’d also like to include things in my blog that might be of interest to readers: spotlights on fellow indie writers … insights on world building. I may have to celebrate my book launch by doing something special; if I’m not intentional about marking notable events, they just slip by like any other day. I want to put up another blog post a day or 2 after my book releases on 5 September, so I hope to reach out again soon.
C B Lansdell 