All right.
Well, if I've been slightly incommunicado for a few weeks, it's because I've been rather busy. Â A still little side project I started working on ended up consuming my soul for sixteen days. Â (Sorry about the lack of EUOLogies. Â I'll pop some out next week, then you can ration them for a while.)
So, anyway, the Mystery Project is finished. Â It is, as Stacer guessed, a YA fantasy. Â Very light-hearted, kind of in the vein of KNIGHT LIFE, which some of you have read. Â
The fact of the matter is, I'd just written so many deep, ponderous books lately (THE WAY OF KINGS, MISTBORN, MISTBORN 2) that I needed to write something lighter to kind of 'cleanse the palate' so to speak. Â I also wanted to hone my comedic skills a little bit, just in case Fell and I do end up doing a novel together. Â
However, when it comes to writing, I tend to get very single-minded and go overboard. Â That's why this is my sixteenth novel. Â It's finished now, clocking in at 53,000 words and about 300 manuscript pages. Â (Take that, NaNoWriMo!)
I honestly don't know if it's any good or not. Â I'm getting more well-read in the YA (or, I suppose this is Middle Grade) field, but I don't know enough. Â I suspect this book is a little derivative, since I don't have a large body of works to draw upon for inspiration. Â
However, I think it's quite a bit of fun. Â On Monday, I'll give it a solid rewrite. Â After that, I'll be looking for readers--especially readers who are familiar with children's lit. Â I realize this probably isn't a monolithic, amazing work that will change the genre. Â However, if it turns out that you all think it's publishable, then I'll probably try and sell it.
Thanks!
(By the way--yes, technically Stet wrote this. Â But, he's too much of an eccentric recluse these days to put out a book, so he's letting me handle all of the publicity and the like.)