Monday 6 December 2010

FROSTFIRE IS FIIIIIINIIIIISHED!!!!

Wheeee! Best. Monday. EVAH.


Just over 85,000 words of wolfy, romantic, action-adventurey goodness is now complete. I'm going to put this to one side until the first week of January, when I'll just comb through it one more time for typos and embarrassing boo-boos, before I send it to my editor on the 10th of January. That is, the very DAY she returns from her extremely well deserved holiday. No rest for the virtuous!

Besides, if I try to hang onto it any longer I'm bound to start fiddling, and given that I've done nothing but work on this book since April, I'll be in serious danger of making that weird mud-colour that you get when you put red and blue and green and yellow and pink and white together and just keep stirring.

I will, of course, give you guys lots more details about this book when I'm sure that my lovely editor isn't going to make me completely re-write the whole thing. For now, suffice it to say that it's a companion book to DotF, but doesn't feature any of the same characters, and that it also has my very first love triangle - but, for anyone heaving a bored sigh, this is NOT like any love triangle you've ever come across in YA before. BELIEVE ME. *Snorks with private laughter*

All being well, FrostFire is scheduled to be released (along with a re-jacketed DotF) in July 2012. Exciting stuff.

So, what is Zolah going to be working on next? Well, I've been noodling around with the idea for what I've been calling a Gothic Clockpunk Romance for a while now, and I think this is what my publisher would like me to do. For those of you who've been paying attention, you may remember this as the Giant Killer Clockwork Praying Mantis Death Robot book. Catchy, eh? I'll probably start on that in earnest in the new year.

Before then, to stop myself getting all tense and ansty and cross, I'll be writing a synopsis (or rather, three synopses) for The Big Secret Project. Which is, you know, Big. And Secret. But since it's you, I'll slip you some hints. *Looks around furtively*

Hopefully Big Secret Project will be a story that takes place over not one, not two, but three whole books. As a devoted lover of fantasy trilogies and series, it's really exciting to realise that I've got a story which has enough guts to work that way. At the same time, it's pretty terrifying for someone who's always written standalones to try and plot something that doesn't come to a neat end in a single book. Big Secret Project will also allow me to utilize all that research I did on Japan for Shadows. And that's all I'm saying. My lips, they are sealed.

And now, I am going to go and collapse from SHEER RELIEF! See you on Wednesday!

26 comments:

Mundie Moms said...

Congratulations!

Zoë Marriott said...

Thank you! I'm still doing the Snoopy dance!

bfree15 said...

Well Done! We all love a good love triangle.

Good luck with your next projects they all sound very exciting. Looking forward to hearing more about them in the future.

Zoë Marriott said...

Thanks, bfree. This love triangle will definitely challenge a few preconceptions. I wish I could say more, but, like I said, my editor has to approve it first.

meghaz said...

*discos*
Yay! I'm upset that it's going to take soooo long to release, but at least it's something.

Zoë Marriott said...

I'm afraid publishing does move at a pretty glacial pace. But anything worth having is worth waiting for, right?

meghaz said...

Right. You know, at least I get to read it sometime.

Zoë Marriott said...

I'm sorry! I know it's not much comfort. As I'm always saying, if it was up to me it would be a lot quicker. But publishers do have a lot of work to do, and I'm just happy to be published at all, really. Let's hope that continues!

Isabel said...

YAAAAYYY!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS, ZOE!!!!! I'm so glad it turned out alright in the end!

Zoë Marriott said...

Thanks, Isabel :)

Amanda from facebook said...

I have to wait until 2012!?! NOOOOO!!!!!!!! I want to read it now! :)

Isabel said...

Cheer up, Amanda. I have to wait until 2013!! *Sigh*.

Sarah said...

Yay congratulations Zoe!! This is another one going on my "buy as soon as it is released" list :o) I'm very curious to see what you've done to make the love triangle so different :o)

Zoë Marriott said...

Thanks, Sarah. I'm dying to talk more about FrostFire, but I know that I've done some risky (in terms of YA) things with the story, so I'm going to keep schtum until I'm sure everything will make it through edits. Suffice it to say that if you've ever got sick and tired of the heroine falling for the 'Designated Hero', no matter how big of a jerk he is, and wished she'd blow him off and go for someone completely different...you may like this book.

Alex Mullarky said...

Well done! XD

Saya said...

I remember the giant clockwork praying mantis thingy - when I checked out your website after I finished DotF when it FIRST CAME OUT, you said you were working on it. Which makes it several years that you've had this one in the pot!

Isabel said...

BTW, Zoe, my friend is *really* enjoying DAUGHTER OF THE FLAMES.

Zoë Marriott said...

Thank you, Alex.

Saya: Yep - I've been playing with ideas for this one since before TSK came out, actually. I've already written about 70,000 words (all of which will need to be trashed now, since they make me cringe). I stopped midway through for a variety of reasons. My first editor, who was the book's champion, left, and then my publisher thought the book was too 'dark' and would alienate my readers, then when steampunk came in and they got interested again I'd already made the decision to write FF first. It's a little frustrating to realise that I can't really salvage anything from the words I wrote before, but hopefully the book will be better for a fresh start.

Isabel: that's really great! Let's hope I can keep her attention until the end...:)

Byrn's books said...

Congrats Zoe :)) I can't wait to get my hands on this one. It looks like a real treat :))

Zoë Marriott said...

Thank you - let's hope my publisher feels that way too!

Isabel said...

Zoe: Oh, no, the *other* friend, who *was* a girl, finished it a while ago. Now it's somebody else; a guy. :) I know, it's hard to keep track of all the people I've been lending it too. They've all enjoyed it very much; everyone keeps asking to read it, and I'm so happy I've been able to spread the word so well. =)

Zoë Marriott said...

Keep up the good work Isabel. If all the people you've lend DotF to buy FrostFire when it comes out, I might be able to afford a new boiler after all...

Ashley said...

How exciting!! I absolutely LOVED Daughter of the Flames, and I'm totally excited that there will be another book written in that world!

Zoë Marriott said...

Thanks, Ashley.

weemee.c xx said...

2012 is ages! It's too long to wait!! Seriously - TOO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!

But I guess ur just adding an xtra chunk of awesomeness to that already HUGE year (Olympics, end of the world etc...)

Frostfire sounds so wicked, I wanna read it now. Books r brill but they always take such a long time to make. Waiting is excruciating!!

Zoë Marriott said...

Weemee: I know! We authors feel it too, believe me! But it's less than a year now, so it could be worse. I had to wait nearly two and a half years for my first book to come out :)

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