Of red ink, red roses, and red blood.

11:35am on a Thursday afternoon, yet another two months after I last updated this thing. Once more, I question why I keep it.

Probably due to the fact that I have (finally) finished my 3rd draft. *crickets chirping* That's if anyone was keeping score at this point, which I doubt is many. I can say with all honesty though that this draft is the one I plan to keep, I like how it evolved, how the characters (old and new) came together, and the new plot twists really helped make it into a solid story.

The hard part now is sorting through the red ink while I make changes, revisions, edits, and fixing small things. A complete read-through and edit will be done in the next couple weeks and while it is sorely needed, I doubt a final draft will be wrote. I should be able to make the necessary changes, fix the errors, review and revise some areas that may need it, but overall - the structure is firm, and it looks as though all of it will come together rather well. I had contemplated some changes in the makeup of a few characters, but decided not to. They all serve a really good purpose in the book, and all of them show signs that the story may not be over. That being said, don't expect a sequel or anything tied into this anytime soon. I have no source material, and this project has taken twelve years to deliver on. What would I do with such time? Heck if I know. However, revisions will be made and edits will be done. E-book publishing seems to be the way I'll go, it appears rather inexpensive, but is a bit complex in that I am required to do all the work. However, if it all works out correctly, it will be on the likes of Amazon very soon.

Next steps obviously are always up in the air as one day to the next can be a complete. My little fanfic I wrote in the MxO universe will be examined again soon, revisions to it will probably be made and a rewrite as a little side project. Other than that, it's grim on the creative side - my gaming addictions probably don't help that.

When it comes to red roses and red blood though, you can only think about how things fluctuate on a daily basis. Roses in the good times that fall with life, blood comes when the bad hits. A lot of bad blood can be traced to differing opinions and conclusions being drawn on the wrong information and evidence. Then you have the bad blood that just develops with no real explanation. Both of these have been prominent in my life, in more ways than I care to count. It is truly an amazing thing that we, as humans, have not wiped each other out yet. The rate of birth still outweighs the rate of death in on this planet, but I would imagine if the radical ends of every spectrum do not moderate soon, those statistics may change. It is a sad thing to see, the opinions of those who feel they are right and everyone else is wrong. Sad people.

One of these days, I'll get back to regular updates about life in general along with new updates on happenings with the book. Till then, adieu.