First Draft & Beta Readers. I wrote the first two chapters about thirty years ago, and they sat in my filing cabinet. I resumed writing in October 2012 and finished the first complete draft of the novel in August 2013. The manuscript had 150,000 words. Thanks to my two beta readers, Phil and Katie, whose feedback improved the novel, I finished a new draft in November 2013.

Editing & Proofreading. More self-editing followed, trimming the novel to 130,000 words. I submitted this version to a professional editor, Connie, in December 2013. My submission was polished enough, so Connie took barely over half of the estimated hours, saving me $2000. I did more editing, reducing the book to 115,000 words, and then the text went to a proofreader, Molly, who finished in March 2014 with close to a final version.

Graphics & Design. My illustrator, Shawn, drew the banners (see right panel), the cover (see rough draft below), my two maps (see below), and the Snarshyim alphabet. My book designer, Jay, finished his work in July 2014.

Published! The book went to the printer in August 2014 and is now for sale in a paperback edition distributed by Itasca Books. An electronic edition is available from Amazon Kindle.