A very kind reader reminded me recently that it’s been well over a year since I posted an update on the sequel to Forest. The writing has taken me much longer than I had anticipated, partly because the story has turned in directions that I did not expect. This has required me to retrace my steps a bit.

The good news is that I am currently writing the final chapter… but that chapter has proven to be a monster to write. There are 6 different character POVs that come together at the end of the novel, each one interconnected with the others in a way that makes the whole thing very tricky (and time-consuming) to keep track of.

I continue to make daily progress and estimate that I’m within about two weeks of being done with the first draft of the full manuscript. After that, there will be revision and edits — I have several hundred little notes to myself (continuity issues and minor fixes) that I need to go back and address. It will be a while before that’s done, and I appreciate your patience. Considering that the first book took me a full 8 years from concept to production, and the second one has only been in progress for about 19 months, this one is going much faster.

Thanks for your patience.