Gatekeeper in beta

It's been very quiet here for a year or so, but that's because my writerly time has been spent drafting, honing, editing and polishing the "first" (really, now it's done, the fifth) draft of my second novel. Not saying this blog will suddenly burst back into life, but I may have a little more time for it now that...

I've sent Gatekeeper out to my small cadre of beta-readers!

One of the things I wish I'd done, looking back on the early days of War of Nutrition, was solicit feedback from a wider cross-section of readers. I've been really fortunate this time round that seven friends and family have volunteered their time to read (slightly more than) 100,000 words and give me some constructive criticism, for no other payback beyond a credit in the acknowledgements section and a beer or two.

So this is kind of a nervous time while I wait for that feedback. I'll be distracting myself assembling a list of agents and publishers to which I'll start submissions next week. After my experiences last time round I'm not expecting that to lead anywhere, but I have to try. Phrases like "you've got to be in it to win it" and "you only need one 'yes' " have been floating round my mind a lot, and despite another friend's recent disappointing experience with "traditional" publishing, on the other side of the coin there's the inspiring (to wannabe writers) story of The Martian currently setting t'Interweb aflame so I figure if it can happen for Andy Weir then why not for me?