Update on my 9th novel: A New Season

Writing Life: 31

A New Season is set in Toronto and Paris, two of my favourite cities.

The manuscript: Editing, copy-editing, proofreading…

It was way back in early October when I first wrote in this space about my upcoming ninth novel, A New Season, due in bookstores on August 29th. So I figured you were due for an update. After spending about a year cooking up the story, mapping it out, and developing a scene-by-scene, bullet-point version of the novel, I finally started writing the actual manuscript for A New Season in mid-April of last year and finished it in early July. Of course, I then reviewed, edited, and polished it for several more weeks before finally turning it over to my editor in late August 2022.

That’s when the editing started in earnest. My awesome editor, Joe Lee, initially gave me some very helpful big picture comments on the manuscript, which I used to guide me in a first revision. I sent the revised manuscript back to Joe in mid-October. Then Joe did a thorough line edit using Track Changes in Microsoft Word, and passed his proposed changes back to me in early December. I then took another pass through the manuscript almost always accepting Joe’s suggested edits and making a few more of my own. My editors have always made my novels better.

I had it back in Joe’s hands before Christmas. He then passed the edited manuscript on to our eagle-eyed copy editor, Erin Kern, so she could work her magic. As she always does, Erin caught many small issues with the manuscript including some continuity challenges, overuse of certain words (one of my problems), and other minor inconsistencies, etc., etc. As I usually do, I accepted virtually all of Erin’s great catches and sent back the next-to-final manuscript to Joe in early March.

Finally, the edited and copyedited manuscript was then passed on to the wonderful Melanie Little for proofreading. Yet again, she found a few issues that Joe and I had managed to overlook—overlooking things is one of my special gifts. Guided by Melanie’s suggestions, I made about a dozen additional changes and sent it back to Joe in early April, almost for the last time.

In amongst the work on the manuscript in the last few months, I also wrote the Dedication as well as the Acknowledgements, a note about the original songs in the novel to be included at the back, and reviewed the catalogue/back cover copy Joe had written that hints at what’s inside. Joe and I went back and forth a bit on these items, but I think they’re now finished and out of my hands. Here’s the (likely) final version of the catalogue/back cover copy:

Catalogue and back cover copy that my editor, Joe Lee, wrote for A New Season.

So the manuscript, cover copy, Dedication, and Acknowledgements are now all submitted and final. There will likely be a few more tweaks when we review various iterations of the final layout of the novel—called First pages, Second pages, and, you guessed it, Third pages, etc., depending on how many rounds we have before approving the final layout. (I can always find something to change if they give me another look at it!)

On to the next stage…

Design of the book interior

Earlier this month (April), Joe sent me the proposed design of the interior of the book—not the final layout, just the general interior design, with a few sample pages. I think Joe and the rest of the M&S team have done a great job.

The first couple pages of the new novel.

I particularly like what the designers have created to mark the start of each new section of the novel.

Sample section breaks inside the novel.

I’m not going to share an image of the actual text layout of the narrative as I’d rather let you discover the story when you crack the cover sometime after August 29th. But I can assure you it looks lovely and inviting, with lots of white space and a font size and type you’ll find easy to read.

So that just leaves the cover…

Cover design

I continue to be awed by cover designers and what they do. My ideas for the covers of my novels tend to be too literal and specific to the story rather than more symbolic and metaphorical. So I’m always amazed at what the designers come up with that captures the essence of the story in a single image. I love the look and feel the talented designer, Matthew Flute, created for the cover. Below are the first two draft versions of the cover.

(L) #1 The figure was deemed too large. (R) #2 My name moved to the right and a new figure added (though we thought the guy’s neck—and the rest of him—was a bit too thick).

The colours and the scene itself beautifully capture the somewhat melancholic tone of the story’s premise. I also like that the ornate lamp post ironwork slightly overlaps my surname in the second version, adding a bit of graphic interest to the cover. Joe felt the figure in the first version was a little too large relative to the lamp post. I also thought the trench coat and cap on the first figure didn’t really capture our narrator’s appearance. So in the second iteration, the figure was reoriented, reduced in size, and relieved of his hat. I also like that the figure in the second version is looking towards the heavens, pensive, reflective, perhaps seeking answers. There’s a reason he might be doing that, which you’ll discover when you read the story. So the second version is closer, but I then felt that the figure’s neck and torso were a little too thick for a ball hockey player, even one carrying a few extra pandemic pounds. So the final version below features a slightly slimmed-down figure and also repositions my name just a little.

The final version of the cover. I love it.

So, pending any last minute second thoughts, what you see above is the final cover that you’ll see on the novel when it hits bookstores in a little more than three months. The design of the back cover and spine, and inside covers, is nearly finalized and I’ll share that soon. The whole package looks very cool to me. You’ll see it soon.

New author photo

It’s been 16 years since my photographer twin brother, Tim, took my first author shot, and nearly ten years since he took my second:

Ten years is a long time. I wish I still looked like my 2014 author shot, let alone the one from 2007. So I thought it was time to go through the arduous and tedious process of getting a few new photographs that, of the hundreds shot, actually look okay and kind of like me. Yes, I’ve add a few pounds since 2014, and I’m nearly a decade older. Anyway, here are a few shots that may make it into circulation. Many thanks to my twin bro Tim for making me look much better—relatively speaking— than perhaps I actually do. Tim produced both colour and black & white photos. I know I look more serious in these than I did in my 2014 shot, but this new novel strikes a somewhat more serious tone, but I hope still with some laughs along the way.

A few of the 2023 shots

Brooding in colour in our third-floor library. (Photo credit: Tim Fallis)

Brooding in black & white. I like the lighting in this version. One of these shots may well be on the inside cover of the new novel. (Photo credit: Tim Fallis)

The “I was distracted and looked away” shot. (Photo credit: Tim Fallis)

On our library balcony, face on and looking every one of my 63 years. (What the hell happened?) (Photo credit: Tim Fallis)

Wrapping up…

So that’s the update on A New Season. My editor, Joe Lee and I haven’t yet talked about the audiobook edition of the novel, but if we proceed along the same lines as my last two, I’ll be recording it in the next few months so it will be available on the August 29th release date along with the print and e-book editions.

It always seems like it takes so long to get there, but over the years I’ve found that—brilliant insight alert—launch day actually does eventually arrive. Not once has it not come.

---

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you’ll subscribe and share if you haven’t already. See you in two weeks for another post.