Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

Folks, we are literally days away from completion of the first draft. It’s been a looooong time coming, I know. My readers have been exceedingly patient and very encouraging. My thanks and appreciation to you all.

In the last days of any project, I get rather manic. Okay, “testy” is probably a better word. “Obsessed” probably fits in there, too. All right, go ahead and add “hard to live with.”

I want to do nothing more than call in sick, stay home, sip whisky, and finish the damned thing. Even when I’ve written a book “quickly,” we’re still talking at least nine months that I’ve been working on it (not including any preliminary research I’ve had to do). And this book, well, as some of you know, life and the realities of publishing just got in the way of FC:V, so I’ve been working on this book, literally, for years.

I hope it’s worth it. I mean, I know it is worth it for me. To complete this story cycle has been a goal since 2001, and to finally see the finish line in the distance, well, it’s damned well worth it. But I hope it will be worth it for you Readers.

I remember waiting patiently for the next book by Cherryh, McCaffrey, or Eddings, and frankly, there were times when the wait only ended up with the newly-arrived, eagerly-devoured book being thrown across the room. Just because a writer has pleased in the past doesn’t mean the next book won’t suck (to but it bluntly).

For what it’s worth, I like this book, FC:V. I like where we’ve gone and how we got there. I know it won’t please everyone (boy…do I) and I don’t expect it to. But I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

k