The Daylight War is Over!
Well, not exactly. I have finally finished a complete first draft of The Daylight War, book 3 of 5 in the Demon Cycle, and handed it in to my agent and editors in the US & UK. Before this point, no complete version of the book existed. It was a combination of prose, stepsheet, and some abracadabra locked in the recesses of my brain. The first draft came in at a whopping 243,000 words, just slightly longer than Desert Spear.
More importantly, I am very, very proud of it.
I was really worried I was going to miss my April 30 deadline for the book, as I have missed them before, but the looming threat of the due date really helped me rally into some of the best writing I have ever done. Normally a decent writing week for me was 5,000 words. 7,000 was a really good week. For the last month, I have been exceeding 10,000 words a week, with this past week being my personal best at over 16,000. It was been amazing, fulfilling, and utterly exhausting, both mentally and physically.
And I absolutely could not have done it without the incredible support of my friends and family, as well as all my readers who have shown their support on here on the blog, on twitter, facebook, and G+, as well as in person at conventions and the like. I cannot possibly tell you how much that has meant to me while working on a project that has taken over two years during a very difficult time in my life. So thank you, everyone.
There is still a LOT of work to be done. My editors and agent will read it and send me comments. I will prepare NDA’s for my beta-readers, and they will read it and send me comments. I will read it through myself, and make my own comments. Then I will do a rewrite where I cherry pick all the comments and edits I agree with (because I can guarantee there will be conflicts between all those people) and do a rewrite to incorporate them. This will be the second draft.
Then I will do another rewrite, privately, where I line edit and wordsmith every sentence, every word, every piece of punctuation and formatting.
After that I will submit this third draft, which will be sent to a copyeditor, after which there will be another rewrite, albeit a lesser and more line-edit targeted one.
The resulting fourth draft—probably in late summer/early fall—will go to translators worldwide, as well as the production departments of my English publishers, who will put it into layout and through a proofreader. Then I will edit the page proofs for last minute corrections/changes.
While this is going on, I will be drawing the new character avatar for Inevera, discussing cover art and design with the publishers, working on marketing, etc. I will also be finalizing the outline for the next book, now tentatively titled The Skull Throne, and sending that in so I can begin prose on that book once the second draft of The Daylight War is locked in.
Right now, The Daylight War is scheduled for worldwide release on Feb. 4, 2013, right before my 40th birthday. I am pretty damn psyched about that. It will follow the January 2013 UK print release of The Great Bazaar & Brayan’s Gold, which I know a lot of folks out there have been waiting for.
In the meantime, I have a couple of weeks off while everyone reads the manuscript. This is good, because I need a bit of time to rest, recharge, and absorb some of the creativity of others. I have a huge stack of books in my to-be-read pile, and haven’t been to a movie theater in I don’t know how long.
But I won’t be totally idle, either. I had a great idea to continue my Red Sonja Blue series with Dynamite Comics, and have three books left in that contract. I will also be finishing up the Demon Cycle short story Mudboy, which will appear in Shawn Speakman’s Unfettered Anthology. An extended, novella-length version will eventually come out from Subterranean Press to go along with the beautiful limited edition hardcovers they have made of The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold.
But for now:
Congrats Peat! That’s so exciting. If you need your philosphical coreling creating buddy to look it over let me know 😉
Congrats! And it will be out a few days before my birthday! Wonderful news
So unbelievably jazzed to read this. Well done. Enjoy the next two weeks. Sleep the sleep of the just.
Well done you! So excited!!!! 🙂 I cannot waiit to read it, though Feb 2013 seems a long time away! Enjoy your well-earned R&R time 🙂
You must feel relieved now! Very well done on the word count.
I can’t wait to read what will be, I am sure, another excellent piece of literature. 🙂
Nice job pal, I started reading the first two again and they were even better second time round. Can’t wait to read the third.
All the best for the future.
Hi peter, I’ve read the 2 books published here in portugal and I’ve become a huge fan of your stories and your way of writing.. Would you consider coming back to portugal, lisboa (lisbon) for a book signing? eheh I would love to meet you in person and hey… I could buy you some “pasteis de belem”, I know you loved them the last time were in Lisboa! I wish you a good day, sir! (Sorry for my english :P)
well done pete can’t wait for the daylight war and mud boy to come out and u have got me thinking with the change of title on the forth book from the Forrest fortress to the skull throne hmmm….
It won’t be out til my birthday. Hoping for christmas. Oh well my birthday always served as the time where i got what I really wanted anyways.
Am use to waiting an extra 2 mos….
Hooray! Nicely done, Peat. The release date is one day before my birthday 🙂 Can’t wait! Congratulations.
Congratulations! I’ve been following your tweets and got a glimpse of what stress (and joy) has been finishing off the book.
You deserve a rest and time to enjoy with your family.
hi, cant wait for 3rd book, loved the first two. Gonna have no nails left untill i get to read you latest book. Excellent work. well done from Scotland…..
That must be so satisfying – you should be proud 🙂 Really excited to see the fruits of your labours – hang in there. We all know it’s gonna be worth it 🙂
Nari X
WOOWOO! Congratulations are in order! Well done! Also, YAY for all the readers out there! There is now an absolute on the daylight war! Lastly, THANK GOD for me. I was sure my impatience was going to be the death of me, and now I know just how long there is left.
PS. If the whole mayan doomsday thing goes down, I will be pissed. Not because I’m dead, but that I won’t get to read the book.
Great news! Now I can read once again ‘The Painted Man’ and ‘The Desert Spear’ and wait for ‘The Daylight War’ 🙂
Best regards from Poland
Pozdrawiam 🙂
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!!!
*fist pump after fist pump*
Awesome news, I have been waiting for news on the book and delighted to hear its completed, I am excited and thrilled. Enjoy your well earned time off:)
Awesome! Thanks for keeping your readers apprised of your progress. I’m very much looking forward to the Daylight War.
Well done PEAT!!!!
Great timing for release as just before my birthday too! Toughest part will be not buying it immediately so that someone has a very easy choice of birthday present for me!
You just made my day/week. Going to see Avenger’s in 3D IMAX tomorrow. You should try to hit that up Peat. Congrats dude, So happy to hear its nice and long too.
Question?: Special edition of The Daylight War? Maybe some artwork inside like in Brayon’s Gold? Or a kick-ass warded bookmark? Please?
Maybe make the book have a nice gold trim, with one of those red silk ribbons sewn in it as a bookmark. Your books dererve special treatment. I would preorder your book on your sight right now if i could. Is thre a way to reserve a copy? When its ready to print that is.
Congratulations sir! I can only imagine the feeling of accomplishment that must come with penning the final words. I thoroughly hope you enjoy your free time, as you deserve it more than most.
Am a little bit high on anticipation. Looking forward to settling into my window seat for a whole day and devouring the book while the rain beats down outside. Bliss.
Awesome, Peat! I’ve been anxiously awaiting TDW, and now that there’s a date, I’m super excited. Congratulations, and thanks for crafting such wonderful stories.
Excellent news! One day the quintology will be mine!
Just read the first two books of your Warded Man series and wanted to say great job. First thing I did after finishing the second was to look for the third very excited to hear it has a release date (however far away and tentative it is). Great job so far :).I’ll reserve judgement for your next books til after I read them but it doesn’t sound like there’ll be any problems :).
Excellent news, picked up the first on on a whim and fell in love with both books.
Can’t wait to read this book,
Excellent news!
I’ve been waiting for this badboy!
I just wanted to say that, in my very humble and unneeded opinion, that this is the most interesting series of books I have ever read! I have never meet such interesting and well developed characters and scenes in a book before. I usually don’t give my opinion on many things, especially books, because I have never written one and don’t know how hard it is to develop and create one, but Mr. Brett has done an outstanding job on these and i wish him all the blessings God can give him on these books! I , also, don’t usually recommend books to others so adimetly because taste runs so wide, but I actually tell others that they will get hooked if they just read the first one. Sorry so long winded just wanted to lend a drop of support in Mr. Brett’s pool. Good luck on the rest of the series! I am looking forward to it!
Good for you! 😀 I just wish it wouldn’t be so long before I can read it. I’m going crazy with impatience XD
I wish I could read your first draft; but I now it’ll be a better story if I wait. can’t wait to read it! I’ve already read the first two books three times over each.
I like the story very much and the characters aswell.
Novadays it’s hard to find a story that’s not told a thousand times before, or you have a new story but know the characters all too well.
Das Flüstern der Nacht (whispers of night) was a real turn on for me, as the story was fresh and the people were complete strangers to me, but i learnd to like them very soon, or to hate importent as well 😉
Hi Peter
I am a massive fan of fantasy and have a very large collection of books ranging from Feist to Eddings to Donaldson and Martin.
I can honestly say that your books are the best I have read and I cannot help picking them and reading them again and again, they are riveting and your attention to detail is fantastic.
I cannot wait for the 3rd instalment and I will be one of those that pre orders like everyone else on here.
Thanks for many an enjoyable hour spent with your books.
Ian
Loved the first two books, looking forward to the third, But, is the audiobook version released at the same time as the printed version?
I’ve just read The Painted Man and the Desert Spear for the 3rd time. You’ve created such a believable world with superb characters that I can see myself reading these same books again in a years time. Thanks for having the courage and drive to put together an marvelous story enjoyed by many. Looking forward to Feb 2013!
I’ve just finished reading the desert spear and the fight between arlen and the corling prince was intense. i just couldnt let go of the book.
I’m looking forward to the 3rd book. You have my support 🙂
Awesome!! If the third book is as intense as the first two then it shall proudly be read once or twice a year.!!!
I really really really can’t wait to read the third book!!!
I read many books just to kill the time between your books…
Just 1 question does this third book also appear in dutch cause the second didn’t…
Awesome, can’t wait to read it.
just one question when will the book come to the Netherlands?
(I don’t care for the translation, dutch has a way of making even the most awesome books a boring read, like it did the Ranger’s apprentice)
If you’re reading in English, odds are the books will be available in the Netherlands on or about the UK release date of Feb. 11.
Thanks everyone!
Not sure there will be more Dutch translations after the first.
hey peat,
firstly, congrats on finishing the ”The Daylight War”.
I’ve re read the other books about 10 times each so defo need the new material.
Also just to keep you up to date you may remember i mentioned my wife was pregnant and if the kid was a boy we were gonna call him Arlen. Well Arlen was born on 4th nov ( a month early) weighing in at 6lb 2 oz.
full name is Arlen Joseph Horsfall so hopefully once your over in uk again on book tour and im not off on tour with army to afghan or wargaming for few weeks i should be able to finally get a few books signed and introduce you to Arlen.
have fun on your well earned rest and hope you and yours are all good.
WOW!!!! I have been waiting soo long. Cant wait for your next books.