Zanzibar’s Rings (Viridian System 3) #AtoZChallenge2021

Zanzibar’s Rings. It was my aim from day one of this year’s A to Z Challenge to finish writing the third book in my Viridian system series. So, what’s the score? I suppose in theory I have until the end of today, but I did start at 18,650 words, so …

Zanzibar’s Rings – the Word Count

The good news is: I got to my Camp NaNoWriMo target yesterday. 81, 879 for a target of 80,000. Here’s the evidence. You can see the bar for yesterday is above the last point which is the target for today.

I have every confidence that I’ll finish the draft today. I have a final chapter to write, rounding up various odds and ends, then a postscript which is an edited short story. Together they’ll throw in at least another 5000 words, putting me well over my 85k target.

Zanzibar’s Rings – the new blurb

I put the original blurb on my A post, so you knew roughly what the book was about. As I read it again, about a week into the month, I realised that the incident which kicks off all the changes in the Viridian System means that nobody can communicate with other people in the galaxy–so how were these two superpowers supposed to even travel there, let alone wage war with each other?

But these things tend to go around in circles, and I found myself with a role for at least one of the Galactic Powers. So here’s a redrafted blurb…

A Galactic crisis: the entire comms system destroyed. No waypoints, no navigation aids, no database access… and how will spaceships in flight get home–or to any destination? Dolores is stuck in warp with a very dangerous passenger, Pete gets his shuttle back home on manual. But how come anything in close contact with pure orichalcum fixes itself? Just flying through Zanzibar’s Rings solves the problem–as the Federation’s fighters find, as they descend on the Viridian System to take possession of the planets.

Zanzibar’s Rings by Jemima Pett, expected 22 Feb 2022

What next…

As I said in yesterdays’ post, I’ll be working on bringing this draft through to publication standard, with a view to launching in February next year. I thought the 22nd February might be a nice date. In English format, that’s 22-02-2022. I’ve had several palindromic wordcounts that I’ve posted through the month, so it seems fitting 🙂

With that in mind, I’ve registered the ebook as a pre-order with Amazon, iTunes, B&N and Kobobooks. The date might change, though.

But what am I writing next? What novel will take over from the Viridian System and the Princelings series? I might work on my Second Sector Emergency Rescue Service scifi story (AAA for galactic drivers), or I might finally get around to the modern-day Black Beauty I’ve been thinking about for twelve years!

AtoZ Road Trip

I’ve been so busy writing, I haven’t done much visiting at all. I intend to make up for that over the next few months. Thank you for visiting, for your support and encouraging comments, and I hope you had a good April.

Reflections post next Wednesday, along with IWSG, Camp NaNo round-up and maybe writephoto as well! 🙂