Something for the weekend

I’m doing something different this weekend.
I left “Making Martine” and “Good Girls” be for a moment, I stopped adding details to the second installment of "The Blue Flame", and started something that I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but what the hell, now I’m doing it, I may as well finish it.

It started like this...
Friday night we went out for a party, me and my girlfriend, and we got back a little more amped-up than usual (don’t ask).
As sleeping was not an option, I started going through the files on my kindle, and ended up reading a story of mine.

Now, I consider “Raven” my biggest failure.
It was a story I had planned more or less thoroughly, but in the end it got completely out of hand, and my readers did not fail to let me know.
It sold very poorly, and it got some bad reviews.
I had been overambitious, or just too stupid, or too hasty, or too stoned when I wrote it.

But the other night it really got back to me.
I still love the premise, and I feel a lot of sympathy for the characters. Sara/Raven is a my kind of girl, as is her man, Clutch.
I like the tone, and the feelings, and even the Monica-Bellucci-gone-bad cover.
I felt bad, because I felt like I had somehow failed my characters, and not just my readers.

So I converted the ebook back into a word document, and then started revising it.
I got deeper into Sara’s character, which meant going deeper into Raven’s character, too. I defined the two personas more clearly, and planted all the seeds of Raven into Sara from the start, from well before the magic and shit.
I made the transition slower, and revised some dialogues.

By 7 am yesterday morning I had also added a full new chapter.
Now it’s a little past noon on Sunday, I am no longer amped-up, but “Raven” was 17000 words, and is now 25000.
And I’ve still got a lot to write.
The story sort of ended abruptly, and I wanted to go further, to explore more, to meet new characters.

I don’t know where this will go, but now I am thinking about what I will do with the new “Raven” once it's finished.
I don’t feel like putting up as a new ebook, because it would feel like cheating those that bought the first, flawed version - as few as they were.

What I plan to do is the following: I will update the file and the cover, and I will mention the fact that this is a revised and expanded edition in the blurb etc.
Those that bought the original, will simply get the updated file as soon as they turn on the update function on their reader. And those that read it on KU will be able to go back to it.
Everybody will be able to enjoy the new expanded “Raven”.
And hopefully more readers will be attracted by the story.

And now, I need a cigarette, and I’ll go back to my revision.

Let me know what you think (I'm still locked out from the comments, but I'll reply to you all in a separate post).