BOOK 3 UPDATE. WHY IS THIS ONE TAKING LONGER?

I’m about **three-quarters of the way through editing Book 3**, and I know some of you are waiting impatiently for it, so I thought I’d explain why the final book always takes me longer. I will be giving the pre-order date very soon.

When I write a trilogy, I work in stages. I write the rough draft first, then go back through it in passes, editing, enriching, padding out scenes, strengthening emotions, catching inconsistencies and generally turning that rough draft into the book I actually want you to read.

**Book 1 is usually the fastest.**

I go into a new story absolutely bursting with energy and ideas, so my Book 1 rough drafts are often pretty close to a finished novel already. Editing is more about polishing and enriching what’s there.

**Book 2 sits somewhere in the middle.**

By then, the initial explosion of energy has settled a little. The rough draft is usually decent, but it needs more work and more passes before I’m happy with it.

And then there’s **Book 3.**

Book 3 is a completely different beast.

By the time I reach it, I’ve been living and breathing the same characters, world, and story for three books. I’m usually creatively exhausted, and my Book 3 rough draft tends to be an absolute bloody mess. Not even joking, even my betas almost give up on it haha

But Book 3 is also **the most important one to get right.** It has to tie up the loose ends. It has to answer the questions I’ve planted across **all three books**. It has to complete character arcs, resolve conflicts, pay off things that might have started hundreds of pages ago, and make sure I haven’t forgotten some tiny thread I introduced back in Book 1. It’s an absolute brainache book. Every time I think I am done, I remember something I forgot to finish and have to find where to put it. Most importantly, it has to leave you feeling that the entire journey was **worth it**. That’s the bit I obsess over. I don’t want you to finish three books and think, *Is that it?*

I want you to close Book 3 feeling like I covered everything I promised you. I want the emotional payoffs to land and the feeling of being done. I want the endings to feel right, like a signed-off fade-out. I want the trilogy to feel complete.

So while Book 1 can sometimes fly through editing, Book 3 becomes a complete **labour of love**. And that’s exactly where I am now. I’m roughly **three-quarters through the edit**, obsessing over details, strengthening scenes, checking every thread and making damn sure this final book does the other two justice.

It’s taking me a little longer. But there’s a reason. **I don’t just want Book 3 finished. I want it right.**

It’s coming. I promise it’s not far away.

And we’re getting very, very close.