For all of those who have asked, I’m still writing books and I hope to have my fifth novel out late this summer. I’ll be sure to make a big splash when it comes out and, like when I released "Murder U" last year, I’ll have a release party at Magness Library. If you want to be on the invite list, just let me know and I’ll get you a fancy invitation.
Unlike newspaper, where deadlines cannot be slid back (since a slowdown in editorial can cost the company thousands while others wait to put the newspaper out) novel deadlines, when you’re the novelist, co-editor, publisher, co-promoter and marketer, can be delayed. That’s what has happened with my next book, "Paradise Ranch," which is the second in the Jack and Ashley Detective series (based on the original Friday Night Frights). It seems life has gotten in the way of getting it to market. It’s finished, but now comes the dreaded editing phase. The writing part is easy. It’s the editing and formatting that's maddening.
“Why don’t you just go ahead and release it, as is?” someone asked me a while back.
“Because you wouldn’t be able to read it,” I replied, realizing my unedited work is horrific at best and the release of an unedited manuscript would kill any credibility in the writing world that I’ve gotten over the past couple of years.
That goes for any writer. You may think the words you are pouring on the page make perfect sense but when another pair of eyes reads it, they can find the flaws and errors. You can’t have too much editing. As a matter of fact, editing for even my original book, "Red Dog Saloon," continues to this day as I update it with new editions, fixing errors that were found in the first release. That’s the upside of being my own publisher. I can update as often as I want. Always get one of the first 50 of my new books if you want a collector’s edition because there’s sure to be some typos in them – typos I will fix in later editions.
My original plan, when I started releasing novels back in 2013, was to publish two a year. That has proven to be a bit aggressive. "Paradise Ranch" proved to take the longest to write as it was done over the course of an entire year while "Murder U," for instance, was written over the course of last summer. However, R.D. Sherrill fans will be happy to know there will be no such wait again as my next book after "Paradise Ranch" – called "Mad Justice" – is nearing completion and hopefully will go into editing before "Paradise" is even released. In between those I plan to release some Kindle-exclusive short stories which are already complete.
Anyway, keep asking about when the next book is coming out – it keeps me focused on getting it done. In the meantime, if you haven’t gotten all four of the R.D. Sherrill books (shameless self-promotion) come up to the Southern Standard and buy yourself a signed copy.
Standard reporter Duane Sherrill can be reached at 473-2191.