Update: if you don’t have two reviews to link, it’s cool … you can apply anyway. I have an idea for what to do.

Hi Guys,

I’m looking for two more people to become “trusted readers” — this means you get to read my first and second and third drafts and give me story feedback, ideas, “I hated this part” thoughts, and so forth. This is an unpaid thing … you’re basically trading some feedback for the chance at an early look at my upcoming work. You’ll also get thanked in the acknowledgments of anything that goes on to be published.

You will have to sign a very simple non-disclosure agreement. It’s a two-page contract in very readable English that just basically says “I totally won’t steal Chris’s books and give them out on the internet.”

In 2013 you will at definitely get to read The Broken God Machine before it comes out, along with the first draft of Monster Hunters, and probably another first draft. If you’re going to apply, please link me at least two book reviews you’ve written at Amazon, Goodreads, your blog, or similar. If the reviews can’t be linked (like Barnes & Noble or Apple), please describe how I can locate them. IE: “go to this book’s page and look for the user ‘TotesLuvsVampires’ … that’s me!”

Interested? Go to my contact form to get in touch.

Whoah, it’s been way too long since I updated this here blog. The good news is: that’s because I’ve been hammering away at The Children of the Sun! Between that and my full-time job, I just haven’t had a ton of time for the peripheral stuff. I have been posting to my facebook page, though, so if you’re into that sort of thing you should go “like” me so you can get those updates! In the meantime, here are some updates on various projects:

The Children of the Sun

Man, this book is a beast! There’s just so much stuff that happens. I think you guys will like it and come out feeling satisfied at the end, but it’s hard to tell when I’m in the midst of the drafting process. On that note, I have trimmed an amazing amount from the first draft, almost 25,000 words, with more to go. I basically went in and did massive surgery, first, before I started the second draft. This left a lot of gaping holes that need to be sewn up (I literally deleted two entire chapters and also nuked a character from the book), but trust me: the resulting book will be leaner, meaner, and a better read. It’ll also focus more on Two, which is good since she’s the star!

I’m more than 65,000 words into the second draft now, and humming along. Every time I finish a chapter, I spend the next day going through it and then send it off to my editor, Lauren. This will let her get started on the easy stuff (punctuation, grammar, typos), and then when she has the full manuscript in hand she can help with things like flow, consistency, and outright story errors. She’s good at that stuff, which is an immense relief when you’re working on a massive novel and are no longer sure that what you’re writing even makes sense!

I’ve set some very aggressive word goals for myself for July. I don’t know if it’ll QUITE be done by the time I head for France in August, but that’s OK … long plane rides are a great excuse for writing. I’ll be posting progress updates here more frequently moving forward. Also, Karla‘s cover is coming along beautifully and I’ll be posting more images soon! She’s way past the sketch seen above.

The Broken God Machine

Well, the good news is: The Broken God Machine is out there in the big, scary world of agent submissions. The even better news is: it’s already had a bite. An agent for a prominent New York firm requested the full manuscript and is reading it over. Additionally, an editor at St. Martin’s Press (a division of Macmillan) is taking a look as well.

Now, the most likely result is that both of them pass on it — that’s just the way it works. But still, it’s pretty great to be getting some interest. Should be hearing back from one or both of them pretty soon. Wish me luck!

Non-Fiction Work

I’ll be doing some more cocktail articles this summer. I’ve got one already submitted to Primer that chronicles the history of the Daiquiri. After that will be a Tiki Drink roundup, and then a history of the Margarita. I’ll be posting here as the articles go live. I also am doing some spirits reviewing over on my Tumblr.

More coming soon. Stay tuned!

I’ve polished up The Broken God Machine and begun querying agents about representing that manuscript. I’m pursuing traditional publication for this one because I’m still curious about that world, and about whether I can the same success working within the industry that I have outside of it. We’ll see how that goes. If I don’t get any bites after a while, I’ll make some tweaks and see if they help. In the end, I can always publish it the same way I have my vampire books. Advance reader feedback has been really good, and I think you guys will enjoy it!

With TBGM out of the way for now, I’m moving back to The Children of the Sun. It’s time to start draft 2, and in this case that means cutting. Lots of cutting. My goal is to slash 25,000 words out of the book (which would bring it to right around the same length as Blood Hunt). I think that will make it leaner and meaner, more fun to read, and also address some of the issues that my trusted readers brought up with the first draft, one of which is that this book about Two just spends too much time not featuring Two!

TCotS is flabby right now, as evidenced by the fact that I managed to trim more than 9,000 words off of it this weekend by hacking out some sections that just aren’t integral to the story. I liked them. I’ll miss them. But they had to go.

This is a necessary part of revision — there are bits of The Blood That Bonds and Blood Hunt that never saw the light of day, either. I’ve never had a book this long, so I’ve never had to cut this many words before, but I think it’ll be good for me and for the novel! The whole point of a first draft is to just get the damn thing out and written down. That’s done. Now it’s time to make it good!

Oh, on one other TCotS-related note: the thumbnail ideas for the cover are starting to come in. You can see one of them in this very post! More on that soon.

This has been available over at the official The Blood That Bonds website for a while, but I thought it made sense to put it up here, too. I run a super-infrequent mailing list, sending off a newsletter about once every two months with the latest happenings with my writing (the next one’s coming in early August). If you don’t feel like checking Facebook or Twitter, this is a really good way to still get reminders about things like the Blood Hunt release, or contests that I might run.

You can sign up by clicking the link in the sidebar, or by going to http://writing.cwbuecheler.com/newsletter

I run this list myself, and can absolutely guarantee that your email address will never be sold, given away, or otherwise made available to anyone else, for any reason.

Making some changes to the color and layout of this site, so it feels a little less grey and dull. Things may look wonky on occasion over the course of today. Have no fear. By the end of the day, all will be well!

Huge article about re-drafting coming on Monday.