Done

Posted on February 3, 2008    Posted by      87 Comments

Zoe’s Tale, 96,528 words, completed 1:38 am, February 3, 2008.

Thank you and good night.

Category: Uncategorized    

87 Comments on “Done”

  3. It is:

    “One.”

    And interestingly, the last chapter really is chapter 25. Although its contents are not the same as previously described. It has been extensively edited, shall we say.

  5. Thanks. What I’m mostly feeling at the moment is fatigue. But yes. Very very very very happy to be done.

  6. Congrats John….now….

    When is the publishing date?????? Soon I hope….I need it for my collection…..

    Will you be signing any copies and if so how do we get a signed one?????

    Any IDEAS???

    The Rabbit wants to know….(at least its NOT BACON)

  11. Well done, John. I don’t know why you traded discipline and hard work for photo-shoppery to get this one done (this new professionalism thing is less entertaining), but it seems to have worked.

    Congratulations..

  16. Congratulations. Now that you have the contract/PNH monkeys off your back, I hope you can relax. For a bit.

  17. Wow, that’s some impressive progress.
    > 6500 words in the last 36 hours!
    At that rate you could have your next book drafted by February 26th (23 days from now).
    If collapse doesn’t set in first, of course.

    At any rate, congrats. I’m excited to read it.

  20. Lookit all the sick people checking up on John in the wee hours of the night. You are all sick! (myself included of course)

    Heh. writes book. Doesn’t get published for 7 months. That hurts.. I would want to keep changing things.. But of course you cannot.

    Oh and I volunteer to read it for continuity errors :) Just send it over.

  21. Very happy to hear this. Grab the family and head south for some sun, or something.

    For those of us who enjoy hearing you talk about the writing process almost as much as we like reading your books, how heavy to you expect the editing process to be based on your prior novels?

    Is it just minor suggestions to fix a clunky line or simple grammar mistakes your own bleary eyes missed even after who knows how many revisions of the same paragraph?

    Or do they ask you to move around chapters, cut down or beef up whole subplots, or eliminate supporting characters, and other types of major surgery?

  23. Congrats! Now you can return to your regularly scheduled blather, just in time for Super Tuesday! :)

    August 19? Excellent. That’s the same day (according to Amazon) that Tobias Buckell’s next book, Sly Mongoose, comes out. By pre-ordering together, I’ll get the free shipping deal.

  25. Congrats John, and I hope you’re enjoying some well deserved rest right about now. If it were me, the adrenaline would keep me up all night.

  26. Congrats John. I am looking forward to reading it but I’ll probably have to wait for it to come out in paperback though because Heather won’t let me touch her signed hard copy, I’ll get it dirty. Go get some rest now you deserve it.

  30. Is is it 100% complete or do you go back through it now and double check everything to see if the novel still needs any changes? Sorry I don’t know how the entire professional level process works but definitely congratulations! Regarding “The High Castle,” how is that coming? Do you now take a little hiatus to regain you thoughts before jumping right back into novel writing or do you keep on typing to make sure the thoughts keep flowing at a particular level? Sorry for all the questions, I am just excited for you and already looking forward to all of your upcoming works. Congrats again!

  32. It’s the entrance to the barbeque party that is clearly going on! And turning nasty…

    Maybe they are celebrating that their book is finished. Hooray!

  34. Wow, 7K words in a day? It wasn’t the “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” from The Shining, was it?

    Again, wow. And congrats.

    Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building. You rock.

  35. So, it’s nap time now, John?

    Congratulations. Hopefully the folks at Tor won’t be too disappointed that they don’t get to point their cocked and loaded guns at you.

  39. *thunderous applause* John, you rock.

    > What I’m mostly feeling at the moment is fatigue.

    Eh? You composed and set down the most crucial 6.5k words in an eleven-hour burst ¹ – akin to sprinting the last two miles of a marathon – and put a bow on it with a full day to spare. Of course you’re mostly feeling fatigue!

    > But yes. Very very very very happy to be done.

    We’re happy for you as well: your head is safe from the garbage disposal.

    Sleep in late tomorrow. Relax, re-acquaint yourself with the features of your family and pets, put your feet up, have some bacon. You’ve earned it.

    ¹ Elapsed time < zero days +11h23m, based on timestamp.

  41. Congrats. . .
    What impresses me is the fact you got a cover before the MS was done. That’s a neat trick.

    Impressive output too. (Though one hopes you didn’t resort to raiding nature periodicals for ferret references :)

  43. Congratulations, John. I look forward to a) A return of blather and b) Reading the book.

  46. Well Done!
    Now, how far behind are you on your next deadline?

    Not to stir up an angry rant.

    Oh, and if you need an off-site copy ‘just in case’ wing one over to me.
    I promise not to read it. (innocent grin)

  48. Wonderful! But I have a minor question.

    That last word, “One.” Is it perchance preceded by “Five, Four, Three, Two”?

  53. looking forward to adding it to the S section of the library. (Very few esses precede Scalzi alphabetically.

    Now that you are recovering (I hope you did whatever your version of the happy dance) may I ask if you are planning on attending Boskone?

  54. Steve Davidson:

    No Boskone this year, I’m afraid. I have a backlog of stuff to clear out of the schedule this February.

  55. Must have been the pressure to be complete so that you can watch the Super Bowl….commercials.

    Congrats, John. Looking forward to the read, and to having renewed Scalzi-ettes here on Whatever.

  60. Mazel tov!
    Sorry you won’t be at Boskone, but I like to see a writer keep his nose to the grindstone. Good luck with the backlog.

  61. Congratulations! It’ll be nice to a) see more of you around here once you’ve slept and said hi to the family and such, and b) read the book once it hits the stores!

  63. You write books? Just kidding. Congratulations. I went to buy one of your books, but wasn’t sure which one I should choose because I tend to let the cover sway me (which sometimes, kick-ass covers don’t lead to kick-ass stories).

    I asked for a recommend once on this board, but not one person recommended one of your books. So, Mr. Scalzi, if you could get me to read only one of your books, which would you tell me is your best? (Zoe’s Tale doesn’t count as it isn’t published yet.) Thank you

  65. Congratulations!

    This would be annoying clapping and the “This is your victory song” song, but I don’t think it would translate well in print and I’m way, waaay to lazy to youtube it.

    I hope you’re enjoying your grand state of finished-itude.

  66. So, now that you’re done go try out this recipe, that I read about yesterday in my local newspaper, for me.

    You take some raw bacon, coat it in brown sugar & fry.
    Let me know how it tastes.
    Can candied bacon be anything but yum!

  67. Congrats! Looking forward to reading it. I really like the cover too, by the way. Whoever designs the covers for your books is really tickling my artistic side. I love them. That’s what initially made me pick up Old Man’s War. That semi-watercolor feel. Just looks cool.

  70. Go and buy Old Man’s War, Dana (@63), and do it now. If the stores are closed when you read this, break in to activate the alarm system, wait for someone to show up and then force them at gun-point to sell you the book (we wouldn’t want John Scalzi to not get paid, now would we?). That way you’ll also have something to read in jail when they arrest you for breaking into a bookstore.

    Or, if you’re the more patient type of person, do the traditional thing and buy the book when the store opens.

    Just buy it, okay?

  72. YEAH BABY!!! WOOHOO!!!

    You’re an inspiration to those of us cranking away on works of our own. At some point today I shall buckle down to it and rid my work of a few thousand words.

  74. BTW Mr. Scalzi,

    Did you know that ATTS has apparently become quite the collectors item? Amazon has 7 of them ranging in price from $98.00 to $995.00.

    I believe I’ll hold onto mine as a retirement nest-egg. Thanks for the financial security. :-)

  75. Congratulations! Can’t wait to read it.

    Unless it’s a spoiler, does Jared Dirac get a mention in this one? I really liked the character and was a little disappointed when he didn’t even get a passing reference in The Last Colony.

  76. Nathan:

    I expect that will go down once the trade paperback is out in November.

    Aaron Haynes:

    I’d have to check, but I don’t think so, or if he does it’s passing indeed. There’s no real reason to put him in there, plotwise.

  77. And the villagers rejoice. Huzzah, the Scalzi pulled it off again! Hurrah!

    So now you get to go back to the day job and Patrick can stop making frowny faces in your direction. You know, until the next book is due.

  78. Dana @ 63: I would recommend reading the Android’s Dream. It’s amusing, action-packed, and has some clever twists.

    Scalzi, you can leave my payment for the shilling at the ‘regular place.’

  82. John,

    First: Congratulations!

    Second: I’ll back it up for you. Nothing like having a distributed backup. I’ll even store it in my head for you if you’d like. I’m kinda like Johnny Mnemonic that way… But of course not the Keanu kind.

  86. Vincent at @78 – – Finally. Thank you for that recommend. I will purchase that this coming weekend.

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