…so I know I promised I was in “final edits” two months ago.

Well, they’re done.

The editing process is a funny thing. I’m one of those people who can tinker at all times — I’m always looking for something to improve. In that sense, I completely understand what George Lucas tried to do with the original Star Wars trilogy (although I will forever maintain that Han Solo shot first). The urge to fix things, to make things even better, is always there.

But there comes a time when you have to put down the red pen and say, “Go out into the world, little book, and see what you can do.”

(In some cases, your friends forcibly remove said red pen from you and say, verbatim, “IT’S READY, DAMMIT, PUBLISH THE THING.” Thank you, R.)

So I did.

Amazon is presently reviewing the copy I uploaded. If they follow their usual routine, it may be live by tomorrow. I’ll post a notice whenever I get the notification that it’s up. At some point tomorrow, I’ll also format it for the Nook, which should hopefully be less of a project than the MOBI conversion, now that I’ve got the final completed file.

(Next time, I’m hiring someone to format the thing for me. The hell with all this technical stuff. With that said, it’s been checked on three different Kindles and two different previewers. The formatting should be pristine.)

This is the third book I’ve released for myself. I’ve ghostwritten some novellas and two novels. Turning something in — whether it’s sending it to the client or kicking it over to Amazon — still scares the hell out of me. I think it’s the nervous high schooler that still lurks around in my brain, waiting to hand in an essay. What if I can make it better? What if it needs more of this? Can I fix this? I don’t like this!

Death and Biker Gangs has been a long time in coming. I started writing it immediately after GNW went live, and it had several stops and restarts along the way. At one point I ripped out 22,000 words and started fresh. My beta readers advised some subplot alterations and I agreed with them. The ending got shredded and revamped.

And then came the editing. One part proofreading, two parts tweaking.

And tweaking. And tweaking.

You basically can’t leave me alone with a manuscript. I’ll fuss with it until the dead walk. Hell, I was still messing with DBG at 1 AM before I uploaded the final converted file. Somebody stop me.

Anyway…the result is a book that’s bigger and badder than the original, but still doesn’t take itself too seriously.

I’m nervous about it, yes, but I’m also proud of it. Or maybe I’m just relieved that it’s done.

One of those things.

Good night, all. Happy zombie hunting.