Okay, I lied. I'm using the automated post images because I'm lazy. I also think they are pretty.

Editing

Sand and Bone is almost finished. I just got the second round of edits from the editor and integrated almost all the feedback from beta readers. Next week, I'll send it back to the editor and I should have the final version soon thereafter.

This does mean almost every chapter of the novel changed, mostly to make it easier to read and clean up those little things I missed. Thanks to my patrons, I had assistance in affording this last step.

Once the book is finished, the digital versions will be uploaded and I'll start the print version. It should take about a month. Patrons ($4/month and higher) will get a chance to get the book at cost with a discount for the rest of the patrons. I'll also do a giveaway or two in celebration.

Front Matter

I'm also going to add a pronunciation guide in the front of the book. While I'm comfortable with the names, it's been pointed out that not everyone knows the language as well as me.

I also wrote a “previously” for the chapter because every book should have a 1-2 page of what happened in the book before it.

Italics

After bouncing back and forth, I decided to change the italics. This came from some really good panels at WisCon from bilinguial speakers. Their statement is that marking foreign words with italics made them jarring for native speakers, as if they are changing their tone. I also recently saw a comic that said an italic word is just one that can be skipped.

So I decided to remove the italics for native languages. That means none of the Rutejìmo novels will have italics (once I reformat them) but Kanéko's will have them for at least for the first novel since she isn't comfortable with the language (her learning the language is a plot point).

Sand and Bone 22: Old Ways

When Rutejìmo came up to the little girl outside of Kosobyo City, he thought it was strange that the kojinōmi didn't follow the same rituals as he learned from the Book of Ash. It wasn't until he woke up at the spring and had a chance to talk to Atefómu that he realized that the rituals were greatly different in the eastern and western sides of the desert.

He was also surprised and horrified to find out that she sent Kosòbyo hunters after Nifùni. They had caught the courier and killed him but they were unaware that Rutejìmo was still alive. The reasons, though, were unexpected as Atefómu revealed she knew far more about the kojinōmi than he ever realized.

Read the chapter at https://fedran.com/sand-and-bone/chapter-22/. If you like it, please become a patron or review one of my previous books. Subscribers get access to all my novels, including the unpublished ones.