Last minute nerves

Plot holes or windows of opportunity?

I'm writing this when I ought to be editing, tweaking and freaking out. I needed a break (especially from that last one). 

The third book in the Thomas Bladen series, Cause & Effect, is fully plotted, largely written and ready for some sanding and sculpting. I have chocolate on standby (for health reasons, naturally) and a writer friend ready to do some sanity checking over the weekend.

I'm aware that I'm bloody fortunate to have the 'problem' of getting a third thriller ready this year. But there are challenges.

A squint at my reviews on Amazon will tell you the books are either fab or fooey, and that one reader's meat is another's tofu. I have my own agenda of course, envisaged over five novels (although I'm already wondering about other plot ideas beyond that). 

For loyal readers, you may find this book a little different to its predecessors.

Points of interest:
1. It's shorter than Standpoint and Line of Sight, and hopefully more pulpy. 
2. A plot element from book one is resolved.
3. A character returns from book one and there's a cameo from someone in book two.
4. There's a new key character and another slice of Karl's backstory.
5. Swearing is still very much on the menu.

What has definitely changed are my expectations as an author. Yes, I want Cause and Effect to do well and for virtual cash registers to ring throughout the land. But...I'm much more aware of the bigger picture, of developing as a writer so that I can tackle the other stories taking up space in my head. I'm now clear about the outlines for Bladen books four and five, and I know I have to make decisions about Thomas's future. Or maybe he does and I have to try not to get in the way.

Mostly, frankly, it's one long rush. A ride every writer hopes for that validates persistence without blinding me to the importance that luck and timing have played. Mostly, I'm just glad I kept on writing.