As with everything in life, you get better with time and lots of practice and some really great courses. Some of you might have seen that I have pulled Mercury Dagger - A Tale From Kraydenia from the shelves a while ago. The reason for this is that it is undergoing some rigorous rewriting and editing with some new covers being developed as well.
As any author would tell you, the revision leading to a second edition of a novel is done with great hesitation and trepidation, lots of sleepless night and a strong cup of coffee every few minutes. Back in 2009, after the full effects of the great recession kicked in, I lost my job as so many others in the world did. Jobs were scarce and companies were struggling, and I needed to keep busy. So a story popped into my head one night and the next morning, I opened up my Word 2003 on a laptop that barely held itself together and started typing. I had no knowledge of the craft. I did not know what I was doing, in fact, or where this would lead to. All I knew was I liked the story. Yes, there were a lot of mistakes made in the book. Heck, I didn't even know where to get an editor. I mean, as an Afrikaans speaking male with English as a second language, it couldn't be that bad, right?... Oh boy... After the launch in 2010, money was becoming an issue, and luckily I received a phone call from a company to do their IT Administration. So I stepped back into my corporate shoes and slaved away to get some cash flowing again. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for the work. I took a step back then and focused on learning the art of writing and signed up for multiple courses. I wrote a few short stories and a novel, twice, but never published them. Then in 2017 we moved to Australia, and we started our lives afresh. Again, it took some time to get back on our feet. Now was the time I could finally work on my writing, and my first stop was fixing up a few things in Mercury Dagger. And this time round it is going to a fantastic editor to smooth out all the sharp edges. I mean, even his FIRST language is English... I jest, he is absolutely fantastic and I am grateful for the work he has put in.
And so doing the revision, I did not want to change the story itself, although I have changed some names, and added a few new scenes. I think in total I have added roughly fifteen thousand new words, give or take… and removed probably seven thousand. The rewrite took a bit longer than expected given that I wrote another novel in between, which will be published soon after I republish Mercury Dagger. Keep an eye out for it.
To those that read the first edition, I thank you greatly and can assure you that no significant changes to outcomes have occurred. If you are thinking of doing a reread with the second edition, I am sure you would enjoy this version. To any new reader thinking of picking up this novel, I thank you for considering it worthy of a read.
If all goes as planned, I will publish the new edition in June 2021. I will share updated information in the coming months leading up to the release of the improved novel.
