Though I finished the requested re-writes on Consorts of Heaven during my week away at the beginning of the month, I told my editor I’d get them to her for the end of the month. There are two reasons for this.
The first is because I wanted to leave enough time (and hence distance from what I’ve changed) that when I do my final read-through I’ll be able to spot if my changes have resulted in anything that no longer works because it relies on me having mentioned something which I’ve since removed or changed. It should only be small stuff, but that just makes it harder to spot, and if I don’t spot it, a future perceptive reader will, and they don’t pay good money to have their reading pleasure marred by bad craft.
Secondly, I’ve been cracking on with Guardians of Paradise, which, because it takes place only a matter of weeks after the first two books, needs to tie in closely. With Principles of Angels now in the public domain, what I’ve stated there is, and will remain, ‘true’. That’s fine, as the characters from Principles come into the situation in Guardians with few preconceptions (though with plenty of backstory). The character from Consorts who kicks things off in Guardians is a lot more active (sorry to be so vague, but I don’t want to drop ‘spoilers’). There’s also some issues around space travel and technology generally, which I’d left deliberately vague in Consorts, as I knew I’d need to firm it up for Guardians. Once I’ve worked out all of this stuff (with help – orbital mechanics make ma l’il head spin) I can go back and change Guardians accordingly.
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