Dear Readers,
The Why
The most exciting stop on the launch trip, and here we are already. Two days of work to bring you less than a minute of delight and intrigue. And this video should explain it all. The why of the speed at which this book had to come out, or at is feels, this book wanted to come out. Now if you are eager to cut to the chase, do scroll down to see the video now. If you are curious, however, read on.
Surprise
Having no sooner had I taken off the earphones from editing the audiobook for book 3, Amanda Cadabra and The Flawless Plan, than the new sequel, book 10, which you now know to be Amanda Cadabra and The Fatal Flower (what a lot of ‘F’s!) out of the blue, months before it was planned, began to flow, and then to turn from white water to torrent. Within days I had files of notes, plot layout, chapters, dialogue, and anecdotes. Time to start compiling it into a book. I checked the previous book for when that ended to work out when this one would begin. Within minutes the truth was borne in upon me.
The Time
This book was a Hallowe’en book. I completed the writing and editing passes in record time, and sent it off to the subeditors my Four Horsemen of the ApocoLAPSE. Any lapses in spelling grammar and the like that have survived my editing and detected, arrested and documented for me to deal with in the last polish.
Fast Track
Meanwhile, my friend and talented illustrator was at work on the cover. It was all coming together. Next, I was assembling the launch machine at an unmatched speed. Which brings me to this. The is the largest and most complex part of the machine: the trailer: writing the script, finding the clips, creating, and wrangling the stills, adding the text, pulling it all together in CapCut (a video editing app recommended to me by three savvy teens at a party) and timing it to the music. You might call it a labour of love. And so … here it is: The Amanda Cadabra and The Fatal Flower Trailer:
I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know. There is a particular sequence in it which I found tremendous fun to put together. Can you guess what that was? Is it as much fun for you to watch?
Next Time
The final stop before our destination coming up. I shall finally confide to you the title of the book that will be free for you to download from the you shop of choice on Launch Day. And also at the last station: the Chapter 1 reveal video, read by me, with some intriguing visuals to entertain you.
Back soon.
Happy watching,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
