Throughout my over decade in the literature community as a published author, I’ve actively sought out as much information as I could get my hands on about the writing process and how to write. In the books I’ve read, conferences I’ve attended, and industry professionals I’ve spoken with, there are certain writing points that they all often speak out. How to start a novel, story structure, dialog, grammar mechanics, and the list could go on. I’ve seen an English language professor and a fiction editor arguing about an Oxford Comma on more than one occasion. But one thing that rarely, if ever, gets talked about is where I’m at on my next novel to come out, when is it ready?

But when I come to the end, when the story is finished, and I start to edit, that’s where the eternal question of ‘is this ready?’ comes in. An author can rewrite sentences and paragraphs and complete chapters until they drive themselves mad, wondering which one is best. Every published author has looked at their book on a store shelf and thought about how they would have liked to have changed something. Maybe they hit a deadline and just must turn it in. Maybe their publisher told them to make a change. Or the author just can’t decide which version is best.

I’ve run into this issue in some of my novels. There are somewhere I know it is ready the way it is. Others, there are points that get mulled over and changed, see how it feels, then changed again. With my next book coming out, Dimensions: Second Wave, I’m confident with what I’ve written, but I’ve got an editor who disagrees with me on a few points. In the end, it’s my novel and it’s my name on the cover, but I still am in the process of trying some things out as we rush forward towards the release date. In the meantime, since my next novel is about jumping between dimensions, I had to research different theoretical was that we could jump between dimensions. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more updates about Dimensions: Second Wave.

Leif J. Erickson is a science fiction and fantasy author from a small farming community in west central Minnesota. Using his time wisely when he was a farmer, Leif developed many ideas, characters, and storylines to create over fifty unique first drafts and outlines for stories. From his start in a small town school, to college at North Dakota State University, back to his family farm, then to the bright lights of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and back to his small farming town, Leif has always had a love of writing.

When Leif isn’t writing he can be found with his wife hiking in state parks, canoeing local lakes and rivers, exploring local and regional ghost towns, experiencing museums, or simply reading or hanging out with friends and family. Leif draws on the local nature and ecology to find inspiration for his writing while he also asks what’s possible for technology and the human race, weaving them together for amazing stories that will stay with the reader for years to come. Leif looks forward to having many novel and story releases in the years to come.

You can see all of Leif’s Books here: Leif’s Amazon Author Page