On Writing & Storytelling: Looks Like the Fixes to ‘Reunion: A Story’ Are In! (An Update on the Updates)

A Soggy, Hot End to a Short Workweek

It’s now midafternoon on Friday, July 7, 2023. It’s both hot (91°F/33°C) and rainy outside – the forecast was 100% accurate today – so even though it’s dark outside, I still feel the heat seeping through the wall at my stocking feet as I write this. I wasn’t planning to go out anyway but having lived in Florida (first in South Florida, now in the Tampa Bay area) for most of my life, I know that once the showers go away, there’s still some chance of being struck by lightning from a storm cell as far away as 40 miles. And even if lightning is not an issue, the humidity and the strong summer sun will combine and create a “steam bath” effect as the water from the rainfall evaporates. So, even if I wanted to go out for a quick stroll, it’s too darn hot now.

Well, even after a hot shower and a long rest break, I don’t feel up to the task of tackling the manuscript for Reunion: Coda. I still have a dull headache, and I feel tired and unmotivated. I could still push myself to get some “novel writing” time before 5 PM (44 minutes from now as I type this), but then Reunion: Coda will feel more like I’m doing homework rather than a labor of love, and the quality of the writing will suffer. I’ll try and work tomorrow; it’s not like I have any social plans on Saturdays anymore.

Are We Done Yet? An Update on the Latest Revisions to Reunion: A Story

However, I do have good news to report about the last batch of updates to Reunion, the ones I uploaded last night to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). The corrections are visible on the Kindle e-book edition (I checked my copies on the Kindle for PC app on this computer, as well as the Kindle Fire tablet; yes, the two errors that bugged me so much when I spotted them last night are now things of the past.

I still don’t know if that means the paperback edition will have the corrected version of the text in copies ordered today. In theory, the print version – which uses the same source file as the e-book – should be nearly identical to the Kindle edition. The only difference between the two – other than digital vs. physical – is the cover art. Since the update went live on the paperback end of KDP almost 12 hours ago, books ordered today/tonight via Amazon will be printed between the time of order and tomorrow and shipped shortly afterward.

I’ve already written about how my friend Thomas Wikman and I both ordered copies of Reunion on the same day Amazon emailed me to inform me that the updates to both editions had gone live. Both Thomas and I expected to receive the newer edition; we ended up with the problematic first edition and had to re-order copies from Amazon. And although I did get at least some of my money back via royalty payments, I would have been happier if things had gone the way I expected.

With that in mind, I will wait till Sunday to order a copy of the “new and improved” third edition of Reunion.

The bottom line for prospective book buyers is:

• If you have not bought either version of Reunion: A Story but prefer an e-book rather than a physical copy, you are good to go and will get the novella in its newest edition. Plus, until Monday, July 10, you can buy the Kindle edition for $1.99 ($2.00 off the regular price)
• If you want the physical paperback and order a copy later tonight, you may receive the updated version, but as much as it pains me to say this, I suggest you wait till Sunday or even Monday to order a print-on-demand copy

I apologize for all the revisions and reissues. I genuinely believed I’d corrected all of the problems that were in the 2018 first edition. Alas, they were not. In my excitement over the apparent success of the relaunch, plus the high I was on when I finally started writing Reunion: Coda, I saw on the page what I wanted to see, and not what was there in black and white (so to speak). It was not my intention to issue and reissue various editions of Reunion in such a short time span. And, trust me, even though I am now happy with Reunion as it is now, I wish I’d done my job as an editor better back in March.