I promised in an earlier post that I would keep you informed about the progress of the second book in The Revelation Trilogy, a fast-paced legal thriller entitled NEXT BEST HOPE.

It is nine o’clock at night on March 27, 2012, as I write this in Kilgore, Texas. Earlier today, or maybe it was late last night, as indie writers know oh so well the days and night meld together, I received a MOBI file of the book from Jeff Bennington, who is handling the cover design and formatting. Jeff, of course, is the author of THE INDIE AUTHORS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE.

Since I received the MOBI file, I have re-read forty-five percent of NEXT BEST HOPE.  This feels like the hundredth time I have read it in the last two months, but it is probably in truth about the seventh or eighth time. So far today, I have found only two errors that must be corrected in the text.  But that is still another step along the way.

I also have reviewed a total of seven cover designs for the book.  My partner and mentor, Caleb Pirtle, and I have narrowed the scope of that artwork to one choice which will need only one minor tweak.  So we are almost there on that issue.

Imagine under the old model of publishing how long it would be from this point until NEXT BEST HOPE saw the light of day. At least months, maybe a year.  But things have changed.  With the miracle of Kindle Direct Publishing, a new day has dawned. If I can keep my eyes open for a while this evening, or surely by in the morning, I will complete my read-through of the text.  Likewise, the tweak on the cover will take only a day or so.

This means that by the end of the week the book will be ready to go.  With the push of a couple of buttons, I will download the MOBI file and the cover art, type in a product description and make the selections necessary to send the book “live” to the whole world.

There are a lot of ironies in this process.  When I first typed “The End” to the manuscript a couple of years ago, I thought the perfect time for its release would be during the run up to the next U.S. presidential election.  I didn’t know then that the book would take its circuitous journey and end up poised for a release at exactly that moment.

I suppose you may surmise from my last statement that the book has something to do with the electoral process in the United States, the way we choose our ruler. In fact it does in a backhand sort of way.  For in NEXT BEST HOPE a group arises that seeks to overthrow the U.S. government and install itself as the arbiter of a coming kingdom, the kingdom of God.  They see themselves as the nation’s next best hope.

Maybe so, maybe not. People will think I grabbed the plot from the headlines of the last few months.  I didn’t. This deal has been a long time in the  making and won’t change anytime soon.

I hope that is teaser enough for you.

NEXT BEST HOPE  is book two in The Revelation Trilogy.  Book one is LAST ONE CHOSEN, another legal thriller that has recently broken into several Kindle bestseller lists.

I’ll probably run a “free” day on NEXT BEST HOPE sometime in the next week.  So stay on the lookout.

By the way, I’ve already written book III of the trilogy, THE REVELATION EFFECT. So, when I get over the jet lag from NEXT BEST HOPE, I’ll start the process of editing all over again.  And somewhere in there, I’ll finish the other book that I am a third of the way through right now. It’s a glamorous life.

Indies of the world unite!