So, in a somewhat backward, bet you didn't see this coming, fashion, The Gemini Hustle has a second, much shorter, edition.
Going for a fresh edit wasn't an easy decision to make, but over the years since its original publication, and the writing, re-writing, and editing of The Libra Gambit, it became clear that Gemini just wasn't getting enough love, or, not enough love to generate read-through to the next book.
So, somewhere during the third or fourth draft of Libra, I took a long, hard look at our eldest Zodiac child, and determined that, yes, it could benefit from a little Kon-Mari action.
To be fair, a lot of what was cut did spark joy, but it also added subplots that went into the weeds, or stopped the action cold, or had a few too many characters to keep track of.
All of this is natural in a first draft.
At least, it is for all three of us at Outrageous Fiction, because we are discovery writers, which means pretty much what it says: we discover the story as we write it.
Which is why, once we learned more about our writing style (the pandemic did allow for some self-discovery), we also learned we need to spend a little more time and effort in the editing process.
And yeah, it is absolutely a Bold Choice to take a book that's been out for five years and give it a trim, but if there's a chance it'll give readers a better experience, and be a stronger lead in to the series, then why not?
Plus, there's an odd sort of joy in making a few MST3K comments about the first edition, while posting the second.
TL;DR - There's a new Gemini Hustle being posted and will be released in late October, alongside The Libra Gambit!
We are very excited.