About Construct Revised Edition

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve re-read Construct at this point. And I don’t even want to think about how many times I’ll have to re-read it in the future as I continue writing The Chronicler Saga. But I’ll be honest: I still love that book.

A lot of authors are embarrassed by their first published works, but I steadfastly refuse to be embarrassed about Construct. I still enjoy reading it. Maybe that’s weird, or deluded, or narcissistic… and I don’t care.

But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s without flaws.

Over the course of writing and editing Companion, I re-read Construct a number of times, and every time I did I’d find a new typo or a clumsy sentence or something that bothered me. As I was doing this I’d highlight those parts on my Kindle and leave myself little notes about what I should change, should I decide to do so. When I was finished editing Companion, I looked back at Construct and I had over 150 notes.

YEESH.

So, I decided to embark on revising Construct and releasing that Revised Edition to coincide with the pre-order period for Companion. The process was surprisingly easy, after all the notes I’d taken while being forced to re-read the book. Most of the time, I left myself great notes that instructed me on exactly what I thought the problem was and how I should fix it. Those edits were great.

Sometimes, though, I’d open up a note and it would just say “Awkward” or “Passive” or “Fix This”, and in those moments I’d curse Past Luke for not spending just a few more moments helping out Future Luke.

I went into this task with one overriding edict: Don’t change the book. Yeah, I know I made dozens of fixes and tweaks, but nothing I did changed anything about the structure or story of Construct. All the changes were individually minor and made at sentence-level, so you won’t find any missing or added paragraphs or completely re-written passages. I wanted the book to, at it’s core, remain the same. First, because I didn’t want to alienate any readers, and second, because I’m damned proud of that book.

In that process I retconned in a few colloquialisms and bits of terminology I used in Companion, to keep the world consistent. For example, the word “kheomancy”, the defining word for magic in the world of The Chronicler Saga, existed in my head and notes while writing Construct, but I didn’t actually put it in the book. I use it quite a bit in Companion, though, so I found a couple of spots in Construct where it fit (where, honestly, I should’ve just used it in the first place).

Fixing typos was an obvious net positive. Tightening the prose in places using the things I’ve learned about the craft since writing Construct helps it flow a little better. And adding in some of that terminology helps keep it consistent with the sequels. All-in-all, I’m extremely happy with the final result.

If you’ve read Construct in the past and don’t want to re-read it, you’re good to go. I don’t think any of the changes here make re-reading a necessity, as it is structurally the exact same story. Plus, I’ve included a “Previously in The Chronicler Saga” section at the front of Companion and HERE, so you can jump right into the new story with minimal fuss.

Going forward, anyone who purchases Construct will get the Revised Edition. If you’ve already purchased the original version via Amazon, it will NOT automatically update on your Kindle (I’m still researching whether it will on Nook or Kobo devices and will update here when I have more info). If you want to update your copy, I’ve included instruction below on how to do that.

Thank you all for your support, and I hope you enjoy the ongoing stories of Samuel, Eriane, and Jacob in Companion!

UPDATING YOUR COPY OF CONSTRUCT ON AMAZON KINDLE DEVICES

NOTE: If you purchase Construct after January 28th, 2021, you’ll already have the Revised Edition of the book, and you won’t need to go through this update process.

1. Log into the primary Amazon account linked to your Kindle device.

2. Navigate to your “My Content & Devices” page.

3. Search for Construct using the search bar.

4. Once Construct is displayed, you should see “Update Available” listed below the book title. Click on that link and follow the prompts to update the book in your Amazon account.

5. Once that process is complete, select the “…” menu to the left of the book title, and select “Deliver to Default Device” to send the new version to your Kindle.

And that’s it! After following these steps, you’ll have the new version of the book.