Now that I've rewritten the beginning of "Takeover" and decided to carry on with the original 1st-person epistolary format for the rest of the book, I can probably finish it within a few days.

It's impossible to fix the problems completely. While the beginning now makes more sense, it makes the random nature of the first person accounts that follow feel even more out of place. Suddenly, each now chapter, someone is talking who is either a new character or someone heretofore barely mentioned.

I can't really tell if it works or not.

Trying to turn it into 3rd person took most of the flavoring out of it, and the flavoring is what this format had in its favor. I think the plot really takes off after a few thousand more words, so there is just this sophomore section that people need to get through, and I'm hoping the new beginning will provide enough momentum.

I don't have any real faith anyone is going to read it anyway, nor "Eden's Return," which is also very close to finished.

I thought "Fateplay" was a damn fun book, and almost no one bought it, even after the relative success of "Deadfall Ridge." I'd hoped that selling a lot of one title, while at the same time getting good reviews, would mean the next book would sell better than usual.

There was little or no carryover, which is hard to figure, even when the fact that it is a separate genre is taken into account. At the moment of my biggest triumph, I feel the most let down. To put it bluntly, it doesn't matter how good the book, it only matters how good the promotion.

I understand that ultimately it falls on my own head. If I write something spectacular, the problem takes care of itself--or not. (If not, how would I know?)