Momentum Comes From Closing the Gaps

Momentum rarely shows up all at once. It builds quietly, in the background, while you are busy finishing the things that used to feel optional.

That is what this week has looked like for me. Not writing new chapters. Not revisiting old scenes. Instead, bringing together the remaining pieces that turn Ferret Run into a book that is actually ready to leave my hands.

The cover is finished. Not just conceptually, but technically. Front cover finalized. Spine sized correctly. Back cover written, adjusted, and rewritten until it said what it needed to say without giving the book away. That balance took more time than I expected, but it matters. For many readers, those paragraphs will be the first and only introduction to the story before they decide whether to step inside it.

Once that copy is public, it has to stand on its own. It has to be accurate. It has to feel honest. There is no revision cycle once it is out there.

Alongside that work, I moved through the front matter. The dedication is complete. The acknowledgements are complete. I underestimated how final those sections would feel. Chapters can change. These cannot. Choosing the words and the names and then letting them settle made the project feel permanent in a way the manuscript alone never quite did.

This has been a week of locking decisions into place. Of choosing not to keep things open just to avoid committing. That kind of commitment is uncomfortable, but it is also where real progress starts.

Momentum at this stage is not about speed. It is about choosing direction and sticking with it.

Midway through all of this, something unexpected happened. What began as casual curiosity turned into a serious consideration. I started looking into what it would actually take to produce an audiobook. Not as a distant possibility, but as part of the release itself. I ran the numbers. I reviewed timelines. I listened closely to what quality narration and production really involve.

That exploration did not stay hypothetical for long.

I have entered into an agreement with Ellis Audiobooks to begin production on the audiobook version of Ferret Run.

That decision came from a place of clarity, not excitement. The story is solid. The foundation is stable. It can support another format without being diminished by it. The audiobook is not a bonus or an afterthought. It is part of how this book will exist in the world.

Knowing that the story will soon be interpreted and recorded by another professional has changed how this phase feels. It has weight now. The project is no longer contained entirely within my own process.

That shift clarified something important for me.

I am no longer revising in isolation. I am preparing. Aligning. Making sure the structure around the story is strong enough to hold what comes next. This is not about rushing toward a date on the calendar. It is about reducing friction so the launch does not feel fragile when it arrives.

The cover is set. The supporting pages are complete. The audiobook is moving forward. The framework around the story is finally catching up to the story itself.

This is the kind of momentum that does not burn out quickly.

It is quiet. It is deliberate. And it is earned.