By some miracle, I’ve been editing every day since my last post. I seem to have my groove back!—Here’s hoping it sticks around for awhile.

My recent success of revising/editing nineteen pages in the last 48 hours made me feel like I could break away from this project long enough to post another annotation. This time, I speak about the actual title of the book FIVE RINGS and the reasons behind my choice.

The annotation can be found here. ;)

In the editing process, naturally, a lot of scenes get cut. Since it’s been forever since I’ve posted a snippet of anything, I thought you guys might like it if I share a bit of an omitted scene with you. This particular scene is something I won’t need to use because I found a more subtle way to allude to this meeting. … No more need to actually show it, but it reveals a lot about the personalities of both Redmond and Gazic.

Two guards opened the pair of chamber doors before him, revealing Lordmaster Gazic’s office. It was much like the rest of the establishment—cold and lifeless, like a museum. In fact, it felt like home. And perhaps, one day, it would be.

One of the guards announced, “Presenting Lord Redmond, title as granted by and honored by the Naming Committee,” and gave him the nod to proceed.

On the far end of the chamber could be none other than Lordmaster Gazic, arguably one of the most powerful men in the world. Yet, he was a mere shadow of the man he once was—unshaven, with messy hair, surrounded on his desk by just as many disheveled stacks of paper as empty bottles of liquor. Leaders of thief guilds weren’t expected to live much longer than a few years. So, for his drinking problem, at least, no one could really blame him.

Redmond knelt. “You have sent for me and so I come, milord.” He knew the motions well enough. But he couldn’t help but smirk, amused at their posturing and overwrought formalities, amused that Gazic thought so highly of himself.