mary_j_59

So I'm still at it! Still revising the perpetual SF novel, as a result of another R&R from another small press. And--

It's so much fun! Really, I love this book with all my heart partly because it's been such a journey of discovery for me. I never imagined I would love editing so much; I always preferred the dreamlike state of drafting. But fine-tuning this book is just a blast so far. It's so great seeing scenes come into focus with small cuts or changes in phrasing. I've managed to cut close to 1.3 K words from the manuscript so far and, as far as I can tell, it's helped it. I HAVE added a couple of scenes as well, and there's another scene--a flashback--to be added to the latter half of the story. That's all good. However--

I am trying to correct the position of major plot points as I edit. It was my hope that, by cutting extraneous words and scenes, I'd move the first, second and third turnings where they ought to be (before 1/4 of the way through, before and just slightly after the halfway point). And--it's not happening. You see, as the book itself gets shorter, those percentages don't move. My first turning is still just under 26 percent of the way through, and the second sits at 51 percent.

This is why, in order to force major plot points into position, authors may rely on flashbacks.

As my faithful readers know, I'm averse to flashbacks for this story. I do have a couple already, and as I said, I'll add at least one more. But, in general, I think readers need to experience this world in real time. Else they'll get utterly lost. So I'm kind of stuck.

But here's what I think: What matters more than some arbitrary number is the flow of the story, and its clarity. If I improve those things--and i think I have--it won't matter so much if a plot point happens a few pages after its "supposed to". At least, that's my hope. I'm trying to make sure every word and every scene carries the story forward. If I do that, I really think I'll be okay--if not for this small press, then hopefully for another.

Wish me luck!

This one is adapted from the recipe for Glühwein. I am going to try it again this weekend with orange juice and non-alcoholic beer. Here it is!

Mulled Ale


Ingredients: Water, juice of one lemon or equivalent amount of orange juice*, 1 to two tablespoons sugar, 3 or 4 cloves, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, one 12 oz. bottle of beer.
( Read more... )

Some thoughts on the write-a-thon:

The Clarion West write-a-thon took place this summer, and I signed up, thanks to the awesome Lara Campbell McGehee, whose blog you can find here: http://lcmcgehee.com/

It was a good experience - for one thing, it's fun to know that you're writing along with some of your favorite authors! For me, it's also helpful to commit, in public, to writing every day. I managed to do that during the six-week session, and I made some forward progress on novel 3 and a new short story, as well as writing two blog posts - one of which I'll be posting here shortly. My other goals were to clean up my query and synopsis for HONOR, and I did that with some excellent help from my lovely beta readers. So - here's my question:

Is it legit to post a synopsis to your blog? Is this something people would be interested in seeing? Or is this a professional tool that should be kept private? Thoughts?

If it seems okay to post such a thing (I'll check in a few more places), and if people would be interested in reading it, I'll be glad to post it here, as well as on my author page.

I love deirdrej's cover art, in the icon - it says so much about the story and its themes. But covers are difficult! I don't suppose I will have much say in any of my covers, if my books get published, but I've been wondering exactly what a good cover should do. It should intrigue potential readers, convey a mood, and give some information about the book - genre, possible themes, and so on. Deirdre's design does all of that, IMHO, except for one thing. It's not at all clear that the book is SF, set in the future. That's why I began playing around in photoshop. This is what I came up with. Thoughts?



I love the colors Deirdre uses; they are very meaningful if you know the story. But I think maybe a simpler image, like this, would work better for those who don't know the book. Of course, the boy is too young, but he'd do for my MC at ten or so.

My sister and I are having a bit of a debate. She hates the word "holocam", which sounds, to her, too much like something from Star Trek I rather like it. At least it makes clear that it's a camera, and from the future. But what do you think? Should I change this word? If so, to what?
[Poll #1836699]

Hi, everyone. Deirdrej and I have been working some more on the query - before sending it to more agents, I want to be sure it's as strong as it possibly can be. Here it is - would be glad to get some opinions. (We are both a bit sad to lose Niki, who is such a big part of the story - but you don't have to tell the whole story in the query, do you?)

Note: I rewrote this, after all. So I have pasted the new query below this one. I think it may be there!

( Read more... )

Seriously premature, I know - my sister's artwork, which you've already seen, and Kevin MacLeod's music. But I do think it comes together nicely. I did it because Jon suggested we include trailers with our excerpts or first chapters.

Here's another attempt at the query. R.J. and Deirdre, thanks so much for your help! I think this is definitely a lot better than my first try, but I'm not sure it's there yet. More under the cut- ( Read more... )

This is the first part of the first chapter, for those who were interested in seeing how the story would progress.

( Read more... )