Done!

I've finished my first-pass edits. Copies will be going out to beta readers today.

Update!

Sorry for the recent shortage of posts. I hope to finish my first big editing pass on Steal Tomorrow this weekend and then I'll have more time for other matters, like updating my blogs, writing more character sketches, excerpts, and perhaps even some flash.

I really do like having a print copy of my manuscript to do edits from. I can read and make notes anywhere, any time, and of course we all know from experience how different things can look on paper as opposed to the computer screen. And for me there is also the time of day factor. Things that seem brilliant at 2 am are...well, not quite so much after a night's rest.

I'm edging downward on my word count and I think I'll be around 95-96K when this editing pass is done. Funny how on the first draft, the goal is more words while on the edits, the goal is less.

Once my first-pass edit is done I'll be soliciting beta readers, so if anyone is interested, let me know!

Draft Book is Here!

Yay! I came home for lunch and found my printed draft waiting on my front porch. Good thing I like my new job or I'd be trying to weasel my way out of having to do anything else this afternoon!

I'm still working on the front cover and haven't done the back, but you can see here the direction I'm going with it. And if you haven't bookmarked the blog yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up for the email updates while you're at it-- they're pretty nifty!

Update - More Web Content

New post about shopping on the Steal Tomorrow blog.

Also, I have added a subscription feature so people can get updates via email. I would really, really appreciate getting a few guinea pigs for this. Thanks!

Another Update

I've updated the list of Tribes at Steal Tomorrow to include an entry on the Librarians.

Updates on Works in Progress

I've got some new stuff at the Oddments link on my Steal Tomorrow blog. Poetry, excerpts and reading list-- oh, my!

I've also started work on the sequel. It was hard getting those first words written. I hate that moment where you're sitting in front of a blank page, thinking, "Whatever I write, it'll be crap." But at some point you just have to go ahead and write something, anything, and it often turns out just fine. Besides, I'm of the opinion that the first few pages are usually for the author, not the reader. They get your head into the right place to write what the book is really about. If by the end of the book, the first part no longer suits, you delete it.

That's what drafts are for.

But the really good news about the sequel, aside from the fact that I started, is that I finally found out the motivation for my bad guy's behavior. Chicks and power are lame and overdone, so it had to be something bigger. I wanted him to have the kind of motive that a rational person might say, "Sure, it sounds good in theory, but in actual practice it's totally unworkable and unethical."

I think I have that motive! I'm going to get a lot of good (read: dark and weird) stuff out of this one!

But for now, go check out the Oddments! More content will follow over the next few weeks!

WIP Update

I brought my word count down to 98K tonight and decided that I can't do much more at this point without a fresh perspective. I uploaded the manuscript into Lulu as a private project and will hopefully have my draft in my hands by sometime next week. I know from previous experience that a lot of flaws will jump out at me once I'm reading it in print, curled up in bed.

I have a new item posted on the related blog: an excerpt from the story and a picture. The excerpt was chosen because of the picture and not the other way around, so the text isn't really stand-alone. But it's my blog and I'll blog however I like, right?

In addition to posting the full story in serial fashion sometime later this summer, I'll have a download and print version available from Lulu. I might also have an option for people to sign up for an email of each day's post. Does anyone have any other ideas for me to consider?

Word Count Irony

I'm in the first-edit phase of my WIP now. The break from it was nice and I read the whole thing through in about two evenings, made a punch list of items to address, and have been steadily working through it, in addition to doing little cleanups and tightening as I go.

Since I tend to write long, edits usually involve reducing word count, so I'm savoring the irony that while for months I got excited over my manuscript getting longer, now I'm excited to see it get shorter. I'm at about 99K now, down from 101K.

I'm toying with the idea of querying an e-publisher or two, although I think my purposes might be just as well served by posting as serial web fiction with a print version available via Lulu. I'd have to self-promote either way, and my way is faster and less pressure. I'm more interested in being read than being officially published at this juncture, and if I find my writing turning into another obligation on my To Do list, I'll just end up hating it.

In the meantime though, I'm working steadily at dropping my word count, whereas I used to celebrate increasing it. Life is kind of amusing that way.