Writing
And the verdict is...
10/02/11 21:49 Filed in: Writing
So the publisher said "No". Very kindly, very
politely, but "No". He also said, "I still like the
courtroom scenes, but I’m still not overwhelmed by
the rest."
I'm trying to figure out how I'm reacting. I'm still quite overwhelmed by how much time and energy this publisher afforded me and my book and I continue to be grateful for that. I can wish for a different outcome. I can feel disappointed to have come this far only to fail once again to reach my goal. But I can't complain that I wasn't given a fair chance by this publisher.
I can also understand why he would say "no" and yet still not take it as an assault on my skills and talents as a writer. Call it ego but I believe my book is well-written enough to be published. I just don't think the publisher felt the subject matter would sell. I've understood for a long time that a very well written book is not going to succeed if it doesn't offer a "sexy" plot, subject, or hook that will make readers want to buy it.
The Silent Goodbye doesn't seem to have those things. It's a good story. It's well told. But it doesn't stand out. It's a fairly homey novel about a small-time lawyer who finds himself in big-time trouble.
So it would seem that The Silent Goodbye isn't going to be published any time soon. And I'm left wondering where to turn next. I had been working on the next Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Final Curtain, and I might just keep going with that. I'd do so, however, not with the belief that this new novel stands a better chance of being published (it's too much in the same vein, the same flavour as The Silent Goodbye for me to believe that) but on the basis that I'm enjoying writing it, it's fairly well along and I think my nieces would still enjoy seeing their idea turned into a full-length (though unpublished) novel.
I'm toying with some other ideas as well, at this point. The one thing I'm not doing is considering giving up writing. I had feared, after sending the revised version of The Silent Goodbye to the publisher, that my reaction to a possible rejection might be such deep disappointment that I would discard my netbook and move on to some other pasttime. But I'm having no such reaction now.
Okay, I may die without ever having a novel published. Fine. But I draw too much enjoyment from the act of writing to give it up entirely.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm reacting. I'm still quite overwhelmed by how much time and energy this publisher afforded me and my book and I continue to be grateful for that. I can wish for a different outcome. I can feel disappointed to have come this far only to fail once again to reach my goal. But I can't complain that I wasn't given a fair chance by this publisher.
I can also understand why he would say "no" and yet still not take it as an assault on my skills and talents as a writer. Call it ego but I believe my book is well-written enough to be published. I just don't think the publisher felt the subject matter would sell. I've understood for a long time that a very well written book is not going to succeed if it doesn't offer a "sexy" plot, subject, or hook that will make readers want to buy it.
The Silent Goodbye doesn't seem to have those things. It's a good story. It's well told. But it doesn't stand out. It's a fairly homey novel about a small-time lawyer who finds himself in big-time trouble.
So it would seem that The Silent Goodbye isn't going to be published any time soon. And I'm left wondering where to turn next. I had been working on the next Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Final Curtain, and I might just keep going with that. I'd do so, however, not with the belief that this new novel stands a better chance of being published (it's too much in the same vein, the same flavour as The Silent Goodbye for me to believe that) but on the basis that I'm enjoying writing it, it's fairly well along and I think my nieces would still enjoy seeing their idea turned into a full-length (though unpublished) novel.
I'm toying with some other ideas as well, at this point. The one thing I'm not doing is considering giving up writing. I had feared, after sending the revised version of The Silent Goodbye to the publisher, that my reaction to a possible rejection might be such deep disappointment that I would discard my netbook and move on to some other pasttime. But I'm having no such reaction now.
Okay, I may die without ever having a novel published. Fine. But I draw too much enjoyment from the act of writing to give it up entirely.
Back To The Final Curtain
03/02/11 20:12 Filed in: Writing
With The Silent Goodbye now off in the
world, I'm able to focus again on The Final
Curtain, my next Phillip Gold novel. As you
might recall, I started writing this new book last
fall after I had set aside the completed second draft
of TSG for a cooling off period before doing
final revisions.
The first step is to review what I've already written of the new book. And, to my surprise, it's close to 12,000 words. I had not realised I had already written so much.
So far, so good, I think. This novel begins in the courtroom, with Kevin Dallanger in the witness box and Phillip Gold, his lawyer and our hero, completely frustrated. It's a good scene, from what I can see: it seems to crackle with tension and energy.
Like TSG, this novel will have two complementary plots: a courtroom drama and an action/mystery story. I've been told that my courtroom scenes are especially strong and I want to continue to play to that strength, while still keeping some elements of the mystery in there as well.
The challenge I have set for myself, however, is that the courtroom plot for this new book is to be drawn from an earlier, unpublished novel I wrote several years ago under the title, All That Glisters. And, in that iteration, it wasn't a courtroom drama at all; it was a plain old mystery novel. That means I have to take a story that is already so vividly alive for me in one format and transpose it into a completely different format.
I think it will work, if I'm careful and creative and not too afraid to change a story of which I'm already very fond. I'm certainly pleased with that first courtroom scene: it's just a matter of making sure the rest of the story vibrates with the same energy.
The second plot, the action plot, will tell the tale of the murder of a young movie star, which occurs just when the Dallanger trial swings into high gear. Gold gets involved because an old school chum of his, Liam MacKenzie, turns out to be the prime suspect in the murder. So, once again, Gold will be balancing the exhausting drama of a pitched courtroom battle with a physically taxing, continually dangerous effort to deal with events as they unfold in the outside world.
I think it's a really good sign that, even as The Silent Goodbye wafts out there in the world of hopes and dreams, I'm still excited to move on to the next project. And the next project, it seems, will be even more challenging and more complex than the last.
The first step is to review what I've already written of the new book. And, to my surprise, it's close to 12,000 words. I had not realised I had already written so much.
So far, so good, I think. This novel begins in the courtroom, with Kevin Dallanger in the witness box and Phillip Gold, his lawyer and our hero, completely frustrated. It's a good scene, from what I can see: it seems to crackle with tension and energy.
Like TSG, this novel will have two complementary plots: a courtroom drama and an action/mystery story. I've been told that my courtroom scenes are especially strong and I want to continue to play to that strength, while still keeping some elements of the mystery in there as well.
The challenge I have set for myself, however, is that the courtroom plot for this new book is to be drawn from an earlier, unpublished novel I wrote several years ago under the title, All That Glisters. And, in that iteration, it wasn't a courtroom drama at all; it was a plain old mystery novel. That means I have to take a story that is already so vividly alive for me in one format and transpose it into a completely different format.
I think it will work, if I'm careful and creative and not too afraid to change a story of which I'm already very fond. I'm certainly pleased with that first courtroom scene: it's just a matter of making sure the rest of the story vibrates with the same energy.
The second plot, the action plot, will tell the tale of the murder of a young movie star, which occurs just when the Dallanger trial swings into high gear. Gold gets involved because an old school chum of his, Liam MacKenzie, turns out to be the prime suspect in the murder. So, once again, Gold will be balancing the exhausting drama of a pitched courtroom battle with a physically taxing, continually dangerous effort to deal with events as they unfold in the outside world.
I think it's a really good sign that, even as The Silent Goodbye wafts out there in the world of hopes and dreams, I'm still excited to move on to the next project. And the next project, it seems, will be even more challenging and more complex than the last.
Sending Off "The Silent Goodbye"
29/01/11 13:18 Filed in: Writing
I just pressed "Send".
My heart is still pounding. My breath is short. My fully revised manuscript for The Silent Goodbye, my Phillip Gold mystery novel, is now on its way to the publisher for consideration. In fact, it's probably already there.
Patti finished her detailed review of the new version just before we left for Montreal last weekend. I managed to implement some of her suggestions before we boarded the plane and the remainder this morning. She had a lot of great comments and questions, as I had expected she would, and I think they have made the book even stronger.
I'm nervous right now, to be frank. But I'm also completely satisfied. No, the book is likely not perfect but I think it's damned good. Best thing I've ever written. I don't think I've ever worked so hard on anything in my life nor cared so much about any piece of writing.
I have been very fortunate to have received fabulous input from my several readers and from the publisher himself. I think you have to have some pretty strong confidence in your writing to try to write and publish a novel but you also have to have the humility to accept quality criticism when it comes. I can honestly say that the manuscript is a significantly better work of fiction now that I've incorporated the many suggestions I have received.
Will it be good enough? I don't know. That's for the publisher to decide. I also know that there are dozens of other reasons (other than that the book isn't good enough) that might cause him to pass on publishing this novel. But I can honestly say that this is a manuscript of which I am very proud.
So now I wait. Nervous, excited, expectant. I'll try to work on The Final Curtain, maybe get some reading done, watch a movie or two to pass the time. But in reality it will simply be a period of waiting. And hoping.
I've waited forty-five years so far. What's another couple of weeks? Or even months?
My heart is still pounding. My breath is short. My fully revised manuscript for The Silent Goodbye, my Phillip Gold mystery novel, is now on its way to the publisher for consideration. In fact, it's probably already there.
Patti finished her detailed review of the new version just before we left for Montreal last weekend. I managed to implement some of her suggestions before we boarded the plane and the remainder this morning. She had a lot of great comments and questions, as I had expected she would, and I think they have made the book even stronger.
I'm nervous right now, to be frank. But I'm also completely satisfied. No, the book is likely not perfect but I think it's damned good. Best thing I've ever written. I don't think I've ever worked so hard on anything in my life nor cared so much about any piece of writing.
I have been very fortunate to have received fabulous input from my several readers and from the publisher himself. I think you have to have some pretty strong confidence in your writing to try to write and publish a novel but you also have to have the humility to accept quality criticism when it comes. I can honestly say that the manuscript is a significantly better work of fiction now that I've incorporated the many suggestions I have received.
Will it be good enough? I don't know. That's for the publisher to decide. I also know that there are dozens of other reasons (other than that the book isn't good enough) that might cause him to pass on publishing this novel. But I can honestly say that this is a manuscript of which I am very proud.
So now I wait. Nervous, excited, expectant. I'll try to work on The Final Curtain, maybe get some reading done, watch a movie or two to pass the time. But in reality it will simply be a period of waiting. And hoping.
I've waited forty-five years so far. What's another couple of weeks? Or even months?
Feedback Most Satisfactory
20/01/11 19:41 Filed in: Writing
Patti is still working her way through The Silent
Goodbye, her editing pen at the ready. I've
asked her to try to have her review done by the end
of January and she's promised to make it a priority.
Still, I am well aware that Patti takes time but
produces real quality so I am quite content to wait
for her comments.
That being said, she did have a number of kind words for the manuscript this week. She said she finds it "fast moving", "interesting" and "really good". That's a satisfying little snack of compliments, I must admit.
She had several suggestions that I will have to mull over, though I am already planning to implement at least a couple of them. When you write a novel, you always have scenes or moments that you're not quite comfortable with but you wonder if a reader would respond the same way. In at least one instance, Patti's comment to me captured exactly what I myself had been thinking about that particular scene so I am already working on a resolution to the problem.
It's hard to sit back and watch her read it. I always want to interrupt her to ask her if she likes it, where she is in the story, what she thinks will happen next. I can't imagine what would happen to me if the book were actually to be published. Imagine me sitting in a coffee shop somewhere and spotting a complete stranger reading The Silent Goodbye by Mark Walma! I think I'd freak out.
I had an experience like that on a smaller scale when I was still in school. I was covering the university's football team for the student weekly and one day, while I was walking in downtown Hamilton, I saw someone reading the student newspaper on a park bench. Curious, I wandered over. To my surprise, he was reading my own article on the latest football game. I felt a warm, slightly scared feeling in my stomach. It was like being happy and nauseous at the same time.
I walked very quickly away before he could ruin the moment by scowling, spitting on the paper or, worse, scrunching it up and throwing it in the garbage in disgust.
I guess that's a risk you have to take if you want to be a published author.
That being said, she did have a number of kind words for the manuscript this week. She said she finds it "fast moving", "interesting" and "really good". That's a satisfying little snack of compliments, I must admit.
She had several suggestions that I will have to mull over, though I am already planning to implement at least a couple of them. When you write a novel, you always have scenes or moments that you're not quite comfortable with but you wonder if a reader would respond the same way. In at least one instance, Patti's comment to me captured exactly what I myself had been thinking about that particular scene so I am already working on a resolution to the problem.
It's hard to sit back and watch her read it. I always want to interrupt her to ask her if she likes it, where she is in the story, what she thinks will happen next. I can't imagine what would happen to me if the book were actually to be published. Imagine me sitting in a coffee shop somewhere and spotting a complete stranger reading The Silent Goodbye by Mark Walma! I think I'd freak out.
I had an experience like that on a smaller scale when I was still in school. I was covering the university's football team for the student weekly and one day, while I was walking in downtown Hamilton, I saw someone reading the student newspaper on a park bench. Curious, I wandered over. To my surprise, he was reading my own article on the latest football game. I felt a warm, slightly scared feeling in my stomach. It was like being happy and nauseous at the same time.
I walked very quickly away before he could ruin the moment by scowling, spitting on the paper or, worse, scrunching it up and throwing it in the garbage in disgust.
I guess that's a risk you have to take if you want to be a published author.
Moving on with the Writing
14/01/11 08:19 Filed in: Writing
The manuscript for The Silent Goodbye is
currently on standby as I wait for Patti to finish
her careful review. I am hopeful that she will
complete her task by the end of January so that I can
send it off to the publisher for consideration in
February.
While I wait, I have turned my attention to starting work on my next Phillip Gold mystery, tentatively titled The Final Curtain. The court plot will be an adaptation of the Kevin-Dallanger story that appears in my earlier effort, All That Glisters, while the action plot will involve characters and story lines suggested to me by my nieces, Alex and Katie, this summer. The result is an interesting combination of stories that will revolve around the fates of three young girls.
I'm pleased with the plan and I think the combination of the two stories should provide some good drama and suspense. I discovered this morning, however, that as the two plots were being developed independently I had created three female characters who were just too similar to each other for clarity: blonde, around 14 years of age and bearing names that begin with the letter "M" (Melissa, Mary Kate and Mitsy).
That's gotta change. Since Mitsy is the only name that is non-negotiable, it looks like Melissa will have to become something like Allison and Mary Kate will have to be simplified to Kate.
I don't think my nieces will mind having characters in the novel bearing forms of their names.
Since turning my attentions to this new novel, I've managed to write more than 7,000 words, beginning with what I hope is a very dramatic court scene involving Kevin Dallanger and Phillip Gold. It's been fun to write, blending an existing plot with a new one. I hope to continue to make good progress over the winter.
While I wait, I have turned my attention to starting work on my next Phillip Gold mystery, tentatively titled The Final Curtain. The court plot will be an adaptation of the Kevin-Dallanger story that appears in my earlier effort, All That Glisters, while the action plot will involve characters and story lines suggested to me by my nieces, Alex and Katie, this summer. The result is an interesting combination of stories that will revolve around the fates of three young girls.
I'm pleased with the plan and I think the combination of the two stories should provide some good drama and suspense. I discovered this morning, however, that as the two plots were being developed independently I had created three female characters who were just too similar to each other for clarity: blonde, around 14 years of age and bearing names that begin with the letter "M" (Melissa, Mary Kate and Mitsy).
That's gotta change. Since Mitsy is the only name that is non-negotiable, it looks like Melissa will have to become something like Allison and Mary Kate will have to be simplified to Kate.
I don't think my nieces will mind having characters in the novel bearing forms of their names.
Since turning my attentions to this new novel, I've managed to write more than 7,000 words, beginning with what I hope is a very dramatic court scene involving Kevin Dallanger and Phillip Gold. It's been fun to write, blending an existing plot with a new one. I hope to continue to make good progress over the winter.
A Good Start to a New Year
I have gotten the new year off right, I think, with a
nice combination of reading, writing and TV watching,
plus time spent with friends and family. I go back to
work tomorrow but, so far, it's been a great start to
2011.
Patti is working her way methodically through the revised manuscript for The Silent Goodbye, my Phillip Gold mystery, court-room drama novel. Patti is one of the most detail-oriented people I've ever met and she combines that valuable characteristic with a keen understanding of the writing process so I'm looking forward to reading her comments. She tells me she's enjoying the novel in its revised version, so that's good, and has said that it seems to move much quicker now. Another real positive.
Meanwhile, I've been doing my Christmas reading. First up was Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, a collection of some of his best New Yorker articles called What the Dog Saw. These are fascinating pieces, filled with interesting information and surprising insights. I like Gladwell's style and admire his ability to take academic/scientific research and make it accessible. I am also impressed with his ability to make compelling connections between seemingly disparate topics (like mammograms and pin-point bombing) in a useful, readable way.
I think, however, that I read the book too quickly: by the time I was two-thirds of the way through, I was beginning to tire of the author's tone and formula for these articles. I should have read one, then set the book aside for a week or so before moving onto the next article. Still, an interesting read.
We've also been catching up on our television watching, after finding DVD sets from the Big Bang Theory, Corner Gas and Fringe under the tree. Big Bang and Corner Gas are tried and true favourites but Fringe is new to me: an updated version of X Files, Fringe was created by J.J. Abrams and offers a stylish, creepy anthology of science fiction/horror plots with what seems to be a neat set of continuing characters. We've only watched the pilot so far but it certainly was strong enough to convince us to watch more.
On the writing side of things, I've converted my former golf blog into a picture-a-day challenge, where I will try to publish to the blog a new photograph every day for a year. I'm pleased with the results so far: check them out at http://wordsbywalma.blogspot.com/.
And, of course, I'm starting to plan the next Phillip Gold novel, which I think will again feature a mystery plot alongside a court-room story. I'll be getting to work on it soon and will keep you posted.
Patti is working her way methodically through the revised manuscript for The Silent Goodbye, my Phillip Gold mystery, court-room drama novel. Patti is one of the most detail-oriented people I've ever met and she combines that valuable characteristic with a keen understanding of the writing process so I'm looking forward to reading her comments. She tells me she's enjoying the novel in its revised version, so that's good, and has said that it seems to move much quicker now. Another real positive.
Meanwhile, I've been doing my Christmas reading. First up was Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, a collection of some of his best New Yorker articles called What the Dog Saw. These are fascinating pieces, filled with interesting information and surprising insights. I like Gladwell's style and admire his ability to take academic/scientific research and make it accessible. I am also impressed with his ability to make compelling connections between seemingly disparate topics (like mammograms and pin-point bombing) in a useful, readable way.
I think, however, that I read the book too quickly: by the time I was two-thirds of the way through, I was beginning to tire of the author's tone and formula for these articles. I should have read one, then set the book aside for a week or so before moving onto the next article. Still, an interesting read.
We've also been catching up on our television watching, after finding DVD sets from the Big Bang Theory, Corner Gas and Fringe under the tree. Big Bang and Corner Gas are tried and true favourites but Fringe is new to me: an updated version of X Files, Fringe was created by J.J. Abrams and offers a stylish, creepy anthology of science fiction/horror plots with what seems to be a neat set of continuing characters. We've only watched the pilot so far but it certainly was strong enough to convince us to watch more.
On the writing side of things, I've converted my former golf blog into a picture-a-day challenge, where I will try to publish to the blog a new photograph every day for a year. I'm pleased with the results so far: check them out at http://wordsbywalma.blogspot.com/.
And, of course, I'm starting to plan the next Phillip Gold novel, which I think will again feature a mystery plot alongside a court-room story. I'll be getting to work on it soon and will keep you posted.
Something for Clare
28/12/10 13:02 Filed in: Writing
Well, Clare, this latest addition to Chapter Five of
The Way Forward is for you. You told me that
you like the character, Kate, and wanted to see her
come back and so I've written her back in. You
suggested that her cousin be Penelope Clearwater,
Percy Weasley's girlfriend, and I've made it so.
I'm afraid that I couldn't build the scene the way you suggested it (with Penelope becoming jealous, thinking Kate's after Percy) but I think the tension in the scene is pretty good anyway. I hope you like it. The next scenes from this plot will have Percy and Penelope going to the Burrow to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about their wedding plans, to explain why Percy proposed to Pen so soon after Voldemort's defeat and Fred's death, to deal with the mingled joy and sorrow at the thought of a wedding without Fred. Then, of course, Percy will have to tell George. That's going to be a hard scene to write.
Our friend Stephanie has given me another idea for The Way Forward that I hope you like. Steph said she didn't like the fact that the Prologue of The Dealthy Hallows implies that Hermione didn't take a job at Hogwarts as a Professor, even though Neville did. Who better than Hermione to teach? So I'm thinking of having a scene (which would have to be much later in the book) where Minerva receives a letter from Hermione re-enroling in her seventh year at Hogwarts, to complete her magical education. My idea is that Hermione would then go on to a Muggle University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees, before devoting her life to researching the advances in magic that Voldemort made, trying to find ways to use them for good.
What do you think? What does Emily think?
I'm afraid that I couldn't build the scene the way you suggested it (with Penelope becoming jealous, thinking Kate's after Percy) but I think the tension in the scene is pretty good anyway. I hope you like it. The next scenes from this plot will have Percy and Penelope going to the Burrow to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about their wedding plans, to explain why Percy proposed to Pen so soon after Voldemort's defeat and Fred's death, to deal with the mingled joy and sorrow at the thought of a wedding without Fred. Then, of course, Percy will have to tell George. That's going to be a hard scene to write.
Our friend Stephanie has given me another idea for The Way Forward that I hope you like. Steph said she didn't like the fact that the Prologue of The Dealthy Hallows implies that Hermione didn't take a job at Hogwarts as a Professor, even though Neville did. Who better than Hermione to teach? So I'm thinking of having a scene (which would have to be much later in the book) where Minerva receives a letter from Hermione re-enroling in her seventh year at Hogwarts, to complete her magical education. My idea is that Hermione would then go on to a Muggle University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees, before devoting her life to researching the advances in magic that Voldemort made, trying to find ways to use them for good.
What do you think? What does Emily think?
A Christmas Break
Ten days off means a nice break from work and the
pressures it brings.
Patti and I decided to stay in Fredericton again this Christmas and play host to our good friend Stephanie, who has come from Halifax the past two years to join us for the holidays. Steph is one of those easy guests who fits right in, is comfortable from the first moment and enjoys a laid back, jammie-wearing lifestyle like we do.
I had a lovely Christmas, with Normand joining Patti, Steph and me for dinner on Christmas Eve, lots of time to talk to friends and family on Christmas itself and a couple of enjoyable evenings with our friends James and Patty (and family) here in Freddie. The weather has been playing games, of course, keeping Christmas green, then dumping about a foot of snow on us today (the 27th) to make life interesting.
The snow certainly made Boxing Day shopping a
breeze, since it made sure few people could get out
to the stores at opening time on Monday. Steph and I
trekked in through the deep snow to find Zellers a
ghost-town and the Future Shop just starting to pick
up. We bought the second season of Big Bang
Theory at Zellers for a great price (the first
season was a Christmas gift from Marlee to Patti on
Christmas itself) as well as a couple of movies. Then
it was on to the Future Shop where I succumbed to
temptation and purchased a basic Sony
Blue-Ray-Disc/DVD player for next to nothing.
And, of course, to test out the Blue-Ray high-def capability, we bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for $10, then came directly home to enjoy it. I had doubted the high-def would make that much of a difference but, even with a 720p TV, it was really quite amazing. I will try to control myself with regard to replacing DVDs I already own with the Blue-Ray version but I will keep my eye out for high-def discs of interesting movies we don't already own in the future.
And I got some great reading materials for Christmas as well. Malcolm Gladwell's latest, What the Dog Saw, was under the tree for me as was The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy (Hogwarts for Muggles) and an interesting novel: NIcholas Dickner's Apocalypse for Beginners. I've already launched into the Gladwell and expect to enjoy all three books over the next couple of weeks.
Somewhere in there I'll have to find time to complete the revisions on The Silent Goodbye, my Philllip Gold mystery manuscript, with a view to submitting it to a publisher in January.
Patti and I decided to stay in Fredericton again this Christmas and play host to our good friend Stephanie, who has come from Halifax the past two years to join us for the holidays. Steph is one of those easy guests who fits right in, is comfortable from the first moment and enjoys a laid back, jammie-wearing lifestyle like we do.
I had a lovely Christmas, with Normand joining Patti, Steph and me for dinner on Christmas Eve, lots of time to talk to friends and family on Christmas itself and a couple of enjoyable evenings with our friends James and Patty (and family) here in Freddie. The weather has been playing games, of course, keeping Christmas green, then dumping about a foot of snow on us today (the 27th) to make life interesting.
And, of course, to test out the Blue-Ray high-def capability, we bought Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for $10, then came directly home to enjoy it. I had doubted the high-def would make that much of a difference but, even with a 720p TV, it was really quite amazing. I will try to control myself with regard to replacing DVDs I already own with the Blue-Ray version but I will keep my eye out for high-def discs of interesting movies we don't already own in the future.
And I got some great reading materials for Christmas as well. Malcolm Gladwell's latest, What the Dog Saw, was under the tree for me as was The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy (Hogwarts for Muggles) and an interesting novel: NIcholas Dickner's Apocalypse for Beginners. I've already launched into the Gladwell and expect to enjoy all three books over the next couple of weeks.
Somewhere in there I'll have to find time to complete the revisions on The Silent Goodbye, my Philllip Gold mystery manuscript, with a view to submitting it to a publisher in January.
Contemplating Next Steps
24/12/10 08:57 Filed in: Writing
With Christmas upon us and my first review of The
Silent Goodbye now completed, I'm contemplating
next steps. I can't actually enter the revisions into
my manuscript until Patti has completed her review so
I have some time to move on to other things.
My friend Clare has been e-mailing me about The Way Forward, my Rowling-World novel that follows the lives of three minor characters from the Harry Potter series (which, by the way, is available on this website for your reading pleasure). Clare is a marvellously perceptive reader and an avid fan of Harry Potter so I find her e-mails very inspiring. She is adamant that the Muggle character, Kate, should have a continuing role so I'm asking her to help me plan the hows, whens, wheres and whys of Kate's re-emergence.
I am also starting to turn my mind to the next Phillip Gold novel. As I have mentioned before, I have two completed earlier novels (A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters) but anyone who has read the first chapters of either or both of them (also available on this website) will be able to tell you that they will need a great deal of work to get them to a professional standard. I think they have good plots and interesting characters: it's just the writing that's substandard.
The question I face is this: are those novels strong enough to make the work needed to bring them up to snuff worthwhile? Or should I just set them aside as necessary practice in preparation for later Gold mysteries?
If I decide on the latter course of action, then I could get back to work on The Final Curtain, a new Gold novel that I have started planning in consultation with my nieces, Alex and Katie. I think this one has an exceptional plot in the works and would be fun to write. I feel like I'm leaning toward this novel as my next major Phillip-Gold project, though I have to admit I have been running revisions to All That Glisters around in my brain for a while.
Complicated. Maybe I should just work on all three at the same time, moving from book to book when I either run out of steam on one or have an inspiration for another. The Final Curtain involves all new writing for Phillip Gold. All That Glisters would require massive revisions based on an existing structure. The Way Forward is very different, working with established characters in a fantasy world, and is being written somewhat in free form.
It may just be that having that kind of variety available to me will help to inspire and keep me working!
My friend Clare has been e-mailing me about The Way Forward, my Rowling-World novel that follows the lives of three minor characters from the Harry Potter series (which, by the way, is available on this website for your reading pleasure). Clare is a marvellously perceptive reader and an avid fan of Harry Potter so I find her e-mails very inspiring. She is adamant that the Muggle character, Kate, should have a continuing role so I'm asking her to help me plan the hows, whens, wheres and whys of Kate's re-emergence.
I am also starting to turn my mind to the next Phillip Gold novel. As I have mentioned before, I have two completed earlier novels (A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters) but anyone who has read the first chapters of either or both of them (also available on this website) will be able to tell you that they will need a great deal of work to get them to a professional standard. I think they have good plots and interesting characters: it's just the writing that's substandard.
The question I face is this: are those novels strong enough to make the work needed to bring them up to snuff worthwhile? Or should I just set them aside as necessary practice in preparation for later Gold mysteries?
If I decide on the latter course of action, then I could get back to work on The Final Curtain, a new Gold novel that I have started planning in consultation with my nieces, Alex and Katie. I think this one has an exceptional plot in the works and would be fun to write. I feel like I'm leaning toward this novel as my next major Phillip-Gold project, though I have to admit I have been running revisions to All That Glisters around in my brain for a while.
Complicated. Maybe I should just work on all three at the same time, moving from book to book when I either run out of steam on one or have an inspiration for another. The Final Curtain involves all new writing for Phillip Gold. All That Glisters would require massive revisions based on an existing structure. The Way Forward is very different, working with established characters in a fantasy world, and is being written somewhat in free form.
It may just be that having that kind of variety available to me will help to inspire and keep me working!
A Satisfying Feeling
21/12/10 21:01 Filed in: Writing
It's nine in the evening on Tuesday, December 21 and
I have just completed my first read-through of my
manuscript, The Silent Goodbye. I had one
copy of the novel printed off, double-spaced, for
review and revision purposes and I'm glad I did.
I found this first read a real pleasure, both because I got to sit at my dining room table with the book a physical presence in front of me and because, to be honest, I really enjoyed the novel.
I had taken three weeks away from it after completing a major restructuring of the plot, hoping to gain a little distance, some perspective, some objectivity for this last polishing exercise. I think it worked. I enjoyed reading the book and, though I knew what would happen next every step of the way, I no longer could recall every sentence, every phrase, every word I had written.
There is a lot to do to make this manuscript a polished, finished product, ready to submit to the publisher. I found dozens of typos, corrected numerous continuity errors and recognised that I have to change the tone of several scenes to make them work. I'm sure that, when my partner, Patti, finishes her careful read of the book, I'll have even more to do.
But I am happy to say that I came away from this latest review immensely satisfied with the novel. I think it works well now: it flows at a ripping pace and the characters are stronger, more varied, more interesting. I tried to stick to the suggestions made by the publisher at the end of the summer and I'm happy I did: it's clear from the strength of this new draft that he was right on all counts.
I'm sitting here at the computer feeling completely content with the work that I've done, with the novel I've written. It's a nice feeling. I've poured my guts into this book and I'm ecstatic that the result is so utterly satisfying.
That doesn't mean, of course, that it will ever get published. But I can now honestly say that I did some good work in The Silent Goodbye. And that' gives me a fantastic feeling of accomplishment.
I found this first read a real pleasure, both because I got to sit at my dining room table with the book a physical presence in front of me and because, to be honest, I really enjoyed the novel.
I had taken three weeks away from it after completing a major restructuring of the plot, hoping to gain a little distance, some perspective, some objectivity for this last polishing exercise. I think it worked. I enjoyed reading the book and, though I knew what would happen next every step of the way, I no longer could recall every sentence, every phrase, every word I had written.
There is a lot to do to make this manuscript a polished, finished product, ready to submit to the publisher. I found dozens of typos, corrected numerous continuity errors and recognised that I have to change the tone of several scenes to make them work. I'm sure that, when my partner, Patti, finishes her careful read of the book, I'll have even more to do.
But I am happy to say that I came away from this latest review immensely satisfied with the novel. I think it works well now: it flows at a ripping pace and the characters are stronger, more varied, more interesting. I tried to stick to the suggestions made by the publisher at the end of the summer and I'm happy I did: it's clear from the strength of this new draft that he was right on all counts.
I'm sitting here at the computer feeling completely content with the work that I've done, with the novel I've written. It's a nice feeling. I've poured my guts into this book and I'm ecstatic that the result is so utterly satisfying.
That doesn't mean, of course, that it will ever get published. But I can now honestly say that I did some good work in The Silent Goodbye. And that' gives me a fantastic feeling of accomplishment.
Back to work, editing pencil sharpened
18/12/10 02:56 Filed in: Writing
Twenty days have passed since I put the final touches
on the revised draft of my mystery manuscript,
The Silent Goodbye. During that time, though
I have often thought about the book, I have not once
actually gone back and looked at it.
I wanted to take some time away from it before going back for revisions and polishing. Time to gain a little distance, some objectivity, some perspective, so that I will be better able to see its flaws and its strengths when I begin to work on it again.
With a goal of having a polished manuscript completed by the end of the year, however, it is now time to take my editing pencil in hand and get to work.
How am I feeling? To be honest, I have a strange mixture of excitement and fear roiling around in my stomach. Interesting. Excitement, I expected. I've enjoyed the process of reworking the novel that I began at the end of the summer so it should be no surprise that I am excited to get back to it.
But fear?
Hmmm....
Editing and polishing the manuscript is going to be a big job, for sure. And it's going to require me to find solid blocks of time for the task, time when I can concentrate without distractions. Not easy at Christmas time. But I have to be able to focus well enough to recognise inconsistencies, to keep track of the colour of each character's eyes, the shape of their face, the sound of their laugh. One of the things I'm worst at is remembering from one page to another how I've described certain people or places and part of the polishing job is to make sure that those things are consistent and convincing.
And I'm going to have to make hard choices, to the point perhaps of having to edit out scenes that I've laboured over, loved even, simply because they don't work.
Yeah. So maybe the little tinge of fear I'm feeling is justified. The job of polishing the book involves all those little things that I don't do naturally.
So I've got my file cards ready. I'll make note of how I've described each person and place on a separate card, then check the card every time that same character or place appears.
Writing is, apparently, more than just capturing on paper (or screen) the free flow of your creativity. Sometimes it's hard work.
No, check that. It is always hard work. Fun, exciting, sometimes thrilling, no doubt. But hard work nonetheless.
I wanted to take some time away from it before going back for revisions and polishing. Time to gain a little distance, some objectivity, some perspective, so that I will be better able to see its flaws and its strengths when I begin to work on it again.
With a goal of having a polished manuscript completed by the end of the year, however, it is now time to take my editing pencil in hand and get to work.
How am I feeling? To be honest, I have a strange mixture of excitement and fear roiling around in my stomach. Interesting. Excitement, I expected. I've enjoyed the process of reworking the novel that I began at the end of the summer so it should be no surprise that I am excited to get back to it.
But fear?
Hmmm....
Editing and polishing the manuscript is going to be a big job, for sure. And it's going to require me to find solid blocks of time for the task, time when I can concentrate without distractions. Not easy at Christmas time. But I have to be able to focus well enough to recognise inconsistencies, to keep track of the colour of each character's eyes, the shape of their face, the sound of their laugh. One of the things I'm worst at is remembering from one page to another how I've described certain people or places and part of the polishing job is to make sure that those things are consistent and convincing.
And I'm going to have to make hard choices, to the point perhaps of having to edit out scenes that I've laboured over, loved even, simply because they don't work.
Yeah. So maybe the little tinge of fear I'm feeling is justified. The job of polishing the book involves all those little things that I don't do naturally.
So I've got my file cards ready. I'll make note of how I've described each person and place on a separate card, then check the card every time that same character or place appears.
Writing is, apparently, more than just capturing on paper (or screen) the free flow of your creativity. Sometimes it's hard work.
No, check that. It is always hard work. Fun, exciting, sometimes thrilling, no doubt. But hard work nonetheless.
Some Happy Writing Developments
11/12/10 15:03 Filed in: Writing
Two positive things to report today.
First, I went to my neighbourhood Staples outlet and had my revised manuscript, The Silent Goodbye, printed for review purposes. Double-spaced but double-sided, the novel fills 390 sides of paper and now sits happily in a black binder, waiting for Patti's attentions and then mine. As I have said, I hope to have it revised and polished by the end of 2010 to be ready for submission to the publisher in January. I think it's a reachable goal and it's a nice feeling to see the whole thing so neatly presented.
One of the reasons for printing it out at this point is because Patti prefers to have a physical document in her hands when she reads and to be able to make comments and corrections right on the page. Another reason is the fact that I composed the novel entirely on-screen on computer: when I come to review it, I am hopeful that the new format (black print on a white page) will help me to gain some distance and perspective on the manuscript.
The second positive development is the fact that I have posted a revised and extended version of The Way Forward, my in-progress Rowling-world novel featuring characters from the Harry Potter series of books. For those of you who have already read the original four chapters, you'll find new material at the end of chapter four and in chapter five. I should mention, of course, that I have corrected and polished all four of the original chapters, even adding in several new scenes along the way. So, if you have the time and inclination, you may wish to re-read from the beginning.
I very much enjoying writing this novel, probably because I feel I know the characters so well from Rowling's books. I just throw them into new situations and see how they respond. I'll probably continue to write new material for The Way Forward for a while yet, at least until I dive back into the Phillip Gold manuscript for the final polish.
I don't really have a final plot plan for The Way Forward so we'll just have to see what develops for Minerva, Aberforth and George.
First, I went to my neighbourhood Staples outlet and had my revised manuscript, The Silent Goodbye, printed for review purposes. Double-spaced but double-sided, the novel fills 390 sides of paper and now sits happily in a black binder, waiting for Patti's attentions and then mine. As I have said, I hope to have it revised and polished by the end of 2010 to be ready for submission to the publisher in January. I think it's a reachable goal and it's a nice feeling to see the whole thing so neatly presented.
One of the reasons for printing it out at this point is because Patti prefers to have a physical document in her hands when she reads and to be able to make comments and corrections right on the page. Another reason is the fact that I composed the novel entirely on-screen on computer: when I come to review it, I am hopeful that the new format (black print on a white page) will help me to gain some distance and perspective on the manuscript.
The second positive development is the fact that I have posted a revised and extended version of The Way Forward, my in-progress Rowling-world novel featuring characters from the Harry Potter series of books. For those of you who have already read the original four chapters, you'll find new material at the end of chapter four and in chapter five. I should mention, of course, that I have corrected and polished all four of the original chapters, even adding in several new scenes along the way. So, if you have the time and inclination, you may wish to re-read from the beginning.
I very much enjoying writing this novel, probably because I feel I know the characters so well from Rowling's books. I just throw them into new situations and see how they respond. I'll probably continue to write new material for The Way Forward for a while yet, at least until I dive back into the Phillip Gold manuscript for the final polish.
I don't really have a final plot plan for The Way Forward so we'll just have to see what develops for Minerva, Aberforth and George.
Time To Put It On The Shelf
28/11/10 03:48 Filed in: Writing
On Friday morning, before going to work, I made some
final small revisions and then saved the final
chapter of my new draft of The Silent
Goodbye to the hard drive of my netbook. I then
opened a new file, copied the text from each of my
chapter files into this new file, and saved the
entire manuscript as a single entity.
Done. Wow.
The writing adventure that I began on September 8 has come to a close (at least temporarily). As you might recall, I sent my mystery novel submission package to a publisher in early September, expecting to wait for weeks if not months to receive the inevitable rejection. Instead, I found an e-mail in my inbox two days later, asking for the complete manuscript to be sent by return e-mail. I sent it and, again expecting a long wait, I was amazed to find not an outright rejection but a very helpful set of suggestions from the publisher just four days after I had sent the full manuscript.
That was Sunday, September 8.
My original draft had two major plot lines: the action plot, where Gold is hunted by a trained killer after witnessing the assassination of a police officer; and the trial plot, where Gold represents a street-gang leader on trial for sexual assault. In that first draft, I had arranged these two plots consecutively. In other words, most the action plot took place in the first half of the novel while the trial took up most of the second half of the book. The two then came together at the end.
The publisher had some nice things to say about the writing of the trial plot and advised me to restructure the novel to have the trial begin at the opening of the book. This would require me to do a complete rewrite, in effect to have the plots run concurrently, trial by day, action plot by night. It made a lot of sense and, as soon as I began the rather difficult task of reordering the scenes, I found it brought a new pace, a new life to the entire book.
The publisher also made some clear character-related suggestions, which resulted in my writing one fairly prominent minor character out of the book completely, reducing the role of a second, and transforming a third into an entirely new person. Once again, however, I found that, as I was doing the work, the novel was getting stronger and stronger.
Back on September 8, I had set myself a target of completing the revision before the end of the year and submitting the revised manuscript, properly polished, to the publisher early in the new year.
I'm still on track. I think the work I've done to date has been good and I believe the novel is the better for it. I have more work ahead of me in the correcting, editing and polishing process but, for now, I have to put the current manuscript on the shelf for a couple of weeks. I need to get a little distance from it, so that when I go to do that final polish, I'm a little more objective, more able to see what needs to be done.
Still, it's a great feeling to have gotten this far. And to be as happy as I am with the outcome.
Done. Wow.
The writing adventure that I began on September 8 has come to a close (at least temporarily). As you might recall, I sent my mystery novel submission package to a publisher in early September, expecting to wait for weeks if not months to receive the inevitable rejection. Instead, I found an e-mail in my inbox two days later, asking for the complete manuscript to be sent by return e-mail. I sent it and, again expecting a long wait, I was amazed to find not an outright rejection but a very helpful set of suggestions from the publisher just four days after I had sent the full manuscript.
That was Sunday, September 8.
My original draft had two major plot lines: the action plot, where Gold is hunted by a trained killer after witnessing the assassination of a police officer; and the trial plot, where Gold represents a street-gang leader on trial for sexual assault. In that first draft, I had arranged these two plots consecutively. In other words, most the action plot took place in the first half of the novel while the trial took up most of the second half of the book. The two then came together at the end.
The publisher had some nice things to say about the writing of the trial plot and advised me to restructure the novel to have the trial begin at the opening of the book. This would require me to do a complete rewrite, in effect to have the plots run concurrently, trial by day, action plot by night. It made a lot of sense and, as soon as I began the rather difficult task of reordering the scenes, I found it brought a new pace, a new life to the entire book.
The publisher also made some clear character-related suggestions, which resulted in my writing one fairly prominent minor character out of the book completely, reducing the role of a second, and transforming a third into an entirely new person. Once again, however, I found that, as I was doing the work, the novel was getting stronger and stronger.
Back on September 8, I had set myself a target of completing the revision before the end of the year and submitting the revised manuscript, properly polished, to the publisher early in the new year.
I'm still on track. I think the work I've done to date has been good and I believe the novel is the better for it. I have more work ahead of me in the correcting, editing and polishing process but, for now, I have to put the current manuscript on the shelf for a couple of weeks. I need to get a little distance from it, so that when I go to do that final polish, I'm a little more objective, more able to see what needs to be done.
Still, it's a great feeling to have gotten this far. And to be as happy as I am with the outcome.
Coming Along Swimmingly
25/11/10 07:44 Filed in: Writing
I haven't been writing much lately about writing. The
main reason for that is that my work on the revisions
of The Silent Goodbye are coming along
really well and I didn't want to interrupt that by
writing a blog about it.
I have been working in regular concentrated sessions on the revisions and have been making excellent progress. In fact, I have now begun work on the final day of the novel. That is very, very exciting for me. What's more exciting is how pleased I'm feeling about the revised manuscript to date.
In accordance with the suggestions of the publisher, I have started the trial right at the beginning of the book and then intertwined the courtroom scenes with the scenes of Phillip Gold's duel with the trained killer. It's working well. A nice balance, in fact. And it keeps the pace moving at a heck of a rate.
I plan to finish this draft by the weekend. Wow. I can't believe I actually typed that sentence. I plan to finish this draft by the weekend. Then it will go on the shelf for a couple of weeks before I return to it in mid-December with a fresh eye.
The hope is to have a polished manuscript to send out by the end of the year.
So far, so good. I'm enjoying the writing and happy with the results. The Silent Goodbye may just make some noise yet!
I have been working in regular concentrated sessions on the revisions and have been making excellent progress. In fact, I have now begun work on the final day of the novel. That is very, very exciting for me. What's more exciting is how pleased I'm feeling about the revised manuscript to date.
In accordance with the suggestions of the publisher, I have started the trial right at the beginning of the book and then intertwined the courtroom scenes with the scenes of Phillip Gold's duel with the trained killer. It's working well. A nice balance, in fact. And it keeps the pace moving at a heck of a rate.
I plan to finish this draft by the weekend. Wow. I can't believe I actually typed that sentence. I plan to finish this draft by the weekend. Then it will go on the shelf for a couple of weeks before I return to it in mid-December with a fresh eye.
The hope is to have a polished manuscript to send out by the end of the year.
So far, so good. I'm enjoying the writing and happy with the results. The Silent Goodbye may just make some noise yet!
Kudos to a Couple of Writing Pals
17/11/10 18:01 Filed in: Writing
Just a quick note to send out a hearty
congratulations to my friend, Ross Pennie, whose
first novel, Tainted, recently won the 17th
Annual Arts Hamilton Literary Award for fiction.
Fantastic news and well deserved.
Ross and I were in a couple of writer's groups together back in Hamilton and Tainted was the book he was working on during our most recent meetings (before I moved out East). He was kind enough to mention both me and our writing buddy, John Hewson, in his acceptance speech, a kindness for which I am very grateful.
And speaking of Dr. Hewson, Ross brought to my attention that an excerpt of John's excellent but unpublished novel has now been included in the second volume of an anthology called Canadian Voices. That's a real feather in John's bonnet. Again, this novel (whose title I will not include here since I do not have John's permission) is superbly written; I hope his inclusion in Canadian Voices will help bring John's work to light (and to the attention of a fiction publisher).
Ross, John and I met steadily for a period of several years while I lived in Hamilton, to discuss writing mostly but also books, movies and pop culture of all types. It truly was a privilege getting a chance to know these two gentlemen and their writing. I guess you never know how good you have it until you move on to something else!
Congrats to both Ross and John for recognition well-deserved. I understand that Ross' next novel is expected to hit the bookstores in the spring, published by ECW Press in Toronto. That's something to look forward to (if you don't mind me ending this blog post with a preposition!).
Ross and I were in a couple of writer's groups together back in Hamilton and Tainted was the book he was working on during our most recent meetings (before I moved out East). He was kind enough to mention both me and our writing buddy, John Hewson, in his acceptance speech, a kindness for which I am very grateful.
And speaking of Dr. Hewson, Ross brought to my attention that an excerpt of John's excellent but unpublished novel has now been included in the second volume of an anthology called Canadian Voices. That's a real feather in John's bonnet. Again, this novel (whose title I will not include here since I do not have John's permission) is superbly written; I hope his inclusion in Canadian Voices will help bring John's work to light (and to the attention of a fiction publisher).
Ross, John and I met steadily for a period of several years while I lived in Hamilton, to discuss writing mostly but also books, movies and pop culture of all types. It truly was a privilege getting a chance to know these two gentlemen and their writing. I guess you never know how good you have it until you move on to something else!
Congrats to both Ross and John for recognition well-deserved. I understand that Ross' next novel is expected to hit the bookstores in the spring, published by ECW Press in Toronto. That's something to look forward to (if you don't mind me ending this blog post with a preposition!).
Happiness Is...
13/11/10 21:37 Filed in: Writing
It's been a good week, writing wise. I've been able
to carve out an hour almost every day to do the work
of revising my Phillip Gold novel.
And I've made some excellent progress. I think I've finally gotten the tone right for the scene between my major character and the police inspector, wherein Gold tells the story of his violent past. I'm pleased with it, though I plan to make several more passes through the scene to make sure it is really sharp.
And I think the trial scenes are continuing to develop well. I have one more day of court to write/revise and then the climactic scenes of both plots. Great stuff. The final draft should come out at about 75,000 words, which isn't bad. It's a bit shorter than the first draft but I don't think that's a problem. As long as it is substantial, has an interesting plot and moves well.
I have to force myself to keep up the momentum. It's not always easy, with all the other challenges and demands in my life. But it would be great to get this draft done by the end of November, then to have a chance to let it sit for a couple of weeks before coming back to it for a final review and revision before the end of the year.
That's the goal, anyway. Happiness truly is making good, solid progress towards the completion of a goal.
And I've made some excellent progress. I think I've finally gotten the tone right for the scene between my major character and the police inspector, wherein Gold tells the story of his violent past. I'm pleased with it, though I plan to make several more passes through the scene to make sure it is really sharp.
And I think the trial scenes are continuing to develop well. I have one more day of court to write/revise and then the climactic scenes of both plots. Great stuff. The final draft should come out at about 75,000 words, which isn't bad. It's a bit shorter than the first draft but I don't think that's a problem. As long as it is substantial, has an interesting plot and moves well.
I have to force myself to keep up the momentum. It's not always easy, with all the other challenges and demands in my life. But it would be great to get this draft done by the end of November, then to have a chance to let it sit for a couple of weeks before coming back to it for a final review and revision before the end of the year.
That's the goal, anyway. Happiness truly is making good, solid progress towards the completion of a goal.
A Quick Trip
Just back from a quick trip back to visit friends and
family in Ontario. A really nice visit, not too
frenetic, not too tiring.
While hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law, I actually found time to do some revision work on my Phillip Gold novel. It's coming along well. Most of what I did was cutting and pasting to reflect the new plot-order but it's progress. I really like the way it's turning out.
I also got the chance while in Toronto to see the original movie version (taken from Swedish TV) of Stieg Larsson's first thriller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I was very impressed. The casting was perfect, with real-life (rather than Hollywood-perfect) people in the various roles, and I felt they got the two main characters spot on. The direction and editing were also excellent, with a lot of nice artistic touches that added to the excellently paced mystery.
What impressed me most, however, was how they dealt with the challenge of reducing a long, involved novel into a 150-minute film. Instead of dwelling on the sexual violence that permeates the book (and convinced me not to read the second novel in the series), they actually focused on Larsson's complex, rivetting mystery: the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Great choice and it made for a fantastic film.
I actually believe that this is one of the few times that the movie is better than the book.
Meantime, I was continuing to read the fourth Rowling novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am absolutely loving it. It was great to be among friends who really appreciate the Rowling novels too: I had several very enjoyable chats with Emily and Clare on Potter-related topics while in Hamilton, which always adds to my enjoyment of my visits.
So now I'm back in Freddie and back into real life. I hope to be able to find some time to focus on Phillip Gold over the next couple of days to keep the momentum going. And I'll have to think about looking up the second Swedish film adaptation of Larsson's book. Maybe I'll just watch the movie and not even read the book!
While hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law, I actually found time to do some revision work on my Phillip Gold novel. It's coming along well. Most of what I did was cutting and pasting to reflect the new plot-order but it's progress. I really like the way it's turning out.
I also got the chance while in Toronto to see the original movie version (taken from Swedish TV) of Stieg Larsson's first thriller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I was very impressed. The casting was perfect, with real-life (rather than Hollywood-perfect) people in the various roles, and I felt they got the two main characters spot on. The direction and editing were also excellent, with a lot of nice artistic touches that added to the excellently paced mystery.
What impressed me most, however, was how they dealt with the challenge of reducing a long, involved novel into a 150-minute film. Instead of dwelling on the sexual violence that permeates the book (and convinced me not to read the second novel in the series), they actually focused on Larsson's complex, rivetting mystery: the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Great choice and it made for a fantastic film.
I actually believe that this is one of the few times that the movie is better than the book.
Meantime, I was continuing to read the fourth Rowling novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am absolutely loving it. It was great to be among friends who really appreciate the Rowling novels too: I had several very enjoyable chats with Emily and Clare on Potter-related topics while in Hamilton, which always adds to my enjoyment of my visits.
So now I'm back in Freddie and back into real life. I hope to be able to find some time to focus on Phillip Gold over the next couple of days to keep the momentum going. And I'll have to think about looking up the second Swedish film adaptation of Larsson's book. Maybe I'll just watch the movie and not even read the book!
Getting Back Into It
13/10/10 08:25 Filed in: Writing
It has been about a week since I've had a chance to
work on the revisions for my Phillip Gold mystery
novel, The Silent Goodbye. Life has been so
busy that I haven't had a chance to sit down for any
reasonable period of time to work on it. I have
managed to read some of Douglas Adams' Mostly
Harmless here and there in the five and
ten-minute breaks in life but the writing project has
been unreachable.
It's very frustrating. I had been making excellent progress and had really found a groove. Now I'm out of it and trying to find a way back in.
So yesterday I decided that step one would be to re-read what I've already completed. Remember, I'm currently attempting to re-weave the two plots of my novel into a differently coherent whole. Though there is quite a bit of writing involved, there is also a great deal of blocking, copying, revising and editing to make it hang properly. It's a tough job, tougher than I had expected.
I am about a third of the way through and I think it's working well. I re-read the first three sections and enjoyed them. I had to do some fine-tuning, however, to catch minor inconsistencies that have cropped up due to the re-ordering of scenes and the reduction in the roles of several characters. For example, in the first courtroom scene, as Gold is giving his opening address to the Jury, I had forgotten to edit out his reference to his old friend and mentor, Bob Smythe. The reason: Smythe has not yet appeared in the novel at that point in the revised version.
Little things like that keep cropping up: scenes that were moved from evening to morning needed polishing to remove references to the "thickening darkness" and stuff like that; I'm finding that I missed the odd reference to a character by her old name; or I find that a character will refer to something that hasn't yet happened.
That's why the re-read is so important. I had the old plot structure very clear in my mind. I have to replace it, now, with the new structure so that I can make sure the novel flows in a clear, consistent fashion.
So now, in order to write, I have to read. There are worse fates, I guess.
It's very frustrating. I had been making excellent progress and had really found a groove. Now I'm out of it and trying to find a way back in.
So yesterday I decided that step one would be to re-read what I've already completed. Remember, I'm currently attempting to re-weave the two plots of my novel into a differently coherent whole. Though there is quite a bit of writing involved, there is also a great deal of blocking, copying, revising and editing to make it hang properly. It's a tough job, tougher than I had expected.
I am about a third of the way through and I think it's working well. I re-read the first three sections and enjoyed them. I had to do some fine-tuning, however, to catch minor inconsistencies that have cropped up due to the re-ordering of scenes and the reduction in the roles of several characters. For example, in the first courtroom scene, as Gold is giving his opening address to the Jury, I had forgotten to edit out his reference to his old friend and mentor, Bob Smythe. The reason: Smythe has not yet appeared in the novel at that point in the revised version.
Little things like that keep cropping up: scenes that were moved from evening to morning needed polishing to remove references to the "thickening darkness" and stuff like that; I'm finding that I missed the odd reference to a character by her old name; or I find that a character will refer to something that hasn't yet happened.
That's why the re-read is so important. I had the old plot structure very clear in my mind. I have to replace it, now, with the new structure so that I can make sure the novel flows in a clear, consistent fashion.
So now, in order to write, I have to read. There are worse fates, I guess.
So Much To Do
Life has been a bit busy of late. I still cannot
believe, however, that it's been 16 days since my
last post. Wow.
Outside of work, family and personal commitments, I've been pulled in two different directions lately: continuing the revisions on my Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Silent Goodbye, and reading Douglas Adams' five-part trilogy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Work on my novel has been going well but I am plagued by the inability to find decent blocks of time in which to work. I have found recently that, once I get the chance to bury my imagination in the task, I can go for hours without looking up. That's a good sign. But it means I have to set aside longer periods in which to work. My last writing session was unsatisfactory, mostly because I felt rushed (I was trying to grab an hour between commitments) so I worry the writing is stiff and unimaginative. I'm about to add a scene or two where Gold actually attempts to track down and confront his enemy and I think I'm going to need to be really focused to make it work.
On the reading front, I am enjoying Adams' work quite a bit but it is not as fun nor as funny as I remember it to be. There are still laugh-out-loud moments in it but the general frivolity is starting to grate on my nerves. I've just finished the third book so I just have two to go.
Next on my list: Harry Potter, in preparation for the release of the film version of the first part of The Deathly Hallows. I've seen the trailers on the web and I am pumped for this film. Of course, that probably means I'll be disappointed. Oh well.
I have also seen the Oprah interview with J.K. Rowling, which I thought was just great. It must be hard for Oprah and J.K. to find people to talk to with whom they can relate. Both are intelligent, talented women who, by hard work and a world of luck, have become phenomena in the entertainment business. They are rich beyond their wildest dreams but also appear to care very deeply for their craft and for the dedicated millions who love their work. I found the interview fascinating for that reason: they seemed to feel at home together, to recognise in each other a fellow traveller, a person with similar extraordinary experiences, feelings, fears. And every time I see J.K., my respect for her increases.
I have to admit, I'm actually impatient to get through Adams and back to Rowling's magical world.
Outside of work, family and personal commitments, I've been pulled in two different directions lately: continuing the revisions on my Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Silent Goodbye, and reading Douglas Adams' five-part trilogy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Work on my novel has been going well but I am plagued by the inability to find decent blocks of time in which to work. I have found recently that, once I get the chance to bury my imagination in the task, I can go for hours without looking up. That's a good sign. But it means I have to set aside longer periods in which to work. My last writing session was unsatisfactory, mostly because I felt rushed (I was trying to grab an hour between commitments) so I worry the writing is stiff and unimaginative. I'm about to add a scene or two where Gold actually attempts to track down and confront his enemy and I think I'm going to need to be really focused to make it work.
On the reading front, I am enjoying Adams' work quite a bit but it is not as fun nor as funny as I remember it to be. There are still laugh-out-loud moments in it but the general frivolity is starting to grate on my nerves. I've just finished the third book so I just have two to go.
Next on my list: Harry Potter, in preparation for the release of the film version of the first part of The Deathly Hallows. I've seen the trailers on the web and I am pumped for this film. Of course, that probably means I'll be disappointed. Oh well.
I have also seen the Oprah interview with J.K. Rowling, which I thought was just great. It must be hard for Oprah and J.K. to find people to talk to with whom they can relate. Both are intelligent, talented women who, by hard work and a world of luck, have become phenomena in the entertainment business. They are rich beyond their wildest dreams but also appear to care very deeply for their craft and for the dedicated millions who love their work. I found the interview fascinating for that reason: they seemed to feel at home together, to recognise in each other a fellow traveller, a person with similar extraordinary experiences, feelings, fears. And every time I see J.K., my respect for her increases.
I have to admit, I'm actually impatient to get through Adams and back to Rowling's magical world.
An Amazing Experience
08/09/10 04:21 Filed in: Writing
I have purposely not been blogging about my novel
submission since I sent it to the publisher last
Monday. I don't know if it was some kind of
superstition that stopped me from doing so, or
perhaps fear that I might blog something that would
come back to haunt me.
I'm pleased to say that the experience, for all my anxiety and self-doubt, was a thoroughly rewarding one. No, I don't have a publishing contract in my hands. That was always the longest of long shots and, though it's nice to dream, most successful authors tell stories of dozens of rejections, rewrites and further rejections before they got their first novel published.
But no, I also did not receive a blunt, bald rejection either.
I sent the submission package for The Silent Goodbye by Priority Post last Monday. I then sat back, expecting to wait a long time for a response.
I got an e-mail back from the publisher early Wednesday afternoon, asking me to send the complete manuscript via e-mail. Wednesday! Most books I've read on the submission process suggest that weeks, even months will pass before you hear anything. This publisher got back to me the same day he received my package. I don't want to overuse the underline function here but I find that absolutely amazing.
Needless to say, I was thrilled to be invited to send the entire novel. I reviewed it carefully again and then e-mailed it, with the same mix of excitement and anxiety I had felt about the original submission package.
I figured there were three basic kinds of responses I could get: outright rejection, a one line e-mail saying, in essence, "Thanks but no thanks"; supportive rejection, a paragraph or two setting out some strengths and some weaknesses in the book; or acceptance, the long shot, the dream.
Sunday afternoon (Sunday afternoon! Just three days after I sent along the entire manuscript) I got my answer. But it was so much more than I had expected.
First, the publisher had read the entire novel. That in itself was a real positive. I can imagine how much reading he has to do in his work so, for him to read my entire manuscript like that, I'm taking that as a good sign.
Second, he actually took the time to read some of this blog. Quite a bit of it, it seems, since he commented about something from an April entry in his e-mail to me.
Third, he did me the honour of sending an extended note on my novel. When I printed it for easier review, it came out to a full page, single spaced.
Yes, the note included some fairly blunt criticism of my writing. And yes, that was hard to read. Most importantly, he told me I need to toughen up my main character, Phillip Gold, to make him more proactive and effective. He said he felt my action scenes were weak and lacking in credibility (ouch). He told me to cut out most of the first part of the novel and get to the trial scenes more quickly.
But the publisher was generous enough to identify some real strengths as well. He felt the trial scenes were well written, for example, and he liked the more shadowy characters like Alexandre Pim and his nemesis, Natasha. He also pointed out certain other scenes that he said were very effective and, as a nice touch, indicated that he liked the fact that Gold didn't charge the widow any fees in the end.
Following a disclaimer that, even if I did make all the changes and improvements he was suggesting, there was no guarantee that he would agree to publish the revised version, he gave me clear advice on how to make the novel stronger.
It was a very fair, honest e-mail. After the first moment of sadness at the realization that I won't be immediately published, I recognised the opportunity I have been given. I now know what an actual publisher thinks of my work. I have a clear idea of what stands between my manuscript and possible publication, what needs to be changed, edited out, rewritten to make it better.
So I have now committed myself to a serious rewrite, in line with the comments he's made. I will enhance the aspects that he felt were strong and address the deficiencies he's identified. I know that doing this is no guarantee that I will be published but I would be a fool not to follow up on this unique opportunity.
In fact, I've already started. And I think the novel is already better.
All in all, this has been an amazing, energizing experience. Now it's on me. I know what I need to do. And it will be the quality of the writing I do over the next little while that will decide whether or not The Silent Goodbye ever makes its way onto the shelves of your local bookstore.
I'm pleased to say that the experience, for all my anxiety and self-doubt, was a thoroughly rewarding one. No, I don't have a publishing contract in my hands. That was always the longest of long shots and, though it's nice to dream, most successful authors tell stories of dozens of rejections, rewrites and further rejections before they got their first novel published.
But no, I also did not receive a blunt, bald rejection either.
I sent the submission package for The Silent Goodbye by Priority Post last Monday. I then sat back, expecting to wait a long time for a response.
I got an e-mail back from the publisher early Wednesday afternoon, asking me to send the complete manuscript via e-mail. Wednesday! Most books I've read on the submission process suggest that weeks, even months will pass before you hear anything. This publisher got back to me the same day he received my package. I don't want to overuse the underline function here but I find that absolutely amazing.
Needless to say, I was thrilled to be invited to send the entire novel. I reviewed it carefully again and then e-mailed it, with the same mix of excitement and anxiety I had felt about the original submission package.
I figured there were three basic kinds of responses I could get: outright rejection, a one line e-mail saying, in essence, "Thanks but no thanks"; supportive rejection, a paragraph or two setting out some strengths and some weaknesses in the book; or acceptance, the long shot, the dream.
Sunday afternoon (Sunday afternoon! Just three days after I sent along the entire manuscript) I got my answer. But it was so much more than I had expected.
First, the publisher had read the entire novel. That in itself was a real positive. I can imagine how much reading he has to do in his work so, for him to read my entire manuscript like that, I'm taking that as a good sign.
Second, he actually took the time to read some of this blog. Quite a bit of it, it seems, since he commented about something from an April entry in his e-mail to me.
Third, he did me the honour of sending an extended note on my novel. When I printed it for easier review, it came out to a full page, single spaced.
Yes, the note included some fairly blunt criticism of my writing. And yes, that was hard to read. Most importantly, he told me I need to toughen up my main character, Phillip Gold, to make him more proactive and effective. He said he felt my action scenes were weak and lacking in credibility (ouch). He told me to cut out most of the first part of the novel and get to the trial scenes more quickly.
But the publisher was generous enough to identify some real strengths as well. He felt the trial scenes were well written, for example, and he liked the more shadowy characters like Alexandre Pim and his nemesis, Natasha. He also pointed out certain other scenes that he said were very effective and, as a nice touch, indicated that he liked the fact that Gold didn't charge the widow any fees in the end.
Following a disclaimer that, even if I did make all the changes and improvements he was suggesting, there was no guarantee that he would agree to publish the revised version, he gave me clear advice on how to make the novel stronger.
It was a very fair, honest e-mail. After the first moment of sadness at the realization that I won't be immediately published, I recognised the opportunity I have been given. I now know what an actual publisher thinks of my work. I have a clear idea of what stands between my manuscript and possible publication, what needs to be changed, edited out, rewritten to make it better.
So I have now committed myself to a serious rewrite, in line with the comments he's made. I will enhance the aspects that he felt were strong and address the deficiencies he's identified. I know that doing this is no guarantee that I will be published but I would be a fool not to follow up on this unique opportunity.
In fact, I've already started. And I think the novel is already better.
All in all, this has been an amazing, energizing experience. Now it's on me. I know what I need to do. And it will be the quality of the writing I do over the next little while that will decide whether or not The Silent Goodbye ever makes its way onto the shelves of your local bookstore.
Lots of Developments
Friday night and we've just come back from walking
the dog. We're debating cancelling our satellite TV
subscription since we are currently paying about $45
per month for practically nothing. I watched for four
hours the other night and couldn't find one show I
wanted to watch. So I open up Safari and find out
both the PGA golf championship and tonight's CFL
football game between Winnipeg and Hamilton are
available live on-line for free.
Hmmm... What are we paying $45 a month for anyway?
But that's not what I was planning to write about today. I was planning to write about writing.
Why? Because, after a long drought, I can feel the creative juices start to flow again.
Why? Several reasons: first, because my conversations with my nieces got me started on what seems to be a fantastic new Phillip Gold novel, one that is constantly running across my mind, even as I spend a day trimming tree branches; second, because a friend at work mentioned, out of the blue, that she had come across my website some time ago and had really enjoyed reading my new Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward ("It's like the seventh book never ended," she said); and third, because my chat with that same friend, which touched on our mutual love for the old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, reminded me of my own Abigail Massey stories and I feel like I want to get back to them as well.
It helps as well that I finally got around to starting the much-abbreviated synopsis of The Silent Goodbye in preparation for my submission of that novel to a publisher.
So things are percolating on the writing side.
On the reading side, things are not so good. I started Dick Francis' Wild Horses on the weekend, only to lose the darn thing. I'm worried that someone accidentally packed the book up and took it back to Ontario with them when my in-laws left on Monday. I might have to go and buy another copy, since losing my original copy stalls my reading plans completely.
And if I could just manage to catch my sister on Skype, life would be even better!
Hmmm... What are we paying $45 a month for anyway?
But that's not what I was planning to write about today. I was planning to write about writing.
Why? Because, after a long drought, I can feel the creative juices start to flow again.
Why? Several reasons: first, because my conversations with my nieces got me started on what seems to be a fantastic new Phillip Gold novel, one that is constantly running across my mind, even as I spend a day trimming tree branches; second, because a friend at work mentioned, out of the blue, that she had come across my website some time ago and had really enjoyed reading my new Rowling-world novel, The Way Forward ("It's like the seventh book never ended," she said); and third, because my chat with that same friend, which touched on our mutual love for the old Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, reminded me of my own Abigail Massey stories and I feel like I want to get back to them as well.
It helps as well that I finally got around to starting the much-abbreviated synopsis of The Silent Goodbye in preparation for my submission of that novel to a publisher.
So things are percolating on the writing side.
On the reading side, things are not so good. I started Dick Francis' Wild Horses on the weekend, only to lose the darn thing. I'm worried that someone accidentally packed the book up and took it back to Ontario with them when my in-laws left on Monday. I might have to go and buy another copy, since losing my original copy stalls my reading plans completely.
And if I could just manage to catch my sister on Skype, life would be even better!
Launching The Final Curtain
30/07/10 21:30 Filed in: Writing
So I'm sitting at dinner with my sister-in-law,
brother-in-law and my two nieces, 14 and 10. And the
14-year-old tells me I should write a novel using the
names of her three "BiFFLes" (Best Friends For Life).
So I say, "Okay, tell me the plot and I'll do it."
She thinks for a minute and says something like, "There's this 14-year-old movie star whose name is X (she inserts her own Facebook pseudonym) and she's murdered during filming." Great start and we go from there. The 10-year-old wants a little sister to play a major role so we come up with not one but two little sisters with big parts to play. Within a half hour, we have the whole concept for the mystery laid out, including back story on the two major characters. We've developed motivations and even character traits.
And it's really pretty good. I set them the task of coming up with physical descriptions for the six or seven new characters in the book as well as, if possible, a quirk or behavioural quirk for each one. They've been working hard at it and I have been impressed with what they've developed.
So this morning, using the work that we'd done together and that they'd done on their own, I dashed off about 500 words of the opening of the novel. Wow. It works.
So now The Final Curtain, a new Phillip Gold Mystery, is off and running.
She thinks for a minute and says something like, "There's this 14-year-old movie star whose name is X (she inserts her own Facebook pseudonym) and she's murdered during filming." Great start and we go from there. The 10-year-old wants a little sister to play a major role so we come up with not one but two little sisters with big parts to play. Within a half hour, we have the whole concept for the mystery laid out, including back story on the two major characters. We've developed motivations and even character traits.
And it's really pretty good. I set them the task of coming up with physical descriptions for the six or seven new characters in the book as well as, if possible, a quirk or behavioural quirk for each one. They've been working hard at it and I have been impressed with what they've developed.
So this morning, using the work that we'd done together and that they'd done on their own, I dashed off about 500 words of the opening of the novel. Wow. It works.
So now The Final Curtain, a new Phillip Gold Mystery, is off and running.
Pushing Through
21/07/10 08:21 Filed in: Writing
I know myself well enough to recognise that, when I
don't do something that's important, there's some
reason hidden in my psyche. So the fact that I
haven't finished up and sent off my novel submission
to the publishers tells me there's more going on than
just a busy life, with guests and travels and work
and other stuff.
I fear that it's fear. I'm concerned that I am not putting the finishing touches on my submission because, once I do, I will have no choice but to send it off and then no choice but to accept the very distinct possibility that it will be rejected once again. They can't reject me, I figure, if I don't send it in. I'll reject myself, in other words.
Scary.
So I spent part of last night formatting the first twenty-five pages of the novel for my package, then went through the synopsis again, trimming here and editing there. All that's left is my biographical note and the printing. I am trying to keep on course and get it done.
You have to face down your fears, I figure. As Joey says, "If you're afraid of bugs, get a bug."
I fear that it's fear. I'm concerned that I am not putting the finishing touches on my submission because, once I do, I will have no choice but to send it off and then no choice but to accept the very distinct possibility that it will be rejected once again. They can't reject me, I figure, if I don't send it in. I'll reject myself, in other words.
Scary.
So I spent part of last night formatting the first twenty-five pages of the novel for my package, then went through the synopsis again, trimming here and editing there. All that's left is my biographical note and the printing. I am trying to keep on course and get it done.
You have to face down your fears, I figure. As Joey says, "If you're afraid of bugs, get a bug."
Odds and Sods
Heat wave in NB. Hot, humid, air-conditioner-less
province. UGH. Couldn't get much done other than
surviving and keeping as cool as possible.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.
New Videos, New Headaches
A brief entry this morning to announce that I've
posted two new videos on the "Video" page of this
website: Marlee playing at East Point, PEI and Marlee
playing at Basin Head, PEI. They may not sound that
exciting but they're both kind of fun. And they're
short too.
On the writing front, my friend Ross asked me to send him my draft cover letter and the first 25 pages of the novel to review for me. I'm happy to oblige as Ross is a good guy, an excellent writer and a helpful editor/reviewer. What I didn't realise, however, is that I had lost track of which computer file was the latest version of The Silent Goodbye. This is a huge problem when a writer does numerous revisions, sometimes on several computers (as I do). So I ended up formatting and sending one version of the opening to Ross, then realising it was missing a couple of fairly significant revisions. So I had to search around to find the latest one; it turned out to be on another computer altogether.
Lesson learned: be very careful about how you save files. Keep all drafts on one computer but make sure to move older drafts into a separate folder called "Drafts", while keeping the latest version separate. I am trying to name the files according to the date they were last revised, which is good, unless you have files on two or three computers!
Oh well. I figured it out and sent the right file finally. It just took a while and involved more tension than necessary.
On the writing front, my friend Ross asked me to send him my draft cover letter and the first 25 pages of the novel to review for me. I'm happy to oblige as Ross is a good guy, an excellent writer and a helpful editor/reviewer. What I didn't realise, however, is that I had lost track of which computer file was the latest version of The Silent Goodbye. This is a huge problem when a writer does numerous revisions, sometimes on several computers (as I do). So I ended up formatting and sending one version of the opening to Ross, then realising it was missing a couple of fairly significant revisions. So I had to search around to find the latest one; it turned out to be on another computer altogether.
Lesson learned: be very careful about how you save files. Keep all drafts on one computer but make sure to move older drafts into a separate folder called "Drafts", while keeping the latest version separate. I am trying to name the files according to the date they were last revised, which is good, unless you have files on two or three computers!
Oh well. I figured it out and sent the right file finally. It just took a while and involved more tension than necessary.
Holding Pattern
28/06/10 07:52 Filed in: Writing
I have completed drafts of my synopsis and cover
letter. I can easily print off the first 25 pages of
the novel in proper format. The bio should be no
problem at all, since I write brief bios all the time
for workshops and conference papers I present. So
what's holding me up?
Could it be fear? The concern that The Silent Goodbye is the best thing I've ever written and it still might not be good enough?
I've had poetry and short stories published. I am the author of one and co-author of two other published legal texts. Why does it feel so important to get a novel published?
I hereby commit myself to revising the documents and getting them in the mail to the publisher by Friday. The only way to deal with fear is to stare it in the face. So I have to force myself to stare and to take my lumps if that's what I'm in for.
Could it be fear? The concern that The Silent Goodbye is the best thing I've ever written and it still might not be good enough?
I've had poetry and short stories published. I am the author of one and co-author of two other published legal texts. Why does it feel so important to get a novel published?
I hereby commit myself to revising the documents and getting them in the mail to the publisher by Friday. The only way to deal with fear is to stare it in the face. So I have to force myself to stare and to take my lumps if that's what I'm in for.
A Monumental Task
20/06/10 06:58 Filed in: Writing
My trip to Ottawa is now a part of the past. I spent
five busy days in our nation's capital and, while it
was a good trip, I found it completely exhausting.
It's nice to be home.
I didn't get the chance to write the cover letter for my submission while I was away. If I am ever going to get my new Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, out on the market, I am going to have to get my submission package completed. The draft synopsis is done but I am having problems getting myself to sit down and write the cover letter. Yes, I've been busy. Very busy. But I am also starting to feel like this simple letter is something of a monumental task.
The challenge is to accomplish so much in so small a space, all the while making it seem effortless, easy. I figure the letter should be no more than a page long but should pack a punch. It has to convince the publisher that the novel is marketable. It has to convince the publisher that I am marketable. It has to convince the publisher to take a chance on me and my work.
And when you think that about a thousand other people are currently writing letters hoping to convince the same publisher that their books are better and more marketable than mine, it becomes kind of scary. I plan to get a draft of this scary letter done by the end of this week. With luck. And guts.
I didn't get the chance to write the cover letter for my submission while I was away. If I am ever going to get my new Phillip Gold novel, The Silent Goodbye, out on the market, I am going to have to get my submission package completed. The draft synopsis is done but I am having problems getting myself to sit down and write the cover letter. Yes, I've been busy. Very busy. But I am also starting to feel like this simple letter is something of a monumental task.
The challenge is to accomplish so much in so small a space, all the while making it seem effortless, easy. I figure the letter should be no more than a page long but should pack a punch. It has to convince the publisher that the novel is marketable. It has to convince the publisher that I am marketable. It has to convince the publisher to take a chance on me and my work.
And when you think that about a thousand other people are currently writing letters hoping to convince the same publisher that their books are better and more marketable than mine, it becomes kind of scary. I plan to get a draft of this scary letter done by the end of this week. With luck. And guts.
Oh So Slow Progress
I find myself still daunted by the prospect of trying
to write the synopsis for The Final Goodbye.
I've never been good at writing these things and I'm
not feeling much more confident now.
My research has told me that my synopsis can be up to 16 pages long, which is a really good thing to know. That fact alone makes the task seem less frightening: until recently, I had thought the synopsis to be only four pages long and still a full and complete summary of the events in the story. And I've even now made a start at writing it. I'm three paragraphs in and feeling fairly good about what I've produced.
In the meantime, I'm continuing my journey through the novels of Dick Francis. I'm now into the 1980s and the books are becoming longer and more complex. I've read all of them before, at least once, so I often pick up a new novel with some sense of what it's about. What amazes me is how unconsciously resistant I am to continue reading the ones that have particularly violent or nasty plots.
I had to force myself to read Banker, the first novel with what I would consider a truly monstrous villain. In Banker, Francis displays a hard edge, a willingness to kill off characters, even very innocent ones, for the sake of the plot, an interest in moving beyond your regular kinds of mayhem into pure nastiness and evil. Calder Jackson, the villain, is actually willing to poison pregnant brood mares to ensure badly deformed babies and destroy the reputation and value of the stud, a magnificent horse named Sandcastle.
Francis pulls no punches in this book and it is gut-wrenchingly effective.
He is also branching out when it comes to the nature of the romantic interest in the novel. In Banker, the protagonist is in love with the wife of his aging boss, feelings she apparently returns. But both keep their emotions under wraps throughout the book, finding small comfort in stolen moments and social niceties. It's a surprising sign of how far Francis is willing to go at this point in his career, however, when he not only writes of the illicit relationship with approbation throughout the novel but also goes so far as to bring news of the aging boss's death in the last paragraph, promising future happiness for the star-crossed lovers.
Nothing I'm saying here should suggest that Banker is anything but a highly effective, thoroughly entertaining novel. It's truly great. It's just interesting to see Francis pushing so boldly the boundaries of his own successful blueprint.
My research has told me that my synopsis can be up to 16 pages long, which is a really good thing to know. That fact alone makes the task seem less frightening: until recently, I had thought the synopsis to be only four pages long and still a full and complete summary of the events in the story. And I've even now made a start at writing it. I'm three paragraphs in and feeling fairly good about what I've produced.
In the meantime, I'm continuing my journey through the novels of Dick Francis. I'm now into the 1980s and the books are becoming longer and more complex. I've read all of them before, at least once, so I often pick up a new novel with some sense of what it's about. What amazes me is how unconsciously resistant I am to continue reading the ones that have particularly violent or nasty plots.
I had to force myself to read Banker, the first novel with what I would consider a truly monstrous villain. In Banker, Francis displays a hard edge, a willingness to kill off characters, even very innocent ones, for the sake of the plot, an interest in moving beyond your regular kinds of mayhem into pure nastiness and evil. Calder Jackson, the villain, is actually willing to poison pregnant brood mares to ensure badly deformed babies and destroy the reputation and value of the stud, a magnificent horse named Sandcastle.
Francis pulls no punches in this book and it is gut-wrenchingly effective.
He is also branching out when it comes to the nature of the romantic interest in the novel. In Banker, the protagonist is in love with the wife of his aging boss, feelings she apparently returns. But both keep their emotions under wraps throughout the book, finding small comfort in stolen moments and social niceties. It's a surprising sign of how far Francis is willing to go at this point in his career, however, when he not only writes of the illicit relationship with approbation throughout the novel but also goes so far as to bring news of the aging boss's death in the last paragraph, promising future happiness for the star-crossed lovers.
Nothing I'm saying here should suggest that Banker is anything but a highly effective, thoroughly entertaining novel. It's truly great. It's just interesting to see Francis pushing so boldly the boundaries of his own successful blueprint.
Marketing My Novel
27/05/10 22:39 Filed in: Writing
After receiving some lovely, very positive feedback
on The Silent Goodbye from a good friend
back in Hamilton, I'm feeling inspired now to begin
the process of attempting to find a publisher for the
novel. Of course, that means more writing: a cover
letter, a biographical note on myself as well as a
synopsis of the entire book.
I don't mind doing the cover letter, and the biographical note is no big deal, but the synopsis is something of a nightmare. From what I understand, editors and agents want you to give a detailed summary of the entire book, in present tense, in a way that conveys both the excitement of the story and every major incident that takes place. It's no easy task. I've tried to write synopses in the past and have always hated them.
But it's something I have to do if I want to get this novel in front of a publisher so I have to accept that writing a synopsis of The Silent Goodbye is my next writing task.
In the meantime, I'm starting to turn my mind (and my typing fingers) to the job of integrating my short story "Violet" into the original novel, All That Glisters, at the same time as changing both into third-person narration and bringing the writing style more in line with The Silent Goodbye. No easy task. But one I think I'll enjoy, once I get into it.
I am also considering changing the name of the resulting novel. What do you think of The Smell of Blood or The Scent of Blood or A Taste for Blood? My original plan was for all the novels to have titles with the word "Gold" either in them or implied by them (like A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters [Is Not Gold]). I'm not sure I'm so fond of that idea any more.
From what I've seen, of course, if I ever find a publisher for these books, she'll probably want to change the titles anyway! And, if she wants to publish my novels, quite frankly she can name them whatever she wants.
I don't mind doing the cover letter, and the biographical note is no big deal, but the synopsis is something of a nightmare. From what I understand, editors and agents want you to give a detailed summary of the entire book, in present tense, in a way that conveys both the excitement of the story and every major incident that takes place. It's no easy task. I've tried to write synopses in the past and have always hated them.
But it's something I have to do if I want to get this novel in front of a publisher so I have to accept that writing a synopsis of The Silent Goodbye is my next writing task.
In the meantime, I'm starting to turn my mind (and my typing fingers) to the job of integrating my short story "Violet" into the original novel, All That Glisters, at the same time as changing both into third-person narration and bringing the writing style more in line with The Silent Goodbye. No easy task. But one I think I'll enjoy, once I get into it.
I am also considering changing the name of the resulting novel. What do you think of The Smell of Blood or The Scent of Blood or A Taste for Blood? My original plan was for all the novels to have titles with the word "Gold" either in them or implied by them (like A Fleck of Gold and All That Glisters [Is Not Gold]). I'm not sure I'm so fond of that idea any more.
From what I've seen, of course, if I ever find a publisher for these books, she'll probably want to change the titles anyway! And, if she wants to publish my novels, quite frankly she can name them whatever she wants.
The Work Continues
22/07/09 08:20 Filed in: Writing
I continue to make consistent progress on The
Silent Goodbye. This is somewhat remarkable
considering how much has been going on in my life of
late but, if you can commit time and energy every day
to writing, you can actually create some momentum.
The story continues to unfold according to my plan, with some interesting and unexpected twists arising during the process of writing. I always find it very exciting when, as I write a scene, the characters themselves start to take charge and direct the action. In this case, the scene I was writing involved Gold, his favourite cop and an attractive assassin sitting down to compare notes. Through the course of their conversation, an entirely new possibility for the story announced itself, an exciting interlude that will increase tension and create another opportunity for action.
I had not planned it to happen but suddenly the assassin started talking and out came this marvellous new idea. It was natural to the character, to the conversation and to the situation. So I went with it.
Of course, this new idea requires me now to go back and do a little bit of revision of the earlier parts of the scene but that's okay. And, as I do the rewrite, I have to do some hard thinking about how these three characters would put this particular plan into action.
That's the fun part of the job: the mental work of taking a good idea and making it work, for the characters and for the novel.
The story continues to unfold according to my plan, with some interesting and unexpected twists arising during the process of writing. I always find it very exciting when, as I write a scene, the characters themselves start to take charge and direct the action. In this case, the scene I was writing involved Gold, his favourite cop and an attractive assassin sitting down to compare notes. Through the course of their conversation, an entirely new possibility for the story announced itself, an exciting interlude that will increase tension and create another opportunity for action.
I had not planned it to happen but suddenly the assassin started talking and out came this marvellous new idea. It was natural to the character, to the conversation and to the situation. So I went with it.
Of course, this new idea requires me now to go back and do a little bit of revision of the earlier parts of the scene but that's okay. And, as I do the rewrite, I have to do some hard thinking about how these three characters would put this particular plan into action.
That's the fun part of the job: the mental work of taking a good idea and making it work, for the characters and for the novel.