Oh, little tumblelog, how I have neglected thee!
My excuses:
1. The financial crisis.
2. I have been spending less time online.
3. I finally gave in to an overwhelming urge to rewrite my completed-and-never-to-be-tinkered-with-again novel. I learned a lot from my last round of submissions to agents, and waited until all the rejections were in before making the final decision to take time out from my WIP and rewrite this novel for a slightly younger reader.
I have shaved three years off the age of my protagonist and am now more than halfway through turning what was a YA into a novel for MG/Tween readers. And I love it! With a thirteen-year-old protag the conflict, adventure and danger are heightened, she’s faced with more challenging and exciting situations — and I’ve found that this is the story I originally set out to write.
So, why didn’t I write a thirteen-year-old character in the first place? Good question! Anyway, I will finish this rewrite in the next two or three weeks then send it out to a trusted reader. I want the pitch and synopsis to pack more punch than the previous versions, and that might take time. But I expect to begin querying again in January.
How exciting!
P.S. Contrary to my contemplations on September 11, I am NOT rewriting this novel in first person.
Hazy Dazy
The weather was beautiful today: warm, still, and magically hazy. So I took a lunchtime walk along the river. The world seemed slow, as though pause had been pressed.
In the soothing atmosphere, I began to feel sleepy while walking. I crouched down to stroke the comfortable grass of the riverbank. It was wet.
With heavy eyelids, I wandered home to my desk.
I’ve run out of cappuccino pods for my Tassimo coffee machine. And the shops are shut! How can I possibly do any more writing?
I know … I’ll drink espresso and submit a short story.
Stark, Staring Mad
My paternal grandmother used to scream: “Have you gone mad? Have you gone stark, staring mad?”
Well, actually, I’ve been unwell with a stomach problem, which seems to have also affected my brain.
Yesterday, I felt so much better. But today… I have a raging headache, and have spent time debating whether to rewrite my completed-and-never-to-be-tinkered-with-again novel in first person. Which would be a fine exercise if I had nothing else to do.
But I have lots to do. There is the monster that is my WIP, and some juicy short story ideas waiting in the wings.
So I will resist the urge to tinker.
Phew…
ASIM
I have just received a rejection from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, along with a wonderfully constructive comment.
Time for a rewrite.
Thank you Andromeda Spaceways!
Low
Though I’m only human (yes, really!), I hate to admit that today I feel a little bit depressed. Perhaps because of the grey, wet weather; perhaps because I have a cold; perhaps because I’m reading a novel set during WW2, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; perhaps because my adrenaline levels are lowering back to normal after an intensely dramatic episode. Who knows?
What I do know is that life could be much worse. I’m not dead or dying. I’m not in pain. My apartment is warm and safe and comfortable. I can pay my bills. There is food in the fridge. I am free to go where I want and do as I please. I am lucky.
Wow… I feel so much better! :)
Short Story, or Novel?
Inspired by a real-life event, I started making notes for what I thought might be an exciting short story idea. Fifty pages later, with a plot that’s still developing, these notes could form the outline for a novel. But. Is this a novel I want to write? Could I stay the course of something much darker than my first completed novel and my current WIP? I’m not sure. Not sure, at all…
I once attempted a thriller, but frightened myself so much that I couldn’t complete it.
I will finish the notes/outline in the next few days, put them/it aside and return to my WIP … and stay with it until the first draft is DONE.
Then, perhaps I’ll know what to do with that dark and thrilling idea.
