Where are you? (in your novel)

Deep into the world of editing. The manuscript is in good shape; I'm not finding anything egregious, just a few things that could be worded a bit better. My cover designer won't start work until late Feb., so I may start work on the outline of my next novel before publishing this one (this is a new for me).

indianroads said:

Deep into the world of editing. The manuscript is in good shape; I'm not finding anything egregious, just a few things that could be worded a bit better. My cover designer won't start work until late Feb., so I may start work on the outline of my next novel before publishing this one (this is a new for me).

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Congrats! That must be so satisfying

I am currently reworking because I missed a glaringly obvious subplot (the lament of a hardcore pantser). Fortunately, I think the changes are already improving things! Unfortunately, I’ve abandoned my protagonist in the middle of a shoot out while I fix the sequence of events that got her there.

My MC gets his archenemy's face in a colossal-terrarium inner courtyard.

My protagonist is about to go confront my deuterogamist about his attitude. She also discovers one of his vices.

indianroads said:

Deep into the world of editing. The manuscript is in good shape; I'm not finding anything egregious, just a few things that could be worded a bit better. My cover designer won't start work until late Feb., so I may start work on the outline of my next novel before publishing this one (this is a new for me).

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Way to go! That's exciting.

Finished the outline for Gonnes of Navarre. Unfortunately I can't really begin drafting it until I get back the final edit of Bait And Switch from the old publisher so I can begin revising it.

I'm at the stage where going for long walks, gardening and doing the laundry all seem tremendously important. This is good, because it means I'm scared of sitting down and Starting. Which means there's a tiny part of my brain saying, Not yet. Not yet.

Two-thirds of the way through book two. I worked from an outline but pantsed some of the details along the way, so now I'm revising the first few chapters to prune some of the storylines that aren't going anywhere and foreshadow more of what I want to pay off in the last act.

Jim got impaled by a sharp edge that got loose of the ceiling of the engineering. He needs at least two slaps to wake up and go to the infirmary. Robert is more than willing to help him out.

Nate's been getting sicker and sicker and in order to save him, they put him into a magic induced slumber. Our MC, Lindsay is not handling this well. However Nate just defied the laws of magic and woke up. He flew into a rage and just tried to murder his best friend and our MC, Lindsay.

Lindsay is realizing that something is very, very wrong.

It's 1939, and Lily is learning how to be a businesswoman from none other than A.P. Giannini, the [real life] all-but-retired president of the Bank of America.

What fun!

Repeatedly telling myself "George RR Martin didn't invent heraldry".

It hasn't sunk in yet.

Our protagonist's baby boy has just popped back safely from the other world where he sometimes disappears, thanks to having been nursed by a demon there as an infant. Simultaneously, she learns her friend and his party have been attacked on the road south to negotiate with the 'Pretender.'

I'm at the place where I just finished UPLOADING the thing to Kindle!!
***On Topic: After all of them are dead, and William the Bastard is enthroned as King of England, Harold godwinsson, last Anglo-Saxon king of England, and his siblings and ancestors are in the Bardo-like 'Garden' of a fondly remembered childhood. THE END

My WIP, Desperation, is ready for the presses... but I'm waiting on cover art (due in about a month).

I'm taking a break from my Sci-Fi series to write a how-to book about self-defense. The text will come together pretty quickly since I've been doing martial arts for over 50 years. For the demonstration photos I'll use a friends training hall - but that probably won't happen until April.

Finally working through the year-old crit that was done on one of my books. What a thoughtful job the critter did. Haven't come across anything yet that isn't helpful in some way.

Just axed a 20-odd-page chapter because it kept meandering without going anywhere. Had some good words in it so I saved it to a word doc, but I wanna see if I can rework it into something a little more exciting.

One more run through and I will be begging for betas - unless I decide to make a duology of it. I am not as confident about this one as I usually am.

Getting started on the draft of Gonnes of Navarre while waiting on beta reads to come back for No Good Deed..., and to get the final edit back on Bait And Switch from the previous publisher.

Right now Elsabeth is confronting one of her biggest regrets, and deepest open wounds.

It's 1939 and Lily's friend, the fictional Nurse Louise DiMaggio, has brought Lily to the DiMaggio family's Feast of the Seven Fishes.

It's being held at Joe DiMaggio's Grotto in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, a sure-enough restaurant, but the family's women keep bringing their own specialties and disrupting the order of things. Lily has been keeping count, and she's almost sure she's eaten more than seven fishes, but the wine is flowing freely...

Joe DiMaggio isn't there, but his father, Giuseppe is there, brother Tom, who runs the restaurant--when family women aren't disrupting things--is there, and brother Vince drops by to sing "O Sole Mio." Lily is impressed by his fine voice.

A fight nearly breaks out over Joe DiMaggio's eye: was it, or was it not responsible for his not hitting .400 this last season. The papers reported Joe's having a cold, but nothing about any eye. Only a sensible nurse like Lily can defuse an argument like that. The complication of conjunctivitis often accompanies a cold. If Joe's manager had been a nurse, she'd have sent him home forthwith to apply hot compresses.

Baseball. What a waste of human endeavor.

In the process of re-writing my first draft with the help of a great critique partner.

At the point where Lacey is about to beat her older brother in a trap shooting competition.

My third novel, The Bounding Main, is with my beta readers. One kept on reading straight through to the end because he wanted to know what happened next. The other two have said they are thoroughly entertained so far. What can I say, third time is a charm! Also collecting material for my eBook cover which I hope to send to my artist in a week or so. My next book will be a collection of short stories to further flesh out my universe. Some will be origin stories and some will be "whatever happend to?..."

Back to Volume #2. It's 1934, and Lily is spending a few months on a farm.

The farmer fancies himself an inventor, so it's my job to come up with inventions for her to think admirable--at first.

For instance:
How about a ketchup dispensing gadget that attaches to an upside-down held jar and dispenses scoopfuls of ketchup from a paddle wheel device you turn a with a little handle. Works fine, except that every time you clean or fill the thing, you have to unscrew six tiny screws.

Got the chapter list for my WIP done and am starting on the scene list for each chapter.
I'm liking my antagonist - a religious fanatic that believes a fire god has destroyed the world. The guy is a nut-case... and I like nut-cases.

I'm about 75% done my first draft of book three. Almost there.

My MC is getting cryptic texts from someone saying that they know how her sister died. Then the person texting tells her that she never listened to her sister and maybe it wouldn’t have happened if she wasn’t so selfish. So, my MC is now in a heap on the floor blaming herself for what happened. I left her an emotional mess tonight because my laptop died. Have to figure out how to make her move on tomorrow! ����