NaNoWriMo 2012

NaNoWriMo is taking place right now.  I'm participating. 

 

And I am an idiot:  I have a whole lot going on. 

 

I'm polishing Mourningtide, I am doing a once-over on a (Civil War) novel that will be on KDP Select as a freebie later this month, and I signed up to write a minimum of 1700 words a day to produce 50,000 words in 30 days.  (1700 words works out to about six printed pages).  It's do-able if you work steadily, but in this case I am also working at a day job. 

 

I'm giving it my best shot, and I think I can do it, but if one thing or another has to go Kadesh will be the casualty.

 

Which reminds me: Kadesh is a working title.  Fans of Egyptian history will know that it was the battle that Ramesses II touted as his greatest triumph.  The Hittites, whom he fought, were equally emphatic about their 'successs'.  My read is that two superpowers met and mauled each other, though Ramesses probably had the shock of his life in the process.  (There's a strong indication that his father, Seti I, died of a heart condition, and I've used that supposition in my own 'family history' to account for some deaths.  It would appear, though, based on what happened at Kadesh, that Ramesses did not have a weak heart.  He survived the shock of seeing the Hittite army breaking through the palisades of his camp.)

 

I'm telling this story from the point of view of lesser characters.  Hori (Amunhorkhepechef) as a nineteen-year-old Crown Prince is given nominal command of one of the armies.  Others of his brothers (Ramses and Montuhirkhopechef, who died prior to the opening of Pharaoh's Son) are in high command in other armies.  Khaemwaset ('Khay' in Pharaoh's son, and the most well known,  historically, of Ramesses' sons) is with his father, being all of fifteen years old.

 

It's important to understand strategy, but this event shaped Ramesses' reign and world history.  It turned him from being a 'warrior king' (though he tried) to being a true statesman, where his greatness lay.

 

So I'm writing Kadesh.  I truly must redo the temporary cover, but it's a decent placeholder for now.

 

My website has sample chapters that I've whacked out.  Hori seems to be taking center stage just at the moment.  (I know him rather well).  Check them out here:

 

http://www.dianawilderauthor.com/kadesh.html

  

 

Hurry up!

Ever had a itch between your shoulder-blades? The sort that is driving you nearly mad, but which you know can't be scratched because the act of scratching will only make matters worse and you will end up itching for the rest of your life?

 

Or, perhaps, wanted to treat yourself to some forbidden dainty - and known - just known that you won't be able to stop eating?

 

That's a little like my current position with Mourningtide.  The story is nearly finished, it's almost ready to go – but it just is not quite ready.  There are things to do, things that must be done if I don't want to release a book that is not my best effort.

 

Well, as with any itch, if you ignore it, it will go away.  The story will be finished, people will like it, I'll like putting it out to be read, the cover will look good and I'll smile.  It's happened before, but I'm one of those people who likes to show folks their gifts before the proper date. 

In the mean time, I can laugh at myself, plug in my laptop, fire up Scrivener (did I mention that I love it?), and make corrections, and add scenes that occur to me.

And I can commune with my editor.

 

Have I mentioned my editor?  Everyone needs one, especially one like her.  Even if she is a pain in the neck, she's about as charming as they come.  ...and here she is!

 

I call her my 'attractive nuisance'.  (Interesting legal concept: something that can cause a lot of annoyance, rage, damage, you name it, while being simply irresistible.)  Notice the position of her posterior?  Yes, on the pile of manuscript.  That is her clever way of keeping me from hurrying too much.

Sydney's Song - Now available!

I am delighted to announce the debut of a wonderful book that will have you smiling, weeping - and then smiling widely through your tears. 

The book?

   
Sydney's Song by Ia Uaro


It is wonderfully written, will hold your interest - a true joy to read.







Watch the trailer, below, enjoy the images and the story - and then consider reading it.  You won't regret it.

...and while you're at it, visit her wonderful website at

http://www.sydneyssong.net/

And her Author's page (this one is Amazon's):

http://www.amazon.com/Ia-Uaro/e/B009ELCYKU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1348706542&sr=8-1

Worldwide Distribution

Well!  I have just learned that the citizens of the great nation of Japan can now buy my books and complain about my characters' odd names with the rest of my readers...

Gosh, the world is getting smaller!

Polishing a Draft

So, you have finished your story.  It is complete.  The tale has been told and was done rather well, if you say so yourself.  You 'compile' the manuscript (for, after all, you are using Scrivener) and you then print the thing.  The result is a two-inch thick pile of bright white paper with printing on it.  The manuscript.  Finished!  Hurrah!



Wordsmithing as I do it.  The logic is hidden by the lack of prettiness...

The delight lasts only as long as it takes you to flip to a random page, and read...

"Did I say that?  What a passive construction!  What was I thinking?"

You seize a pencil/pen/whatever, circle the offending phrase, write in what you should have written if you had not been under-caffeinated, and then sit back, scowling, and look at the rest of the manuscript.

...And now you are in 'polish' mode.

It's been a while since I did this, and I had forgotten how enjoyable it is.   Wordsmithing, pure and simple, is a pleasure in itself.  It is, however, annoying when you have been envisioning a finished manuscript and, looking down at it, pen in hand, realized that the thing is anything but.

So you sigh, assemble the things you will need, and go to it.

What do you need?

Just the basics, ma'am, but in all available colors...

Pens.  Lots of them.  They tend to grow legs and walk.  I have one that was made by an artisan using chestnut wood salvaged from an colonial-era house on the seacoast.  Chestnut isn't seen any more since the blight destroyed most of the chestnut trees.  That's a pity because the wood is very rot-resistant and has a wonderful color.  Then there are the gel pens that are a delight to write with and have thick, visible ink.  The problem is that the ink tends to sink into paper and go through the other side.  Not pretty. 

Authentic Marvin
the Martian Pen

I also have a special Marvin the Martian pen I bought years ago at a Warner Brothers store and carried to various meetings over the years.

You need highlighters in various colors.  Why?  Well, what if you highlight something in pink and then think of something else that needs to be done with the highlighted passage, but is different?  Pink won't work, it'll be confusing.  Besides, hot pink is something of which I can only stand so much.  Purple, I think.  Or maybe blue...

Post-it notes, or reasonable facsimiles thereof, are very useful for marking places ('Oh - that's right!  I edited to here!'), marking thoughts (make sure you don't get cheap imitations because they'll fall off, and you will face your greatest fear: that your inspired edit will be lost forever and your powerful intellect, having decayed rather badly, will not be able to retrieve the perfect word in the perfect location.)

But you go cooking along, making corrections - until it suddenly occurs to you that the reason that the beginning of the novel seems to plod just a wee bit, with lots of information being made available rather quickly is that you have been going about it the wrong way, and it would work out better if you start in with the third chapter, scrap the first and second chapters, and then adjust as necessary.  You greet this revelation with a cry torn from your very entrails as you realize that the entire beginning of the @#$%! story has to be reworked.

Is it a disaster if it makes the whole story better but drives the writer mad?

You brew another cup of tea (did you read my post about tea?), get out the materials, and go to work, muttering under your breath even as you see that it truly will do better.  You bid farewell to the end of year release, the editor's feedback, the new story that has been nudging at your elbow and presenting lusciously tempting scenes...  You buckle down -

Will pester for catnip...

And pray that your work is not interrupted by the dreaded 'attractive nuisance' that likes to grab your hand as you mouse...

Dad

I'm not sure when I realized how lucky I was.  I think maybe I just assumed that everyone had parents like mine - stern when they had to be, always kind, straight-shooters  when it came to right and wrong, but who liked to laugh.  Maybe it was when I entered my early teens and saw other parents that were not like mine, that got me started thinking.

Dad was in the United States Navy.  He entered the (very new) Radar program in World War II and was a radar officer in the Pacific theater of that war.  He left the Navy after the war and attended law school on the GI Bill before he was called up for the Korean War in 1950 (right after marrying my mother).  He went back to war and stayed in the Navy for nearly thirty years, retiring as a Captain and the Judge Advocate General of the Fourth Naval District. 

Dad went into civilian law practice and finally retired for good around 1996.

We lived all over the place, from Newport (RI) to Aiea Heights (Hawaii) and a few places in between.  We were always piling into the car and going for drives, to museums ('You have to understand, Diana - admission on Sunday mornings was generally free...)

Health care is free to Military dependants - or it was when I was growing up - but while Mom and Dad had their children to the the local military dispensary for their inoculations, the first thing they did when they went to a new location was to look up the finest pediatrician in the area and take us kids there.

Children grow up, and so did I.  My Dad (and Mom) somehow made the cross-over from Respected Parent to Greatly Enjoyed Friend. 

Dad lived to be 88 years old and he died this past Monday.  His family was close by.  I will miss him.

 

On hold...

So... Manuscript is at nearly 90K words. Filling in and expanding where necessary will bring it in target. I'm sold on the story, like the characterization - In other words, I seem(ed) to be clicking along on all cylinders, allowing for flexibility in polishing.

But still, while the projected release date of November 1 is gone by the way (I decided to retain a cover artist whose credentials and work I really love, and to hire a line editor for this one, so that pushes things back...) I thought a 2012 release was not out of the question. Just in time for Christmas.

And the story was heartwarming (I thought, at least).

But then...

I was pushing on with the initial polished (draft=> first finished draft=> polished draft=> final MS => OMIGOSH ICAN'TBELIEVE IFOULEDITUP SOBADLY!!!

=> final polished manuscript [friends and relatives having tied the author to a chair and taken matters into their own hands. "It's FINISHED, Diana! You CAN'T edit any more!!!"] )

I was, as I said, pushing things along, but I wasn't happy with the setting of the first chapter. Father leaving for a protracted journey, leaving eldest son in charge. Eldest son voices dissatisfaction with this state of affairs. Father gives good speech. and leaves.

The story is about the eldest son's decision to get out of there and leave his brother to run the family business. He gets killed, and his family and loved ones pick up the pieces... It actually is a bright story.

I was scowling at the first chapter, which seemed lifeless -  I sat back with a mingled groan and wail.

Start the story with the son out of the country progressing toward his death, which happens within the first chapter - second at most. Backstory can be put in there easily. THEN switch back to the threads of the younger son and the father.

Groan! A rewrite. Admittedly, it doesn't alter the true meat of the story, which kicks in around chapter three, but still...

Well... I could still retain the cover artist, I suppose...

*sigh* And I said I LIKE writing...