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Just to make you all feel better - I have achieved bugger all creative this week as, not only did my ancient much loved desktop workhorse computer give up the ghost at the start of the week. Lots of swearing swapping of hard drives and reinstalling later and I'm back. I don't THINK I've lost any data...

And on Friday the gearbox fell out of my car - while I was on a single track road somewhere about the left hand side of this:
0ab9b3db-3593-4653-89c9-506c79c7c262.jpg


Not that we could see the scenery as it was pitch black. Still, we had (just) managed to get as far as somewhere with mobile phone coverage so it could have been worse.

Take this as a reminder to BACK UP your work and not ignore interesting noises from your engine till it's too late.
 
JunkMonkey said:
Just to make you all feel better - I have achieved bugger all creative this week as, not only did my ancient much loved desktop workhorse computer give up the ghost at the start of the week. Lots of swearing swapping of hard drives and reinstalling later and I'm back. I don't THINK I've lost any data...

And on Friday the gearbox fell out of my car - while I was on a single track road somewhere about the left hand side of this:
0ab9b3db-3593-4653-89c9-506c79c7c262.jpg


Not that we could see the scenery as it was pitch black. Still, we had (just) managed to get as far as somewhere with mobile phone coverage so it could have been worse.

Take this as a reminder to BACK UP your work and not ignore interesting noises from your engine till it's too late.
Click to expand...
Well at least ya got a comic out of it....right?
 
Weekly Status
1 - Microfiction/Prose Poem completed (see microfiction contest)
24 - Submissions (including 1 nonfiction, 1 microfiction (above) - rest poetry)
10 - rejections (poems)
1 - acceptance at Speculative 66
 
I've started another Baldemar novelette with 780 words, starting with a corpse with its throat cut. Conscripted to serve with the Eyes and Ears of the Duke, our hero will plunge into treachery and intrigue.
 
Lettered someone else's 4 page comic today - which is a first; lettering art I haven't drawn. I spent a lot of time wondering quite where to put the words and wondering if I was buggering up the artist's idea of where he thought the word bubbles were going. (Don't tell the writer, but I added a couple of lines and corrected his punctuation too.) The whole thing was made a little more complicated by the fact that the deadline for this job was coming at a bunch of total strangers to each other, in at least three different countries, like an express train on steroids. This meant I was working on the inks, not the coloured pages, and had to make some arbitrary decisions where the pictures were going to be on the page, fake up registration marks, and keep my fingers crossed that the editor manages to glue them in the right place and at the right size when he gets the finalised colours.

Ho what fun!

At the moment I'm drawing a giant Alien Samurai Rabbit for another person's script.

ditto.


OH! And I made up a brilliant new (to me) way of drawing explosions in Photoshop using the brush scattering, multiply, and colour dodge settings. Made me very happy that did. The wife was less than impressed.
 
Monthly Status

3 - Poems
1 - Microfiction
40 - Submissions (Mostly Poetry/Prose Poetry/Microfiction but one longer Nonfiction piece)
12 - Rejections
2 - Acceptances

Onward with a new month!
 
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Just hit the 50,000 word mark on my WIP, with about 30k to go. It's been slow going due to limited writing opportunities recently, but if past works are anything to go by, reaching this milestone will inspire a pace increase.
 
Finished what was supposed to be a final proof of "Exiles and Rooks", 1st in the "Rooks" sub-series of the "Celtic Otherworld" series (#6 in it). OF COURSE spotted mistakes and realised some bits missing and a few bits in conflict with books #7, #8, #9 & #10 (all near final except #10 missing a penultimate chapter).
I'm glad I didn't decide/agree a release date. Shows advantage of setting a work aside for a couple of months and working on an unrelated project (The College Talent, since start of January).
A Beta Reader or Editor will spot mistakes but not usually the intentions, parts subtly missing or how it fits later books.
It's at 67K words. I don't much care about size (big or small), the thing is the story without either padding or too much pruned to make it ugly. So far smallest is Starship Chief (free) at about 33K and I'm not sure which is largest. "The Solar Alliance" is about 140K.
 
It's been a long time since I peeked in to this corner of the web.

It's a new year, and seemingly a new ball game. My company finally transferred my *HORRIBLE* boss down the hall, and I'm hoping this well alleviate a lot of stress and darkness in my life.

Meanwhile, I'm approaching the end of my own first book - Encrypsis - A cyberpunk series starring a teenaged pick-pocket trying to hunt down whom ever is picking off her friends and fellow thugs of the Nightmare City. I'm nearing the end of the second act. The story is overly bloated right now at 90k, but this is just the first draft. I hope I can pare that down a ways once I get in there to edit.

And I hope all is well!
 
A. Lynn said:
It's been a long time since I peeked in to this corner of the web.

It's a new year, and seemingly a new ball game. My company finally transferred my *HORRIBLE* boss down the hall, and I'm hoping this well alleviate a lot of stress and darkness in my life.

Meanwhile, I'm approaching the end of my own first book - Encrypsis - A cyberpunk series starring a teenaged pick-pocket trying to hunt down whom ever is picking off her friends and fellow thugs of the Nightmare City. I'm nearing the end of the second act. The story is overly bloated right now at 90k, but this is just the first draft. I hope I can pare that down a ways once I get in there to edit.

And I hope all is well!
Click to expand...

Good for you. Sound like things are looking up!
 
Done corrections in "Exiles and Rooks" (book #6, 65.6K words). I'll read it all again on eReader at the weekend. Just re-read #7, "Fairy Godmothers" (51K words) Much snappier more exciting tale, though a little creepy in a couple of places. Only found a few minor mistakes, will correct them tomorrow (copy annotations from Kobo via Calibre). So off to read #8 "Conspiracies and Rooks" which is much more exciting than "Exiles and Rooks" and an immediate sequel, except "Fairy Godmothers" needs to be read first. Perhaps as "Fairy Godmothers" takes place in parallel with the last 1/3 of "Exiles and Rooks" I should simply include it as a part II. That would be 116K approximately, a nice size and then #6 is extended "Exiles and Rooks" and #7 becomes straight sequel "Conspiracies and Rooks" which is about 88K words.
Comments?
We already know Alice (MC of "Fairy Godmothers") very well from books 1, 2, 3 & 5, only brief cameo in book 4. The basic "Exiles and Rooks" (book #6 without Fairy Godmother) is to introduce Tony, Marion and the Rooks. It's the start of a sort of sub-series (three written, "Artists and Rooks" is currently #10 of "Celtic Otherworld") with Marion the Detective assisted by her Rook familiars. Her brother, Tony, was originally envisaged as a sort of Mycroft Holmes, but was quickly re-done as a source of Technical support along with the native Órlaith. Alice has only "cameo" appearances in the next two rook books (currently #8 & #10) and her story arc started in #1 is fully completed in "The Fay Child" (currently book # 9).
 
Was proofreading current #8 in Celtic Otherworld till 3am, "Conspiracies and Rooks", definitely need some re-writing / editing and not just proof corrections. Still, it maybe doesn't want to be released for ages. No rush. Positive is that reading #6, #7 & #8 (at nearly 85% of #8) in one go I can see that combining #6 & #7 will work. Possibly "Exiles and Rooks" (65.6K words) and "Fairy Godmothers" would work well with some chapters interleaved rather than as two separate sections in one book. Then some "Exiles and Rooks" & "Fairy Godmothers" parts can be re-written to have more involvement at the child's naming (hence "Fairy Godmothers"). Maybe a couple of weeks work but could hugely improve "Exiles and Rooks". I'm not worried about losing a title in the series. I'm not Robert Jordan (IMO Wheel of Time would be better as five or six books!). I can have other stories.
 
Weekly Status

1 - traditional poem
1 - acceptance at Microfiction Monday Magazine - 'The Good Ol' Days on the Farm'
6 - rejections - (The Sun, Star*line)
no new submissions - will work on that this week.. :)
 
Did another thousand words on the Baldemar novelette last week, then took time off to have some minor surgery -- by god, the French medical system is good. Best in the world, I'd say, and I've experienced a few of them.

Anyway, I'm recovering nicely and today I put out my monthly newsletter, with news of what I'm writing and selling plus free reads. Anyone who wants to be on the mailing list can sign up for it on my web page (link below).
 
Did a rough jiggle of the chapters of "Exiles and Rooks" & "Fairy Godmothers" as one book with a tiny bit of editing. I'm not sure it works. I'll leave for a while and edit corrections on "Conspiracies and Rooks" before I forget what the annotations mean. Then see if the Franken Book works. My is disappointed it will mean the loss of "Fairy Godmothers" title and cover.
 
Currently I am working on the improvement of my previously published novel. I am going to produce a new edition. The first edition turned out half baked and there things which needed to be added and reworked.
The title of the novel is "Kadjar Planet of Happiness" . It's about a human family which moved from one planet to another and their adjustment at a new totally different place.It's very escapist, but at the same time touches on multiple issues.

I also decided to get my own ICBN so that I can sell this novel in other places, and not to be limited to Amazon.
My first edition was published in December.
Is it too soon to be creating a new edition?
When new edition comes out would anyone like to read and write a review?
If someone volunteers to do so, I could email him/her the actual word file.
 
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