Well, sometimes things are just weird.
Let's start with the good news. As long as she doesn't disappear into the net, I now have one very nice beta, who is doing a very good job. Hopefully she sticks around. She picked up on some things (namely that I'd been a little over savvy in my cutting) that made me rewrite some of the first chapters. Well and good. At least she didn't hate my characters :)
I started part time work. YAY! Money! I have to move all the way to Queensland next year (image moving from Texas to Canada. About the same distance) and it's going to take a bit.
I don't dislike my job. Okay, it can be boring at times, but the people I work with are nice, the customers are generally nice, I didn't have to do anything horrible, and I get paid according to a quite nice EBA. Which means I get paid more on Sunday.
So, there's two things going well.
And then there's this bloody election.
This is one topic of conversation that definitely is not going to be part of a checkout conversation unless someone brings it up. I live in a country seat, and we've been Liberal (the conservative party) for so long that the Liberal's MP office is starting to rust. If Labor ever did win, they'd have to move into the Liberal's old building, so "rusted-in" is that office.
So yes. I'm a fan of biggish government. Which means I will probably die before I consider voting for the Liberal party. So we're not going to have any conversations about politics, cause they will turn into debates :)
In other news, Australia now has a hung Parliament. Which means we have ANOTHER WEEK OR TWO of this until someone actually forms minority government. And then, stuff will only happen if Labor is that minority government, because the Greens control the Senate. A bill has to go through the House of Reps and the Senate to be passed. If the Libs form minority government with the independents, they will be able to pass things through the House of Reps. However, Can you see a right wing policy (the Liberals lean to the right, for those wondering) getting through a GREEN CONTROLLED SENATE (the Greens are the leftest leaning party you can go while still being pragmatic and practical IMHO)? Nope. Not going to happen.
So, yes. We get another three years of BS.
I think that's enough depression on the the national scale to offset the happiness in personal life. Delightful.
As I said. Sometimes things are just weird. In an awful way.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Looking for Beta readers
Finding a beta. Not the easiest job in the world, I can tell you. Especially when you're looking for it to be done in under two weeks.
I set myself a deadline. Just because. I may not keep to it, but from next week I start part time work, SO I'll know when my hours are, and be able to organise around them. I should also be able to argue against getting a second job, because I don't really want one.
So, I need people to go over the whole manuscript, and note where it feels weird, when the charecters are wrong, ect. ect. That's what I need. Then I plan to go through the entire thing, chapter by cdhapter, and make it sparkle. One chapter a day, 23 days.
My brithday, circumstatiually, is on the 23rd of september. So, i figure I'll start with the nit picking on the 1st, and have a nice present to my self. :D
Then comes the querying and sending it out, and so on and so forth.
Then all you can do is hope.
I set myself a deadline. Just because. I may not keep to it, but from next week I start part time work, SO I'll know when my hours are, and be able to organise around them. I should also be able to argue against getting a second job, because I don't really want one.
So, I need people to go over the whole manuscript, and note where it feels weird, when the charecters are wrong, ect. ect. That's what I need. Then I plan to go through the entire thing, chapter by cdhapter, and make it sparkle. One chapter a day, 23 days.
My brithday, circumstatiually, is on the 23rd of september. So, i figure I'll start with the nit picking on the 1st, and have a nice present to my self. :D
Then comes the querying and sending it out, and so on and so forth.
Then all you can do is hope.
Friday, August 06, 2010
The Manda Query
Well, I know it's not perfect, but here is the work in progress version:
When 17 year old Kira Hilter’s mother dies, she retreats from the world to grieve. This grieving process is broken when she first comes into contact with the Manda, beings that can take on many forms and have been used as weapons for decades. They talk to her, something that is supposed to be impossible, and catapult Kira’s life into uncertainty.
The Manda themselves aren’t all that impressed – they have a hate of humanity that reaches back thousands of years. But with this hatred comes secrets about the Manda’s past, secrets that lead to the death of Kira’s grandfather, and the total and utter destruction of any hold of reality that Kira still have left.
To find the man who killed her grandfather and take her revenge, Kira goes to the lucrative Manda tournaments, where the Manda are used as playthings in a game. Here, the Manda’s ancient secrets quite literally come to life, threatening to tear apart the delicate balance of the modern world.
Twenty year old Chae-ku Rowan is the person struggling to keep that delicate political balance afloat, for no other reason than that it is both good for business, and good for the future of his sister. But when ancient grudges that revolve around the Manda start to surface, his sister’s life is put in danger, and Rowan’s control over the world around him is gradually whittled away.
Kira seeks revenge, Rowan control. But with the world around them getting more and more convoluted by the minute, both will have to make a choice. Rowan, whether to trust Kira, and Kira whether to give up her revenge to help Rowan, even if it means walking directly into the clutches of the man who killed her grandfather.
Comments and advice greatly appreciated :D
When 17 year old Kira Hilter’s mother dies, she retreats from the world to grieve. This grieving process is broken when she first comes into contact with the Manda, beings that can take on many forms and have been used as weapons for decades. They talk to her, something that is supposed to be impossible, and catapult Kira’s life into uncertainty.
The Manda themselves aren’t all that impressed – they have a hate of humanity that reaches back thousands of years. But with this hatred comes secrets about the Manda’s past, secrets that lead to the death of Kira’s grandfather, and the total and utter destruction of any hold of reality that Kira still have left.
To find the man who killed her grandfather and take her revenge, Kira goes to the lucrative Manda tournaments, where the Manda are used as playthings in a game. Here, the Manda’s ancient secrets quite literally come to life, threatening to tear apart the delicate balance of the modern world.
Twenty year old Chae-ku Rowan is the person struggling to keep that delicate political balance afloat, for no other reason than that it is both good for business, and good for the future of his sister. But when ancient grudges that revolve around the Manda start to surface, his sister’s life is put in danger, and Rowan’s control over the world around him is gradually whittled away.
Kira seeks revenge, Rowan control. But with the world around them getting more and more convoluted by the minute, both will have to make a choice. Rowan, whether to trust Kira, and Kira whether to give up her revenge to help Rowan, even if it means walking directly into the clutches of the man who killed her grandfather.
Comments and advice greatly appreciated :D
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Practicalities
Well, here we are. After a couple of hours of procrastination, I finally rewrote what I needed to, and have one last section to tackle. Admittedly, it’s a big one, but I should be done with it by tomorrow.
And then that's it. No more continuity errors, no more decisions that don't make sense. Kira's meeting with Marik is still slightly coincidental, but nowhere as near as coincidental as it was last time.
So I have a complete and utter manuscript, with only one small coincidence, and the rest of it relying on the decisions of the characters, even if at times we can't see them making the decisions.
Four drafts, each one written from scratch, and finally the thing makes sense.
And then we come to the practical side of things. I want to sell this. If I can't, so be it, but I want to try. If it doesn't work, then I'll just move on to the next book "Varrick" and if that doesn't work, onto "NKFH". Eventually something will work. Even if it's ten books into the future, something will work.
But a certain amount of coldness is needed if I'm ever going to get this thing published. There are certain actions that have to be taken.
1. I have to read the entire things through on the computer, from start to finish, and not any irregularities
2. I have to print the entire thing out double space, with no overlapping chapters. Then I have to put them in plastic pockets, pick a chapter at random, and edit my little heart out
3. I'm going to make the series four books, not five. It will mean getting rid of some subplots, but it'll be a hell of lot easier to sell: this is the first in a four book series.
4. Plan out the other four books
5. Write a synopsis and query letter.
6. Put the entire thing away/get others to look at it.
7. Write something else
8. Edit my little heart out all over again.
9. Send it out.
10. Hope and pray
Should be fun… yay. Sarcasm intended. :P
And then that's it. No more continuity errors, no more decisions that don't make sense. Kira's meeting with Marik is still slightly coincidental, but nowhere as near as coincidental as it was last time.
So I have a complete and utter manuscript, with only one small coincidence, and the rest of it relying on the decisions of the characters, even if at times we can't see them making the decisions.
Four drafts, each one written from scratch, and finally the thing makes sense.
And then we come to the practical side of things. I want to sell this. If I can't, so be it, but I want to try. If it doesn't work, then I'll just move on to the next book "Varrick" and if that doesn't work, onto "NKFH". Eventually something will work. Even if it's ten books into the future, something will work.
But a certain amount of coldness is needed if I'm ever going to get this thing published. There are certain actions that have to be taken.
1. I have to read the entire things through on the computer, from start to finish, and not any irregularities
2. I have to print the entire thing out double space, with no overlapping chapters. Then I have to put them in plastic pockets, pick a chapter at random, and edit my little heart out
3. I'm going to make the series four books, not five. It will mean getting rid of some subplots, but it'll be a hell of lot easier to sell: this is the first in a four book series.
4. Plan out the other four books
5. Write a synopsis and query letter.
6. Put the entire thing away/get others to look at it.
7. Write something else
8. Edit my little heart out all over again.
9. Send it out.
10. Hope and pray
Should be fun… yay. Sarcasm intended. :P
Saturday, June 26, 2010
No Knack for Happiness
Well, Book Three is no longer book three anymore. I even know what the ending might be like. Not the scene or anything, but defiantly the feel. Been quite a weekend for things coming together. I had a quick look over the first six chapters of The Manda, and came to the realisation that I may not be finished line-editing wise, but I am sick to death of looking at it. I don't think the prose is terrible by any means. Is it the best it could be? Probably not, but because my idea of what is good prose and what is not is influenced by whether I yawn or not, all I know is that it holds my interest.
Also, it's a fantasy book, for crying out loud. Not a literary one either. I might as well make sure the bloody thing is readable, and then give it to other people to read. They will have different perspectives and tell me if it's shit or not.
Five times I've rewritten that thing, four times from scratch. There are still three chapters, I think, that need fixing. I came up with a solution to a major plot problem, where the character gets on a ship because the plot needs her too, not for any other reason.
Now I have her stowing away, being found by the man who in the original draft took her in because it was implied that he recognised the same terrible things from his life, in hers. What a load of crock.
Anyway, after she's found, he needs a messenger and filer, so he uses her.
Why that took me five drafts to think of, I have no idea.
So, the Book Three, the one that is going to need a hell of a lot of research, now has a name. No Knack for Happiness. Got a nice ring to it I think.
I've also realised something strange. The books that I'm writing (at the moment, The Manda and Varrick) and the books I'm planning (No Knack for Happiness and a thrillery thing) follow a strange pattern.
The Manda was the book I wanted to read. Varrick is also I book I enjoy reading and writing, but I imagine it being the book my father would give me after he'd read it.
No Knack for Happiness is not something my father would ever read, but my mother defiantly would. Then the thriller (it does actually have more plot in my head then "No Knack for Happiness" at the moment. I didn’t say: oh, thriller is the next genre I should try out. I just think "No Knack for Happiness" will be harder to write for me, so it's coming first, before I go to Med school, while I still have time on my hands）
The thriller is something I hope my brother would like.
So, I have subconsciously been working my way through my family in the ideas that materialise and take form in my head. I enjoy all the things and idea I have, but each one is slanted slightly more to one family member than another.
Uncanny, huh. Well. The next thing I get to do is make up spaceships. I'm writing the Varrick book so fast that I'm trying to describe things that are not only imaginary, but I have no idea what they look like.
Amazing fun. Bloody hard work.
Also, it's a fantasy book, for crying out loud. Not a literary one either. I might as well make sure the bloody thing is readable, and then give it to other people to read. They will have different perspectives and tell me if it's shit or not.
Five times I've rewritten that thing, four times from scratch. There are still three chapters, I think, that need fixing. I came up with a solution to a major plot problem, where the character gets on a ship because the plot needs her too, not for any other reason.
Now I have her stowing away, being found by the man who in the original draft took her in because it was implied that he recognised the same terrible things from his life, in hers. What a load of crock.
Anyway, after she's found, he needs a messenger and filer, so he uses her.
Why that took me five drafts to think of, I have no idea.
So, the Book Three, the one that is going to need a hell of a lot of research, now has a name. No Knack for Happiness. Got a nice ring to it I think.
I've also realised something strange. The books that I'm writing (at the moment, The Manda and Varrick) and the books I'm planning (No Knack for Happiness and a thrillery thing) follow a strange pattern.
The Manda was the book I wanted to read. Varrick is also I book I enjoy reading and writing, but I imagine it being the book my father would give me after he'd read it.
No Knack for Happiness is not something my father would ever read, but my mother defiantly would. Then the thriller (it does actually have more plot in my head then "No Knack for Happiness" at the moment. I didn’t say: oh, thriller is the next genre I should try out. I just think "No Knack for Happiness" will be harder to write for me, so it's coming first, before I go to Med school, while I still have time on my hands）
The thriller is something I hope my brother would like.
So, I have subconsciously been working my way through my family in the ideas that materialise and take form in my head. I enjoy all the things and idea I have, but each one is slanted slightly more to one family member than another.
Uncanny, huh. Well. The next thing I get to do is make up spaceships. I'm writing the Varrick book so fast that I'm trying to describe things that are not only imaginary, but I have no idea what they look like.
Amazing fun. Bloody hard work.
Varrick Plan
Well, I finished plans for one book. The Sci-fi one that I was talking about earlier. It's very brief, not much in the way of how things are going to go or how anyone is going to solve a problem, but it's better than what I started with. It has a start, a middle and an end. It's going to be rather long. I also have a faint and not very happy feeling that after I write it once, I will have to add a heap of detail and thoughts. Then I get to edit and cut things out.
Going to take a while, I think.
This is good though. It's nice to think about something else other than: The Manda, and Varrick had a nice way of coming into my head. No plot, but characters pretty much full formed.
I also realised something else. A lot is going to happen, but the overarching story won't have any hidden mechanisms behind it - no grand conspiracies or anything like that.
However, I have characters that all have substantial things to hide, which should provide more than enough in the way of plot variation.
Now, I just get to write the thing. And edit my way through The Manda. I split it into four sections today - I plan on editing the four sections, one a week, and then send it round to whoever will look at it, and ask them to comment on where they think it's weird.
Then, I might as well send it to someone who, if they're insane enough, will publish it. One can only hope.
I have been slightly more productive, but I keep twaddling off to uselessly browse the internet or sleep, or do something else. I like the fact that I have two things going on at the moment. If I line edit for more than an hour, I start screaming. Being able to switch to the more creative side of things will be nice.
Tomorrow, before I go out, I will write. Some would argue that I should be studying Chinese, but I get a fair amount of study out of it simply by living here. And Chinese is not my favourite language in the world. It's just a language of necessity.
So, I plan to do something productive with my remaining two and a half weeks. Must concentrate...
Going to take a while, I think.
This is good though. It's nice to think about something else other than: The Manda, and Varrick had a nice way of coming into my head. No plot, but characters pretty much full formed.
I also realised something else. A lot is going to happen, but the overarching story won't have any hidden mechanisms behind it - no grand conspiracies or anything like that.
However, I have characters that all have substantial things to hide, which should provide more than enough in the way of plot variation.
Now, I just get to write the thing. And edit my way through The Manda. I split it into four sections today - I plan on editing the four sections, one a week, and then send it round to whoever will look at it, and ask them to comment on where they think it's weird.
Then, I might as well send it to someone who, if they're insane enough, will publish it. One can only hope.
I have been slightly more productive, but I keep twaddling off to uselessly browse the internet or sleep, or do something else. I like the fact that I have two things going on at the moment. If I line edit for more than an hour, I start screaming. Being able to switch to the more creative side of things will be nice.
Tomorrow, before I go out, I will write. Some would argue that I should be studying Chinese, but I get a fair amount of study out of it simply by living here. And Chinese is not my favourite language in the world. It's just a language of necessity.
So, I plan to do something productive with my remaining two and a half weeks. Must concentrate...
Friday, June 25, 2010
Andrew Bolt, thank you.
Now, for people who aren't Australian (not that anyone not Australian will be reading this) I'm going to briefly explain who Andrew Bolt is. He's a man that writes a column in the Herald Sun, a Victorian tabloid。 His opinions often stretch into the right, and he seems ( I can't claim to read his mind, but this is what I have gathered) to not believe in climate change, blame migrants for a fair share of everything ( I incidentally remember almost walking out of a SAC because I felt his opinion was rubbish and insulting. and I had to analyse his opinion in a calm manner. So difficult) and doesn't (as far as I can tell) think there were any forced removal of Aboriginal Australian's for purely racial reasons. I disagree with him on most points.
So, yesterday, I spent the day mooning around the ABC and The Age, in a slight ecstasy over the fact that a female is our prime minister. Not only that, she's a ranga! And not married, atheist ect. ect.
Then I realised that, raised as I was, and given my own left leanings, that I was deliberately doctoring my view.
So I went to the man who's opinion I often hate. Hello Andrew Bolt.
I was pleasantly surprised. Not ecstatically surprised, it only took him a day to start wondering a bit more and for her personal life to come up - but it was done in an analytical way. Not typecast rubbish. So then I skipped over to the Australian. Again, pleasantly surprised. They didn't think she was going to win the upcoming election, I'm not sure they liked her (this is both the Australian and Andrew Bolt) but...
I think, somehow, that no one knows what to make of her. As Bolt pointed out, one of her major supporters was the workers union - and they were pushing the strongest on the miners tax. Yet Gillard's first action was to declare a truce with the mining industry.
I'm not sure what to make of it at the moment. Give it time. Opinions will form. Yesterday, the opinions were still not quite formed. From the people I expected the most venomous response from, they were carefully measured pieces.
For the first time in my known history, I agreed with Andrew Bolt. I thought it would take a miracle for that to happen.
A miracle somewhat like Australia's prime minster being sworn in by Australia's Governor General. Both of them women.
So, yesterday, I spent the day mooning around the ABC and The Age, in a slight ecstasy over the fact that a female is our prime minister. Not only that, she's a ranga! And not married, atheist ect. ect.
Then I realised that, raised as I was, and given my own left leanings, that I was deliberately doctoring my view.
So I went to the man who's opinion I often hate. Hello Andrew Bolt.
I was pleasantly surprised. Not ecstatically surprised, it only took him a day to start wondering a bit more and for her personal life to come up - but it was done in an analytical way. Not typecast rubbish. So then I skipped over to the Australian. Again, pleasantly surprised. They didn't think she was going to win the upcoming election, I'm not sure they liked her (this is both the Australian and Andrew Bolt) but...
I think, somehow, that no one knows what to make of her. As Bolt pointed out, one of her major supporters was the workers union - and they were pushing the strongest on the miners tax. Yet Gillard's first action was to declare a truce with the mining industry.
I'm not sure what to make of it at the moment. Give it time. Opinions will form. Yesterday, the opinions were still not quite formed. From the people I expected the most venomous response from, they were carefully measured pieces.
For the first time in my known history, I agreed with Andrew Bolt. I thought it would take a miracle for that to happen.
A miracle somewhat like Australia's prime minster being sworn in by Australia's Governor General. Both of them women.
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