(Entries are in reverse chronology)

December 2004

PASSION PLAY went out to the two editors last month. (Breathe. Must remember to breathe.)

ENEMIES. Chapter boundaries are shifting around as the text shrinks here and expands there. I now have four chapters reworked into their new shapes, but I'm still not happy with the flow of events. However, a number of kind readers have offered to look over the chapters and make suggestions.

Short stuff. After some revision, sent off the new/old short story to gather even more feedback. Pulled out another short story from the backburner for some rework before it goes out again. Wrote a new essay about description.

November 2004

ENEMIES: Wrote detailed plot notes for the first six chapters, which used to be seven. Ripped up the first three chapters, cutting over four thousand words so far. I expect to have these three in their new shape before the end of the month.

Poison Novel: Continuing to read folktales.

Other: Fred TPG knocked on my skull again. This time, he insisted that I dig up a short story from six years ago. I did and with his help reworked the plot completely. The first draft is now complete, and several kind and generous readers have sent me their comments. Time to let that one simmer.

October 2004

Oh dear. Where did the time go? Here's a partial report:

My son and I took our black belt test. (We passed.) However, we do not receive our belts until the promotion ceremony in early November.

Working slowly, I finished two chapters for the new novel, but a few pages into the third, Fred TPG informed me that he wanted more time to think. So I'm reading books on Indian mythology and jotting down ideas for folktales.

Two editors have agreed to consider the new version of PASSION PLAY. (Much joy! Much anxiety!) I'm now re-reading the manuscript for book #2 and making notes for the next draft.

My experiment with LiveJournal continues. I like the new window into different writing communities, but I shall have to keep strict control over my time spent there (and other online forums, too). Depending on how things go, I might sign up for a paid account and migrate my journal to that format, but linked to my usual web page.

Mid-September 2004

Now that PASSION PLAY is in my agent's hands, I had intended to write one or two short stories from the project list then go on to revise the second book in the series. However, a couple of things happened...

(insert sound of plans gently exploding)

First, a writer friend has been nagging me to write another story set in the same world as Poison. I had a few images but nothing strong enough to call a story. Then at Worldcon, an editor suggested (with some enthusiasm) that I could write not just a story but an entire novel in that world. Hmmmm, I thought and handed the idea over to Fred the Plot Guy.

A few days passed in Other Activities. I asked Fred about those short stories. Fred handed back an outline for the new novel, plus the narrator's background and a few full-color scenes. This is the equivalent of a small child jumping up and down, shouting "Write me!"

I'm a few pages into the book. We shall see how it goes...

September 2004

I went to my first Worldcon, and it was fabulous. Met old friends, made new friends, connected faces to names from online, walked many miles, attended interesting panels, lost three pounds, talked too much, stayed up way too late, and at the very end, found out that my story Poison was a Finalist for the 2004 Spectrum Awards (Short Fiction).

Now it's back to work.

August 2004

The revisions are done; the new version of PASSION PLAY is on its way to my agent. Many many thanks to my readers for all their helpful comments and suggestions. I'm pleased with the results. Let us hope the editors are, too.

In the very cheery news department, two of my stories -- Poison and "Chrysalide" -- received Honorable Mentions in the Seventeenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. My name was also mentioned in the Summaries section as an "upcoming writer." Wow!

July 2004

Finished the major revisions in late June. Read and marked up the final twelve chapters, then started a second pass through them, filling in plot holes and smoothing the joins between old and new material. If all goes well, I can get a final draft into my agent's hands before I take off for Worldcon.

It's also time to start writing my essay for my Cho Dan test.

Mid-June 2004

A writer friend asked me to articulate my goals for this novel rewrite. Think of these as sticky-notes to my brain.

Connectivity. One plot point must drive the next. (Even better if one event drives two or three or four.) Before, I had some Rilly Kewl scenes that often appeared to have little or nothing to do with each other. They made a pretty but static mosaic. The connections that did exist were so far in the background that they had too little impact, even when the reader could discern them.

The Protagonist Acts. There are books where the protagonist can be more a catalyst, or even just a focal point, instead of an actor, but that won't work here. This story is about Therez/Ilse becoming a person. She must act.

Multiplicity. At some point, I let the political and magical threads fade into the background. Part of that was deliberate, but the experiment didn't work, imo. Again, there are stories that can successfully concentrate on one main element, but this story needs the complexity. For the magic thread, especially, losing its focus made the magic seem more like window dressing than an integral part of the story.

Push The Characters. No, Harder. In Draft #1, everyone was being too sweet and nice to each other. I want to make them bleed. Really bleed. There were sections where I achieved that in the previous draft, but not consistently.

Character=Agenda. Not just the main characters. Apply this one to the secondary characters as well. (Remember to keep things in balance. If a secondary character insists on a larger role, either change her status, or promise her her own book.)

I had at least a dozen more reminders for the scene and detail level, but these are the main points.

June 2004

The sound you hear is that of dynamite gently exploding.

I've now reached the 2/3 mark in rewriting PASSION PLAY. Four new chapters have appeared. One character arrested the other. And international politics now plays a much larger role.

May 2004

More and more revisions. The first ten chapters are out for critique. I'm now working on the middle chapters, wrestling them into their new shape and making sure that the new plot and worldbuilding details are smoothly integrated into the whole book.

In the department of Happy News, I just learned that my story "Bassai Dai" will be included in The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 4. And my karate teacher has confirmed that I will be testing for my black belt this October.

Update: The next six chapters are out to readers. I'm now reviewing the final section of the book. More story in less space, if possible. That is my goal.

April 2004

Revisions continue at a steady pace. I've revised the first three chapters of PASSION PLAY and will send these out for critique. Onward to the next set of chapters, which only need a light buffing, then it's back to chisels and saws (but not dynamite) for the middle of the book.

March 2004

So much for plans. :)

Instead of plunging into new material while readers dissect ENEMIES, I decided to revisit PASSION PLAY. Since last month's entry, I marked up a printed copy and (re)polished the first seven chapters. New and valuable feedback has given me a better perspective on the opening chapters, so I've jotted out notes for changes there. I'm also reworking the middle section -- adding a subplot, tweaking the relationship between the two main characters, tightening the prose. This should give the novel a leaner, denser middle section that foreshadows my protagonist's future abilities as she solves her current problems.

And on a sadder note -- my aunt died in late February. Ever since my father's sudden death last fall, she began the long gradual slipping away. To my Aunt Marianne, teacher and traveler and ex-Marine, the person who gave me my first real books -- farewell and God bless. Have a great journey.

February 2004

I finished the latest draft of IN THE PRESENCE OF HER ENEMIES. Let me pause a moment to savor that.

This one is my learning novel. I've written others since as the series grew to include more characters and a wider plot, and with each new book, my perspective on ENEMIES changed. After writing PASSION PLAY , I revisited the draft to see what changes were needed to bring them into alignment. They were legion.

I started with two separate books and 255,000 words; I ended with one book and 170,000 words. Nearly half the plot changed, a few secondary characters disappeared, and the continents drifted into new locations. It wasn't an easy task, but I'm very pleased with the results. The draft is now with a number of readers for their critiquing pleasure.

In other news: new draft of the prime number story, notes for a new short story, and plans to start the next novelette/novella for the linked novel.

January 2004

And so a new year begins. I'm torn between hopeful and anxious, wondering what lies in the coming months. §