It's Official, I Now Have An Editor!

Yes, I've been missing a while. Mea culpa.
What can I say - I've been a bit busy, but guilt got me here, for a few minutes anyway.

The edited manuscript - ie I was editing it for its writer - was delivered to the publisher and I was free. And as if she heard Edwina, my own editor, finished her look-through and sent me the script for Ashamet.

So here begineth the revisions!

First things first, her approach is very much like my own. Anyone who has had feedback from me would feel right at home.

Second, she likes it!

Third, she wants me to add more than cut! [Apparently this isn't usually the case.] So I'm feeling even better cos I assume that means I haven't waffled - much.

Fourth, yes fourth, she's volunteered to edit more of my work! Definitely a rash remark cos she hasn't even seen what I'll send back to her yet?

Forget nerves, I LIKE editing.
All I have to worry about now is the final title. If anyone who's seen the rough draft has any ideas for a subtitle to add to the name - please throw it in?

Feeling the Feedback?

A couple of things recently have reminded how much now I take being able to get feedback on something I've written for granted.
 For most of the time I've been attempting to write, certainly to write fiction, I've managed to link up with other people who are equally happy to read and comment. Whether it was in say an Arvon week away, or a Milford week for those already published, by post, online like my BSFA Orbit groups, even in more regular face-to-face meetings like NorthWriteSF, there have been others in the same boat as me to exchange reactions with.

And aren't those reactions a help, sometimes a salvation.

Currently I'm rewriting a draft manuscript to completely change the setting/world it has strayed into [while I obviously wasn't looking!]. If I'd stopped to think I could have told myself it wasn't the right one; it didn't match the backstory the I knew, that wasn't actually on the page? But no, I let language carry me away - to the wrong destination as it were. Luckily for me someone else woke me up and made me rethink; Why that language style? Now, good or bad, the story will at least be what it should be.

In another instance, I recently looked over a rough draft for someone else. One look told me there had not been any real feedback - other perhaps than from friends and family - to pick up on the fact that however good an idea it was the presentation, the writing, wasn't yet technically sound. What, I hear, no feedback? No carping comments? No overview? It must be like working blindfold.

So to the first category: many thanks. I do appreciate you guys, a lot, even if I don't say it as often as I should?

And to the second category: my feedback is as honest [Honest.] as that of all the people I regularly get feedback from on my own work. I expect no less and try to give no less. Anything else is a waste of space, after all. So if I don't say quite what you wanted to hear, well, there's probably a reason, and it'll [probably] help you become a better writer.

Honest. :)

Review: 5* Shanghai Sparrow - as promised :)

Promises, promises... OK so I'm doing it before I lose track.

Shanghai Sparrow, by Gaie Sebold, is definitely one to look out for. Published by Solaris, out April 29, 2014, It's Steampunk-plus. It must be cos I don't really LIKE Steampunk!

 Jumping between Victorian England and a fantastical China with Fae thrown in for good measure. Result: an entertaining plot, a feisty, determined heroine and a good blending of fantasy and social history; all in all a great read and one I'll be very likely to re-read too.

I 'came down' full of enthusiasm and that feel-good factor one always hopes for but seldom actually gets? So check it out. Better yet, buy it.

What Most Ensures I Can't Put a Book Down?

Plot, right? No, characters. No, world building...
OK, so they should all, in a perfect reader's world, be a factor, but ultimately are they enough?

Recently, reviewing two novels back to back as it were, I found myself making a more direct comparison than usual. Both were carefully constructed, and would tick most boxes, but...
Novel 1: was Victorian era, with amoral vampires and a creepy human villain; nice twist there?
Novel 2: was Victorian era, Steampunk, with a mix of fae and human (Chinese and English) characters.
Both sound interesting, yes? I thought so.

Now as some of you may know, I collect vampire stories, always looking for new versions. And I'm very wary of Steampunk, which I feel too often degenerates into gimmicks. So without thinking I guess I had... expectations.
 So why did I love Novel 2, and wasn't hooked by Novel 1?

Because 2 had that extra, almost indefinable something: I cared about the characters.

Please note that doesn't mean I had to like them, but I did need to feel for them? Because otherwise - you've lost me, however clever the plot, the writing. Oh, I might skim through to see how it all ends but I won't be riveted and I very probably won't look to buy more of that writer's work either.

So for me the key question has become: do I care enough about what I'm reading??

[Note: I promise to add Novel 2 to my 5* reviews here, when I have a minute?]

Review: 5* :)

OK, here's another one I really liked.

Narcissus is Dreaming, by Rose Mamber.
published by Pink Narcissus Press, out May 14 2014.

Proof copy blurb says; "What happens when a shape-shifting alien, incapable of emotion, falls in love?"

You'd think the author had deliberately set herself up to fail with such a premis but hooray, she didn't. The plot is tight, the characters credible. In fact the aliens are if anything more vivid than the humans - real writing that.

For some reason, maybe the Press, this is tagged as gay/lesbian. Do ignore that cos it's simply pure SF, and way out there with it. At least take a look at the whole blurb or a sample?

If you want to try something new and different, this is for you.

April? Really?

I had no idea time was whizzing past this fast. I didn't even hear the whooshing sounds.
[Don't know that one? It's from Douglas Adams, the Hitchhiker's Guide writer, who was famously unable to meet deadlines and said - you've got it - he  loved deadlines, he liked the whoosh as they passed him by.]

It's not as if I haven't been busy: writing, critting, reviewing, dealings in Orbit groups, even the odd spot of actual work, but I didn't mean to let my writing here lapse so long.

So here goes to begin catching up...

My new editor has been in touch. She's Australian, so with an American publisher as well that makes me feel very international. She's also very polite and I think we'll be fine - phew.

Of course I also think we'll work well cos she's just said she's halfway through my manuscript and "It's a joy to read and edit".
So far anyway!
I'm understandably chuffed?

Funnier, she remarked she was so glad I could "speak horse". No it wasn't a typo for hoarse, she'd recently edited a writer seemed to think riding a horse was the same as driving a car. Why did I find that so funny?Cos i have 'sat' a horse, but only once, and I wouldn't dare call the experience riding. So, two compliments. How can I not like her?

I'll let you know how it all goes when she's reached the end.

And Meanwhile, I'm Reading. A Lot.

I'm currently knee deep in reading, reviewing, editing and critiquing [with only the merest hop aside into chat/discussions here and there].

One of the perks of doing these things is that they are all new scripts, as in in-the-works, about to be published, just out in the shops. I'm seeing what's hot off the press, or could be. It's great fun, and obviously it's a very useful learning tool; I can learn from seeing what others did well, or not. Hopefully that's happening but I guess only time will tell - and other people's comments. ;)

I've just been told the proof of that is finally enroute - I've been appointed an editor for my novel, he or she has read the opening chapters, presumably to see if they can bear to work on it, and should be in touch when they've swallowed it whole.

How do I feel? Honestly, more excited than scared. I'm used to being critted. I assume the editor doesn't hate it or they wouldn't have taken it on. I like an exchange and hope that they'll make me think about things I've missed, cos that can be exciting.

Best scenario: It'll be like one edit I did where the writer and I had a ball. I felt able to be direct, make jokes, throw in the odd insult and know he didn't take anything the wrong way cos he found it as energising as I did.
Oh I do hope it's like that. And I fully intend to be a nice, well-behaved author, who listens, then thinks, then really tries to cooperate, then...

Meanwhile, I'm reading like there's no tomorrow. No, of course it's not nerves. Not at all...