Waiting, on hold

"Hold the line, please" Photo by Muffet, used with permission, cc license

As I type this, I am literally on hold, listening to artificially cheerful and utterly generic music, punctuated by a recorded message about how all the representatives are busy, blah, blah blah.

That is actually an easier 'hold' to deal with then the more abstract issue of waiting for answers.

I feel like I'm in an endless holding pattern in my life and on multiple fronts.

• Waiting for word on my submission to Angry Robot's open fantasy call. The novel I submitted had been requested during their last submission period, and the editor who read it had asked me to revise and resubmit. When I had finished the revision, the editor had left the publisher, so I sent it for their call that ended in January. I have high hopes, but tempered by the knowledge that so much in this business is subjective and what one editor loved, another might be tepid about.
  
• Waiting for the final cover art for DREADNOUGHT AND SHUTTLE.  Chris Howard is an extremely talented artist and writer, who also has a stressful day job, along with his own writing career to manage. I've worked with him before and know what he sends me will rock. I'm just impatient and excited. (And here, take a look at the concept sketch! Love it!) 

This is Dev. She's working on sabotaging the spaceship she's being held captive on.

 

 

• Waiting to hear about an idea I had to create a choose-your-own-adventure type text game from the fantasy world of my Changeling's Choice novels.
  
• Waiting/hoping to see improvement from a medical treatment a family member is undergoing. It's not something I can talk about without betraying confidences, but it's something that's been weighing heavily on my mind and heart, and something I have absolutely no control over.
  
• Waiting to hear back from the sellers of a farm/farmhouse in Western Mass. We're looking to 'buy the farm' (don't worry - that's literally, not figuratively!) as the next step in our pre-retirement life. I've seen the property and it's wonderful. My husband has not been able to get out there b/c of work and travel, but we're hoping to schedule a time to see it the weekend of April 23/24 and keeping fingers crossed that it's still available.

This is where I want to write all the words!

•  Waiting to hear back from several authors I've contacted about reading/blurbing DREADNOUGHT AND SHUTTLE. These are all writers I have some connection with and I did my best to craft a polite and compelling request, but everyone's time is limited, and I know what I'm asking is a large favor in terms of time and commitment. 

I'm not someone who does well with ambiguity. Honestly, I'd prefer a 'no' to silence, so having all these things up in the air makes for a very discomfited Lisa.  I am doing the best I can to stay focused and positive and spent a good chunk of yesterday brainstorming for the choose-your-own-adventure game as well as the final copyedits for DREADNOUGHT AND SHUTTLE. Today, I'm actually feeling more grounded and settled. Work is definitely my antidote to anxiety.

I'm definitely hanging in there and keeping the faith in writer-land.

#SFWApro

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2013 - The Year that Was

So it's that time, again. Time to take stock of what I accomplished in the past twelve months in relation to what I had hoped to accomplish. Time to look ahead to the New Year and anticipate what it will bring.

I have made these year end round-up posts every year since 2007. ( 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. God-willing and the river don't rise, I will continue to make them, moving forward into the future.

When I look back at my yearly reviews, I am humbled by my ambitions. I very rarely accomplish everything I set out to do, but I don't consider that a failure. Instead, I also look at what I have accomplished and find cause for celebration.

These were my plans for 2013:

• Revise/edit the ghost story (which really, really needs a title) and DERELICT
• Brainstorm with Nephele regarding what to write next/continue to align goals with the aim of publication
• Complete and publish the Ultimate SF&F Workshop Anthology
• Write 4-6 new short stories

 So, dear readers, how did I do?

1. Revised and edited DERELICT, and it is currently now on submission through Nephele Tempest, my agent.
   
2. Along with my co-editor, Talib Hussain, I released PEN-ULTIMATE: A SPECULATIVE FICTION ANTHOLOGY at Readercon 2013. As this was conceived as a charity project, we are thrilled to have already made our first donation to the SFWA emergency medical fund.
   
3. One of my short stories was included in the THEME-THOLOGY: INVASION anthology.
   
4. Wrote 1 new short story and revised three others. (Short stories are hard!)
   
5. Working with a developmental editor, finished a complete 'renovation' of a trunked novel, now named OATHBREAKER'S PRICE, an alternate-world fantasy. It is now being read by an acquiring editor of a small press.
   
6. First draft: I am approximately 2/3 to 3/4 through the first draft of the as-yet unnamed sequel to THE BETWEEN.
   
7. Close to 80  blog posts between Once in a Blue Muse Blog and guest posts for other writing sites.
   
8. Poetry: a dozen or so poems
   
9. Enjoyed being part of the programs for both Boskone and Readercon in 2013 and am looking forward to my participation in 2014.

So, all in all, this was a very productive year. I have a lot planned for 2014 and it has the possibility of being a very exciting year!

• Forging ahead in a hybrid path to publication, while my agent is actively submitting DERELICT, I will be independently publishing several novels, including a YA fantasy, FUTURE TENSE in early 2014 and readying THE BETWEEN's sequel by the end of 2014.
  
• I look forward to the chance to experience working with a small press on OATHBREAKER'S PRICE. If the manuscript is not picked up by the press, I will publish it under Interrobang Books sometime mid-year.
  
• I will be joining a group writing blog with several amazing and talented ladies, but I can't tell you about it yet. :) But don't worry, Once in a Blue Muse Blog will still be my main blogging home.
  
•  I am dipping my toes into a collaborative middle grade project with a writer I've worked with from Google+. Again, I can't divulge the details yet, but I'm excited about working on something so different from my usual writing fare.
  
• With the skills I have developed in full-contact revision, I will be assessing one of my early high fantasy novels for its resurrection potential while the next novel finds me.

Have a great 2014, one and all.

When the Shoe is on the Other Foot: An Editor Speaks

Photo by Holaday98, used with attribution, cc license

Please give a warm welcome to the inimitable Rebecca (RJ) Blain, the unfortunate victim wonderful developmental editor I hired to help me transform one of my trunk novels into something readable. I've blogged about it from my perspective here and here, as well as on many agonized status updates on G+.

Well, fair is fair, and I've invited Rebecca to tell us her side of the story. I had long suspected I was not an *easy* client to work with and Rebecca certainly confirmed that. But she (and I) seemed to survive the process. I know my writing is far better for it.

So without further ado, I give you RJ Blain:

Working with Lisa

When I recently asked Google+ if anyone was interested in me writing a guest post for them, Lisa Cohen grabbed her Red Sox cap, stuffed it on her head, cocked the brim to the side, and came up to bat. I had just finished writing a post about one of my other clients, and she had read it.

She wanted to know what it was like working with her, from an editorial perspective. She’s written about my experiences working with her several times, usually painting me as an evil dentist or a construction worker who has gone on some sort of terrible rampage. I find this sort of thing hilarious, and she knows it.

My name is RJ Blain, and I have survived editing for Lisa Cohen. I should have this made into a t-shirt.

Every writer is different, and most of the time, Lisa is a gem to work with. She’s normally patient. She’s normally laid back. She’s normally eager and willing to take a machete to her words. She works hard. She expects me to work hard, and is understanding of the fact that working hard sometimes means working longer and harder to get a job done.

She asked me not long after I had finished combing through her manuscript how many hours I had spent working on her novel. It’s a pretty common question among my editing clients. My go-to answer is that it, on average, takes me 80 hours to completely work through a novel. This counts the first editing run, the second read through and editing run, the time it takes me to email with clients, the time I spend hooing and humming as I edit, and the time I invest talking with them over IM to help them hammer out plot problems and the kin.

After doing some math, I figure Lisa’s edits were in the ballpark of 120 hours.

Lisa is normally a lot of things, but when it comes to her writing, she can be exceptionally stubborn. This isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes, I had to buckle up and be extremely patient as she worked her way through the thought process.

Writers often need to come to their conclusions on their own. No matter how often I explain something, if the writer doesn’t follow the line of logic and come to the conclusion I came to with, they won’t take my suggestions seriously. If I force it down their throats, they won’t take it seriously. It’s a hard line to toe, but if I manage it, I get to watch, first hand, how much a novel can improve.

Lisa is stubborn. In the grand scheme of clients, she’s one of the most stubborn I’ve worked with. She goes in with a set vision, and things that go outside of that vision need a great deal of thought – and explanation from me.

And a patient ear as she works out her frustrations when things she thought were strong could be made a lot stronger, and so on.

One thing I really liked about working with Lisa was her openness to talk about the editing process from her perspective. A lot of writers go into editing without really knowing what to expect. This can lead to some unpleasant surprises. Many writers don’t understand that different types of editors have different strengths. Some writers don’t understand that it can sometimes take two, three, or maybe even more editors to make a novel really strong. I’m not a copy or proofing editor. When I do my developmental editing work, I do pick apart an author’s writing style as I make suggestions on how to improve their use of language. Unlike a copy or proofing editor, I don’t adhere to a single style guide. My focus is more on reader impact than style guide perfection.

In a way, I think Lisa got more than she bargained for, when I blended the character and plot development work with stylistic suggestions and improvements.

It’s a lot to digest. And, I think, because Lisa is inherently stubborn, she was able to bite off more than she could chew without choking on it.

Writing a novel is easy. Any person who has basic control of language can sit down and write a book. Editing, however, is hard work.

Working with Lisa was a pleasure, because she understood that from the very beginning. I didn’t have to try to teach her that fundamental lesson, which meant I could focus on my work without her becoming too overwhelmed by the amount of work I was throwing her way.

Lisa likes to say I really helped her improve her writing. That’s not true. She helped herself improve her writing. I just gave her a road map and some directions.

All I did was point out the weaknesses and flaws while also giving her tips and tricks to overcome them.

She was the one who did all of the work.

Aww, shucks, ma'am. . .  Thank you, Rebecca! I'm glad I didn't break your brain during our wranglings. :) As I've said before, working this way with an editor isn't for every writer. A good developmental editor (and Rebecca is very, very good) will challenge all your assumptions in the way a smart-ass two year old will, with her incessant 'why's. While you may be tempted to resort to the 'because I'm the author, that's why!', in the end that answer works as poorly for your novel as for your toddler. If you're willing to challenge yourself and your own writing and are able to leave your ego at the door, then I highly recommend this process. You will reap benefits far beyond the particular manuscript you offer up for editing.

Odds and Ends: Early Summer Edition

Cicada wing, photo by elizartyrrell, used with attribution, cc license

This morning, I heard the first of the summer cicadas. It's a sound that brings me back to childhood and the seemingly endless summers that stretched in glorious unscripted time between July and September.

As I travel through the years of my adulthood, it gets harder and harder to remember when days felt long and unhurried. My only deadline was to be home at dusk. There were no cell phones or wifi, so that meant long stretches where no one was able to find me.

There is a freedom in that.

I've recently started to take Yoga classes at a studio near my home. One of the things I love about Yoga class, is the studio has a no cell phone policy. For a glorious 90 minutes, twice a week, I escape the tyranny of outside influence and spend time in movement and reflection.

Summer is traditionally a time to slow down. Certainly the heat and humidity of the past few weeks is an external force, reminding us that we are not always in control. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though it can be stressful when there are deadlines and responsibilities looming.

I am trying to remember to pause often and breathe.

On the writing front, DERELICT is currently with 4 editors of SF publishing houses. Just as I cannot control the weather, I have no influence on when they will read it and if they will love it well enough to offer to buy it. So another thing to let go.

My current serial, OATHBREAKER'S PRICE is about 2/3 through its run. If you want to read it, links are on the right hand sidebar. It's an alternate-world fantasy novel.

PEN-ULTIMATE: A SPECULATIVE FICTION ANTHOLOGY is out in the world, in trade paperback and ebook editions. Purchase links and more about the anthology can be found here. It was an honor and a privilege to edit such fine writers. If you enjoy short stories, this is your chance to read eleven original pieces, written by graduates of the Boston area Ultimate Science Fiction Writing Workshop and support a great cause at the same time. All proceeds are being donated to the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund.

Readercon 24 starts this Thursday evening. If you're attending, look for me. I'm on the program for the first time with three panels, a reading, and a signing. I'd love to see you there!

Writing Update

It's been a while since I've done a writing round-up post, so here is what I'm up to:

1--I'm in the frenzied ending phase of co-editing a short story anthology. The idea emerged from a dinner I attended last year at Readercon with a bunch of the 'graduates' of a local SF&F writers workshop called The Ultimate Science Fiction Workshop, run by Jeff Carver and Craig Shaw Gardner. When I looked around the table at all of the marvelously talented writers sitting there, I decided we needed to showcase our work. So I said something and no one told me it was a dumb idea. :) (This is how I end up involved in projects--no one around me talks me out of them!)

PEN-ULTIMATE: A SPECULATIVE FICTION ANTHOLOGY will be out in paperback and eBook mid July. And all the proceeds are being donated to the SFWA emergency medical fund.

2--I'm currently serializing an alternate-world fantasy novel called OATHBREAKER'S PRICE. It represents a deep "renovation" of a trunk novel I wrote several years ago. I've been working with developmental editor par excellence, Rebecca (RJ) Blain 

What is posted represents a pen-ultimate revision before the final edits that will be incorporated into a final draft for publication. (Any errors that remain will be due to my stubbornness, not any fault of Rebecca's) You can follow the serial--new chapters posted every Monday and Friday--in two places:

Blogger (easy to subscribe via RSS or email, send to kindle button on each chapter, TOC right sidebar)
Wattpad  (easy to follow, read on multiple devices)

3--DERELICT, The SF novel I serialized earlier in the year, has been revised and is with my agent in preparation for submission. You can read the draft version on Blogger or Wattpad. There are other stories waiting to be told in Ro Maldonado's universe and I can't wait to get to them!

4--I'm in the planning stages (at long last!) for the sequel to THE BETWEEN, my YA Fantasy debut title. I might even be persuaded to serialize it, as I'm writing it. :) Though that does feel a little like high wire walking without a net.

So, what are you working on in your corner of the universe?

What's the Happy Haps?

Playing with clay when I'm not playing with words

I don't know why, but I love the expression "happy haps". It's fun to say and it has a nice little rhythm to it. It's something I heard my teenagers say and have stolen, much to their chagrin. If Mom uses it, it can no longer be cool/hip/boss or whatever the current slang is for something interesting.

So what's going on in my writing life right now?

Actually, not a lot.

I finished the revision of DERELICT and sent it off to my agent 2 weeks ago. If she signs off on it, the manuscript will be on its way to a wonderful editor I had the pleasure of meeting at Boskone a few months ago. (And hopefully several other editors as well!)

While that's in process, I've been serializing a 'renovation' of an older novel called OATHBREAKER'S PRICE, an alternate-world fantasy story. (Links to the serialization on the right hand sidebar.)

I feel like I've spent the past 3 months in revision/edit mode. Shifting gears to new writing feels awkward. Partly that's because we've just been through a very stressful time in the life of our family, partly it's because I don't do change very gracefully, partly because I am not sure what I'll be writing next, novel-wise.

And you know what? That's okay. The creative mind needs fallow time to recharge. While I'm waiting for my next story to claim me, I'll be working in the ceramics studio and watching the garden grow.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Current projects”– May’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site.

Suck it up, Cupcake

Suck it up, Cupcake.

That's what I kept telling myself when all I wanted to do was stick my fingers in my ears and tell the developmental editor, 'La-la-la-I can't hear you."

I knew the old WIP I asked her to look at needed work. What I didn't let myself believe was how MUCH work it needed.

Some of you may have heard me say this before, but it was less revision than gut-renovation. As in taking the house down to the studs and rebuilding.

The ground floor of our house, demolition phase, after the fire, 2011

It can be done. It's just a painful process.

I don't think there was a single line where Rebecca didn't have a comment. Ouch!

This is what it looked like. And these were just the first 2 pages. After 3 chapters, she wrote 3 pages of extensive editorial notes. In red. Ouch and ouch!

I'll be honest. I pouted. I whined. I argued. I'm not proud of my behavior. But I sucked it up and did the work.

Then I re-did it.

And re-did it again.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

It took me about 3 weeks and at least 4 or 5 retries at the beginning, but finally something clicked and with the right foundation, I could start the rebuild.

Now, 2 months later, (and about 10 months faster than my house renovation process took, btw!) I have the revision complete.

Is it perfect?

Of course not. Now is when we start (to push the analogy) the punch list. When I've had some time/space away from the story, I'll send it back for round 2 with the editor. If I've done my work well enough, her work will be to help me put the final shine to it, without any more significant structural tear-down. 

In the interest of showing my process, warts and all, here is the original first page, followed by the revision.

ORIGINAL

Lilliane bolted upright at the touch on her arm. Her blanket fell away and she shivered as much from the cold as from the familiar dream--her mother’s body cooling, the spreading pool of blood, her newborn brother’s cry.

"Healer Tor, they need you in the infirmary," a soft voice whispered. A young boy, dressed in runner's black stood beside her.

Blinking, she tried to force him into focus as the dream receded and her heart’s pounding slowed. She rubbed gritty eyes and stretched the sore muscles of her lower back. It had been well past midnight when she’d stumbled into the on-duty room. That couldn’t have been more than a few hours ago.

"Who?" she whispered, mindful of the other healers sleeping in cots around them. The boy shrugged. Lilliane sighed, running her fingers through sleep-tangled hair. Why couldn’t it have been someone else’s patient. She pulled on slippers and cloak and plodded after the runner through the guild hall’s silent corridors to the infirmary. It was hard not to be jealous as the boy retreated back to his still-warm bunk.

Squaring her shoulders, she walked inside. Men in mottled brown and tan garb stood out against the infirmary’s white walls. Lilliane frowned at the soldiers who formed a cordon around the examination table in the center of the room. Her aunt Kayla leaned close to a senior apprentice, her voice low and insistent, tension in the set of her shoulders.

Lit sconces pulled reflections from the polished steel of short swords and daggers. They were between her and her patient.

 REVISION

     Lilliane waited for her turn to wash, the coppery tang of blood stinging her nose and the back of her throat. The muscles in her lower back twinged as she stretched. Their patient would live to drink and fight another day, his blind luck in having an assailant with a knife who managed to miss all of his vital organs and make a dramatic mess instead.

     At least she hadn't failed him.

     Davyn peeled off his spattered over-tunic and kicked it towards the basket beneath the basin. Hers had soaked clear through to her undergarments and hung wet and heavy against her. She shuddered in the cold stone room as Davyn slipped on a clean, dry tunic and turned, examining her as if she were one of his patients.

     "I'm fine," she said, stiffening her body to keep from shivering.

     "You're a bad liar."

     Aching for a cup of healer's tea, she brushed past him and tore off her bloody layers, ignoring the feel of his gaze on her bare spine. Rubbing her hands under the spigot, she watched the blood swirl down the drain in a lazy spiral and scrubbed between her fingers until her skin burned.

     A baby's cry echoed against the stone walls of the infirmary and her heart stuttered. A flow of hot blood sheeted from her useless hands. She bit the inside of her cheek, struggling not to cry out.

     "Lilli?" Davyn's concern washed over her.

     She stared down at her hands: They were clean and dripping with warm water, not blood, the nails bitten down to the quick, the cuticles ragged. There was no wailing infant here tonight. Their patient had been a drunk who lost a fight, not a mother hemorrhaging out her life as Lilliane struggled to stanch the flow and her little sister screamed.

 

If you'd like to read the revision, I have begun to serialize the fantasy novel, now titled OATHBREAKER'S PRICE, 1-2 chapters a week on Wattpad.