Snow Fatigue

This has been one strange winter.  Every week since just after Christmas, the northeast has been getting one large snowstorm after another.  Most of these have been nor'easter -- storms that draw energy from the ocean. Typically these storms deliver a foot or more of snow each time they go by.

So far we've have a total of 60 inches (5 feet) of snow and I'm out of room to put any more anywhere until some of this stuff melts.  The problem is we've got six week of winter to go and no end to the storm pattern in sight.

After the last storm, I found I had no interest in writing.  My whole focus was to clear away the snow to get living space back.  It takes days for me to clean up after a snowstorm because there is so much work to do.

The driveway, the back deck (for the dogs), the front stairs and the path that leads down to the driveway.  And each of these tasks takes a lot out of me, my shovel, and my ice chopper.  This last time I found I had to take down several drifts as well.  I'm still working on that last one.

Apparently I'm suffering from snow fatigue.  I read about this in the newspaper.  And I'm guessing that this feeling is adding to my stress and destroying my interest in writing.  The good news is the effect is temporary.  We had a storm on Wednesday and I was back writing and revising Friday night.

The bad news is that's two days I don't get back.  I really don't want to give up any of my writing time not when it took years for me to get to the point I'm at now.  On the other hand, I can only do what I can do.  So it was probably just as well that I didn't write on those two days.  I can't afford bad writing to creep into my novel, not when I'm preparing it for another submission.

But when I realized why I hadn't been writing, it seemed to me worth telling others about.  So be on guard.  Just one more hurtle to get passed.

Story Review: Last Call by Brian Hartman

I received another review on my novel.  For those interested, go to http://feitelberg.net/aglaril/book1.html. I've posted a copy of the review there.

In exchange, the reviewer, Brian Hartman, wanted me to review some of his work.  I agreed.   I began with a story called Last Call.  It is available free on Smashwords.

It is an unusual story set in the modern world.  It takes place in a bar where the main character Dave is celebrating his birthday with Lue.  One of the things that makes this story unusual is I don't know who Lue is exactly.  Is she sister, ex-girlfriend, cousin, co-worker?  I don't know and the story does not answer this question.

Dave and Lue spend time talking about life and philosophy and things that have no bearing on the story.  I presumed this conversation is mostly for character development.  The problem here is that the development does not come where I need it to following the story.  For example, Dave is in a wheelchair.  I figure this out about halfway through and it changes everything about him because I suddenly realize how much like one handicapped friend of mine he is.  This would have been better earlier.

Dave meets a woman who is at the bar and they talk a little.  She talks about suicide.  Dave tries to talk her out of it.  By the end of the story, Dave has to leave but the fate of the woman is unclear.  I was not sure if she would go through with it or not.

My assumption is that she did and that it is in the newspaper just as the woman said it would be.  But this leaves me with more questions than it answers.  Who is this woman?  Was she a prominent figure?  If she was then why didn't Dave recognize her?  If not, why is it prominently placed in the newspaper?

So ultimately, the story is not satisfying because so many questions remain.  The story is a good start toward something.  Brian just needs to resolve a few items, revise, and try again.

Rejections Aren't So Bad After All

I recently tried to get my first short story, Baby Muran, published.  That attempted failed and I completely dismissed it.  And other time, I think I would've been upset.  But I'm not.

I think the reasons for this are:

• I know it's a good story.  If magazine A doesn't want to publish it, that's their loss.  I'll go somewhere else.
• I am busy with other projects, most notably revising my novel.
• I am more interested in the fate of my fourth story, which I submitted to a different place at about the same time.

And as I write these things, I realize my attitude has changed.  Does that mean I've got a thick enough skin to be a writer?  I have no idea.  I'm pretty sure that since I know the story is good, a rejection from any one place is meaningless in terms of my ability to write.  It just means they can't use the story.

A pity.  But I'm moving on and focus on my other projects.  And perhaps that's the lesson here in handling rejection.  Have more than one thing going so you can focus on project B if project A doesn't work out.

I've not done that before.  I prefer to work on one thing as a time.  But I can't always do that.  Even now while my novel, Aure, the Topaz is being revised, the second novel, Vorn, the Onyx is waiting for another pass through it.

And as I said, I've got my fourth short story out there with the fifth one started but not completed.

Guess I grew up and became a writer after all.  Who knew?

Is Content Any Different from Software?

I repeatedly have this thought: my novels are like software.  I think I've been seeing them that way because I revise, and revise, and revise.  Each revision is a new version with different features and different characters sometimes too.  I might add a minor character here or take out one there.

I'm reminded of the scene in Apollo 13 where the astronauts need to do a controlled burn to adjust their course.  Using only the Earth as a fixed point in space, they have one person controlling the up-and down control, and one person on the side-to-side control.

I love that scene because they pitch wildly in all directions for a few seconds and end up right where they need to be.  That's seems to be what I've been doing, only with more gyrations as I finally settle in on my target.

As I revise again, this time for punctuation, sentence variety, and some modern idioms, I believe I'm finally close to my target.  This is really good news because book 2 is nearly ready and I really don't want to go through all the same mistakes again.  I'm sure I won't and I'm sure there will be new challenges.

But to get back to my original question, I think the answer is yes, during the writing, revision, and editing phases of a book, your story is a lot like software.  When it is published in paper, it becomes something else; something more like a sculpture that you can't change easily, if at all.

eBooks change that.  eBooks can be revised the way software can be.  I do know if that's good or bad, but it is a fact. I guess the question, even if I can change it, why would I want to?  If it is done and complete and a good story, move on, right?  Well, maybe.  eBooks allow us, as writers, to test all or part of story and get feedback.  Essentially, that's what I've done without realizing it.  That wasn't my intent, but that's what has happened.  And with that feedback, I can revise it once and move on.

This is just one more way the technology changes the way we work and the process we can use.

Twists in the Road

Last July I submitted my novel to a small publisher hoping I would be accepted.  Last week I heard from her.  While I was rejected, she had many nice things to say about my novel and told me she would consider a rewrite.  That's considerable better than most rejections I've received.

As it turns out the draft this publisher saw was not the latest.  I had found several things in the text I wanted to change after I submitted the book to her and I had gotten feedback from another small press to work on the characterizations (which I did).  This is why would like to change the submission process by giving out only a url instead of the whole manuscript.  That way, I can update the files at the url until the publisher actually reads them.  But I digress.

In the weeks since I self-published the book, I've come to realize other changes were needed too.  For example, the beginning of the story does not reflect the true focus of the story.  Armed with this information, I am now revising the novel for this publisher's review.  If it is accepted I can *finally* move onto the book 2.  If not, I will republish the e-book.

Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.  Self-publishing has much to be desired I think unless you are giving your work away for free, which I would rather not.

What I find amazing and strange is the way events play out.  I self-publish only to have some small press show interest.  Ironic.  And expensive because I was about to release the print version of my novel through Lulu, ISBN and all.  That's over $100 potentially wasted ($75 for the ISBN and the rest for three proof copies).

But it is a small price to pay, I suppose if I can sell the story to someone.

Now what do I tell all the people who purchased the ebook?  The story was revised and your copy is erroneous?  Hmmm.  I've have to give that one some thought.  Maybe I'll give them free updated copies.
Maybe.  We'll see.