I can't believe they (she) sent that (blush and laugh out loud). I
appreciate all the support and I was blowing off quite a bit of steam. To
explain, as most of you know, I've been working to get my illustrator and
publisher on the same page for The Horse's Tale (children's book). Monday
morning, the retainer rights ran out and the illustrator is still being a
problem so, almost a year after finishing and selling the book, I
effectively have to start the marketing all over. It is very frustrating to
me when things out of my control affect my work (and I HATE marketing).
Being the benevolent person I am, I vent this frustration on anyone close
and as loud as possible. (I really shouldn't complain--when a publisher
cancels a contract, you get to keep the retainer fee but the money isn't the
point.) If you haven't had the opportunity to be on the receiving end of my
ever-so-gentle temperament, just be patient, I'm sure it will happen
eventually.
How does that affect the narrative? Well, when my web-mistress asked for a
final approval for CoB-3, I re-read it, found some stuff I wanted to improve
(it's almost 9000 words, needs more editing), and realized that I couldn't
fix it and make my meeting at the same time. How does a wise man handle
this type of conflict? I honestly have no idea. I, on the other hand, had
a complete fit, threw pages of the manuscript around the room, upset my VERY
LOVING WIFE/EDITOR WHO CAN DO NO WRONG, then canceled my meeting and went
off to sulk. (By the way, I do not advocate doing this yourself. I do not
think, when faced with two tasks which both need to be done on a deadline,
that doing neither is the best choice.)
Ah well, no one was injured, all is forgiven at home and at the office
(which overlaps geographically) and it is all terribly funny at my expense
(now). I'm going to do a re-edit on CoB-3 and have it ready to post next
week.
M. Keaton
Post Script:
A bit of background because I realize not everyone has been along with this
from the start: some time ago, frustrated with my work and looking for a
distraction--I started playing Qaiyore/FUDGE/Aria/JV's Frankenstein whatever
we call it. Ken Crowe had created a race of spirit beings (the Eerith) with
a background which was long on mystery and short on explination. As things
progressed in the game, I found myself increasingly drawn to the seeming
contradictions within the race and I developed some (to me) very interesting
ideas regarding the mental make-up and character of a race with no clear
origin and (being telepathic) no language of their own. In one of my early
novels (I, Oberon), I had already developed the Valerian but I had not had
the opportunity to pursue them in a story of their own. The two seemed a
perfect fit and the developement of the game's plot (which, I must admit, I
gained an increasing amount of control over as things went by) provided me a
backdrop to explore some of the theme's I had previously been unable to
pursue. So, I gave myself a present. I decided to take some time and write
a story about a game (also known as Non-billable work). In an odd way, it
was as good as taking a vacation and I've really enjoyed it. As well as
giving me a chance to work "outside of my literary comfort zone" (phrase
provided by my editor), it gave me a chance to explain, much more clearly,
the events and the reasons behind the events of the game.
Well, the story quickly became a book which I divided into 5 sections (the
Cantos) of four 'chapters' each. Once it was done, rather than bury
everyone under a ton of paper, I decided to have it posted one chapter at a
time as a serial (like in the old days when men like Bill Campbell and "Doc"
Smith were the masters of the SF/Fantasy genre). As I said, I've really
enjoyed doing this and I think that most of you folks have too. The
downside is that now, months after I put it to bed, when I review a section,
I sometimes see things that I could do better and if it's worth doing, it's
worth doing right so I grab it back and re-work sections until I'm happy.
We're currently in the Canto of Blood which is the third of the five
sections (Fire, Sand, Blood, Dust, and Hope) and, come Monday, you'll be
seeing chapter three of this section (part 12 of 21 if you include the
prolouge) and I'm sure I'll delay a posting again when I see something that
I want to improve, especially as the summer conventions start to eat more of
my time (Note for close freinds and family: I'm also teaching summer school
at the Children's Home this year). Currently, I'm still not completely
pleased with the ending (it feels anti-climatic to me) and I'll freely
admit, this is far from the best work I've ever done. Nonetheless, I'm glad
I decided to do this and the combination of the Celendra folk and my usual
beta-readers has been, without a doubt, the most supportive and
understanding audience I've had to pleasure of working with/for. Thanks to
you all and I hope that you find the last half of this jaggernaut as
entertaining as the first half.
For those of you on the Celadra list who were wondering--yes, I am planning
on staying on as a GM after this is done (but I don't see any massive story
archs on the horizon, at least not for me thank goodness). Jason will be
travelling a bit soon and I promised him that I'd make sure the game
continued on smoothly during his absence. I'll leave it to him to let you
know more on that if he feels it's appropriate.
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