Martha Wells's Blog, page 178
August 1, 2011
The weekend was pretty much all running errands, and I fe...
The weekend was pretty much all running errands, and I feel like I can't relax. I think I've forgotten how.
Anyway, working on the third Cloud Roads book this morning. It's at about 74,000 words, with about 46,000 to go. ETA: took out spoilery bit, since it isn't obscured in the RSS feed.
Anyway, working on the third Cloud Roads book this morning. It's at about 74,000 words, with about 46,000 to go. ETA: took out spoilery bit, since it isn't obscured in the RSS feed.
July 31, 2011
Snippet Post 7, I think
The DDoS attack sort of sank the whole Clarion-Write-a-Thon snippet thing I was doing, and I did not actually finish my writing goal as I had to stop work on the third book to do revisions on The Serpent Sea. (Thanks very much to everyone who donated! I know Clarion appreciates your donations a lot.)
I finished the revision off yesterday, and it is a much better book with over 4000 words added and a lot of corrections made. We went to a new local brewpub to celebrate, and I had a mixed berry cider which was delicious, and tasty fish tacos.
Earlier, Moon had asked Jade why Emerald Twilight was putting itself out to entertain them. She had said, "They probably don't get many sister queens and consorts as visitors. Usually it's young daughter queens, or warriors acting as messengers or bringing Arbora to trade crafts."
It explained Shadow's curiosity about Moon. As reigning queen, Ice probably never left the colony, which meant Shadow never left either. He probably got few opportunities to talk to consorts he didn't already live with.
Before the food was brought, the queens sat to one side of the platform to talk, with the consorts taking the other. On their side, Jade and Tempest and the others made pointedly polite and occasionally cutting remarks at each other until it was apparent that no one was going to be lured into an embarrassing outburst.
On the other side, the consorts stared at Moon, and he stared back. These were the consorts taken by the sister queens, the ones with important bloodlines who represented important alliances. Finally, one said, "They said you threatened Ash in the greeting hall."
None of the queens had mentioned the incident. Moon was starting to suspect that if one of them brought it up, Jade might have to do something about it, like fight Ash. Which would be a stupid waste of a fight, considering how easily Shadow had dealt with it. He corrected, "She threatened me."
"And you offered to fight her," another consort said, his derision obvious. "That was foolish. What if she was hotheaded enough to accept?"
Moon looked away, knowing his expression was sardonic. "Then maybe next time she'd think twice."
"You'd fight a queen?"
"If I had to."
"They claimed he fought Fell." This was said with deliberately provoking skepticism.
Moon turned his head just enough to eye the speaker. Apparently he was being asked to prove it. The trick was to do that without disrupting the dinner.
He was still young enough that his wounds had healed without scars. All except one. He pulled his shirt down his right shoulder and twisted around. At least two of them gasped.
Only the very top of the red ridge of scar tissue was visible, where it curved up along his shoulder blade. It marked the spot where Ranea had broken his wing joint in his other form; it hadn't made an open wound, but when he had shifted to groundling, it had transformed into broken bones and this ridge of damaged skin. Flower had said it would probably fade a little over time, but it didn't hurt often now and it wasn't where he could see it, so it didn't much concern him.
He pulled his shirt back up and turned around. They were all staring, this time with shock rather than disdain.
After that, the consorts talked to each other, but not to Moon.
Jade had said Indigo Cloud had had consorts fight to defend the colony, but Emerald Twilight was too secure to need defending. Moon had proved he was different from them. Too different. You are your own worst enemy, he told himself. Not that that was a new revelation, it was just that he was starting to notice it more.
Oh, and Got to see a scan of the great review that The Cloud Roads got in the July/Aug issue of Interzone by Juliet E. McKenna. Very much improved last week for me. Here's a quote:
Thus the world is made all the more convincing for the reader, and all the more alien, by Wells's finely tuned instinct for what to explain, and how, always in keeping with Moon's viewpoint, and what to simply show without further clarification; other species with blue skin or horns, treelings, skylings, and waterlings, some sentient, some not, some with magic... It reminds me of the SF/F fantasy I read as a teen, long before YA was categorized. Those books explored adult concepts without 'adult content'; the complexity of morality and the potential, uncaring harshness of life. This story's conclusion satisfies on all those counts as well as leaving me eager for the sequel.
I finished the revision off yesterday, and it is a much better book with over 4000 words added and a lot of corrections made. We went to a new local brewpub to celebrate, and I had a mixed berry cider which was delicious, and tasty fish tacos.
Earlier, Moon had asked Jade why Emerald Twilight was putting itself out to entertain them. She had said, "They probably don't get many sister queens and consorts as visitors. Usually it's young daughter queens, or warriors acting as messengers or bringing Arbora to trade crafts."
It explained Shadow's curiosity about Moon. As reigning queen, Ice probably never left the colony, which meant Shadow never left either. He probably got few opportunities to talk to consorts he didn't already live with.
Before the food was brought, the queens sat to one side of the platform to talk, with the consorts taking the other. On their side, Jade and Tempest and the others made pointedly polite and occasionally cutting remarks at each other until it was apparent that no one was going to be lured into an embarrassing outburst.
On the other side, the consorts stared at Moon, and he stared back. These were the consorts taken by the sister queens, the ones with important bloodlines who represented important alliances. Finally, one said, "They said you threatened Ash in the greeting hall."
None of the queens had mentioned the incident. Moon was starting to suspect that if one of them brought it up, Jade might have to do something about it, like fight Ash. Which would be a stupid waste of a fight, considering how easily Shadow had dealt with it. He corrected, "She threatened me."
"And you offered to fight her," another consort said, his derision obvious. "That was foolish. What if she was hotheaded enough to accept?"
Moon looked away, knowing his expression was sardonic. "Then maybe next time she'd think twice."
"You'd fight a queen?"
"If I had to."
"They claimed he fought Fell." This was said with deliberately provoking skepticism.
Moon turned his head just enough to eye the speaker. Apparently he was being asked to prove it. The trick was to do that without disrupting the dinner.
He was still young enough that his wounds had healed without scars. All except one. He pulled his shirt down his right shoulder and twisted around. At least two of them gasped.
Only the very top of the red ridge of scar tissue was visible, where it curved up along his shoulder blade. It marked the spot where Ranea had broken his wing joint in his other form; it hadn't made an open wound, but when he had shifted to groundling, it had transformed into broken bones and this ridge of damaged skin. Flower had said it would probably fade a little over time, but it didn't hurt often now and it wasn't where he could see it, so it didn't much concern him.
He pulled his shirt back up and turned around. They were all staring, this time with shock rather than disdain.
After that, the consorts talked to each other, but not to Moon.
Jade had said Indigo Cloud had had consorts fight to defend the colony, but Emerald Twilight was too secure to need defending. Moon had proved he was different from them. Too different. You are your own worst enemy, he told himself. Not that that was a new revelation, it was just that he was starting to notice it more.
Oh, and Got to see a scan of the great review that The Cloud Roads got in the July/Aug issue of Interzone by Juliet E. McKenna. Very much improved last week for me. Here's a quote:
Thus the world is made all the more convincing for the reader, and all the more alien, by Wells's finely tuned instinct for what to explain, and how, always in keeping with Moon's viewpoint, and what to simply show without further clarification; other species with blue skin or horns, treelings, skylings, and waterlings, some sentient, some not, some with magic... It reminds me of the SF/F fantasy I read as a teen, long before YA was categorized. Those books explored adult concepts without 'adult content'; the complexity of morality and the potential, uncaring harshness of life. This story's conclusion satisfies on all those counts as well as leaving me eager for the sequel.
July 29, 2011
Live Journal is back :knock on wood: and it is a huge rel...
Live Journal is back :knock on wood: and it is a huge relief.
My revision process got slowed dramatically by sinus headaches, but I'm hoping to finish off The Serpent Sea today and get it sent back to the editor. I've got one new scene to write and an earlier bit to add, and that's about it.
Hoping against hope Tropical Storm Don brings us some rain. Crops and trees are dying all over the place.
SF Signal: Courtney Schafer on Voices Not Forgotten (6 Underrated Young Adult Novels You Should Know About)
ETA: Locus: World Fantasy Nominees and Lifetime Achievement Winners Congrats to the nominees!
Links to the posts I did on Dreamwidth:
Monday 7/25 Wheel of the Infinite Now Available on Kindle, Nook etc, Plus Links
Tuesday 7/26 Free SF/F eBook Sampler, Plus Links Twenty-five first chapters of current SF/F books, most by women authors.
Wednesday 7/27 Online Hoaxes/Scams Sometimes they don't do it for money, sometimes they just do it.
and
Time Magazine article about the attack on Live Journal
If the hacker attacks that hit Russia's top blogging service, LiveJournal, this week are anything to go by, the unwritten rules of cyber warfare no longer apply. Instead of the focused assaults hackers often used to force down the websites of their ideological enemies, these attacks look more like online carpet bombing. Their victim is not one voice but the entire cacophonous world of the Russian blogosphere. And the motive, as close as experts have been able to figure, is to erode the virtual infrastructure of free speech itself.
My revision process got slowed dramatically by sinus headaches, but I'm hoping to finish off The Serpent Sea today and get it sent back to the editor. I've got one new scene to write and an earlier bit to add, and that's about it.
Hoping against hope Tropical Storm Don brings us some rain. Crops and trees are dying all over the place.
SF Signal: Courtney Schafer on Voices Not Forgotten (6 Underrated Young Adult Novels You Should Know About)
ETA: Locus: World Fantasy Nominees and Lifetime Achievement Winners Congrats to the nominees!
Links to the posts I did on Dreamwidth:
Monday 7/25 Wheel of the Infinite Now Available on Kindle, Nook etc, Plus Links
Tuesday 7/26 Free SF/F eBook Sampler, Plus Links Twenty-five first chapters of current SF/F books, most by women authors.
Wednesday 7/27 Online Hoaxes/Scams Sometimes they don't do it for money, sometimes they just do it.
and
Time Magazine article about the attack on Live Journal
If the hacker attacks that hit Russia's top blogging service, LiveJournal, this week are anything to go by, the unwritten rules of cyber warfare no longer apply. Instead of the focused assaults hackers often used to force down the websites of their ideological enemies, these attacks look more like online carpet bombing. Their victim is not one voice but the entire cacophonous world of the Russian blogosphere. And the motive, as close as experts have been able to figure, is to erode the virtual infrastructure of free speech itself.
July 28, 2011
Can You Hear Me Now?
I hope so, because I haven't been able to post since Sunday night! Let's see if this works. Here are a couple of excerpts from the posts I did at http://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/:
Wheel of the Infinite is now available on Kindle US for $4.45.
It's also on Kindle UK and Kindle De. ETA: and now it's available on Barnes and Noble Nook.
It's a secondary world adventure fantasy, and was originally published in hardcover in 2000 by Avon Eos, right around when it was being purchased by HarperCollins. The paperback came out in 2001.
With chaos in the wind, a woman with a shadowy past has returned to Duvalpore. A murderer and traitor--an exile disgraced, hated, and feared, and haunted by her own guilty conscience--Maskelle has been summoned back to help put the world right. Once she was the most enigmatic of the Voices, until cursed by her own actions. Now, in the company of Rian--a skilled and dangerously alluring swordsman--she must confront dread enemies old and new, and a cold, stalking malevolence unlike any she has ever encountered. For if Maskelle cannot unearth the cause of the Wheel's accelerating disintegration--if she cannot free herself from the ghosts of the past and focus on the catastrophe to come--the world will plunge headlong into the terrifying abyss toward which it is recklessly hurtling. And all that is, ever was, and will be will end.
***
A free ebook sampler: OPENING ACTS Twenty-five First Chapters from Twenty-five Writers - a free ebook to download This is twenty-five first chapters of current science fiction or fantasy novels. It's a great way to find new writers and see if you're interested in their books. Also, most of these authors are women (I think only six of the twenty-five are men), if you're specifically looking for new SF/F by women authors.
You can download this sampler in epub, mobi and LRF format.
***
Writer Beware Blogs!: The Cruelest Hoax Naturally, I was intrigued. So I contacted Aaronni, and she was kind enough to share with me all the emails she received from the hoaxer, as well as screenshots of the fake Twitter account the hoaxer created to "apologize" after Aaronni posted about the hoax on her blog. I'm satisfied that the hoaxer was real, and that Aaronni was the victim of an extraordinarily cruel prank.
There is a culture of online cruelty (toward random strangers as well as acquaintances and "friends") that encourages this kind of thing and sees it as normal. But I think the whole bit about creating a twitter account to "apologize" to the victim and try to push an emotional connection on her was what really lifted it out of the normal asshat range into the creepy sick category.
Wheel of the Infinite is now available on Kindle US for $4.45.
It's also on Kindle UK and Kindle De. ETA: and now it's available on Barnes and Noble Nook.
It's a secondary world adventure fantasy, and was originally published in hardcover in 2000 by Avon Eos, right around when it was being purchased by HarperCollins. The paperback came out in 2001.
With chaos in the wind, a woman with a shadowy past has returned to Duvalpore. A murderer and traitor--an exile disgraced, hated, and feared, and haunted by her own guilty conscience--Maskelle has been summoned back to help put the world right. Once she was the most enigmatic of the Voices, until cursed by her own actions. Now, in the company of Rian--a skilled and dangerously alluring swordsman--she must confront dread enemies old and new, and a cold, stalking malevolence unlike any she has ever encountered. For if Maskelle cannot unearth the cause of the Wheel's accelerating disintegration--if she cannot free herself from the ghosts of the past and focus on the catastrophe to come--the world will plunge headlong into the terrifying abyss toward which it is recklessly hurtling. And all that is, ever was, and will be will end.
***
A free ebook sampler: OPENING ACTS Twenty-five First Chapters from Twenty-five Writers - a free ebook to download This is twenty-five first chapters of current science fiction or fantasy novels. It's a great way to find new writers and see if you're interested in their books. Also, most of these authors are women (I think only six of the twenty-five are men), if you're specifically looking for new SF/F by women authors.
You can download this sampler in epub, mobi and LRF format.
***
Writer Beware Blogs!: The Cruelest Hoax Naturally, I was intrigued. So I contacted Aaronni, and she was kind enough to share with me all the emails she received from the hoaxer, as well as screenshots of the fake Twitter account the hoaxer created to "apologize" after Aaronni posted about the hoax on her blog. I'm satisfied that the hoaxer was real, and that Aaronni was the victim of an extraordinarily cruel prank.
There is a culture of online cruelty (toward random strangers as well as acquaintances and "friends") that encourages this kind of thing and sees it as normal. But I think the whole bit about creating a twitter account to "apologize" to the victim and try to push an emotional connection on her was what really lifted it out of the normal asshat range into the creepy sick category.
July 24, 2011
I got Wheel of the Infinite uploaded to both Amazon Kindl...
I got Wheel of the Infinite uploaded to both Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook last night. At the moment it's still processing, but hopefully it will be available by tomorrow (Monday) and I'll be able to post links to it.
I've been working on The Serpent Sea all weekend, but I did take a break to go see Captain America last night, and it was a huge amount of fun. I love how they're drawing elements of all the Avengers movies together. And be sure to stay after the credits.
I've been working on The Serpent Sea all weekend, but I did take a break to go see Captain America last night, and it was a huge amount of fun. I love how they're drawing elements of all the Avengers movies together. And be sure to stay after the credits.
July 23, 2011
I'll be working on my revision of The Serpent Sea all day...
I'll be working on my revision of The Serpent Sea all day, and I'm still not feeling so well, so just a few links:
Some info on the horrible thing that happened in Norway yesterday:
New York Times: Death Toll Rises to 91 in Norway Attacks
"We are not sure whether he was alone or had help," a police official, Roger Andresen, said at a televised news conference, adding: "What we know is that he is right-wing and a Christian fundamentalist."
Some shiny distractions:
CoolVibe: Urban Explorer
Teresa Frohock linked to this on Twitter: Medieval Castle for Sale in Central France
Some info on the horrible thing that happened in Norway yesterday:
New York Times: Death Toll Rises to 91 in Norway Attacks
"We are not sure whether he was alone or had help," a police official, Roger Andresen, said at a televised news conference, adding: "What we know is that he is right-wing and a Christian fundamentalist."
Some shiny distractions:
CoolVibe: Urban Explorer
Teresa Frohock linked to this on Twitter: Medieval Castle for Sale in Central France
July 21, 2011
WorldCon Schedule
While I wish I was at ComicCon now, at least I will actually be at WorldCon next month. This is my first one since 2006.
Thursday
Thu 10:00 - 12:00, Writers Workshop, Section E (Workshop), Naples5 (Peppermill)
This is an event you had to sign up for in advance and submit a story. We'll be workshopping with three participants.
Gregory A. Wilson, Martha Wells
Thu 4:00 - 5:00, Writing Non-Human Characters (Panel), A05 (RSCC)
In writing a fantasy or SF story, how do you create non-human characters that are more than just humans with funny ears attached?
Carol Berg (M), Amy Thomson, Robert J. Sawyer, Martha Wells
Thu 8:00pm? Party Hosted by Night Shade Books Debut Authors, in Atlantis suite 1535
This party is for everybody, so come on by.
Friday
Fri 11:00 - 12:00, The Continuing Popularity of Jane Austen (Panel), A05 (RSCC)
Jane Austen remains very popular, including among SF fans. Her books continue to be read, and they've spawned numerous movies as well as a number of spin off novels. The panel discusses Austen's continuing popularity.
Darlene Marshall (M), Brenda W.Clough, Ellen Asher, Madeleine E. Robins, Martha Wells
Fri 1:00 - 2:00, Autographing: Fri 13:00 (Autographing), Hall 2 Autographs (RSCC)
Robin Hobb, Lucienne Diver, Carol Berg, Sharon Shinn, Sean McMullen, Patricia Briggs, Kim Stanley Robinson, Martha Wells
Fri 2:00 - 3:00, KaffeeKlatsch: Fri 14:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1 (RSCC)
Martha Wells
This is a thing where you sign up and we sit around and talk for about 50 minutes. So please sign up! (At this point we may be talking about how tired we are.)
Saturday
Sat 12:00 - 12:30, Reading: Martha Wells (Reading), A15 (RSCC) Martha Wells
Sat 1:00 - 2:00, The Comeback Genre: Sword & Sorcery (Panel), A16 (RSCC)
Sword and Sorcery has a rich history, going back to at least Howard and Smith. And it's making a comeback. Our panelists talk about its rich history and why it's back and better than ever.
Lou Anders (M), Dale Ivan Smith, S.M. Stirling, Martha Wells
Sat 5:00 - 6:00, Designing Believable Archeaology and Anthropology (Panel), A03 (RSCC)
Using anthropology and archaeology to build realistic SF and fantasy worlds.
Martha Wells (M), Rachel Swirsky, Jessica Axsom, S.M. Stirling
And a link:
SF Novelists: Birds, Dinosaurs, and the Secret Life of Labels by Chris Moriarty
Well, another month has passed, and here is another post from me that contains more questions than answers. This post is particularly question-ridden because it arises from a very recent experience that I'm still digesting. I went to Readercon last weekend, where I spoke on several panels about gender in science fiction. Most of those panels turned into discussions not of gender in the abstract, but of women in science fiction. And specifically of the problem of there not being enough of them.
Thursday
Thu 10:00 - 12:00, Writers Workshop, Section E (Workshop), Naples5 (Peppermill)
This is an event you had to sign up for in advance and submit a story. We'll be workshopping with three participants.
Gregory A. Wilson, Martha Wells
Thu 4:00 - 5:00, Writing Non-Human Characters (Panel), A05 (RSCC)
In writing a fantasy or SF story, how do you create non-human characters that are more than just humans with funny ears attached?
Carol Berg (M), Amy Thomson, Robert J. Sawyer, Martha Wells
Thu 8:00pm? Party Hosted by Night Shade Books Debut Authors, in Atlantis suite 1535
This party is for everybody, so come on by.
Friday
Fri 11:00 - 12:00, The Continuing Popularity of Jane Austen (Panel), A05 (RSCC)
Jane Austen remains very popular, including among SF fans. Her books continue to be read, and they've spawned numerous movies as well as a number of spin off novels. The panel discusses Austen's continuing popularity.
Darlene Marshall (M), Brenda W.Clough, Ellen Asher, Madeleine E. Robins, Martha Wells
Fri 1:00 - 2:00, Autographing: Fri 13:00 (Autographing), Hall 2 Autographs (RSCC)
Robin Hobb, Lucienne Diver, Carol Berg, Sharon Shinn, Sean McMullen, Patricia Briggs, Kim Stanley Robinson, Martha Wells
Fri 2:00 - 3:00, KaffeeKlatsch: Fri 14:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1 (RSCC)
Martha Wells
This is a thing where you sign up and we sit around and talk for about 50 minutes. So please sign up! (At this point we may be talking about how tired we are.)
Saturday
Sat 12:00 - 12:30, Reading: Martha Wells (Reading), A15 (RSCC) Martha Wells
Sat 1:00 - 2:00, The Comeback Genre: Sword & Sorcery (Panel), A16 (RSCC)
Sword and Sorcery has a rich history, going back to at least Howard and Smith. And it's making a comeback. Our panelists talk about its rich history and why it's back and better than ever.
Lou Anders (M), Dale Ivan Smith, S.M. Stirling, Martha Wells
Sat 5:00 - 6:00, Designing Believable Archeaology and Anthropology (Panel), A03 (RSCC)
Using anthropology and archaeology to build realistic SF and fantasy worlds.
Martha Wells (M), Rachel Swirsky, Jessica Axsom, S.M. Stirling
And a link:
SF Novelists: Birds, Dinosaurs, and the Secret Life of Labels by Chris Moriarty
Well, another month has passed, and here is another post from me that contains more questions than answers. This post is particularly question-ridden because it arises from a very recent experience that I'm still digesting. I went to Readercon last weekend, where I spoke on several panels about gender in science fiction. Most of those panels turned into discussions not of gender in the abstract, but of women in science fiction. And specifically of the problem of there not being enough of them.
July 20, 2011
Revisioning
Still working on the revisions to The Serpent Sea. I wanted to talk a bit about how I do revisions, since I'm not sure if it's idiosyncratic or not.
When I get the editorial letter, I copy it into a separate WP file -- this is easier with email; with paper editorial letters I used to have to re-type them and then make notes on the original -- and put a lot of space between the paragraphs for notes. Then I go through and take care of the ones that are quick fixes, changing a word or adding a phrase or sentence for clarity. I make those changes directly in the manuscript file but I don't do them in any particular order, and I don't do them all at once. I usually just scan the editorial file until one catches my eye and then do that one.
With the editorial notes that require new scenes, I'll actually write the scene below the note in the editorial file. At first I'll basically just be thinking of what I need to add. For example, if the note is something like: "this later scene would work better if Moon knew why such and such character had done such and such; it seems like he would ask him about it somewhere in this section." Okay, that's a good point. So I start writing that conversation, focusing just on that point. As I'm writing it, I'll start to figure out where it should go in the manuscript, and add some set dressing to it. When I'm happy with the new scene, I'll copy it into that spot in the manuscript and start blending it in with the original text. Sometimes at that point I'll realize it won't actually go into that spot and needs to be moved, or that it needs to be broken up a bit and the individual pieces worked in throughout the section. But usually it does fit, though I'll often end up changing it as I read over it and weave it into place.
The harder ones are changes that need to be made more globally, where something needs to be added that needs to be referred to at a few different points in the manuscript. I do those pretty much the same way.
Once all the new stuff is in and the quick fixes all done, I'll go back and read through from the beginning, to make sure everything new is blended in and isn't contradicted or redundant anywhere, and at this point I'll usually make more changes to the new scenes as well as little fixes throughout.
So how is this alike or different from the way other people do it?
One other thing I'll be doing today is waiting for the air conditioner repair guys. Our ac unit has been having trouble keeping up, even though I try not to let it run too much during the day. We got lucky with an overcast day yesterday, but it was 86 at 6:30 this morning, and it's just going to get worse.
Writer Beware: Farrah Gray Publishing
When publishing relationships go bad, the writing was often on the wall long before the author signed on the dotted line. Perhaps there were nonstandard business practices, such as a hidden fee or a book purchase requirement. Or there might have been a large body of author complaints, easily found by doing a basic websearch. Maybe there was an association with an unsavory parent company, or a name change to escape bad press. Or the publisher may simply may have been too new to have proven itself--a major risk for small-press writers, given the high attrition rate for new small publishers, especially if the owners don't have a professional writing or publishing background.
When I get the editorial letter, I copy it into a separate WP file -- this is easier with email; with paper editorial letters I used to have to re-type them and then make notes on the original -- and put a lot of space between the paragraphs for notes. Then I go through and take care of the ones that are quick fixes, changing a word or adding a phrase or sentence for clarity. I make those changes directly in the manuscript file but I don't do them in any particular order, and I don't do them all at once. I usually just scan the editorial file until one catches my eye and then do that one.
With the editorial notes that require new scenes, I'll actually write the scene below the note in the editorial file. At first I'll basically just be thinking of what I need to add. For example, if the note is something like: "this later scene would work better if Moon knew why such and such character had done such and such; it seems like he would ask him about it somewhere in this section." Okay, that's a good point. So I start writing that conversation, focusing just on that point. As I'm writing it, I'll start to figure out where it should go in the manuscript, and add some set dressing to it. When I'm happy with the new scene, I'll copy it into that spot in the manuscript and start blending it in with the original text. Sometimes at that point I'll realize it won't actually go into that spot and needs to be moved, or that it needs to be broken up a bit and the individual pieces worked in throughout the section. But usually it does fit, though I'll often end up changing it as I read over it and weave it into place.
The harder ones are changes that need to be made more globally, where something needs to be added that needs to be referred to at a few different points in the manuscript. I do those pretty much the same way.
Once all the new stuff is in and the quick fixes all done, I'll go back and read through from the beginning, to make sure everything new is blended in and isn't contradicted or redundant anywhere, and at this point I'll usually make more changes to the new scenes as well as little fixes throughout.
So how is this alike or different from the way other people do it?
One other thing I'll be doing today is waiting for the air conditioner repair guys. Our ac unit has been having trouble keeping up, even though I try not to let it run too much during the day. We got lucky with an overcast day yesterday, but it was 86 at 6:30 this morning, and it's just going to get worse.
Writer Beware: Farrah Gray Publishing
When publishing relationships go bad, the writing was often on the wall long before the author signed on the dotted line. Perhaps there were nonstandard business practices, such as a hidden fee or a book purchase requirement. Or there might have been a large body of author complaints, easily found by doing a basic websearch. Maybe there was an association with an unsavory parent company, or a name change to escape bad press. Or the publisher may simply may have been too new to have proven itself--a major risk for small-press writers, given the high attrition rate for new small publishers, especially if the owners don't have a professional writing or publishing background.
July 19, 2011
I'll be revisioning all day today, so here's some links:M...
I'll be revisioning all day today, so here's some links:
Murderati: Non-white heroes: the kiss of death in the marketplace? by Tess Gerritsen
Memory #1: I am ten years old, sitting in the back seat of a parked car with my best school chum as we wait for her mother to come out of the grocery store. My friend is white. We are chattering, giggling, making noisy girl noises. A woman walks back to her car, which is parked beside ours. Maybe it's the fact we're laughing so loudly. Maybe she thinks we're laughing at her. She glares at us.
What she sees: a white girl and an Asian girl sitting in the parked car.
What she says is: "Damn noisy chink."
Linda Nagata: What's in a Name? I haven't done a lot of interviews in my career, but the question I least like to answer goes something like this: Do you feel it's hurt your career being a woman writing hard science fiction?
I got a mention (Yay!) on this list of "What To Read When You're Not Reading Pratchett." on Patrick Rothfuss' blog
And I'm on Google+, if people are into that. It's interesting, but I think I still have more fun on Twitter. (There, I'm @marthawells1)
Book I'm reading:
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandreth
I've been reading this series for a while and would have missed this one, because I didn't know it had been released. If Murder by the Book wasn't the kind of store where you can go in and have this conversation:
Me: "I wonder if there's a new one in a series...British...sort of historical..." :makes vague hand gestures:
Murder by the Book: "Oh, you mean the Oscar Wilde series by Gyles Brandreth! Yes, there was a new one a few months ago."
I would never have found it on my own.
I actually think I saw this book in a store at one point, and didn't realize it was from the Brandreth series because the cover (instead of matching the previous books) makes it look like one of those mash-ups, of which I am not a fan. But I managed to find it anyway, and am really liking it so far. Instead of being from Robert Sherard's viewpoint (or Oscar telling the story to Robert) it's written more in the style of Dracula, with Robert's narration interspersed with diary entries or letters from Arthur Conan Doyle (who is involved with Oscar in solving the mystery), Bram Stoker, and the other characters. This is great, because one of the flaws of the series is that while Oscar is awesome and a charming narrator, Robert is vaguely creepy. Anyway, I recommend the series and this is a great installment.
Murderati: Non-white heroes: the kiss of death in the marketplace? by Tess Gerritsen
Memory #1: I am ten years old, sitting in the back seat of a parked car with my best school chum as we wait for her mother to come out of the grocery store. My friend is white. We are chattering, giggling, making noisy girl noises. A woman walks back to her car, which is parked beside ours. Maybe it's the fact we're laughing so loudly. Maybe she thinks we're laughing at her. She glares at us.
What she sees: a white girl and an Asian girl sitting in the parked car.
What she says is: "Damn noisy chink."
Linda Nagata: What's in a Name? I haven't done a lot of interviews in my career, but the question I least like to answer goes something like this: Do you feel it's hurt your career being a woman writing hard science fiction?
I got a mention (Yay!) on this list of "What To Read When You're Not Reading Pratchett." on Patrick Rothfuss' blog
And I'm on Google+, if people are into that. It's interesting, but I think I still have more fun on Twitter. (There, I'm @marthawells1)
Book I'm reading:
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandreth
I've been reading this series for a while and would have missed this one, because I didn't know it had been released. If Murder by the Book wasn't the kind of store where you can go in and have this conversation:
Me: "I wonder if there's a new one in a series...British...sort of historical..." :makes vague hand gestures:
Murder by the Book: "Oh, you mean the Oscar Wilde series by Gyles Brandreth! Yes, there was a new one a few months ago."
I would never have found it on my own.
I actually think I saw this book in a store at one point, and didn't realize it was from the Brandreth series because the cover (instead of matching the previous books) makes it look like one of those mash-ups, of which I am not a fan. But I managed to find it anyway, and am really liking it so far. Instead of being from Robert Sherard's viewpoint (or Oscar telling the story to Robert) it's written more in the style of Dracula, with Robert's narration interspersed with diary entries or letters from Arthur Conan Doyle (who is involved with Oscar in solving the mystery), Bram Stoker, and the other characters. This is great, because one of the flaws of the series is that while Oscar is awesome and a charming narrator, Robert is vaguely creepy. Anyway, I recommend the series and this is a great installment.
July 18, 2011
Snippet Post 6 Plus Links
New post by me on The Night Bazaar: Don't Be That Guy, about arguing with reviews.
Some people get addicted very quickly to internet attention and sympathy, and are prepared to kill and eat just about anybody to get that attention and sympathy. Don't be one of those people. And don't play into the hands of one of those people by responding to their effort to kill and eat you.
I'm about to start working on the last revision for The Serpent Sea, so here are:
Snippets:
Another snippet post for the Clarion West Write-a-thon. And thanks very much to the people who donated so far!
Moon said, "It's not quiet downstairs." He leaned against the wall beside the opening. The air smelled rich with the rain, the dark earth and loam. "Were you here when they built-- grew this place?"
His eyes still on the drowning gardens, Stone's brow furrowed. "I'm not that old."
Thunder rumbled, not quite close enough to make Moon twitch. "But you lived here."
"For a while. I was a boy when Indigo and Cloud led the court away." From his expression, it was hard to tell if it was a good memory or a bad one. "I was too young and stupid to see it as anything but an adventure."
Then these rooms had been filled with light and life, when there had been so many Raksura here they had had to leave for more open territory. It had to be strange to see it like this, dark and empty, scented of nothing but must and stale water. Moon had never gone back to a place he had lived before. Unless you counted the Cordans' camp, and he hadn't felt anything there except impatience.
Still lost in memory, Stone added, "No one ever thought I'd get a queen, but Azure picked me out of the lot."
Moon frowned at him. "Why didn't they think you'd get a queen?"
Stone tapped his cheek, below his clouded right eye. He said, dryly, "I wasn't born perfect."
And a long one from Wheel of the Infinite:
Rian moved up beside her, looking up at the full moon. There was a mottled pattern of dark and light across its surface tonight. Without referring to the texts that recorded all the permutations and their meanings, Maskelle could only translate it as far as "portentous events." With the approach of the rainy season Equinox and the culmination of the Hundred Years Rite, that was only to be expected. Rian sat down next to her and relaxed into a sprawl.
"This is one of my temples," Maskelle said, "or it used to be." She shifted around to face him. "Why did you come to the Empire?"
He let out his breath and started to pull off his buskins. "It's a long story."
"That's no reason not to tell it."
He wrestled with a recalcitrant knot in the bootlace. She didn't think he would answer, but then he said, "The Holder Lord died."
She frowned. She could see that prying information out of Rian was going to be no easy task, even under the best of circumstances. "You were much attached to him?"
"More so than I thought, apparently." He managed to wrench the buskin off, gasping in relief, and stretched out on his back.
Maskelle gave up any attempt at subtlety. "I can see why it's a long story, if you tell it like this."
He sat up on his elbows. "All right. I'd only been at Markand Hold a year. I was part of a treaty between Markand and Riverwait."
"Part of a treaty? They trade..." She hesitated over the word he had used, then settled for "personal guards?"
"Not usually, but when the Holder Lord of Markand's legion is on the border and he's naming treaty terms and he points at you and says 'And I'll take that one,' nobody has much choice about it."
She watched him thoughtfully. "So Riverwait gave you up to an enemy."
"The Lady Holder of Riverwait gave me up." He looked away. "The Holder Lord of Markand had been coming to her hall for years and I was the first of her cortege. We didn't get along. He chose me as part of the treaty because he knew what it would cost her in honor. She didn't have a choice. Refusing to give me to him would have been refusing the treaty, and Markand would have overrun us within a month."
"But she gave you up."
"I know that part, we don't have to go over it again," he said, some annoyance in his voice. "I spent a year at Markand serving the Holder Lord."
She frowned. "Serving how?"
He sighed. "As a kjardin. A personal guard."
Maskelle sat back, wrapping her arms around her knees. She could imagine it all too readily. From what she had seen of Rian, he would have made no secret of his dislike when the Holder Lord had come to Riverwait on his earlier visits. The Holder Lord of Markand must have been something of a sadistic games-player to demand the favorite bodyguard of the Lady Holder as part of a treaty in the first place. And it must have been an interesting year at Markand for Rian, a virtual prisoner in the guise of a trusted retainer, and of course everyone else in the Holder Lord's court would have known.
Rian was watching her face and must have followed her thought. "I made sure he didn't enjoy it too much," he said. "There are ways."
"I can imagine."
He laid back down and stretched, brows lifted ironically. "I think I overdid it, though."
It was a nice sight; she had always been attracted to lean men with flat stomachs, even if his skin was a little light for her eyes. "Oh?"
"There's an old custom, that when a High Holder Lord dies his best guards and servants go to the grave with him."
"Go to the grave?" Maskelle repeated blankly.
"Continue to serve him in the sunland," Rian explained. Seeing that she was still baffled, he spelled it out. "Get killed during the funeral, so the relatives can prove how much they really did honor the old bastard."
She looked away to conceal her reaction. To a member of a religious order which had debated for ten years on whether it was acceptable to allow cut flowers as spirit offerings, the idea of a living human as part of burial goods came as something of a shock.
Rian added, "It's fallen out of favor. But the priests read the omens and said the Holder Lord needed company on the journey into the sunland. Everybody, the family, the bodyguards, the wives, the clan leaders, the Guild Chiefs, all got together to decide who it would be. Guess who we picked?"
"I see. And I suppose the Holder Lord left detailed instructions about this to his priests before he died." Intellectually Maskelle could appreciate the final refinement of cruelty, but then she had been told often that she seldom did much of her thinking with her brain. The Holder Lord of Markand is dead, she reminded herself. Which was fortunate, because otherwise she would have to go to the Sintane and kill him herself. "How did you get away?"
"I survived the funeral games, which they let me know was very inconvenient for them. The Holder Lord's Heir wanted me put in the tomb alive, the way they used to do it. The guard captain, who was my lord officer, thought they should strangle me, which is also an old custom. But the chief priest decided to be magnanimous and had them give me a drug that would keep me unconscious through the burial rites, so I'd wake up just in time to suffocate."
"Small favors."
"Very small. But they didn't get as much of the drug down me as they thought, and it took so long they were late for the beginning of the rite, which starts in the Hall of the Hold. I pretended I couldn't stand, moaned and thrashed around, and they left me in the funerary chapel attached to the burial mound, with only a couple of guards outside. I was just conscious enough to put a finger down my throat and get rid of the rest of the drug. It almost took too long, but I was finally able to wake up enough to take one of the guards from behind and the other when he turned around. I got out of the chapel just before the procession came into sight. There was nowhere else to go, so I headed for the border into Gidale. The Heir sent hunters after me, so I had to keep going." He sat up, unbuckled his belt, and half-drew the siri to show her the hilt. "See that? This isn't mine, it's the Holder Lord's. I took it from the offering table. It had panthers and stags worked in gold; I sold those in Tirane."
Maskelle grinned in appreciation of the irony, though she suspected Rian had regretted giving up the sword's ornaments. "Why didn't you want to tell me this, why make me pry it out of you?"
He set the sheathed sword aside, though still within easy reach, and laid back down, propping himself up on one elbow. "You're a religious and I've been condemned as a sacrifice by priests, how did I know how you were going to take it?"
"I see." If she was going to do what she knew she wanted to, it was time for a little honesty. "It's not half so bad as some things I've done."
"And what's that?"
"I killed one of my husbands. Well, some people believe I killed all of them, and in a way, that's true."
Being Rian, he frowned and said, "You had husbands?"
Some people get addicted very quickly to internet attention and sympathy, and are prepared to kill and eat just about anybody to get that attention and sympathy. Don't be one of those people. And don't play into the hands of one of those people by responding to their effort to kill and eat you.
I'm about to start working on the last revision for The Serpent Sea, so here are:
Snippets:
Another snippet post for the Clarion West Write-a-thon. And thanks very much to the people who donated so far!
Moon said, "It's not quiet downstairs." He leaned against the wall beside the opening. The air smelled rich with the rain, the dark earth and loam. "Were you here when they built-- grew this place?"
His eyes still on the drowning gardens, Stone's brow furrowed. "I'm not that old."
Thunder rumbled, not quite close enough to make Moon twitch. "But you lived here."
"For a while. I was a boy when Indigo and Cloud led the court away." From his expression, it was hard to tell if it was a good memory or a bad one. "I was too young and stupid to see it as anything but an adventure."
Then these rooms had been filled with light and life, when there had been so many Raksura here they had had to leave for more open territory. It had to be strange to see it like this, dark and empty, scented of nothing but must and stale water. Moon had never gone back to a place he had lived before. Unless you counted the Cordans' camp, and he hadn't felt anything there except impatience.
Still lost in memory, Stone added, "No one ever thought I'd get a queen, but Azure picked me out of the lot."
Moon frowned at him. "Why didn't they think you'd get a queen?"
Stone tapped his cheek, below his clouded right eye. He said, dryly, "I wasn't born perfect."
And a long one from Wheel of the Infinite:
Rian moved up beside her, looking up at the full moon. There was a mottled pattern of dark and light across its surface tonight. Without referring to the texts that recorded all the permutations and their meanings, Maskelle could only translate it as far as "portentous events." With the approach of the rainy season Equinox and the culmination of the Hundred Years Rite, that was only to be expected. Rian sat down next to her and relaxed into a sprawl.
"This is one of my temples," Maskelle said, "or it used to be." She shifted around to face him. "Why did you come to the Empire?"
He let out his breath and started to pull off his buskins. "It's a long story."
"That's no reason not to tell it."
He wrestled with a recalcitrant knot in the bootlace. She didn't think he would answer, but then he said, "The Holder Lord died."
She frowned. She could see that prying information out of Rian was going to be no easy task, even under the best of circumstances. "You were much attached to him?"
"More so than I thought, apparently." He managed to wrench the buskin off, gasping in relief, and stretched out on his back.
Maskelle gave up any attempt at subtlety. "I can see why it's a long story, if you tell it like this."
He sat up on his elbows. "All right. I'd only been at Markand Hold a year. I was part of a treaty between Markand and Riverwait."
"Part of a treaty? They trade..." She hesitated over the word he had used, then settled for "personal guards?"
"Not usually, but when the Holder Lord of Markand's legion is on the border and he's naming treaty terms and he points at you and says 'And I'll take that one,' nobody has much choice about it."
She watched him thoughtfully. "So Riverwait gave you up to an enemy."
"The Lady Holder of Riverwait gave me up." He looked away. "The Holder Lord of Markand had been coming to her hall for years and I was the first of her cortege. We didn't get along. He chose me as part of the treaty because he knew what it would cost her in honor. She didn't have a choice. Refusing to give me to him would have been refusing the treaty, and Markand would have overrun us within a month."
"But she gave you up."
"I know that part, we don't have to go over it again," he said, some annoyance in his voice. "I spent a year at Markand serving the Holder Lord."
She frowned. "Serving how?"
He sighed. "As a kjardin. A personal guard."
Maskelle sat back, wrapping her arms around her knees. She could imagine it all too readily. From what she had seen of Rian, he would have made no secret of his dislike when the Holder Lord had come to Riverwait on his earlier visits. The Holder Lord of Markand must have been something of a sadistic games-player to demand the favorite bodyguard of the Lady Holder as part of a treaty in the first place. And it must have been an interesting year at Markand for Rian, a virtual prisoner in the guise of a trusted retainer, and of course everyone else in the Holder Lord's court would have known.
Rian was watching her face and must have followed her thought. "I made sure he didn't enjoy it too much," he said. "There are ways."
"I can imagine."
He laid back down and stretched, brows lifted ironically. "I think I overdid it, though."
It was a nice sight; she had always been attracted to lean men with flat stomachs, even if his skin was a little light for her eyes. "Oh?"
"There's an old custom, that when a High Holder Lord dies his best guards and servants go to the grave with him."
"Go to the grave?" Maskelle repeated blankly.
"Continue to serve him in the sunland," Rian explained. Seeing that she was still baffled, he spelled it out. "Get killed during the funeral, so the relatives can prove how much they really did honor the old bastard."
She looked away to conceal her reaction. To a member of a religious order which had debated for ten years on whether it was acceptable to allow cut flowers as spirit offerings, the idea of a living human as part of burial goods came as something of a shock.
Rian added, "It's fallen out of favor. But the priests read the omens and said the Holder Lord needed company on the journey into the sunland. Everybody, the family, the bodyguards, the wives, the clan leaders, the Guild Chiefs, all got together to decide who it would be. Guess who we picked?"
"I see. And I suppose the Holder Lord left detailed instructions about this to his priests before he died." Intellectually Maskelle could appreciate the final refinement of cruelty, but then she had been told often that she seldom did much of her thinking with her brain. The Holder Lord of Markand is dead, she reminded herself. Which was fortunate, because otherwise she would have to go to the Sintane and kill him herself. "How did you get away?"
"I survived the funeral games, which they let me know was very inconvenient for them. The Holder Lord's Heir wanted me put in the tomb alive, the way they used to do it. The guard captain, who was my lord officer, thought they should strangle me, which is also an old custom. But the chief priest decided to be magnanimous and had them give me a drug that would keep me unconscious through the burial rites, so I'd wake up just in time to suffocate."
"Small favors."
"Very small. But they didn't get as much of the drug down me as they thought, and it took so long they were late for the beginning of the rite, which starts in the Hall of the Hold. I pretended I couldn't stand, moaned and thrashed around, and they left me in the funerary chapel attached to the burial mound, with only a couple of guards outside. I was just conscious enough to put a finger down my throat and get rid of the rest of the drug. It almost took too long, but I was finally able to wake up enough to take one of the guards from behind and the other when he turned around. I got out of the chapel just before the procession came into sight. There was nowhere else to go, so I headed for the border into Gidale. The Heir sent hunters after me, so I had to keep going." He sat up, unbuckled his belt, and half-drew the siri to show her the hilt. "See that? This isn't mine, it's the Holder Lord's. I took it from the offering table. It had panthers and stags worked in gold; I sold those in Tirane."
Maskelle grinned in appreciation of the irony, though she suspected Rian had regretted giving up the sword's ornaments. "Why didn't you want to tell me this, why make me pry it out of you?"
He set the sheathed sword aside, though still within easy reach, and laid back down, propping himself up on one elbow. "You're a religious and I've been condemned as a sacrifice by priests, how did I know how you were going to take it?"
"I see." If she was going to do what she knew she wanted to, it was time for a little honesty. "It's not half so bad as some things I've done."
"And what's that?"
"I killed one of my husbands. Well, some people believe I killed all of them, and in a way, that's true."
Being Rian, he frowned and said, "You had husbands?"
