Lughnasa                                                                    Honey Moon

Finished entering Kate’s edits into the third revision of Missing, call it 3.1 right now.  Tomorrow I’m going to print out a copy for Lonnie, after jiggering with Scrivener so that it indicates chapters the way I want.

It’s time to pull out the information from that course I took back in March on finding an agent.  This is the step I’ve skipped so far and one I’m going to pursue with determination now.  If I have to do it, I’ll submit directly to publishers.  This book is of high enough quality to publish, I’m sure of it.  Now I have to find the connections to make that happen.

(woman_in_a_red_dress_by_jane_seymour)

It’s also time to pick up the research for Loki’s Children and get to work on that, too. I contacted Greg and told him I wanted to restart the Latin on October 4th and go until May 1st.  This is roughly the fallow season for our gardens and I’ll use it to advance my Latin skills as well writing Loki’s Children.  Looking forward to busy winter.

Lugnasa                                                                      Honey Moon

Feeling, I don’t know, untethered.  I’ve been regular with the garden and bee work, doing the usual home based things, but since I let Missing go and Latin, too, I’ve not felt like I have an anchor in my day to day.  Weird, since all the other stuff is part of my life, too, but the writing is core.  Yet I’ve wanted some space from it. Kate gave me back the manuscript a couple of days ago but I find myself resisting sitting down and entering the edits.  It feels like I’ve touched it maybe a bit too much.  I will do it though and soon. There is a sense I have, a lingering back of the head tickle, that I set stuff aside and ignore it to build up, what?  Motivation?  Impetus?  A strange kind of energy, almost guilt as a form of power.  Of course, I may have the cause and effect backwards.  It may be that the energy and the almost guilt highlight, underline, emphasize the time I spend away from a project.  Anyhow the two are mixed up together somehow and I have an odd confidence in them, that these forces will impel me back to the work I need to do without doing psychological damage in the process. Expect to see progress notes at the beginning of the week.  I can feel it coming.

8/10/2013   Lughnasa                                                         State Fair Moon

With the site down I forgot finishing the putzy work for the third revision.  Ended yesterday.  That means Kate will take it now and read it with an editor’s eye for grammar, spelling, sentence construction.  My chief concerns for this revision lie in the main character’s voice, is it unique enough, in action, is there enough of it, and in the overall narrative arc, is it tight?  In this version Missing is around 110,000 words, right in the sweet spot for novel length.  Not too long, not too short, but just right.

Next up writing wise is research and writing on Loki’s Children, volume 2 of the Unmaking trilogy.  I look forward to it.  It represents a different challenge than book I in which world building, character introduction and development necessarily absorbed a lot of space.  There will be new characters in Loki’s Children, but the core characters are now in the story:  John, Leth, Graham, Constance, Merlin, Cromarty, Bragg, Gullen, Arton, Cernunnos, the Wyrm.  The map of Tailte is clear to me, though it needs to be put on paper by someone who can draw.  It will have additions in Loki Children, but the main continent is there, plus the oceans and islands.  Loki’s Children will step up the action with various quests of critical importance.

Volume III, the Unmaking, remains fuzzy to me, but I’m sure it will become more clear as work on Loki’s Children goes forward.  When the editing and rechecking is done on Missing, it will be time to start shopping it to agents.  I’m ready to do this, even eager.