Spring                                                                     Bloodroot Moon

Up early and down to the western burbs to the beautiful home of Lonnie and Stefan Helgeson on the banks of Minnehaha Creek.  Stefan expanded on his written critiques of Missing, all helpful.  Each beta reader has had a different perspective, offering me a valuable look at the manuscript, that of the reader.

Here’s an example.  Each time I had a clearing in the forest, it had a stream.  Trouble is, as Stefan points out, streams don’t often flow through clearings since trees and shrubs tend to grow up along their banks.  What I had done, invisible to me, was provide a stream with a clearing each time the horses needed to stop for water.  In solving one problem I created another.  This kind of thing does not become obvious without help.

Others found the frequent use of the first person distracting from the story; Stefan found it engaging for exactly the reasons I had wanted to use it.  Perhaps the best solution lies somewhere in between.

This is the last but one of the beta readers to check in and I’m almost finished with my read through.  Probably this week.  Then, I begin revising in earnest, going back over everyone’s comments one more time, getting a preliminary strategy and starting the rewrite.

With five other novels written I know this revision process is the piece that has stood between me and publication.  Well, I can hear Kate say, there is that marketing piece, too.  And she’s right.  But the two together.  Then I can start working the various markets.  With the short stories, too.

Spring                                                                      Bloodroot Moon

Been reading through beta reader #5’s comments in preparation for a face to face on Saturday.  At the same time I’m well into the last third of my own read through of the manuscript.  I’ve taken many notes, lots of ideas, some drastic, many substantial, some cosmetic churning around in my head.

Reentering the fictive dream for Missing will not be hard.  It feels like the Tailte mythos (the world on which almost all of  Missing occurs) has only begun to breathe.  It stretches and spreads its presence out in my thoughts.  I imagine the gods playing more active roles, Asian deities and Middle Eastern, in another set of stories.  The gods will begin to take on more important roles in Loki’s Children and the Unmaking, the two other volumes in this trilogy.

I took a look at short story markets today.  I want to polish up some of mine and get them in circulation.  The energy in the writing and translating has increased markedly, not only over the last couple of years, but even over the last couple of months.  Something exciting is happening and in part I’m just along for the ride.

Spring                                                                         Bloodroot Moon

Revising today.  Reading Missing, gathering in the story again, marking sections where it lags.  Comparing it mentally to the Terry Brooks and Rick Riordan books, trying to figure out what works in Missing, what doesn’t.  Also trying to keep in mind the same things from the Sword of Shannara and the Percy Jackson books, seeing where I can polish up my craft from two very successful series.  After I finish the third of the Brooks books, I’m going to read either Lord of the Rings or the Robert Jordan Wheel of Times series.

It’s important to know what other folks have done to avoid repetitive ideas or plot lines, learn what’s working for them and in general read what readers enjoy.

This is taxing work, much like translating in its demands.

Spring                                                                            Bloodroot Moon

Scott Edelstein says every writer should have a sign near their desk that reads:  Book Publishing Is Crazy.  He told us we could call him up and ask him questions, but he advised us that if what we had to ask was something like “Why is this weird thing happening?” he’ll say, “Look at the sign.”

A cousin-in-law, an ex-navy specialist welder turned metal sculptor, told me about another  sign, one that I had up for a while:  I’m an artist; I will not quit.  Related thoughts for sure.

In most areas of my life persistence has been a real strong suit, doggedly pursuing things even if they seem like long shots.  I did, however, make a fundamental mistake relative to writing.

A book I had written made it through the editorial process to the editorial board of Bantam Publishing. This was several years ago.  On this board sit the publisher’s sales and marketing executive, their subsidiary rights executive, publicity person and the editor who pitches your book, the business people plus the editor who champions your book.  4 out of 5 books don’t make it past this meeting.  Mine didn’t.  They had, I was informed, already bought too much Celtic fiction.

Listening to Scott today I realize I took the wrong message from this.  It was really a sign that the stars hadn’t lined up for this book at this publisher.  The smart move would have been to recognize that it spoke well of my writing; then, to take the book back and get it out, right away, to other publishers.  I didn’t.  I moved on, started writing another book.

In retrospect I put my persistence into writing, not into marketing.  I know that, but especially in this instance I could have taken a different route and I didn’t.  Not long after that I got discouraged and went on a long dry spell.

A year, maybe two years ago, I woke up again, as if I’d finally left Circe’s island.  That was when Missing began to take shape.  Once it’s revised I now know how to get it in the hand of agents.  If that doesn’t work, I know how to get it in the hands of publishers.  If that doesn’t work, I have learned the rudiments of self-publishing, a very viable option in the rapidly changing publishing world.  Scott called it the wild west because nobody really knows where publishing will end up, but a lot of different things have conspired to give writers many more options than used to be available.