Post-NaNoWriMo... Er... Post.

Well, after the rigors of NaNoWriMo, I have done a lot of soul-searching-- In the past four days. I am pretty sure that after the first day or so of soul-searching, I realize that it then moves to fruitless navel-gazing and then on to sour-seaching. I meant to take a week off from writing at all, you know, "to rest". But, I really miss writing. And I am itching to see what it is that I actually wrote. So far, it's various degrees of rapidly cooling passion that seemed better in my head than type on a page.

Yep, I know that it is part of the process but, I want it to be finished. My vision for the book was an action-packed, alt history, weird west/steampunk fantasy, un-romance. I'm probably not seasoned enough to tackle any two of the descriptive genres at the same time, let alone one. But, herewego.

I hope to have a readable second draft ready for my beta-readers by the first of the year. I am excited to have it in the works and published in ebook shortly after that and finally in solid form by spring. If I can get on the stick, I can have The SkyRift ready by then, too. If you want to read the first 5,000 words, you can click here to read it.

Last Post Before Nanowrimo

This is it! I am going to spend the next few days bending all my writing energy on readying myself for Nano's rigorous writing schedule. The first seven days of November, I will be shooting for 5000 words a day. I know that I may not hit anything close, but I need the head start. Also, I need to know what is possible. I have written that many words in a day, but we are talking all day. With few distractions. And nothing else to for which I was responsible. Furthermore, if I can, I can take it easy the remaining days. It always seems like the last week is the doozy, considering Thanksgiving and all. Heck, if I find that I am actually able to do it, I may just continue through the month. Look for my page here, and track my progress if you want. I may post the actual body of work on the site, I'm not sure yet. Excerpts, though. Definitely excerpts. Also, if any of you want to take a crack at writing 50,000 words in a month, sign up for free here.

Here I go.

Maps.

So, the mileiu for The SkyRift is an alternate American West during the Civil War. California is split amongst the Union State of Jefferson, the Manchu-Chinese Territory of the Imperialist nation of China and the "neutral" New Mexico Territory. This world has been a blast to build and explore and I am thinking about utterly decimating parts of the civilizations on the continent, both elder and nascent. Just not in The SkyRift. Also, there will be a few surprises from little-known historical figures and some fun mechanical "baddies", as well as an unleashed "pain-in-the-rump" that will dog our heroes world for books to come. Check out the above map and tell me what you think!

Rewriting.

It is really important to set goals for myself when writing, and realize those goals realistically. Unfortunately, I know as well as anyone that writing voluminously and speedily do not a story make. I was getting close to the end of The SkyRift when it occurred to me that I was writing the wrong story. So, I restarted. Completely different story. Now I feel that when I sit down, I can write with a lot more clarity. Having a clearer picture in my mind allows me to elucidate the milieu and idea of the story via characterization. The best stories, in my opinion, are not due to great settings, events and systems of thought. They are the arcs of great characters. It would be irresponsible as an author to leave visceral worlds without a heavy carbon footprint, so to speak. Though rewriting the book sounds terrible, it is actually really fun and amazing. It should not push back my timeline very much either. At least, I hope not. If my 1st draft is not finished by November 1, I will have to wait to work on it for a whole month, due to Nanowrimo and the Dr. Lee project that I'll be working on (2000 words a day, folks).

I was speaking with a friend recently who was a little frustrated by the amount of rewrites she was having to do for an indy film that she is producing. She then told me that it is not uncommon to rewrite a hundred times! That places my project in a less daunting light. 

I am about to put my short story, Brimstone Deep, on Smashwords, making it available at the iBook store, Barnes and Noble, etc. It will be nice to not be so exclusive in the way Amazon publishing demands. So, all you out there who are not too excited about Amazon will have other options. 

Do you have a book bouncing around in your head? Join me during National Novel Writing Month. Click here to sign up! It's free and will greatly improve your writing! 

"Gear"-ing Up For The SkyRift

Well, I am ogetting nearer to the finish line with my new book, and have decided to go forward with beta readers, as they agree, of course. Also, I will be calling the ebook The SkyRift (TSR). Due to the people's choice regarding my writing focus for NaNoWriMo, I will be pulling Dr. Lee from TSR as a main character. She will be in TSR, but her story will be told in her own book, in the month of November as I write it. I am really happy about this, as I had originally set out to write about Jim Harper. But, I really wanted to set the story in an alternate American West where the Chinese had discovered the Pacific coast of the Americas decades before Columbus. And that is where the conscientious part of me kicked in. I did not stop to think of the implications of the world I was building. Having a territory that is established by China would change everything! So, I've had to hit the research and create something that not only feels 'real' to me, but rings true to readers. I turned to a writer/blogger who writes steakpunk in a post-colonialist focus. She'll remain anonymous for now as I have not asked permission to mention her (and who knows, she may not want to be connected to my book). But, she gave me a lot to think on. Some of these pointers are embarrassingly basic.

Anyway, I am contacting beta readers now to ask them for help, so that TSR can make "all you dreams come true" (embellishment alert).

By the way, The SkyRift is going to need reviews from the outset, so please let me know if any of you want an advanced copy and I will provide one at the cost of a review. :)