Writing: Revisions: The Panic Attack!

But first, it's your last chance to win a free hardcover copy of Enigma, the sequel to Harmony, by C.F. Bentley over here. All you have to do is comment on the post and you're entered. Note: You'll also be entered into the monthly contest for a free DAW paperback. So enter two contests with one comment!

Also, don't forget the signing this coming Saturday (meaning TOMORROW) in Paramus, NJ! Here's the info for that:

MULTI-AUTHOR SIGNING!

AUGUST 1st, 2009
Noon-4pm @
Borders Express
Paramus Park Mall
600 Paramus Park
Paramus, NJ 07652
including:
S.C. Butler; Barbara Campbell
Laura Anne Gilman; Jackie Kessler
Joshua Palmatier; Anton Strout


Feel free to mention either the contest or the signing in your own blog if you have readers who might be interested.

So yesterday, when I sat down to work on the revisions, I had 90 pages left to go. I intended to get 45 pages done, because at this stage nearly all of the top-level material has been crossed off my list. ALL of the mid-level stuff is crossed off, and I only have 2 or 3 bottom-level things left. All of the major new scenes I needed to write and add in are done. All that's left is tweaking these last few chapters to reflect the changes I've already made, and to try to smooth out sentences and wordage and all that. Oh, and try to find things to cut. *eyeroll*

So I figured it would be easy to get those 45 page done during the day, before the gym. But NOOOOOO! When I sat down and went over my revision notes again (as usual) before writing . . . I had a panic attack. All of the little niggling doubts rushed in with a concerted attack and I succumbed to them. PANIC ATTACK!!! What if the stuff I've added sucks? What if it isn't working the way I think it's working? What if it isn't enough and I need to add more? What if it's TOO MUCH and I need to edit it down? What if this facade of being a good writer has been so slipshoddily produced in this book that it's transparent that I'm a hack and people will plow through my weak plot like it was tissue paper and they were the football team arriving onto the field with fans cheering them on?!?!?

*ahem*

What this meant was that I spent nearly all day going BACK to all of the brand new scenes that I'd added in and all of the scenes that I'd made significant changes to and reread them all on the theory that they sucked. What I found was that they did NOT suck, and all I did was change a few sentences here and there to make things smoother, maybe a word or two, and waste my entire morning and most of the afternoon rereading things that I didn't need to reread. I did finally convince myself that the revisions I'd already made were good and I was happy with them and they satisfied what my editor asked me to do . . . and so I did get back to new revisions eventually. But it meant that by the time the gym hit, I'd only gotten about 25 pages of new material covered. I was disappointed, because I wanted to get the revisions finished TODAY. So after the gym (and a meeting with my fellow SF&F writers at the Cyber Cafe), I got my ass back in the chair and did another 20+ pages late last night. So I'm starting today with only 45 pages or so of revisions to cover. Here's hoping I finish.

And here's hoping there are no new panic attacks between now and then. *grin*

Writing: Revisions: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND . . . it's done.

The editor-driven revisions of Well of Sorrows are done.

23 chapters
2 parts
No prologue
No epilogue
No fancy interludes in the middle
712 pages
114 pages of cut text (paragraphs and scenes I removed as useless)
197,680 words (according to Word's counter)
188,000 words (according to the standard 250 words per page approach)

Covering 70 years of one man's life. Sort of. *grin*

And I like it. The end gave me shivers. I like what I did with this. I like how it's a fantasy, but not the typical kind of fantasy (even though it has those trappings). I like my main characters and how they all turned out. I like this world.

So what's next? Well, for this book, I'll let it sit for a few days, fret over whether there's anything more I should change, and then I'll print out two copies--one for myself and one for my editor. Then I'll mail off the one copy to my editor and give the other to a beta-ready, someone who hasn't read any part of the book yet. Then I'll go to Worldcon. *grin*

I still need to write a dedication and an acknowledgments page. I'll do that while I wait for the page proofs to show up. Then I have to read the book again and can make minor changes during the page proofs phase. Minor changes meaning fixing typos and maybe rearranging a sentence or two, nothing that would screw up the pagination. No rewriting of any scenes, no inserting new scenes, not even inserting new paragraphs (unless my editor tells me to).

While this is going on, I'll also work on the "blurb" I'll use on the back of the postcards I'll have made to promote the book. I also intend to make bookmarks for this book, so I'll have to design those. Both of these project can't be completed until I get artwork for the book, so I'll probably be pestering DAW about that as well. They're probably already working on the artwork, to be honest. Or they will once they have the final version of the book from me.

And then comes the promo. I'll probably be asking some of you all to help with that when it gets closer.

But in the meantime, while I anticipate all of that fun stuff, I need to revise the short story I wrote called "Mastihooba" (thanks for all the crits all you OWWers out there!) and submit it to the anthology I was invited to . . . and then I can get to work on the next book. It will be either the new novel, new universe, Shattering the Ley (of which I'm already on the 6th chapter) OR, hopefully, the sequels to Well of Sorrows. Right now those sequels are called Leaves of Anguish and Flames of Sacrifice. I'm thinking of using the title Breath of Heaven for one of them instead, but we'll see what happens.

In the immediate future though, I see the gym. And then celebratory drinking at Delgado's with fellow writer Patricia Bray.

Signing in Paramus! and Library Donations

First off, and for the last time, today's the day! (Well, I'm posting this a little early [and a little drunk] because I'll likely not want to do it in the morning since I have to leave rather early.) A SIGNING IN PARAMUS!!! Come meet with a bunch of great authors!! Meet your favorites, chat, or come and find some new favorites!! We're all fun and we don't use half as many exclamation points in person!!!!!! The relevant info:

MULTI-AUTHOR SIGNING!

AUGUST 1st, 2009
Noon-4pm @
Borders Express
Paramus Park Mall
600 Paramus Park
Paramus, NJ 07652
including:
S.C. Butler; Barbara Campbell
Laura Anne Gilman; Jackie Kessler
Joshua Palmatier; Anton Strout


Feel free to mention the signing in your own blog if you have readers who might be interested.

Also, that library donation thing. (I usually get at least one person responding to this per month, which is a good thing.)

I've decided this year that I will continue donating hardcover copies of my first two books to libraries. So, if your local library does not have the books, send me an email at jpalmatier@sff.net with the address for the library and, if there is one, the name of the contact person for that library. If you aren't sure if your library accepts donations, or if you don't know if they have a contact person, a quick phone call to your library should provide the answer. So send in those addresses! I'll get the books mailed out ASAP.

I intend to do this all year, and hope to provide reminders at the end of each month. Unfortunately, I'll have to restrict the donations to US addresses only, due to the postage costs outside the US being rather high.

And speaking of hardcovers, if you'd like to buy the hardcovers but your local bookstore can't seem to get their hands on them, you can always get them from me. I have . . . a few copies sitting around. *ahem* Here are the prices:

Hardcover Copies:

The Skewed Throne: $15
The Cracked Throne: $15
The Vacant Throne): $20

I'd ask that if you'd like paperbacks that you get them from your local bookstore. That helps my sales record, and all bookstores should still be able to get their hands on all of the paperbacks with relative ease. However, if you've tried the local bookstore and just don't want to have them order them (or you'd REALLY like to have signed copies), I do have those available as well at $8 each. In addition, if you don't live near Binghamton, NY, but would like signed copies, you can contact my local Waldenbooks at (607) 798-7452 and arrange to have them signed for you and mailed to you.

All prices are for US addresses. I can give you a quote for the books for an address outside the US if you send me an email with the address you'd like them shipped to and then you can decide if it's worth it.

So, if you're interested in the hardcovers (or paperbacks), send me an email at jpalmatier@sff.net with what you'd like and we can figure out how to handle the payment. (I do have Paypal.) And of course, I'd be willing to sign the copies before mailing them out, personalized even, if you want.

And lastly, watch out for a giveaway in the next few weeks. The Skewed Throne is coming out in German on August 11th (in Germany, obviously) and I'm planning on a little something to celebrate, so watch this space!