Cupid War Rewrites Begin

The notes for The Cupid War have arrived. Not as bad as I'd feared, and I'm not surprised by that one bit. To quote Mark Twain, "I've faced many disasters in my life, some of which actually happened!" Or words to that effect.

Nevertheless, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I need to put in more visual details, something I'm not very good at. I admit it - I'm all about the story and the action, with no time for the nitty gritty details. Readers, however, like and need those details. It is definitely something about my style I need to improve.

Then there are the things that seem obvious to me but are not so obvious to others. It can be interesting, learning of other people's ideas about what they think I've written. For example, I once wrote a short story about a naughty boy who discovers Santa Claus is a monster who steals youth from children in exchange for presents. The Santa creature captures the boy and takes him to the North Pole, where naughty kids are forced to work like slaves. A popular Canadian speculative fiction magazine rejected the story because they didn't think the Devil would want to punish naughty boys. Wouldn't he want to encourage them? I don't know where they got the idea that my Santa beast was Satan, but that was how they chose to interpret the story.

That was a case of an editor jumping to the wrong conclusion. Based on the notes I've looked at for The Cupid War, however, it's clear that I'm the one at fault. There were a few instances where I was sure the reader would get what I was going for, but my editor didn't. Those items will have to be fixed.

I have about a month to patch up the book. Wish me luck and success, readers!

Rewrite Blues

It's rewrite time again. At least, it will be when the guys at Flux send me their notes. Seems they had a computer crash and lost those notes, and they have to re-type them. Happens to the best of us.

But when I do get those notes, it will be time to do a new draft of The Cupid War, my next novel. I'm always a little anxious about this process, but I understand it is a chance for me to get valuable feedback. I do goof up sometimes (no really, I do), and I welcome the chance to make the book better.

There are times, however, when rewrites can be a daunting process. I still have yet to type up the last chapter of A Walk-In To Remember, the last manuscript I finished. I can't bear to think of revising that one. I've also been putting off a revision of Kids Who Know, one of my recently-finished manuscripts, for half a year now. I'm sure it will be my best novel, and that scares me; what if I re-read it and find out it's crap?

That's not the only reason, of course, or even the main one. It's my mood disorder, an affliction that has put a real dent into my productivity this year. My motivation gets sucked out of me, and I find it very hard to get things done. I suffer from depression and anxiety, and have had less success this past year managing them than I have in previous years. I'll do a blog post all about that sometime soon.

None of this bodes well for my upcoming rewrite of The Cupid War. What if they want a really big change? Both Evil? and Epoch required a couple of chapters to be completely rewritten. What if I'm not up for a major plot overhaul?

Still, anxious though I may sound, I know I'll end up doing a good job. This is my fourth novel with Flux, so it's not like I haven't managed it before. Come spring, the best possible version of The Cupid War will hit the stands. I just have to get there.

And I will.

Dreaming In Books Review

And here's another review of Evil?!!! This one is from the blog Dreaming In Books, written by John Jacobson. Check out the review by clicking here.

I'm also doing an interview with John, so check back later to see that posted.

Yay!

Guest Blog & Interview With TRT Book Club

I did a guest blog for TRT Book Club, the book club of Teens Read Too.com. I also answered a whole bunch of interview questions in my own special way. Do check it out here !

I'm over a week late with this post, but I wanted to say a little something about Polaris 24, the scifi/fantasy convention I was at July 16-18. As with last year, it was a lot of fun. I did five panels, I sold books at my table, and I handed out promotional flyers for Evil?, Epoch, and my upcoming Cupid War. I also got involved in two geek-offs, where I competed against other genre experts on trivia questions about the Doctor Who universe, and the worlds created by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, etc). I have my friend Shira to thank for encouraging me to participate.

I only have one picture from the event:

That's me and my wife Violet standing with Captain Jack Harkness, from Torchwood. One of the highlights for me from this convention was the panel I requested and moderated: Torchwood: Children of Earth - One Year Later. If you haven't seen this fantastic miniseries, go find it right now! I'll wait.

No I won't. The panel took place between eleven and midnight on Saturday, but the room was packed! Everyone had something to say, and emotions were very high. And then Kai Owen turned up! He's the actor who plays Rhys on Torchwood, the husband to Gwen Cooper. He's a terrific guy with a heck of a sense of humour, and he added a great deal of insight to the panel.

As with last year, I felt a profound sadness when the weekend was over. I want more! MORE!

And I got more. I made a lot of new friends, most of whom I've found on Facebook. Not all of them, however - Nick Lowry, if you're reading this, I need help finding you!

Naturally, I can't wait for the next con.

Polaris Coming!

In one week's time I will be back at Polaris, another great Toronto-based Science Fiction convention. Last year I had tremendous success promoting Evil? and selling books, to say nothing of the grand time I had meeting fans and doing discussion panels. I look forward to having another excellent time, and hopefully get the word out about The Cupid War.

This year I've managed to snag five panels. I tried to get on to some writing panels, but the only ones I did get all have to do with the British TV series Torchwood and Harry Potter. Not a bad thing - Torchwood is a great show, after all - but I did hope to talk to people about the writing process. Curiously, they still haven't responded to my request to be an author guest. Seems I still have a way to go before the organizers treat me seriously.

A shame, because I love their conventions. I plan to keep going for many years to come.

Who's Honouring Me Now?

I can't help but steal a line from Stephen Colbert. The man is tremendously quotable!

I was delighted to get an email from the good people from Nerds Heart YA, who are currently doing a contest to draw attention to young adult literature. They wanted Evil? to be part of the contest, and who was I to say no? Do follow the link and check out the progress of the contest. And keep your fingers crossed for Evil?!

Nicole, the blogger at Linus' Blanket, is the one judging my book. She was kind enough to interview me for her blog, and asked some great questions. Follow the link to see my replies!

One of the replies to that interview really touched me. I'll reproduce it here:

Sandy
June 16, 2010 at 6:45 PM
This guy is FUN! I enjoy hearing from all kinds of authors, but this one seems to absolutely love what he is doing. That has to translate to his work. I’m so glad he is being recognized through this competition. Nice job and nice questions, Nicole!

She's right, I do it because I love it. Thanks, Sandy!