SRB's Big Idea, and Upcoming Reviews

Sarah Rees Brennan, author of The Demon's Lexicon, has promised to post a short story for each week her book hits a particular (modest) sales goal. Well, the first week has passed, and she has hit that goal. So, true to her word, she has posted a short story, set in the Demon's Lexicon world, and involving one of the minor characters. If you haven't yet read the novel, do not fear--the story contains no spoilers for the novel, and can be enjoyed completely on its own.

For what it's worth, I liked it. It's about one of the antagonists of her novel, and it shows a little of why he is how he is. While not the most likeable chararacter in TDL (for me at least, though he does have a few good lines and moments), this story made me feel for Gerald. There are some parallels to Harry Potter and Cinderella, and especially to The Sword and the Stone/the tale of Arthur and Merlin. ...Although I am curious about the "American shorts" comment in the first paragraph. It's probably not flattering to those of us in the States.

Also, I do plan on doing more book reviews soon. Several, in fact. Some of them will be from well-known series (I am rereading all 7 of the Harry Potter novels, at the moment, for example), some from stand-alone books. When I review something from a completed series, I will review each book individually, then the series as a whole. So, to let you all know what will be coming, here are the next (SEVERAL) books I will be discussing:

• Chocolat, by Joanne Harris (literary fiction)
  
• STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach (creative non-fiction)
  
• Naked, by David Sedaris (creative non-fiction)
  
• The Dark Tower Series (all 7 of them), by Stephen King (fiction, fantasy, western-fantasy)
  
• The Harry Potter Series (again, all 7), by J.K. Rowling (fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult)
  

Also, I am always open to suggestions. If you want something reviewed, let me know. If I don't already have it, I will attempt to acquire it in a timely manner, read it, and share my review.

Man, I suck at titles

At present, I have 3 novels in various states of completion. In short:

Novel #1 is a completed first draft, at about 87,350 words (287 double-spaced pages). It's literary fiction, leaning toward romance. It's written in third person, present tense, and the main character's a woman in her early thirties. I have extensive notes to incorporate into the editing, but I haven't started that yet.

Novel #2 is about 60-75% written (first draft). It's currently sitting at 87,337 words (wow, so close to the completed first novel), and is 144 single-spaced pages. Oddly, I write in single-spaced, and double-space when the draft is done. It comes from a paper-writing technique that worked for me in college. It's also literary fiction, though it could also be considered mainstream fiction, I suppose. It's less "literary" than the first novel is. It's written in first person, past tense. The narrator/MC is a male, aged 26.

Novel #3 is still in the planning stages. I'm actually quite close to beginning the actual writing. This one's fantasy, most likely Young Adult (I may drop the YA aspect, but I'm not 100% set on that yet). I need to plan a wee bit more to figure out if it's more high fantasy or sword-and-sorcery. It took me 4 full days of research and brainstorming to name my main species and the assorted races within (in addition to figuring what to call the non-magical humans and what the other magical creatures/people were and what they'd call themselves). It took an additional 3 days to give my main characters (all 7 of them, plus an 8th who is the catalyst for the action/plot) names. Pronounceable names, without apostrophes. I'm currently just nailing down some of the main plot points before I begin the actual writing. It will most likely be written in third person, past tense.

There is a novel #4 lurking in the back of my head, but it's only about 20% formed. Once I solidify it, I'll post more about it. I originally thought it would be a short story, but I'm now positive it'll be at least one novel, if not a small series of them (urban fantasy).

Now, you'll notice I refer to them all as "novel #1" and so on. That's because I haven't titled them. At all. They haven't even had working titles. This is a new problem for me. I've never had a problem titling my work before this. Then again, everything before this has been short stories, novellas, plays, poems, and essays/articles. But with the novels, I fail. I have no idea why. In the past, the title of what I'm writing comes to me quite early (in fact, sometimes it's the title that hits me first, before I even have a somewhat coherent story idea). Sometimes they change. Usually, they don't.

I'm not quite sure what's up with this. I have no idea what to do about it. I'm very curious what will happen when I write my next short story--will it start out, as most of the others have, with a title that just smacks me over the head? Or will this problem carry over? I certainly can't leave these stories unnamed. It'd be awfully hard to pitch a story to an agent or editor with it nameless. I suppose that having a beta reader or two might help, just so I have someone who can tell me their impressions and with whom I can bounce ideas around (someone with an understanding of all the characters and little plot elements and such). But finding a good beta isn't as easy as many might think. Not only do you have to find someone who's WILLING to read the story (which, depending on their speed and free time, can be quite a time investment), but you also have to find someone who will help on the level you're looking for. A simple "yeah, I liked it" doesn't help at all.

Now that I've rambled about my title issues, I'm off to do a bit more planning on that third novel, followed by some actual writing on the second--I haven't done any actual writing in a couple of weeks. How naughty.

Rejected (but not dejected)

Though I've been writing pretty seriously for a good many years (since elementary school), I haven't exactly done much on the "trying to get published" front. In the seventeen or so years I have theoretically been working on getting published, I've submitted fiction a grand total of... two... times. Yes, that's absolutely shameful. I am sorry. If only you could see my head hung pitifully right now.

I submitted a piece called "Todo Estará Bien" about a year and a half ago, to Glimmer Train's Short Story Award for New Writer's contest. I didn't win, but I did make it into their Top 25. I'd have to call that story (which started life titled Conversations With My Grandmother) my strongest. I've made a few small revisions to it since then, and trust me, it will keep going out for publication in the future.

I submitted a second piece just a month or two ago, also to Glimmer Train. I submitted this one to their open call for submissions (not a contest, so there's no ranking, and they only accept one/pay one person. And the payment is approximately what they pay the 3rd place story for one of their contests). I heard back, and they won't be publishing it. Honestly, it's what I expected (they get over 4,000 submissions a year, and it's probably a few thousand over that now, since they've added new categories and such). The piece was titled "Requited". And after I got it back, I thought about it some (I'd consider it my second-strongest short story at present). I think I can make it a lot stronger. And I can do this by changing the ending. Not entirely, but I can make it hit a little harder by adding just a bit. Really, all it takes is cutting most of the last paragraph and adding another 2 or 3 more.

So, that's what I'll be doing tonight, while it's still fresh in my mind. It won't be a late night, as I have somewhere to be in the morning. Last night was a late one. I was up until after 3 a.m., working on some research so I can plot my third novel. Over 8 hours of reasearch in one night. No, the second one isn't finished yet. I'll most likely be working on that one until sometime in July. And I'll certainly post when I do finish it. And once I have any sort of income at all (and am not having to pay more in bills than comes in during the month), I will be submitting to other places. Sadly, almost everyone requires a reading fee. And I just don't have it. But come August, I promise, that will change.