Too much on your ‘to do’ list? Life getting away from you? Drowning in things you’d rather not think about? Join the club. You’ll get no easy answers from me. (and it could be worse... I could be linking you to the Boomtown Rats... their Monday is DISASTROUS)This is my first Monday back at the ‘day job’ since mid June and I find myself needing to clean house. It’s as if nobody has been minding the ship for eons, possibly because when I only work 4-day weeks, I have to do what I have to do, but I DON’T have to do any non-urgent tasks because there just isn’t time. Just the FILING could take hours—urgh!
But the job isn’t even the only domain…
Work in Progress Progress…
Most of you know about 2 weeks ago I really got going on a book that had been but a smoldering idea up to that point. I’m currently calling it LEGACY, the first in the CONSPIRACY Trilogy that was formerly a single ‘spy novel’. The trilogy is about three families, interconnected through an international art smuggling ring… to put it in the broadest possible terms, but the first book is just about the KIDS of two of those families… and the legacy they’ve been stuck with because of their parents’ choices.
Anyway, I am now in the middle of Chapter 13—possibly the half-way point, or there abouts…
My son asked me last night about the book and then he asked how long it would be and I said I thought there would be 3 books that were about 250 pages each, and he said, “well that sounds better, instead of 1000 pages for one.” Keep in mind he’s ten. Oi! I love his humor, and the fact that clearly he’s paying attention, though in my defense CONFLUENCE was only 759 pages at its peak—so this broad story is about the same, it just splits nicely into three.
The Plan…
Keep going as long as this hurricane flows! I actually intend to write all three before coming back to edit. I love trilogies, but I’ve read enough and written enough to know sometimes you want to change something that happened early on—even just between writing and typing there’ve been a few things… so I feel like I don’t want to do any real editing until the whole story is down. That way I also can, when trying to sell the first, say it is the first of a trilogy for which the others are written and being edited.
The Problem…
I can actually SEE the layers of grime accumulating in my house. The beds need changing, the bathroom needs scouring, the basement needs bulldozing… I am in writing mode and writing and cleaning are apparently mutually exclusive. I’m wondering where I might find me a house boy…
On the Agent Search
I heard from one Friday… the one I really wanted… “Sorry, but no thanks.” I’m sad, but I still have 9 out there and we hit 5 weeks tomorrow… My fingers are crossed. As I go gangbusters on this next book though, it starts to get more appealing to think CONFLUENCE might be easier to sell after other success… I maybe could even go back to the long version I loved so much—sure it would need editing and cleaning, but editing and cleaning to make it perfect, not to make is shorter… I’d like that much better…
3 comments:
I can only imagine what my house looks like right now with my husband and children trying to clean it while I'm gone! (Or not clean it. :) ) I think your plan for 3 books sounds perfect, Hart. And don't worry too much on the agent....I was rejected once by the agent I have now!
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
And the lesson today IS HOW TO DIE!
(...And then the bullhorn crackles
And the captain tackles
With the problems of the how's and why's
And he can see no reasons
'Cos there are no reasons...)
Sorry, I just read your FB link on the madness of the US system ;)
Anyway, Legacy sounds (and looks ;) ) good from here; surely a 250 page book that's the start f a trilogy is a much better opener, a good position to start negotiations from? :)
As for the grime... Surely Mexicans can be had in the north too? ;)
Forget the layers of grime - you an either have a clean house or go senile, and I would rather you have your wits about you. After awhile you just stop noticing it!
Thing Two is one smart kid - people are more likely to pick up a 250 page book, and if they like it come back for the second and the third. A 1000 page book looks much more indimidating.
And thank you for reminding me of a song I loved when I was growing up,but haven't listened to for ages.
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