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Talk About Your W.I.P.
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Right now, I'm working on two novels, a suspense/romance and a suspense/sci-fi. I'm excited about the both of them, but a little more about the sci-fi. This is my first attempt at this genre.
What I'm more excited about is the evil mummy that's in the storyline. I really have to make this character scary and live up to his evilness, which means research, research, research. If anyone knows of some good books, or movies, that would help, I'd appreciate it.
And one other thing, I say sci-fi, but am not sure. There is a traveler from space, but the storyline takes place mainly on earth. Sooooo....
Okay, I was going to create a new topic thread, but Groovy already posted here, so I'll just follow her example :-p Sorry. David. Blame Groovy!!! Typical Tennessean thing to do :-p Um, let's see: I "wrote" a science fiction novel several years ago, called Climbing Back to Zero, and submitted it (via snail mail -- some pretty big postage from Australia, let me tell you!) to the four major New York publishers still accepting unsolicited manuscript submissions at the time (Daw, Tor, Ace, Baen -- none of the others would accept submissions without an agent). After ten months or so I gradually started receiving letters back from them. To their credit, they all took the time to send a form letter. But I don't think my submission ever made it out of the slush piles.
After that I decided to focus on writing short stories and submitting them to magazines (mostly online ones). This, and work, kept me occupied for a while, but then family life got very crazy and intense (the details of which I won't go into, but suffice to say that we were in pure survival mode for a few years there, and are still reeling from the ordeal).
Fast forward to last year, when I decided to have another look at Climbing Back to Zero. It didn't take me very long to realize that it was a big pile of unpolished stinking crap; no wonder those publishers had rejected it. Maybe it was the perspective of time away from it that helped me see that, or perhaps I'd matured as a writer. In any case, I decided to "fix" it. Ever since then, when I have had time (which has not been all that often, due to several unforeseen life events), I have been editing, re-editing, fixing problems, re-writing sections, trying to make Climbing Back to Zero a better story.
So far so good. I can say that I am very satisfied with the first half of it, somewhat satisfied with the next quarter of it, and still very unsatisfied with the last quarter of the book, including the ending. So, that's what I'm working on now :-) Once I finish, I'm going to try the self-publishing route rather than spend another year waiting to hear from agents & publishers.
My next project will either be to compile a book of sci-fi short stories (several of which are written, waiting to be published), or dive back into another novel of which I have written roughly (and yes, "roughly" as well) 60,000 words. It's the first in a trilogy of fantasy novels that I've been daydreaming about for a very long time.
Sorry for being so long-winded :-) Blame the coffee.
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Ya know, I think that could be sci-fi as a subgenre, but the main genre doesn't sound like it is. And anyways, if you call it sci-fi people will expect some space ships and such.
Sorry, but no I don't know any research or books that would be helpful for that. Sigh. If I find anything, you'll be the first person I let know :)
Gaines wrote: "Okay, I was going to create..."
Sounds very interesting, Gaines. I'm with you in the "correcting an entire book" boat. It can be very tough, but keep it up! It's great that you're happy with the first half already.
I'm also with you on the fantasy-novel dream. I tried to write one, even got it finished, and then left it alone. Guess we'll see how this journey goes.
As for right now, I'm a little sick and a lot sick so I probably won't post for a day or two. Good luck to both of you and keep up the fantastic work ;) And Groovy, tsk tsk at your rule-breaking.
I swear, I feel like I've been through so many bouts of writing something and then giving it the finger and storming off until the writing bug comes back to bite me in the rump again. SO...this time I've actually reached a place where I feel like giving up my current WIP isn't really an option. I've written short stories in the past, mainly M/M Romance pieces ***Side note: I actually wrote my first M/M Erotica piece when I was in high school and submitted the 50 pg. story in my portfolio *snicker* To my teacher's credit however, he didn't even bat an eye. I was rather proud of that story.*** Anywho, as I was saying, this current WIP feels like it has its hooks in me and won't let go...so that thrills me to some degree and I'm blasting my way through the first draft.
The WIP is called 'Wink', which will be book one of a fantasy trilogy I'm calling 'Wishbound', about a boy who is a Wink - a nearly extinct feline-like race of humanoids whose tails are marked with stripes that grant wishes- and who is also a thief. His thieving however will land him in deadly waters when he steals a valuable relic from the palace, a relic that threatens to expose the king's treachery as well as his own dark and strange past.
It's basically going to be equal parts m/m fantasy romance with lots of adventure aspects.
Here's the concept artwork I created for the cover, it's not really the finished or polished work...but I wanted something I could look at and be inspired like "One day...this awful feeling of complete literary failure shall pass and you will hold a book in your hands that is yours and it shall look something like this..":
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David, get better. Lots of rest. Catch up on your reading.
Groovy - the book I'm working on is about a mummy...albeit not an Egyptian one. Mine is this guy coming back to life - http://www.scnow.com/article_1c1d6d4c... I guess I'd suggest the Egyptian Book of the Dead?
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I gue..."
They aired that story on the news a couple of weeks ago, poor guy.
You're writing a book about a mummy, too? What? I can't wait to read your synopsis. Thanks for the suggestion.
I tried writing about my mummy but ended up writing about my daddy.
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I'm glad you're doing better, David.
Oh, were you under the weather? That's no fun. Glad you're better now.
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Hello all,I do not have a WIP, but I do have a recently released-November 2018-book Two Minus One: A Memoir that some of you may find interesting. Two Minus One: A Memoir is a personal story of betrayal and loss. In it, Kathryn Taylor shares a detailed account of how unexpected hardship leads to the discovery of untapped inner strength, enlightenment, renewal, and a triumphant new beginning. Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by Kirkus Reviews. I am a Goodreads Author and I will supply the link to my website if you are interested in learning more. I certainly appreciate all of your support, insights, and comments, and I look forward to getting to know lots of you on a more personal level.
http://bit.ly/2minus1
I am happy to announce that through May 13th, my book has been reduced to $.99 so makes a very affordable read. Of course, if you pick it up and enjoy, a review will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your support!http://bit.ly/two-minus-one
Howard County Mystery #4, A Day For Bones is coming! Here's the cover:
The description will follow soon. My Story Corner newsletter readers get to see it first. Subscribe (https://www.daleelehman.com/free-eboo...) to jump to the head of the line!
Anna wrote: "Congratulations on being nearly there!"Thank you!
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Groovy wrote: "Congratulations, Dale. Impressive cover."Thank you! I found my cover artist on 99Designs a few years ago. He's done great work for me at a very reasonable price. I recently found out that he lives in Siberia, which may be why his prices are so good. ;-)
Hello everyone, I have a WIP at the moment but feeling a bit stuck. I am trying to write a sequel to my first book but does anyone write a sequel to a memoir? My first publication at first was meant to be a memoir but then ended up being multi-genre and vendors are putting my book under all sorts of categories. I think I will take a chocolate break now and maybe it will catapult me. : )
L.C. wrote: "I have a WIP at the moment but feeling a bit stuck. I am trying to write a sequel to my first book but does anyone write a sequel to a memoir."I've seen a few. Although it was more autobiography than memoir, Issac Asimov wrote one that was so long the publisher split it into two books. I've seen a few cases where someone will write memoirs focusing on different things. (A prominent Baha'i from the mid-20th century wrote one that focused on his family and another that focused on the search that led him to become a Baha'i.) I'm sure there are other cases out there and probably a number of workable approaches to it.
If you don't know what to put, here's some suggestions.
Expected length and how much you have written ... Genre of your W.I.P. ... Title ... What you like best about writing it ... What some challenges have been writing it ... What review you have so far ... Just say anything you want :)
If you're struggling wth your W.I.P., I know there are many of us here who would be glad to help or point you to somebody who can. This isn't only a "connect" group, it's also a "support" group.