I’m going to try a blog hop, today. It’s called What’s Up Wednesday.
The four questions for this blog hop are:
WHAT I’M READING:
Hmm. I’m sort of between novels at the moment. I recently finished THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ, by L. Frank Baum. (That’s research.)
Right now I’m reading LET’S GET VISIBLE by David Gaughran, because this is stuff I really need to learn to do better.
I need to pull up one of those new novels on my kindle and start reading.
WHAT I’M WRITING:
I’m in the middle (almost) of the rewrite of THE IGNORED PROPHECY, which is the sequel to THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. I’m basically keeping the plot the same, but using the writing skills I’ve learned in the last six years or so.
WHAT INSPIRES ME NOW:
Well, doing a rewrite is mostly just a slog, a special kind of revision. I had the inspiration for the story six years ago when I wrote it (badly) the first time. Although I do love these characters and I’m excited and a little nervous to get through this one and on to the third book. The third book scared me back then, but I think I can write it now. It’s the book in the series (four books in all) in which everything falls apart.
I’m also starting to get excited again about my WEIRD OZ STORY. (Which is why I’ve been reading some of the Oz books.) I made an abortive start on this story about a year ago, but it wasn’t right. I had a pretty good idea what was wrong, but I needed time to figure out how to fix them. Reading some of Baum’s Oz stories beyond THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ has gotten me thinking about some new elements.
WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO:
Scattered, as usual.
Preparing for the launch of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE in a couple of weeks.
I really need to learn to this part so much better.
Finishing up the last little bits on DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING so I can start querying that one. I finished the synopsis yesterday. Now I just need to go back over the first couple of chapters.
And dealing with a lot of clean up and other business that got postponed when I got the chance to work steadily for the last six weeks (ending last Thursday.) I’ve still got several things to do before I can settle Mom’s Trust. First up, I need to prepare for an estate sale. It’s amazing how much stuff can be accumulated in 95 1/2 years, especially living in the same house for about 65 of those years. A lot of it is good stuff, but there’s just too much of it. Way past time to clear out some of it out.
Glad you’re joining us for WUW, Meredith. I’m happy to have discovered your blog! Best of luck with your rewrite. I think they’re harder than drafting the first time around!
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Some things are harder, some are easier. I’ve basically got a 100,000 word outline to work from. OTOH, there’s an awful lot of bad writing to overcome.
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I totally get the slogfest that is rewriting. I’m there too. The trouble, I find, is figuring out what to axe and what to keep. I often find myself clinging too tightly to things that probably need to go. I hope your process is going a little more smoothly. 😀
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Oh, yes. I cut five or six whole chapters out of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. A couple of those are going to be reworked into a short story/novella, though.
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Sounds like you’re super busy, but doing all sorts of good things in terms of reading, writing, and home life. :0)
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I seem to be always busy. Why don’t I make more progress? Oh, yeah. That scattered thing. 😦
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Good luck with the rewrite. Those are definitely super tricky.
Have an amazing week ^_^
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Thanks.
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Nice to meet you, Meredith! I haven’t read any L. Frank Baum yet but I’ve been to for years – I’ve heard some pretty great things about the original Oz stories. 🙂
Good luck with those revisions! Have a great week!
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The man had an absolutely amazing imagination. The things we all know from the WIZARD OF OZ (and the movie leaves out a lot) barely scratch the surface. Sometimes his storytelling frustrates me, though, so I tend to take the books in small doses.
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Sounds like you’ve got a lot happening! I know what you mean about revising often feeling like a slog – but it’s so rewarding when you’re done! Good luck with it, and have a great week!
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Too many irons in the fire. 🙂
Actually, I don’t usually mind revising. Rewriting, though, that can be harder. I have to keep reminding myself that each pass just has to be better than the last, not perfect.
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Yeah, re-writing hurts. The one I’m currently going on I wrote 10 years ago, and there’s so much in it that doesn’t make any sense now. When I come across a section that doesn’t really work I still find it hard to delete, so I often just cut and paste it into another file. That file is almost as big as the actual novel now… Sometimes I go back to it and rescue bits that I remember and could work elsewhere.
Which one of your books are you most proud of to date? Looks like you’ve been at this for a while! 🙂
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Hmm. Most proud of. I love all my book children, but . . . somehow I always like the latest one best. So, I’ll say the one I’m about to query–DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING. 🙂
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Ah, the one you’re working on now? I’ll keep an eye out for it when it’s done then 🙂
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I read every single OZ book when I was a kid. That was the first series that really hooked me onto reading. I loved every single story and quirky character. I am so intrigued by the notion of a new book that takes off from there. Sounds excellent! Enjoy the research, and good luck with the project!
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Thanks. 😀
I’m likely to include a few of the later characters like Tik-Tok. My Oz is going to be significantly more dangerous, though.
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Congrats on your upcoming release! And best of luck with the re-writes. Your Oz book sounds fascinating! I bet there’s lots of really interesting angles you could take with that. Have a great week!
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Thanks. There are a number of really interesting things to explore in the later Oz books (by L. Frank Baum, some of the others aren’t public domain yet). Plus, a few ideas of my own for my modern Dorothy.
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Yikes–thought you were done with the pre-order. In other words I thought it was “The Shaman’s Curse” was out.
Five more days I see.
And Yeah, I know I can pre-order it, but I don’t like doing that with E-books.
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Nope. It’ll be out on Monday. (Maybe late Sunday night on Amazon.) Then the real fun begins. 🙂
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