‘Novellas’ Category

  1. The End And The New Year

    December 31, 2011 by Megs



    Once again, I grossly miscalculated. This time the miscalculation worked out in my favor! I’m so much closer to the end of the book than I thought! While exciting, it’s going to take some elbow grease on my part. I have to write the last seven chapters from scratch, and unlike when I wrote the final 7k the first time, I don’t intend doing it in a day.

    College is back in session on the 10th, and I intend finishing the first round of revisions on the 5th. It’ll be great having it out of the way! By my initial calculations the revisions would take eight months. I’m pleased that I’m finishing three months ahead of schedule! Once I bucked up and resolved to revise 7k a week things really got going!

    My critique group, provided nothing comes up between now and then, will finish going through it around February 14th. Accidental perfect timing on my part because it’s the exact date of the 20 year anniversary. I might need a cupcake. ;D

    Overall, I like the new direction Darkmore went in. I’ve said before the first draft wasn’t bad it just wasn’t the right. Of course, that’s just conjecture on my part. Darkmore has drifted from straight up romance and naughtiness all the time to a bit more of a action-romance still with the same naughtiness. ;D Instead of things concluding with a mere whisper of a warm fuzzy, I’m hoping that the new conclusion reads with the same emotional punch I’m visualizing. I want people cheering with the new ending instead of settling down with a ‘oh isn’t that nice….’

    I’m also kind of tired of being totally spoiler-free with talking about my stuff. I want to tell the world with all the tasty bits! I realize in the game of publishing that’s not a good idea. Alas!

    Also, I’ve busted out my calendar and blocked out my writing schedule for the new year. The table breaks down as follows:

    January 5th Darkmore Revision 1
    January 19 Darkmore Sequel Synopsis
    January – End of April 10-9 Revision 4
    May 12th 10-9 Sequel Synopsis
    May – July Draft Grow
    June 6th Submit Darkmore
    End of July – Mid September Expand Pawn Takes Rook
    October – First Week of December Revise Americana Fairytale
    December 5 Submit 10-9
    December 22 Americana Fairytale Sequel Synopsis

    Table Code Here

    Posting it here for accountability sake, plus I’ll stick it up on its own page so I can have a check off list as I go. I’m happy about it. I’ve managed to fit everything in I wanted to do in 2012. I guess it’ll be the Year of Revision and I can only imagine 2013 will be the Year of Writing.

    Happy New Year everyone! May you accomplish all of your goals!


    Category 10-9, Americana Fairytale, Darkmore, Grow, Novellas | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. Crossing That Finish Line

    December 9, 2011 by Megs

    Remember that anthology story I said I was starting way back in this post? Yeah. After dealing with school work and a bit of beating my head into the wall, it’s done.

    The only problem is I overshot my goal of 12k and ended up with close to 15k. Unless there’s three thousand words I can just dump, which hopefully there is, my chances of making the anthology have become slim to none. On the bright side, the potential for publication as a stand alone novella has increased exponentially.

    The lovely little tale I call Pawn Takes Rook and stars a first person POV by a guy that’s had way too much caffeine and too little sleep. The prose kind of bounces all over the place like a kid without his Ritalin….

    For fifteen thousand words. Also no chapter or section breaks because it reads like one long, long, long stream of consciousness rant only with an actual plot.

    Overall, I’ve created characters I feel proud of. The protagonist and resident spaz-monkey is a young hipster fellow by the name of Hogarth Dawson. I chose the name as a reference to Burne Hogarth, the guy responsible for the Dynamic Figure Drawing books. And honestly, I can’t imagine Hogarth with any other name. It’s one of those things that just fits him. He’s very peppy, a bit nerdy, and for a technopath has no idea what Deloreans are but loves giant robots. He’s definitely more than meets the eye. Oh a pun~

    His partner in crime is a near seven-foot tall, blond and brawny Viking by the name of Memphis Rook. When it comes to Rook, let it be known I never throw anything out. His first name was recycled from Memphis Archer, the self-esteem lacking protagonist in my failed culinary-student-in-love story Doughboy. Once again, it was just a name that clicked in and worked. In writing Rook, I realized I had tapped into the very first superhero I had ever created as a small child, D Westbaylen.

    Westbaylen to this day is a username I practically use everywhere because the chances of it being used is absolutely zero. I’m even the variation Westiebee on Twitter. I haven’t written the character in nineteen years because I hated what he had become. He went from being a sarcastic and likeable badboy to being a completely deplorable anti-hero bordering on being a villain. Writing him in those days since I had changed him up never put me in a good place in my head and usually left me depressed for days.

    Rook I realized is what Westie started out as. Sarcastic, likeable, and with just enough sexy badboy mojo. I was never at a loss for a zinger, or a one liner, or a pun when writing his dialogue. He never felt stiff. Like I was trying to create something that just wasn’t there. He flowed easily, and his motivations were always clear in my mind. His fondness for 80s trends and gadgets was a charming quirk that pretty much materialized out of thin air.

    Whether Pawn Takes Rook makes the grade in the submission process or not, I’m going to make the vow not to beat myself up over it if it doesn’t. While the usual Five Guys Burger and Fries of Rejection is delicious, I need to find healthier avenues of dealing with my moping. Like going to the gym and turning the moping into positivity.

    Still, hey, I wrote a friggin’ novella with an all new world, new style, and new characters… That’s nothing to sneeze at.

    And now I will sip my Coffee of Victory. Cheers!


    Category Novellas, Real Life, Short Stories | Tags: ,, | No Comments