Ready to write!

If I could show you a picture of my brain right now, this is what it might look like. Things are firing all over the place and I'm running as hard as I can. Metaphorically, of course.

Why? Because I've decided to write today. To pursue my goals one little step at a time. I've done my other work that was due today, I've prepared by pinning some lovely pictures of Dublin on my virtual board, I've brushed my teeth, fed the cat, filled my hot water bottles and am cozied up in my armchair in my sleeping bag with my Tardis blanket round my shoulders.

This is as ready as I've been in months. So what am I going to do?

Today I'm starting with a major rework of Cyberdublin that will see almost every scene relocated as I jumble up the linear timeline. It's just a little too straight-laced for my liking and I think I can create a more effective buildup if I arrange it differently.

Wish me luck!

Faith Awakened becomes A Guildswoman’s Dream: What’s Changing

Readers of Faith Awakened will notice many familiar things about A Guildswoman’s Dream. It is essentially the same story, about the same people, told in different events and different words. Once I knew I had to redo it, I began with a hard look at my reviews, finding the things readers thought I could have done better. I tried to hit them all, insofar as I agreed.

I changed the voice from first person to third, and past tense throughout. A technicality—but I write better that way now and it’s easier to read. Where I had been vague in places, I got a lot more specific. Indeed, the whole initial plotline has been tweaked and beefed up with additional action.

The main change is that Mariah’s undercover group is no longer a persecuted church, but a clandestine food co-op. It makes so much more sense to stay close to the theme of hunger and survival. Most religious content has been removed, though the characters may still utter a prayer in their day of desperation—but who wouldn’t? Fact is, I want this to reach beyond the goldfish bowl of “Christian fiction”. So yes, I felt free to have my characters swear a tad bit more when their situations warranted it.

I know there will be some of you who love the old version and are sad at the changes. But think back to the story. Weren’t there so many places you wanted more details? Well, you’re getting them now. I just feel privileged to be able to revisit my first novel, fix its shortcomings, and bring it up to where I am now both personally and as a writer—with the help of a highly competent editor.

The old version, Faith Awakened, will likely be available used for years even after A Guildswoman’s Dream comes out, however, if you want to read the companion volume A Guildswoman’s Journey, it does link in to the new edition rather than the old.

Life is change, and I’m excited to make this story better than it’s ever been.

Faith Awakened becomes A Guildswoman’s Dream: The Why

It’s been six years since I self-published Faith Awakened. Print on demand was a new thing then. I learned much from the success of Jeremy Robinson and his unflinching stance on quallity, whether it be in the writing or the design.

So I ran it through about 20 critique partners, took over half their comments on board, had a kick-ass designer do my cover art, learned typesetting, and sent out a bunch of review copies in print, as was usual in those days.

That first edition of Faith Awakened sold about 500 copies in a year. Not bad for a first try, they say. And it got some great reviews. I was happy.

Then, in 2011, Chila read it. Soon after, she asked if I’d consider republishing it under Port Yonder Press, with a little updating and polishing. Sure, I was keen. She understood the heart of my writing and I had also been much inspired by hers. And I am curious to see what can be done by having a publisher on US soil. My little book had gone as far as it could by itself.

We both thought we’d just update the text a little bit. But when we sat down to do so, absolutely nothing would come. Slowly it dawned on me that the entire book needed to be rewritten. I am not the writer I was at 21 when I began that work, nor the one who published it at 28. I’m better.

Writing Update, August 2013

I’ve got a bunch of projects on the go right now, so I thought I’d give you a rundown. On the “all mine” side is everything Avenir. I have a 12-part serial that just needs some clearing up of logical inconsistencies (with thanks to Travis for the help!) and then I also have the novel project, Pride and Prejudice in Space, which I’ll probably also attack as a serial for motivational purposes. All of this Avenir stuff will likely be self-published after proper edits.

On the “I have a publisher!” side (yay!), the 2 books contracted to Port Yonder Press are complete and under edits by the fabulously uncompromising Chila Woychik. However, we recently realised that those two books fall towards the end of the timeline I’m writing, as there’s also Cyberdublin—a manuscript I wrote five years ago in Ireland, whbich goes back two generations before the events in A Guildswoman’s Dream (formerly known as Faith Awakened—more on the reasons for that in another post).

So my immediate plan of attack is to revisit Cyberdublin, brush it up to best quality, and if it’s good enough, Chila might publish it under PYP as well. Then I can start thinking about its sequel Space Brain, any possible tales of the following generation, and after that, some origin stories that take us up to the beginning of A Guildswoman’s Dream and A Guildswoman’s Journey (which both run in approximately the same timespan).

Oh, and if Cyberdublin isn’t “good enough”? I think I’ll work on it until it is. Because, you know, there’s not much point otherwise.