One day left before I go away for 10 days holiday. The next time I post here, it will be from the thriving metropolis of Canberra. I assume you can hear the sarcasm in my voice as I say that. Canberra is NOT an exciting holiday destination. It is though, where my parents live at the moment, and I'm taking the boys to see their grandparents.
Preparing to go has been hectic. Not only have I had to do two weeks work in one at the cinema, but it's the end of the month which requires masses of extra paperwork on top of all the regular end of week stuff. So I've had to be organized. Very organized. But for once, I actually feel on top of it. Ask me again as I'm trying to get out the door at 5pm tomorrow and I probably won't be so calm!
On top of all that extra 'real' work, I've had the most intense two weeks of reviewing for my critique groups. In my YA Novel group, we had a review frenzy where we had to review as much of another writer's book in a week as we could. I'm proud to say I managed to finish my chosen book.
We have also had a two week review marathon for our novella project, I just finished reviewing my 4th novella. Okay, only one of them was completed, but it's still a lot of reviews. I'm pooped now. And apart from doing a quick once over of Prayer and Prey before sending it off to the Secret Agent, I've done no writing of my own for two weeks. It's the longest I think I've gone without writing for a couple of years, and I'm itching to get back to it.
I've had masses of amazing feedback on both my novella and Assignment 9, so will be arming myself with notes while I'm in Australia, and hope to return with a rewrite of the novella. A9 will have to wait a little because even with the feedback, I'm not sure what I want to do with it.
And David, my illustrator, is waiting for his picture book too. Do you think a policeman punishing fairy-tale characters for their wrong-doings might be too much for a kids' book? In my mind I see it as being really blackly funny, but can't be sure that children will get that kind of dark humor. I guess I have two of my own to try it out on, don't I? The pictures are incredible, although again, I'm worried they might be a little disturbing. Can we put Hansel and Gretel into the stocks? What do you think?
I feel like a wimp. Yes, I got 4 novellas done, too, plus two chapters in another group. But I have no kids and no job! :-O I feel I should have gotten more done. I'm just a slow reviewer, tortoisey-slow... Have a great time in Canberra. Your PB sounds edgy. I was working on mine today, too. I had something about getting tied with ropes, and reviewers jumped all over it. "Too scary for kids," they said. It's still in there, though.
ReplyDeleteWow...I'm like mega slacker compared to you two...Have a blast on vacation, even if the locale itself isn't all that grand ^_^
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as dark kids books are concerned - they're out there already. Coraline is the only one that comes to mind, but I know there's an entire market for it, so go for it :D
Good advice. I'll write it, then see how it looks.
ReplyDeleteI promise it won't be as black as Angels, anyway!
And Laura, your reviews are so thorough, I'm not surprised they take you a long time. They're awesome!