Old stories

Recently I have, for whatever reason, gone back and re-read old stories I trunked a way back.  And I've been quite surprised by how good they are.

In fact, in the case of an old novel, I was so impressed, I wondered why I ever gave up on it.  I only queried it to about 28 agents, had a reasonable request rate, but for some reason decided to move on.  Probably because I was knee deep in another book and was so focused on that, I didn't find time to query any more widely.  Plus, all the responses I got from agents who read the MS were very similar and the problem they had with the book wasn't one I could fix through revision or rewriting.

In the case of another old book, I agree that it doesn't work as is.  But I have an idea how to make it work as a YA, and if I'm right, it's not going to take a whole lot of work to whip that one into shape.

I also read through a novella I wrote a couple of years back as part of a project with two other writers.  The whole project never came together, but my novella stands alone.  It's very different to anything else I've written.  It's very dark and gothic and grotesque and, I think, hysterically funny.  In an extremely black way.  Extremely black...  I haven't been tempted by self-publishing yet, but for this little baby, well, I think it may be the way to go.  Under a pseudonym, I think.  To protect the innocent.

So now I'm faced with a whole lot of old projects just begging to be resurrected.  Plus my new book, which is in that happy revision place now, where I know exactly what I'm doing and where I need to be.  I'm hoping to be done with this round within 2 weeks at the most.  Assuming I don't have kids home sick this week and all the other little distractions I've had to deal with this week.

Have you ever brought an old project back to life? Did it work?  And if you've self published, do you have any tips for someone who is still very on the fence about the whole idea?

Reading

I love to read, and I read a lot.  I'm always in the middle of a book.  I freak out if I'm stuck somewhere without something to read.  Luckily, since I got an i-Phone I have a Kindle in my phone so I'm never stuck without a book.  Just don't look at my credit card bills....

At the beginning of the year, a bunch of my writing friends were pledging to read a certain number of books during the year.  One said 60, another said 80.  I thought about it and decided to keep tabs on all the books I read during 2012.  Not as any kind of challenge, but just out of curiosity.  I already keep tabs on how many films I see in the course of the year because I review everything I see.

So today I opened up my spreadsheet to enter the latest book I finished, and realized I'm already over 80.  And it's not even September yet.  I'll definitely get over 100 by December 31st.  How do I manage to read this much?  I'm a little baffled.  Sure, I read on the bus going to and from work.  I read in the bath before I go to bed.  I read in bed on Sunday mornings while my partner gets breakfast for the kids.

But that's about it.  Not a whole lot of hours.  My bus trips aren't hours long (although my baths sometimes are...).  I read fast, but over 80 books?  That seems quite insane!  Especially since I haven't included unpublished manuscripts in that tally and I've read at least 10 of those this year too, and critiqued them.

How many books do you think you've read this year?

Saturn

Last night I went to a wine tasting event that was held at the observatory.  Pretty cool idea, huh?  I thought so...  I get invited to these things quite often, but rarely ever go because I have other things I'd rather be doing (like writing), but this one sounded great.  And it was!

After being herded into a kind of holding pen and given several white wines to sample, we got to go into the planetarium and shown a display about the universe.  It was quite mind blowing.  I can't get my head around how utterly vast the universe is and how insignificant a little speck we are in it.  It makes whatever is going on in my life feel really small.

But the most incredible part of the night (other than the 50 or so amazing reds there were to try) was looking through the big telescope at Saturn.  It looked just like a cartoon Saturn.  I stepped away and looked at the guy, certain this was some kind of joke.  They must have pasted a drawing or something over the end of the telescope.  No way does the real Saturn look just like it does in comics!

But you know what?  It does.  I went back to look again several times, and even though the planet had moved in the sky, it still looked like a drawing of Saturn.

Weird, huh???

That

Here's another thing I've been noticing a lot in my reviewing/critiquing of other writers' work.  The word 'that' is used way too much, and often in places it's not needed.

'That' is one of those very useful words, but in many cases, the sentence reads just as well without it.  Better usually.  I find it helpful to search my MS for 'that's, read the sentences aloud with the 'that' in there, and then without.  If it still makes sense without the 'that', it's cut.

For example:  She wants you to know that she’s visiting her mother.

If you write that sentence without the 'that', it still makes sense and in fact reads more smoothly than with it there.  See?  

She wants you to know she’s visiting her mother.

There are, of course, places where you really need to use 'that' or the sentence doesn't make sense, so don't go cutting them all out just because you realize you've got 12 on one page.....

Do you overuse 'that'?
 

Weekly progress update

Okay, so I've really made no progress this week.  I'm still revising and rewriting the same five chapters because no matter what I do, I don't believe one or another character would act like that.  Essentially, I think I've written myself into a corner.  It's frustrating.  Very, very frustrating.

I'm going to move on and hopefully some fantastic idea will smite me while I'm working through the second half of the book.  I'm just afraid that I'll do that, and when (if) I get that fantastic idea, it will change what needs to happen ahead of it.

Sometimes I wonder why the hell I even bother doing all this....

How's your writing week been?

Inked

I haven't done this in a while, so I trawled my hard drive and found this little super-short story.  It was first published in Pill Hill Press's Daily Flash anthology.

INKED

By Kate Larkindale

Like a hot iron…a momentary sizzling with lingering pain.  Again and again the needle pierces the skin.  He winces, draws in breath, but refuses to allow the tears that burn behind his eyes to fall. The girl across the room, watching with a look of amused horror as her face is sketched into his flesh.  It is flattering sure, but she isn’t sure how much she’s going to like coming face to face with herself when they make love.

The pain is huge. Overwhelming.  He was not expecting this. The girl had told him it hurt less than having your hair bleached. As the tattooist draws lines across his collarbone he cringes.  The upper arm had not been bad, but anywhere there is bone, well, that’s a different story.  He has new respect for blondes.  He grits his teeth and smiles at the girl, assuring her that he’s fine.  Every breath tastes of alcohol, ink and fresh blood.

A commotion outside the tiny studio stops needle and hurt.  He glances up, heart leaping into his throat as he recognizes the strident voice on the other side of the graying curtain. 

His mother bursts in, fury evident in her red face and blazing eyes.  The receptionist stands behind her, the permission slip, on which he had forged his father’s signature, dangling from her hand.  Silently his mother drags him from the chair.  Her hands grip his shoulders painfully, fingers digging into freshly inked wounds as she steers him from the room.

He looks back once, rolling his eyes at the girl in the corner.  He is surprised to still see traces of amusement on her face.  She smiles and gives a small shrug as she watches the outline of her face leaving on his shoulder blade.

Let me know what you think!

My other writing...

Most of you who follow me here, follow me because of the creative writing I do.  The novels, short stories and such.  That's cool.  That's the writing I love and cherish and do even though nobody's paying me for it (yet).

But I write for my real jobs too.  The writing is different, but in many ways just as creative.  You see, I write film reviews.  And finding new and interesting ways to say "this sucks' or "I love this" is always a challenge.

So if you're at all interested in seeing what I do when I'm not here, or stuck somewhere in the middle of the plot of a novel, you can find my reviews here.

If you've seen any of the films I've been reviewing lately, let me know if you feel the same way I do.  I'm always up for a longwinded discussion/argument about film.