A few small things.
I finished the less-than-rough draft of Knight of Cups. Is it a zero draft? A first draft? Not quite? Maybe it’s a zero-point-five draft. I’d throw confetti if I had some.
Good news and bad news about the thing: good news, I have the whole shape of the story and I think it doesn’t suck; bad news, the length. It’s “that awkward stage,” 70K words. Too long for a novella by about ten thousand words… and a very very short novel. I’m not sure what to do about that right now. I know I’m wordy but I don’t see chopping 10K words out of it without doing violence to the story. I certainly could spend some time on the backstory between Gabe and Philippe, my main characters… but the pacing of the story seems about right now and I’m not sure where that would go.
My next task is to find a first reader willing to take a look at the whole thing.
In other writing-related news:
- The Wand that Rocks the Cradle is due out in October. “Bellwethers Know Best” will appear in it. They’re working on the cover right now.
- I sent off 2500 words to the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference Contest, in the Speculative Fiction category.
- My Falstaff editor let me know that Aluminum Leaves should be out in late fall, in time to debut at ConFusion in Michigan, in January. Yes, I think I’ll be going to Michigan in January. Please send thoughts and prayers.