Month: April 2010

bookmark_borderNow, For the Title…

Posted on by PaulaO

Now I need to come up with a good title for the book.

It started out as Simple Sarah and has maintained that all along. The first version was this huge honkin’ thing and I knew it would have to be broken down into parts.

At that point, when I was sure there would be three books, they were called The Blessed, The Graced, and The Divine. It fit because the first book was about Sarah (the Blessed), the second was to be about Lea (the Graced) and the third was a culmination of the other two and some other stuff tossed in (the Divine). But I am thinking that Lea’s book (which chronologically takes place before the others) would be best saved for after the others are done. But I have another idea that may still fit the title.

If I keep Simple Sarah, I need to come up with something similar for the second book and I can’t, not if Lea’s book is put off (it would have been named Long Lea). Then there’s the naming of the third, which I am drawing a complete blank on in terms of this theme.

Another problem is I know I have enough written and in my head for the second book, but I’m not sure I have enough for a third.

I could go with Simple Sarah and just figure out the other titles as I go. When they are all done, be that two or three, I can update the sub-titles then. I’ve already decided the first book will not say “Book One of the Something Cool Here Series” ’cause that means I’m expected to write more than one more ’cause you don’t have a series with just two books in it. I had considered “Book One of the Castanea Chronicles” but, again, that’s assuming there’s more than two books.

Did I just ramble on enough? Wander about in the thickets of my mind a little too much?

Summary:
Simple Sarah – with the other(s) getting non-themed titles
The Blessed – with the others getting the other two mentioned above (which would mean Lea’s prequel getting an odd title)
Castanea Chronicles: The Story of Simple Sarah – would make the other books fit I guess. Even Lea’s book would fit. Hmm….

bookmark_borderEdits Done!

Posted on by PaulaO

Okay, done with that round. It came out to 117,574 words. The pages came to 391 but that is with .5″ margins. With the publisher’s submission guidelines of 1″ margins, it comes out to 501 pages. Whoa! Big difference! Wait, I use Verdana when I type ’cause it’s so big. Changing to Times New Roman….Wow. That shrunk it down. 399 pages now. In comparison, BGCFA final copy (with chapter breaks and other stuff) came to 78,303 words and 302 pages. So after the chapter breaks are put in, Simple Sarah is going to be huge. Coooool.

Anyway, I diverted myself.

Next, off to the beta readers!

Then, edit in their suggestions/changes.

Then, print it out, pull pages at random, edit one page at a time*, and enter those in.

Send it off!

Hope it sells!

—

*In pulling pages at random, you see just that page. You don’t get caught up in the story. You see the words on the page as just that, words. You can see a lot of errors this way, especially commonly skimmed over errors and sound-a-like words such as their and there and they’re.

Words of advice: make sure you print it out with the page numbers! Made that mistake once….

bookmark_borderEditing Continues

Posted on by PaulaO

I realized I’d not posted in a while. Not since I went off and ranted on a few things. Nothing like gaining friends that way, eh?

Anyway, edits on Simple Sarah continue. To recap, I printed it all out (402 pages) and went through it to edit. I then started inputting those edits including hacking off bits and chunks. It ended at 121,103 and, right now, sits at 118,457 and 393 pages. I’m at a place where I’m having to pause and think and it will result first in a huge hack of words but then some other words put into its place.

It is going much slower than I thought it would. I had some issues I needed to iron out. And even still, there’s a few places where I have just decided to leave in and worry about later based on beta reader opinion and, perhaps even later if it sells, the editor’s opinion.

My goal is to get this damn thing done by this weekend. My self-imposed goals were not realistic but I learned a lot from them. I still want to get two BG books out this year but I will be happy to get one written and edited and sent and get the other at least written. I’ll re-evaluate that as soon as Simple Sarah is out of here.

bookmark_borderNews from The Onion

Posted on by PaulaO

Ohmygawd, check this out:

U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths

WASHINGTON—Citing a series of fatal malfunctions dating back to 1777, flag manufacturer Annin & Company announced Monday that it would be recalling all makes and models of its popular American flag from both foreign and domestic markets.

(…)

Despite fears about the flag’s safety—especially when improperly used or manipulated in ways not originally intended—sales continued unabated over the years, potentially putting billions of unsuspecting people in danger.

“At first, we wanted one of our flags in every home in America,” Burman said. “Unfortunately, the practical applications of this product are far outnumbered by the risks it presents. Millions have died needlessly, and when you ask people why, they point to the flag.”

(…)

Studies conducted by the Annin & Company research and development department revealed that faulty U.S. flags have caused more than just injuries and deaths. During the mid-1950s, the flags were found to have the bizarre side effect of causing fear, paranoia, and hysterical behavior among millions of Americans. This was dismissed as an isolated event until September 2001, when similar symptoms reemerged on a massive scale.

As hazardous as the flags may be on their own, Annin & Company officials claimed the products become even more dangerous when used in conjunction with other common household items.

“When combined with alcohol, excessive patriotism, grief, or well-intentioned but ultimately misguided ideals, U.S. flags transform into ticking time bombs, just waiting to go off,” Burman said.

(source)

By the way, it’s a joke. Mostly. Kinda.

bookmark_borderTerrorism Cont.

Posted on by PaulaO

And, to prove my point, this was in today’s news: (bolding is mine)

Feds: Militia leader told members be ready to kill

DETROIT (AP) – The leader of a Christian militia planned an elaborate, two-part training session for this month and told members it was OK to kill “anyone who might stumble upon the operation,” federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing Friday.

Details about the Hutaree’s planned training session – to be held during the second and fourth Saturdays in April – were revealed in a 17-page document prosecutors filed in response to a defense motion to free Hutaree leader David Stone while he awaits trial.

It, along with several other government filings over the past week, help paint a fuller picture of the southern Michigan-based group’s make-up and activities.

Stone and eight other suspected Hutaree members were arrested after a series of raids across the Midwest late last month and charged with seditious conspiracy, or plotting to levy war against the U.S. The self-proclaimed “Christian warriors” trained in paramilitary techniques in preparation for a battle against the Antichrist.

(…)

Prosecutors claim Stone and the others plotted mass killings of police as a prelude to a larger war against the government. In Friday’s filing and others that trickled out over the past week, they described several ways in which Hutaree members considered killing law enforcement personnel.

According to one scenario, they would place a phony 911 call, kill responding police officers, then set off a bomb at the ensuing funeral to kill many more.

In another, Friday’s filing said, Hutaree members talked about “torching the homes of police officers and then shooting them and their families as they fled their burning homes.”

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20100417/D9F4HHTG0.html

How many more of these groups are going to be found before one of them succeeds? How many people have to die before proper attention is given this situation? Substitute Christian for Muslim and this would be all over the news, people would be all in a patriotic huff, and the Republicans would be making some statement about how it is all Obama’s fault. But they weren’t Muslims planning to kill police officers or anyone else who got in their way. These were Christians.

Jihad = holy war

Crusade = holy war

War is never holy. Never.

bookmark_borderAnti-Muslim Rhetoric

Posted on by PaulaO

I am so tired of it. Really, I am. I’ve had enough.

The people who crashed the planes into the World Trade Towers, the Pentagon, and those that wound up in the dirt in PA – yes, they were Muslim. They were twisted people who used their version of the Islamic laws to condone doing something very evil.

Eric Rudolph who bombed several gay bars, several abortion clinics, and even the Olympics in Atlanta is a Christian. That guy who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma and his friends that assisted him, they are all Christians. The idiots in the Davidian compound in Waco, the followers of Johnson who drank deadly Kool-Aid, and the old geezer Alamo who molested dozens of girls – they did all that in the name of their God, with their twisted version of Christianity to condone doing something evil.

Yet, where are the laws that says women can’t wear their hair real high? Where are the laws that say you can’t carry your Bible in the back window of your Buick?

The difference is the weapon Shrub and his handlers used. They used Patriotism. They used it to justify going to Afghanistan. They used it to go to Iraq. They used it to rename french fries and french ticklers. They used it to do all sorts of illegial activities. All in the name of Christian Patriotism. I don’t think American Patriotism had much to do with it.

We forget one thing. We, the Christians and the Muslims and the Jews, we all follow the same God. We just see God differently but it is the same God. I see Kevin as my baby brother, his wife sees him as Honey Bun, his kids see him as Dad. Same Kevin, just different view points.

My point is this: stop condemning an entire religion on the actions of a few. Even if those actions resulted in the deaths of over 3000 people (and not all of them were Americans, a fact they’ve conveniently let us forget). Going to Afghanistan was and is justified. Ridding the world of terrorism is a good thing. Never will be accomplished but trying to do it is a good thing. Invading Iraq….don’t get me started on that one. The Muslims are, on the whole, a good people. They have strong beliefs in nature, in each other. Just as I am not at fault for Rudolph bombing abortion clinics in the name of God, neither are all of them to blame for the actions of bin Laden.

Stop sending me anti-Muslim emails. So far, I’ve not responded. So far, I’ve kept my opinions to myself. Not any more.

I will not go naked in the streets just so Muslim men will commit suicide.

And Rudd of Australia did not tell Muslims to leave his nation so, no, I will not vote for him to be King of the World.

If women want to wear doohickeys that cover their faces, let them. It does no physical nor mental harm to them. Can’t say the same for high heeled shoes.

bookmark_borderPaper Edits

Posted on by PaulaO

I finished the edits already. Now to enter them and other changes into the manuscript. After that is done, I’ll send it off to the Beta Readers.

Over all, I really like this book. It has some issues here and there that I think I can fix or I can get good suggestions from the Beta Readers.

Speaking of which, any one want to be one? A Beta Reader, that is?

bookmark_borderAnd the Edits Begin

Posted on by PaulaO

I hate editing. I really do. I wish I could say I’ve gotten better at it.

But this is daunting, don’t you think?

That’s 402 pages, double spaced, .5″ margins all around, with a footer. Oy.

That small amount I’ve got separated by my finger is pages 1-83. I’m on page 50. Oy.

My printer did a good job of it. It only got itself hung up once and I hung it up twice trying to feed it paper. I only had to reprint 3 pages! Not bad. It did it really fast because I remembered to put it on “economical/fast draft” setting. Ink is expensive!

I’m doing a slash and dash type of editing right now. If it don’t forward the story, out it goes. I’m thinking a huge chunk of the beginning is going to go. So I’m glad I ended it so big.

Oh, and I’m getting a cross-cut shredder. That stuff will be mulch after I’m done with it.

bookmark_border121,103

Posted on by PaulaO

Sarah waited for the others to finish the preparations for the trip to Whitehaven. She reflected on how far she had come since she had left what seemed to be a lifetime ago. How she had changed during that time. She was more sure of herself, for one. Her faith had gotten stronger and she had no doubt Abbess Irys would be proud of her.

“I left Whitehaven to join the ranks of Servants in the best way I could. I was a simple leather crafter’s daughter. Now I am a Keeper, chosen by the goddess. Me. Sarah, daughter to Eliza.” Sarah whispered.

The Freakin’ End

121,103 words. 402 pages w/ .5″ margins.

(picture me with a glass of ice tea in one hand and 3 Musketeers bar in the other)

(to hell with glucose levels. I’m celebratin’!)

bookmark_borderAlmost There

Posted on by PaulaO

I am now over 115,000 words and still going. I am almost there, though. I’m not changing the word count goal. It will end when it is finished and not because I am over or under an arbitrary number.

Real Life has been getting in the way but hopefully I’ve got the madness down to where I can manage it AND write. I hate it when I can only done one or the other, not both.