Archive for the ‘questions answered’ Category

Writing How-To: Revisions

A reader emailed me a writing question a few days ago, and gave me the all-clear to use its answer as a blog post, so I’m going to give it a shot. The question (and its surrounding commentary, which I thought was relevant) follows:

I know that some authors find rewriting easier (in some ways) than the initial creative process. Me, I can whip something out of nothing without breaking a sweat. But whenever I try to approach the highly necessary rewrite of my recent novella, I get almost immediately overwhelmed by the minutiae of things that need tending to. I am pulled this way and that, trying to keep track of the myriad of details that need to hover simultaneously in my forebrain–and I end up just fiddling with the niggling little grammar nits, polishing word choice, questioning whether that adverb is really necessary, and reassuring myself that all the independent clauses are safely sequestered within their parenthetical commas.

Consequently, the real work–that is, deleting scenes and rewriting the whole cloth of large sections–goes undone because of these distractions of questionable value. Sometimes, I think I might be better off deleting the damned thing and starting over from scratch.

So, my question: In your subsequent drafts, how do you keep the story from getting in the way of your rewriting?

Answer behind the cut.

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TQB reprint & other news

I’ve been informed by my editor that THE QUEEN’S BASTARD has gone back to print for a fifth time. Presumably this is in response to a sales jump accompanying THE PRETENDER’S CROWN release, so I’m utterly delighted. Thank you all so much!

Someone asked recently if there would be more books in the Inheritors’ Cycle. I have plans for 2 or 3 more books in that series, but I haven’t yet sold them to Del Rey, the publisher for that series. I’ll be writing up a proposal toward the end of the summer, so hopefully I’ll have more information about whether the series will continue by the end of 2009.

In the meantime, DEMON HUNTS, book five of the Walker Papers, has been completed and delivered. There is, however, still time to bid to become a character in that book, and if bidding on both my auction items combined (the Irish gift basket is here) goes over $450 by the close of the auction on Sunday, I’ll write a new Walker Papers or Old Races short story for my internet audience. :)

And speaking of the Walker Papers, the mass market editions of books 1-3 should be available now! I’m ridiculously excited about these, as they’re my first mass market releases under the CE Murphy byline. May they be the first of many!

*laughs*

In an impassioned plea from comments, Heather writes:
I see with dismay and a tinge of mournful disbelief that your Negotiator series is billed as a trilogy. :( Only three? Could you so easily leave this fantastic world you’ve created? If it must be a trilogy, can you nevertheless continue with Margrit and the Old Races in another series? Oh, please!

Margrit’s story will be wrapped up with the third book. I do have about eight other ideas for stories set in the Old Races world, and she may be a supporting character in some of those, but writing them is a long way out: I’m planning to finish the Walker Papers before I go back to the Old Races, so it’ll be several years before I return to that world.

The good news is that there’ll be a Janx and Daisani short story in an anthology published by Subterranean Press released next year (I think released next year o.o), so there’ll be at least a hint here and here of more of the Old Races. :)

ah, the life of a writer

Hey, everybody, I’m back again. Whew. :)

Fell down the stairs on a bus a couple days ago and am a seven-fingered-typist right now; I jammed the holy living crap out of my fingers and while it doesn’t hurt all that much, it looks just *awful*:

That was yesterday. It’s better today, but man, my 12K wordcount goal this week has been shot. *squinchy face*

Fortunately last week was a terrific writing week and I got 30,000 words–a little more than 1/4th of the length of one of the Walker Paper books, or pretty much exactly the length of “Banshee Cries”, for reference–written. I’m working on THE PRETENDER’S CROWN, sequel to THE QUEEN’S BASTARD (which is out in May), and had I not smashed my hand I’d have made the halfway point by today. Bah. Oh well, not much to be done for it.

Lots of people’ve asked questions in comments, but for today I’ll bring up the most recent and answer it (this is something I’m going to try to get into the habit of doing!).

Thelma H said:
Cate: Loved your Bombshell Books. Will you be writing anymore of that type?

Sadly, not for the foreseeable future. The Strongbox Chronicles were actually planned as a 12 book (or maybe 13 book) series, with 4 trilogies, each starring a new heroine and a new aspect of the Sicarii to face down (and then possibly one blow-out final book which would’ve been called THE THIRTEENTH CHRONICLE). However, with the combination of the Bombshell line being cancelled and my schedule of writing CE Murphy books being so very busy, any further development of the Strongbox Chronicles has been put on a very back burner. I’d love to go back to them someday, but if I do it’ll be years down the road.

-Catie