cathschaffstump | Oct. 1st, 2008

It’s a big, big day for Maggie Stiefvater, whose novel Lament comes out today. Maggie is truly an inspirational writer. I haven’t had the good fortune to meet Maggie yet, but I have to tell you how much she impresses me. In the writing world, it is so easy to spin, moan, and worry. I have never heard Maggie do this. Her journal is upbeat and positive, and she’s always talking about the possibilities, rather than the drawbacks. I’m sure she’d disagree with me about how she feels, but she looks great in cyberspace!

The story of Lament is the story of the discovery of a good book. Lament languished in the slush pile, and was rescued from there. Then Maggie found an agent (she had to choose from 4, if memory serves!). It goes to show you that there are all sorts of ways to get published if you are patient and bide your time.

Maggie inspires me to enjoy the ride. I’m an unagented soon to be published by small press writer. This is an okay place to be for now. Right now, my life is still flexible in regard to my writing. That’s a plus. I can still explore projects I want without publishing deadlines looming over me. That’s a plus. I am enjoying the submission process and the revision process. That’s a plus. I’ve got an opportunity to write a series for kids that might get bought for film. That’s a big plus! Thanks, Sonya!

I’ll eventually be somewhere else as a writer, and maybe even soon I’ll be an agented writer, but since life is uncertain, and publishing is full of bubbles that pop at a moment’s notice, maybe I’ll just appreciate what I’ve got. It’s an important thing for all of us to remember, no matter what we’re doing, no matter where we are in our life. Maggie, thanks for making me think of this!

Champagne to you, Maggie! You can read some of Maggie’s wisdom at David Bridger’s excellent blog.

***

Oh, and Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard book also comes out today. I was lucky enough to hear an excerpt of it at Fantasy Matters in Minnesota last year, and I’ve been looking forward to it since. However, I’m sure Neil’s machine will gear up to tell you all about it.

Me, I’m pulling for Maggie!

Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.

Last night, my elbow started twittering, so I quit my writing session about 15 minutes in. The heartache! However, I managed to get this great sequence into Hulk Hercules before shucking out.

“Hera is coming over. To talk, she said.”

Hephaustus whistled low. “I don’t want to be anywhere near that.”

“She’s calmed down a lot over the years.”

Hephaustus flung back the box lid and grabbed a jumbo piece of pepperoni.

“Sure. And Aphrodite and I are getting back together.”

***

It’s now 8:11 am. I’m at Coffee Talk waiting for a 3:15 osteopath appointment. (Arm girl doesn’t drive, so a friend will take her to said osteopath when friend is finished with work at said Coffee Talk at 2ish). And I’ve had a reasonable night of sleep for someone with a head cold and a bum elbow, so carpe-frikkin’-diem! I’m working like gangbusters on the books!

***

And now, it’s 9:42 am, and I’m done with the Hulk Hercules tasks for the day. I’ve revised the Hera scene, and added the first two drafts of a Tony in science class scene, and a Bianca perspective scene, both of which I will revise next session, along with the wrestler potluck scene. My work count is current 39, 431, and the scene counter looks like this:

8 / 37
(21.6%)

The highlight of the Hercules’ day was learning about swamp gas for a much, much later scene, and integrating it earlier here.

***

Onto Substance, I finished today’s revision today at 10:30. I’ve finished the first part of the book, and I’m ready to revise into the Esme’s trial part. I’ve whacked out a lot of deadwood, but I’ve replaced a couple of scenes with older ones. The overall effect is that Errol seems more genuine, and I think the characters seem less arch than they did.

In the next section, I broaden out Milo’s role more, and work on developing those interiors. I’m feeling pretty good. Word count has increased to 72, 783, and as you can see below, we are close to having revised a third.