July 2010 Archives

Mayor Mandel and Ungentle Debaters of #ecca:

If we could first know where we are and whither Twitter is trending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into the 15th year since a plebiscite was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to the airport debate. Under the operation of that plebiscite, that agitation has not only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this city cannot endure, permanently, half #ecca and half #eia. I do not expect the city council to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of #ecca will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the province, old as well as new, North as well as South. I urge all in the debate to see the facts beneath the emotions and seek a solution that benefits all Edmonton. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see a play at Ford's Theater.

I was doing so well on the first two books in the Sasquatch series. I cleaned them up and all I have to do is cycle through for a quick polish and I can send them off. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I started reading the third manuscript in the series, then my heart sank. Oi, the third manuscript is an eyesore. I have to pull it apart and rebuild it nearly from scratch. The plot is unfocussed. The characters are non-existent. The descriptions are a joke. Sad to say that I have some work to do on this draft before I can send it.

The good news is that I had asked the publisher for some time to deliver the first draft. I'll spend this week shining up the first two manuscripts, send them off by the end of the week, and then use the month that I have to retool the third book. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to generate enough momentum to get cooking on the fourth book in the series.

Anyway, it's a setback and I'm not happy about it, but I'd be even more cheesed if the editor saw this shoddy manuscript.

Apologies for not blogging, but my time has been eaten up with revisions to my 3-book series. I'm about halfway through the second book and I hope to finish by the end of this week, so that I can tackle the revisions to the third book in the series before I take off for summer vacation. Nose to the grindstone this week.

I'm on a lazy writer's schedule, pecking away at revisions to A Close Shave and procrastinating from reviewing Code Breakers Club. Summer has a way of making me not want to sit in my basement. Thankfully, it's raining today, so it will mean I should be mildly productive.

The weird thing is that I'm suddenly reading everything I can get my hands on. I'm doing research for a potential y/a book about Harry Houdini. I'm reading The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. I just finished the Passage.

I'm printing A Close Shave this morning so I can shine up the manuscript in preparation for the editor. I know the editor will kick the manuscript around and give me feedback but I want to make his job easier by catching any gross errors now. It's exciting to jump into a brand new series, but scary at the same time. In some ways, I feel like I'm getting ready for my first day at school. The only thing I'm missing is a Hello Kitty backpack.