Progress Report, in which I read from the book of Revelation

Posted on May 21, 2007 by Matthew S. Rotundo
5800 words on Petra last week, bringing the total to 81K.
 
“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done.'” (Revelation 16:17)
 
The first draft is complete, as of yesterday, around 11:45 am, CDT.
This is a Good Thing.

It’s my third novel, so I’m not as fiercely proud as when I finished the first one.  I’m pleased, of course, but I’m also already thinking about the rewrite, and about other projects that need doing.  This, too, is a Good Thing, I think, for someone who plans to make a career out of novel writing.

I want to put together some thoughts about what I’ve achieved (or rather, what I think I’ve achieved), what I’ve learned, and a few crunched numbers.  But that will take a little more time than I have at the moment, so it will have to wait another day or two.  Do try to contain your disappointment.

And as a little reality check against any lingering sense of accomplishment, a couple of updates for Write Club:

Of “Light Chimes,” B.K. Dunn at Trabuco Road said, “The story has a lot going for it, and I loved the description of the ‘light chimes’ themselves.  I can only say that it’s not a right match for us right now.”  Response time, 25 days.

Of “The Multiplicity Has Arrived,” Susan at Strange Horizons said, “I really liked the concept of the Multiplicity, but I’m afraid that the core suspense/thriller plot of this piece felt a little too predictable.  We . . . look forward to seeing more of your work.”  Response time, about 5 weeks.

More on this novel stuff in a bit.

So.  Anything happen while I was under?

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Progress Report, in which the end begins

Posted on May 14, 2007 by Matthew S. Rotundo
5200 words on Petra last week, bringing the total to 75.2K.
 
It is time to talk of endings.
 
I’m almost done with the first draft.  It appears that my initial estimate of 80K will be pretty darned close.  I have one more action sequence to finish, and then comes the denouement and resolution.  I’m currently tussling a bit with this action sequence, largely because I didn’t even know it was going to happen until just before it did.  The novel keeps surprising me, even in the home stretch. 
 
I’m curious to see how the ending plays, for more reasons than the obvious one.
 
You see, when I first conceived of this novel, I thought it had, as the marketing people like to call it, series potential.  My first two novels were basically stand-alones.  But I could see several other story possibilities for the world of Petra.  Now, I don’t read much series fiction–the exceptions being King’s Dark Tower books and GRRM’s A Song of Ice and Fire.  I had no intention of turning any of my own work into some mega-epic spanning fifty volumes, but I thought Petra might lend itself well to future books set in the same universe, without an overarching plot–or at least, not much of one.  The idea–and keep in mind, this was years ago, in the very early days of the novel’s conception–was that it could be a series into which a reader could jump at any point, without knowing What Had Gone Before.  I liked this concept.
 
But as I began writing the novel, I began to suspect that I may be killing off any series potential, by making the ending too final.  I didn’t want to let such considerations deter me.  The novel will be what it will be, I figured.  And I for damned sure wasn’t going to tack on some highly contrived, eleventh-hour element to keep the ending “open.”  That would be a cheat, and cheap.
 
But as regular readers of these reports may recall, I really haven’t known how this story ends.  I’m pretty sure I at last have it nailed down . . . and what do you know, it’s not so final, after all.  Oh, there will be a resolution of sorts–or at least, the promise of a resolution.  But many loose ends remain untied.  Readers could easily conclude, “Well, he’s just leaving it open for a series.”  I assure you, that was not how I planned it.  That’s just how it came out.
 
Funny how that works.
 
Anyway, those are concerns for later.  Meanwhile, I have a first draft to finish.
 

No updates for Write Club.

And I’m out.

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Prime Time

Posted on May 10, 2007 by Matthew S. Rotundo

Prime Codex, which I believe I mentioned a few weeks ago, may now be pre-ordered from the good folks at Paper Golem.

This is a collection of previously published work by members of the Codex Writer’s Group, among whose number I am counted.  I am really excited to have a story in this anthology.  “Black Boxes” is the first tale I ever sold for cash money, and now it’s become my first reprint, too.  I’m quite proud to see it in the company of work by some of the best new writers in the biz, many of whom are also friends of mine.

Go ahead, order a copy.  Or a few dozen.

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