Matthew S. Rotundo's Pixeltown

A funny thing happened last week:  instead of making more novel notes, as I’d intended to do, I found myself following up on a few outstanding matters.  Then I did a bit of database updating.  And I figured while I was at it, I might as well see if I can find homes for some mss.  Before I knew it, I had spent most of the week getting stories in circulation, with a touch of research thrown in, just for kicks.

I’m glad to get some stuff back in the world, but I also recognize avoidance behavior when I see it.  See, I’m at a point where I need to declare a winner in the Potential Novel Project race.  I had hoped that by this time, circumstances would have dictated which way I should go.  But circumstances have persisted in being vague and noncommittal.

Darn those circumstances.

Anyway, I’m going to call it soon—definitely before I head to Launch Pad, which is (yikes!) next week.

In the meantime, some updates for Write Club:

Tier one bounce from Buzzy Mag.  Response time, 6 days.

Tier two reject from Nightmare.  Response time, 2 days.

And I officially gave up on a partial novel ms submission.  I figure that going on three years is long enough, y’know?

Right.  I’m out.

Yes, folks, you read that correctly:  the race is back on!  And I must say, it’s taken a turn for the very interesting.

In all honesty, I thought Potential Novel Project #1 had jumped out to a well-nigh insurmountable lead.  Sure, I hadn’t spent any real time on Potential Novel Project #2, but PNP1 had so much going for it that I thought PNP2 couldn’t possibly catch up.  Still, I felt I owed it to PNP2 to at least give it a fair shake.

So last week, I spent my Dream Time digging into PNP2—and almost before I knew it, I had most of the major plot points figured out, including the climax.

You have to understand how weird this is for me.  Consider that for Apocalypse Pictures Presents, my previous novel, I was flying blind through almost the entire first draft.  In fact, flying blind has become SOP for me, sitting down to the keyboard with little to no idea how to proceed, just typing away and taking it on faith that I would somehow find my way through to the next chapter.  It’s frustrating and discouraging at times, but I have come to accept it as my process.

Imagine my surprise, then, when almost the entire story just drops into my lap.

Let that be a lesson to you:  every novel is different, kids.  Just when you think you have this writing gig figured out, you find out that you don’t.

So against all odds, it seems that PNP2 has gained an edge on PNP1.  Game = On.

Tune in next week for another exciting installment.

No updates for Write Club.

I’m out.

Some 6100 words later, the rewrite of “Spectator Sport” is done.  Magic Meter marks the moment:

I had hoped to cut about 1K from this draft, and was making good progress toward that goal—but in the last scene, I wound up adding nearly the same amount of verbiage I had cut from the preceding pages.  It’s like doing well on the diet all through the week, only to blow it over the weekend.  We all know how that one goes, I’m sure.

Anyway, this thing’s about 800 words longer than I would like it to be.  But I’ve wrestled with it quite enough, thank you very much.  It’s off to make its way in the world, bloated or not.

A snippet:

“You don’t understand,” Lucas said.  “I have to do this.  It has nothing to do with either one of you.  Just give me a few minutes, and–“

“Listen to yourself, Lucas.  Look where you are.  Consider what you’re doing.  Why on earth should it come to this?  For a damned football game?”

“No, it’s more than that.  It–“

“No, it isn’t.  No matter how hard you try to tell yourself otherwise.  It’s a game, Lucas.  It’s streak of bad luck.  That’s all.  There’s no curse.  Didn’t you hear anything I tried to tell you the other day?”

Lucas bowed his head.

Craig said, “I have to escort you out now.  You understand, don’t you?”  He reached out, took Lucas by the upper arm, and urged him toward the stands.

Next up—I’m back into dream time.  Yes, that’s right, folks, the race I mentioned a few weeks ago is back on.  Ooo . . . exciting!

Two updates for Write Club:  Tier one rejects from One Buck Horror and Buzzy Mag.  Response time was about a month for both of them.

Outta here.