The unlucky thirteen

Hey guys,


And before you say anything, no I'm not the supersitious(sp?) type. I just thought it was appropriate seeing as I spent four days on one chapter when all the others were polished and done in about one day...yeah.

Anyway, I'm finally done with chapter 13 and will be starting in on chapter 14 tomorrow. Its going to be a long one too, as this one had a major chunk sliced out of it and needs a rewrite as well as a polish.

Wish me luck.

There are few chapters like that, actually, so my forward speed is going to slow until I get all of them done and out of the way. On a better note, I'm nearly halfway done with my rough edit and I have a friend going over chapters 1-10 for me as I type this. She has a degree in english, so she's helping me catch all the errors I can't seem to find. This means that as soon as she's done and we've finished revisions, you'll be seeing chapters 1-10 on www.authonomy.com.

Cool, huh?

In the meantime, I have to go get ready for a wedding(a friend of mine is FINALLY getting married, lol), work on some personal artwork, and make sure my husband and his friend stop working on the truck long enough to eat something. I'll catch ya'll later.

Toodles!



~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken

Why procrastinating is BAD

Hey guys,


Those of you who are beta readers probably remember how when I gave the first chunk of chapters, I told you to ignore chapter five because it was in need of a rewrite. A serious rewrite. As in "scrap it all and start over", kind of rewrite.

Yeah.


Well, I finally got around to fixing it. A whole year later. Not the best idea I've ever had seeing as I just closed the file and I know it still needs more work. But seeing as I'm burnt out on that particular chapter, its going to sit until I can have a beta reader go over it.

In the meantime, I have the first chapters of book two in the works. Outlines haven't been finished yet, but both chapters one and two have been started. How many pages is still up in the air as I haven't put it all into my laptop yet. But its a good beginning.

Anyway, I have a commission and a new piece of artwork to finish, so I'll catch ya'll later. Toodles!



~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken

More bumps in the editing road

Hey guys,


Well, I'm basically done with the hack-n-slash edit. Now I get to go over each chapter and carve away anything that isn't essential to the story and smooth it all down.

Should be fun.

I've also got a good-sized change going on that will reverberate down several chapters and call for a general rewrite for a chunk of the book. It's just a little something that didn't fit into the storyline as well as I thought it did.

A word to the wise... When your beta reader is asking "where did THAT come from?" its a safe bet you're off track and the bit in question needs to go.

Yeah.

Anyway, I'm done for the day and its time for bed. I'll catch ya'll later.

Toodles!


~Sun and Moon

~Shaliken

Editing update

Hey guys,


Well, I'm almost halfway through the rough editing. I finished hacking at chapter 12 today, but I get the feeling I'll be taking another swing at it and the others before too long.

It's all about the word count, you see. I need to cut about 100 thousand words from my manuscript. As it stands now, my word count is at about 220k. It needs to be about 130k.

Oi...


I also need to tighten everything up once I'm done hacking away at it. And catch all the little inconsistensies(sp?), and obvious grammar and spelling mishaps. Then it goes through at least two betas before I call up my old english teacher and see if she can help me shine it up a little more. After all that abuse, about ten chapters will be posted on www.authonomy.com and I will be working on my query letter and synopsis as I work on book two.

Its good to have a plan. 

Oh, and you may have noticed that I've edited a few of my previous blogs and most of the snippets are missing.

Here is the reason this time....

I'm editing, and a lot is changing. All of those bits will be different by the time I'm done. And so, down they came. I'll make it up to you guys when those ten chapters are posted on authonomy, ok?

Anyway, it's late and I'm off to bed. I've got more editing to do in the morning and I'm wiped out.

Toodles!



~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken

Finished at last

Hey guys,


I'm finished! Draft one of my manuscript is done! I finished it just a little while ago, actually. Chapter 30 still need a polishing, but its solid.

I can't believe I got it this far...wow.


So now I'm going to be taking a week away from my book so I can begin the cover-to-cover edit with a fresh mind. I also need back ALL beta copies. This means that even if your reading for me, I need you to stop and return the copy you have.

The reason for this is that I'll be rewritting a lot of stuff, and I don't know how much is going to change. If you are reading one chapter and think "You need to fix this part here", it may be that I've cut that part completely, rendering your observation moot.

So yeah...I'm gonna need those back.

And thats all for me, folks. I'm off to make dinner and begin my week of relaxation. I'll return to work on the story next tuesday. Blogs may pop up every now and again, but I make no promises as the rewrite will probably take up a lot of my time. However, I will post as soon as I'm finished with the first round of editing.


Until then, guys. Thanks for listening.



~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken  

Chapter 29 is finished

Hey folks,


Well, I finished chapter 29 last night. I didn't post a blog, however, because I was in serious need of some sleep. So I'm posting now, instead.


Anyway, I'm on my three day break and I'll be starting chapter 30 on saturday. Chapter 30 will be my last chapter for this book. After that there'll be the epilogue, and then I'll be taking a solid week away from the book before beginning the cover-to-cover edit. A lot will be cut, no doubt, but hopefully for the better.

Those of you who want to read the first few chapters, but aren't beta readers, will be able to view them online at www.authonomy.com as soon as I finish the first round of cutting and editing.

This book is going to be going through a lot of people before it goes out to agents. I figure I be looking for repersentation by my 25th birthday. Hopefully.

I may be starting the outline for "A Child and a Prophesy" sometime soon...like maybe over the next few days. Don't know yet....I'll keep you guys posted.

Well, I've a whole load of cleaning to get done, so I better hop to it. I'll catch you guys later.

Toodles!


~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken

Another chapter finished

Hey guys,


Well, chapter 28 was finished last night and I'm only two chapters away from the end of the book. I'd been hoping to have it done by my b-day, but seeing as its in a few days, thats not going to happen, lol.

I have a load of editing to do once those last chapters are finished, and a month after finishing the epilogue, I'll be starting the next book. This means I'll be working on the second book as I edit the first one. Ought to be interesting XD

And thats all for me today, folks. I'm off to relax before I head to work. I'll be on break for the next three days, so work on chapter 29 will begin on saturday, the 8th. It has a large chunk already written(needs a bit of a rewrite though), so it should go fairly quick. Its also the first glimpse of Fairland's dangers, so I know I'm gonna be having a lot of fun with that.

Well, I'm off to get some lunch.

Toodles!



~Sun and Moon


~Shaliken