Blog Post 134

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Tessera Trilogy Blog Post 134

The working draft stands at 154 pages, with over 30 having been reviewed/critiqued at this point. There seems a lot to be done, and truth be told most of the rest has serious revisions to be done. A good portion is very dramatic, action dialogue which needs just a tweak to be accurate tactically. With a projected publication date a year away I feel getting a final novel ready is doable. 

The process continues to be taking segments of five or less minute reading time to either the writers group or the informal Books A Million sessions. I continue to find some of the reviewers like a particular aspect of the segments (say dialogue, description of setting) while others pan them. In either case the revised segment, as read, gives perhaps the best feel for its final acceptability to potential readers.

The Lake of the Woods (LOW) Book Fair in late October didn’t work well; the potential customers were older and clearly not interested in reading an eBook. I’ll have to identify and connect with a younger crowd – age or attitude – to succeed.

The Culpeper Library Local author’s event two weeks later went pretty much the same way, although each author got to introduce him/herself. No sales of my CDs with first two novels for watache.

The Porter Branch reception for Local authors in early November went better. I sold one CD with the first two novels, and captured a number of author business cards and suggested they join RWG.

I met a WWII vet who served on USS Antietam (CV 11). He said he experienced two kamikaze attacks that were so horrific that the CO ordered Abandon Ship. The crew refused to leave, saved the ship, and the rest they say is history. My older brother Dave later (1960s) served on Antietam in the Med.

            BAM 17 November 2014 critique comments

BAM critique member  –

1.       Nicely done – agree

2.       Good phrasing describing Paris - agree

BAM critique member  – 

No written comments

1.       Good flow - agree

2.       Made too great mention of getting to Paris - working

BAM critique member  –

Dialogue very good – agree

Paris reference drags a little – working

Suggested incorporating tension, drama – working

Suggested minor editorial changes – agree

BAM critique member  -

1.       Good banter between newlywed couple – agree

2.       It felt like the ‘Americanization of Anh’ – difficult character to portray

3.       Needs tension, anxiety or hint about coming drama - working

BAM critique member  –

1.       Good domestic scene of husband-wife  banter –

2.       The banter introduced info – agree

3.       Good job – agree

4.       I felt the love - thanks

BAM critique member  –

1.       Liked banter between couple –agree

2.       Suggested minor editorial changes – agree

3.       Suggested putting singing in italics – agree

4.       The back and forth dialogue, playfulness, and smart aleck remarks makes reading flow smoothly- agree

5.       Didn’t understand the title – disagree

BAM critique member  –

1.       Asked whether we knew meaning of terms gumshoes, spooks - working

2.       Suggested spelling out CBS at first use – agree

3.       The newlywed dialogue works well – agree

4.       Suggested minor editorial changes – agree

5.       Suggested lead in before mention of Amir’s job - agree