fiction writing

First Chapter Musings + Some Exciting News!

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Happy Friday! Sorry I have been absent from the blog most of the week. Summer comes along with its slow heat compelling one to be outside and not in front of the computer screen. I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter I posted on Monday! Today I wanted to share some thoughts about that chapter, and how this story got started.

I got the idea for Capacitance shortly after I graduated from college. I wanted to tell a story involving college age characters on a university setting. While I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I would be writing sci-fi, that is the direction the story took. I wanted my university students to be different than those of today. Hence, Mara’s consternation over her research–what she is doing is terribly important not only to her academic career, but also to society as a whole. Some people (mostly adults who have been jaded by the hedonistic existence of their own college age children) aren’t able to grasp this concept of university level students acting so mature and professional; however, it is this exact sort of bending of the norm which I wanted to portray. Blending the familiar with the new is a tactic I use quite a lot in this series of books–I want readers to feel a connection to the characters and their experiences so that they find the dystopian future world of Capacitance eerily relatable.

One particular aspect of college that definitely influenced my first chapter is a hatred for group projects. Throughout my career at KSU, these group projects would loom up on the syllabus landscape, causing dread throughout the ranks of students. I never met a fellow student who enjoyed group projects, and it was always a struggle to get a group of college students–all with very different schedules and levels of motivation!–together at a convenient time to work productively. In my experience, a group project always meant a collective sigh of frustration; thus, Mara’s reaction (although hyperbolic, given her situation) is definitely one any college student can relate to.

Sharing my first chapter of Capacitance not just here on the blog, but with agents as well, has led me to some exciting news! Last night I received my first request for the full manuscript from an amazing literary agent from a very reputable firm! I sent her my query letter and the first chapter of Capacitance a little over a month ago, and got a request for material last night. It is thrilling in and of itself, but also helps me feel more confident. I had been finding myself in a slump due to the rejections that were piling up, so to have an agent ask for the full manuscript feels great–even if nothing comes of it, at least I know I am doing something right. The first chapter I sent to this agent which lead to her request was not exactly the same as the one I posted on Monday; as you may remember from a previous post, I rewrote the first chapter recently. While I am slightly shocked that an agent was still interested even after all the exposition my unrevised chapter contained, I am mollified that the first chapter wasn’t as horrible as I thought. Many agents take upwards of two months to get through and decide on a full manuscript, so it could be a long wait, but I will definitely keep you all posted on this exciting development! In the meantime, I am going to keep writing, keep querying, keep persisting! As a celebration of this exciting news, I will be posting Chapter 2 on Monday! 🙂

Capacitance: Chapter 1

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My Facebook page hit 100 likes over the weekend, so without further ado, here is Chapter 1 of my first novel, Capacitance! Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions…I love feedback, and I have especially been trying to work with my first chapter lately. I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for the support on my Facebook page! 🙂

Chapter 1

Mara hated Mondays. University Science students were given the freedom to make their own lab schedules—except on Mondays, when attendance at the seminar lectures conducted by renowned Science professors was mandatory. Mara always felt a twinge of annoyance when she passed the Seminar Hall doors and sacrificed an entire day that she could have spent ensconced in her private laboratory four floors beneath the ground, cozily gathering and analyzing data in sweet solitude. However, this Monday was different; as Mara entered the Seminar Hall that morning, she felt a searing blaze of anxiety instead of the usual flicker of annoyance—she needed to be in her lab today. Currently, she was conducting tests that—if her hypotheses were correct—could yield troubling results, to say the least. She walked down the rows of the amphitheater where the lectures were held, bemoaning the fact that she was not in her lab monitoring, observing, waiting. Instead, she was wedged into a sleek but slender metal ergonomic seat with a small attached writing desk, obliged to sit through the days’ lecture series. All around her, other Science students joked amongst themselves, compared notes or recounted their misadventures of the just-past weekend, but Mara isolated herself in the front corner of the amphitheater and impatiently tapped her pen while studiously avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Finally, the students quieted down as a tiny woman emerged from a door behind the desk at the bottom of the room; she was short and wiry thin—the true definition of a waif, she would have been easily passed over by the eye were it not for her flamboyant attire. She wore six inch electric yellow spike stilettos (still barely bringing her over the height of five feet tall), cobalt wide leg slacks and a kaftan dyed with a swirl of garish colors. A puckish face with bright red-framed glasses and a shock of short, silver hair topped off the ensemble. This colorful person was Professor Beliz, the first of today’s seminar presenters. She raised one rainbow-manicured hand and all talking ceased. Mara unsheathed her pen upon Beliz’s first words, “Today I am so delighted to make to you all a very important announcement!

“As University students of Science, you know that you comprise only a fourth of this institute of research and learning,” Beliz continued, “Together, the colleges of Science, Design, Politics and Technology produce our nation’s next innovators and leaders. Here high on our hill in the college of Science, we are physically isolated from these fascinating colleagues in the other colleges. However, we are mentally isolated from them as well. It is easy to get lost in a project or experiment and forget about the world as a whole. Unfortunately, this can lead to unintentional closed mindedness. Closed mindedness indicates the staunching of creativity, and once you’ve lost creativity, well, nothing of genius comes of that…” Beliz paused dramatically then carried on, “This is why the University Board of Directors has decided to implement a change; we want to create an infusion of new ideas and patterns of thought. We will do this by getting students from all the disciplines to collaborate together on projects! Tomorrow, your normal independent lab activities will be suspended. All students will be required to convene on the Campus Green tomorrow at 9 AM sharp for further instructions. Now we will resume the normal schedule of seminar lectures, breaking for an hour’s lunch at noon as usual.”

With a jingle of jeweled bangles and the click-clack of her deadly florescent heels, Beliz exited the door through which she had arrived. The seminar hall had already begun to buzz with whispers as Beliz got to the core of her announcement, but no sooner had her hot pink lipsticked lips uttered their last syllable than the hall erupted in students’ unrestrained voices speaking their excitement and concern. They had a right to be concerned; University Science students had to complete six years of general education and six years of specific discipline schooling before coming to the University. Each student’s whole childhood led up to securing a spot in the University, and for students of Science, entrance into the University meant leaving a life of learning from books and carefully supervised labs to actual, practical application. In order to gain entry to the University College of Science, prospective students had to have a project plan—a prospectus for an ambitious line of research and development they planned to carry out during their time as a Science student. At the end of four years at the University, Science students were expected to be at presentation point with their projects. The success of the project at the end of four years determined the student’s success and his or her subsequent career, thus, every moment spent working on the project was crucial.

Mara sat fuming at her narrow, cramped desk as she processed the news. Her project was in the area of genetic engineering—a precise and complex science—and Mara believed it would fully take all of four years to bring her specific research to fruition. A group project could significantly slow her work down. Her hands shook with rage as she penciled in the 9:00 meeting into her small, emerald green leather agenda book. Mournfully, she crossed off her scrawled lab task notes she had made for herself. The anxiety which had been present all morning spiked to new levels. All of the delays to her lab time gnawed at the back of her mind; if her suspicions were correct, time was of the essence in her project.

Taking a deep breath, Mara settled as comfortably she could into the narrow metal desk chair, resigning herself at least to this wasted day. Mondays spent in seminar, were after all, part of the plan. To console herself, she swallowed her usual scruples, brought out her cell phone and scrolled through her mobile lab results under cover of the tiny writing desk. The speaker—Beliz had been replaced with a wizened but venerable faculty member—droned on, but Mara hardly heard him. She could see from the mobile lab files that the tests would be conclusive tomorrow afternoon. Firmly, she resolved to find a way to get to her lab tomorrow—even if it meant putting in an extremely late night. Her mind bristled with anticipation at the thought of the test results actually coming in. She both dreaded and longed for the moment. This could be it, she thought to herself; and a chill trickled down her spine. The gravity of the research she was conducting led to her simultaneous fear and excitement. If she succeeded in her project, the rewards would be immense. Mara had dreamed of success her entire life, and she was motivated by the accolades this project could stand to win for her. However, the danger she would risk if she failed was so immense that she carefully avoided thinking about it, tucking the dark thoughts away behind the formidable shield of her ambition.

Letting her mind flow freely into the intricacies of her lab work, bolstered by covert checks of her lab notes, the day passed with relative ease after the shock of Beliz’s initial announcement. Mara was actually surprised when she saw the students around her filing up and out of the classroom. The lab building was kept locked all day on Mondays, to prevent the temptation for students to skip seminar, so Mara had no choice but to return to her dormitory that evening and work on her lab files there. The tests themselves, which ran on a bank of computers deep underground in her lab, would have to wait until tomorrow—after the group meeting, Mara reminded herself with a sigh. Walking out of the Seminar Hall and into the fall evening air, still balmy yet with a cloying chill in the breeze, Mara turned to make her way to the Science dormitory.

Wryly, she thought to herself that dormitory was a rather unimpressive way to describe the imposingly tall building made graceful by its airy construction of light metal and glass which she now walked towards. Lovingly nicknamed “SciSky,” the dormitory where all the Science students lived was an architectural marvel which soared higher than any other building on campus. The inside of SciSky was just as impressive as the outside; Mara walked through the large glass doors and was greeted by an atrium packed full of amenities such as luxury shopping boutiques (a feature Mara made frequent use of), restaurants, and gyms. All these supported the privileged lifestyle of a University Science student. However, Mara’s treatment was more preferential than most; as she boarded the glass enclosed elevator, she pressed the button labeled “Penthouse.” Reserved for the top student from each of the four grade levels, the penthouse apartments were lavish, highly desirable accommodations on the top floor of SciSky.

The southwestern corner penthouse apartment was where Mara—recruited as top of her first year class—lived. Anxiety about the ensuing lab test results had returned to her by the time she entered her door, and she jammed the heel of her hand against the light switch with unnecessary force. The penthouse lit up with soft ambient lighting showcasing the modern mix of lustrous leathers and glowing natural woods. Mara tossed her malachite green leather tote down on the obsidian countertop and thought briefly about succumbing to a drink. Pushing the errant desire out of her mind, she reached instead for her research files. Documents in hand, she sunk down into her favorite chair, flicked the pins from her precise top knot and shook out her long mane of black hair. Feeling more relaxed, she opened a sheaf of figures and immersed herself in her work, all the while thinking that no one would be hindering her research if they knew the immediacy of the project she was working on—the potential disaster she was trying to prevent.

Rewrites

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Today’s topic is rewrites–for several reasons. First reason being, I just rewrote the first chapter of my novel Capacitance in anticipation of posting it on here soon. It was not easy for me to rewrite a chapter. As a writer (and I am sure many of you can relate to this) it is very hard to chop out, delete or otherwise maim sentences and paragraphs we have so carefully constructed. There is some truth to this hesitant attitude–some words you put down are important, and you don’t want to lose the essential, natural quality of your writing voice. However, the first draft is, by design not tight and polished. It is done to get the story out of the mind and onto the paper. Naturally, there will be some polishing left to do. Thus, stay true to your story and voice, but learn what doesn’t fit or needs omitted. Work with the white space–give your readers some credit and don’t get too wordy. This was one of my struggles in rewriting. My first chapter contained a lot of description (specifically of where my MC’s beautifully decorated apartment); to me, this was fascinating because I am interested in the intricacies of interior design. Will all readers be captivated by an inventory of interior finishes? Probably not. That section–after coaxing from an unofficial CP partner–was cut. Hopefully I can weave some of the description back in through various sections of the novel. Small doses are better for building than numbing readers minds with a long chunk of exposition.

The second reason I want to discuss rewrites today concerns a comment on my blog post yesterday concerning the need to perfect everything before putting it to paper. I am not promoting the method of writing without care or detailed attention, but there comes a point where you have to throw caution to the wind. Do your best, but assume you are going to have to go back and edit regardless. My first chapter rewrite is a great example–I scrawled that first draft copy of it with a flow of words that spewed forth after three years of writer’s block, and I considered it to be a great entry into my book after many lackluster attempts. Looking back at that Chapter 1 now, I find it slow and not effective as well as not being in the voice of the rest of my novel. I was not in my element. However, had I analyzed it so harshly at the time of writing, I may not have put it to paper, and I may have still been stuck with writer’s block interminably. Long story short: write your best right now, perfect it later.

I am SO CLOSE to 100 likes on my Facebook page! It won’t be long now until I can show you all the (rewritten) first chapter of Capacitance!

Getting Words to the Page–Insight Into My Writing Process

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It has been awhile since I have done a post about the writing process itself. The #QueryKombat Twitter party prompt for today has inspired me to go into more depth in this post about my writing process–where my ideas come from, the struggle of getting them to paper, and little glimpses into my process as a whole.

If you have read my blog at all, you know I write without a super detailed outline. So my ideas are free flowing. Usually, I don’t have a specific trajectory for the scene I am writing, or what the next scene will be. I have certain parameters which I like to structure for each individual chapter. I like to visualize each chapter when I sit down to write as the skeleton frame of an unfinished house–I know the basics of what this chapter will accomplish, but details get fleshed out as I go. While I am writing the chapter, that is when “the house,” to continue that analogy, gets walls and floors, etc.

Having the skeleton framework ready in my mind before I start a chapter is extremely important. If I don’t know a general concept of what I will be writing that day, I just won’t write. The blank page gets too intimidating when I have no clue whatsoever what to put down onto it. This has happened quite a bit during the drafting of Inductance, and also towards the end of Capacitance–these mini episodes of writer’s block pop up and steal a day of writing from me at times. However, I have a couple ways I combat this problem. The first, and most effective, is to go on a long run; the physical and mental benefits of distance running are enormous. As I coast down the hills and under the dappled shadows cast by trees, my mind wanders and my characters seem to speak to me. Entering a state of intense focus, I usually come away from a run with my mind centered and ready to write–I know the framework for what needs to come next. The second trick I use to spark my mind back into the story is to pull out my hard copy of the manuscript and read and edit it lightly. This re-familiarizes me with the characters and their stakes and usually prompts me to what needs to come next. Another tip: when I have several chapter ideas that I know I want to eventually construct, I write them all down in a list. Thus, I have many productive days crafting the chapters off the list!

The #QueryKombat prompt specifically asked writers if they prefer to write during the night or day. As I tweeted, I prefer to write in the early evening, in the hours leading up to supper. However, this is by no means a dominating preference as I can write at any time of day, as long as inspiration and time allow. All times of the day have their benefits–to me, the main point is just to get the words on the page. Don’t slot yourself into “only being able to write in the mornings” or, “I never write before 10 PM”–write whenever you can, when the mood strikes you, when you find yourself scrolling absentmindedly through Facebook! Habits are good to make, but as writers, we need to be flexible and not use our habits as excuses to procrastinate.

Finally, music. Another prompt featured on today’s #QueryKombat question. I have always been strange about music; I can’t stand it while I am writing, reading or doing some other deeply concentrated type of work. Don’t get me wrong, I love music! However, it distracts my brain heavily. Music does influence my work in other ways, though. Different songs remind me of my characters. The song “Superstar” by Broods reminds me of Mara and Runey’s relationship in Capacitance. I prefer music to inspire me in my non-writing times!

This post could go on for days–there are so many different stories and struggles to share about my writing process. Share your writing habits below! 🙂 And don’t forget to like my Facebook page–there’s now a “like” button on the sidebar of my homepage! I am at 84 likes thus far; when I reach 100 I will be sharing the first chapter of Capacitance! Like, like, like!

Writers’ League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference 2015

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I had so much fun attending the Henderson Writers’ Group Conference in Las Vegas, that I just registered for another conference next month! I will be attending the Writers’ League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference June 26-28 in Austin, Texas! Since I live in Kansas (and drive a fun little car) I am going to be road tripping down south–just me and the open road, mind clear, practicing my pitch. I can’t wait!

The pitch will be important as there are 19 literary agents from big name agencies such as Trident, Writers House, and Curtis Brown, to name a few! While pitch sessions with agents are paid add-ons to the conference fee and are limited to two agents (I won’t be table hopping my pitch to everyone like I did in Vegas, haha!), the number of agents at this conference makes it more likely that I will be able to approach them in a casual setting. This conference appears to include a lot of casual settings, like cocktail hours, that could be great opportunities to meet and network with the agents and editors. I am going for all three days of the conference rather than just one day like I did in Las Vegas, so I plan to take full advantage of the opportunities to meet new people.

Considering I already have one conference under my belt, here are some things I won’t be doing this time around.

1. Stressing about my outfit. The wardrobe choices I saw at the last conference were much more casual and varied than I expected. When it comes to conferences, stay true to your personal style and you’ll be fine–worry more about polishing your pitch.

2. Bringing my entire manuscript. This is absolutely unnecessary. I know I said otherwise last time, but my aching shoulder and the entire universe of common sense would argue otherwise–everything is done through email these days. What makes you think an agent is going to love your work so much that they would be just as eager and willing as you to lug around a 300 page boxed manuscript all day? Save your posture, leave it at home.

3. Attending only business related class sessions. In Las Vegas, I stuck to the business side of writing lectures. This led to immense boredom and repetition; I had read most of the advice on the Internet due to my extensive and slightly obsessive research on query writing, agents, etc. Of course, I still plan on attending some business aspect classes as I know I still have a lot to learn, but I want to experience some writing craft sessions as well this time around.

Leave me a comment below if you’re planning on attending the #WLT2015 ! Also, I don’t believe I have mentioned this on the blog just yet, but I will be posting the first chapter of Capacitance once my Facebook page hits 100 likes. If you want to speed this process up a bit 😉 please like my page at https://www.facebook.com/emhardenburger ! Can’t wait to start sharing my work with you all!

#QueryKombat

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I have posted before about writing as a “pantser,” and now I am entering my first writing contest as a pantser. I heard about #QueryKombat at the writers conference in Las Vegas, and it sounded intriguing and a great way to gain a social media presence and, potentially, agent representation. However, querying quagmire and vacation came up and occupied most of my time, and before I knew it, the contest date had arrived. Thus, my “pantser” attitude towards it all. I was not going to enter, because I have not spent countless hours preparing. This fact still gives me pause, but I think I need to throw my hat in the ring, just as a learning experience.

The #QueryKombat contest opens today (right now, actually), and contestants submit their query and the first 250 words of their MS. 64 contestants are chosen and their queries go head to head until only one winner is left. There is a judge round and then an agent round. It all sounds very interesting and certainly beneficial to make it to the agent round! If you want to learn more about the contest, you can visit this link: http://michelle4laughs.blogspot.com/2015/04/query-kombat-2015.html

After an intensive day of polishing my query and first 250 words, I am going to enter. I won’t deny the fact that I am a little nervous about it, but as I have said every time doubts pop up, I have to be persistent and start somewhere. Never try, never know has been a useful motto in many areas of my life, not the least in my career as a writer.

Is anyone else entering #QueryKombat? Wish me luck, and I will keep you posted!

Social Media & Being an Author

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Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I was on a (much needed) vacation to California! The need for vacations to take a step back from your work is a topic for an entirely different post, but I can sum it up to this: sometimes it’s necessary to not think about your novel, to escape and have new experiences which will influence your writing, and to be in a more sublime environment so when an agent rejection pops up in your email, you take it in stride and order another wine sample! 😉

Today, I wanted to focus on a subject that has been giving me major headaches–the dichotomy between being an artist and thus trying to be a free spirit while at the same time being cognizant of the pressing need to create an online presence. This need for a writer’s platform necessitates the use of social media. Writers, as a rule, hate social media. We would rather be writing! However, our ultimate goal is to be read, and to be read and gain notice in today’s world means hashtagging and blogging our way to fame. Hopefully that prospect turns everyone’s stomachs as much as it does mine. It is a very imposing goal; in the millions of individuals out there on the internet, how do you make a difference?

It’s a question I, unfortunately, cannot answer in this post. But I do welcome good suggestions! The first step for me is simply, getting out there. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was literally: “Tweet less.” Obviously, that is not going to fly. I have been trying to force myself to tweet more lately, and have gone to excessive use of hashtags. Today, I activated a Facebook account (under much mental stress), and a LinkedIn page. I am looking into #QueryKombat, which appears to be a great way to get some exposure as well as potentially awesome contacts with agents and editors! The Internet is a crazy, intimidating place, but I hope to do my research and find some success in it.

I want to get the word out soon because I am going to be doing something very exciting here on the blog. I am going to be posting sample chapters of Capacitance! I want the novel to get exposure and hopefully build momentum. Stay tuned on chapter one coming soon!

With that being said, follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@elisemarie52), and Facebook (Elise Hardenburger)! And comment below with any tips how you got your online following started. 🙂

Plotting as a Pantser

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First of all, I have to get it off my chest that I really hate the term “pantser.” However, it seems to be the term in the literary world to describe the kind of writer I am–one who sits down at the computer and miraculously spins out chapter after chapter, never looking at an outline. It is a rather horrifying concept, when one thinks about it too much. How I don’t get lost in it all is beyond me, at times. However, it is the way I innately write; it always has been, even when I wrote literary critical analysis in college. To someone like me, the structuring of an outline brings a stricture of panic into the chest and usually an onset of acute writer’s block.

However, sometimes plotting is necessary. I have found it just as challenging to adhere to my pantser instincts during my sequel novel, Inductance, as I find it to sit down and create an outline. It is quite necessary to have somewhat of a plan for Inductance as it is so action-packed. When writing something action-packed, the structure must be so tight and riveting, that an outline is very helpful. Writing down what is going to happen next and who will be involved in it helps tighten up loose ends and bring all the elements together.

I would not be true to my ill-named pantser status if I did not do at least some of my writing on a whim–it’s simply what I am most comfortable with, and some of my best prose just spills off my fingertips when I let them get carried away. Thus, I reached a compromise for hopefully the remainder of Inductance. I have outlined some key plot points that I know need to happen. While running on my treadmill yesterday, I brainstormed them, then I made myself sit and physically write them out (an anathema for pantsers). Now I think I have achieved a great balance–my mind still has some creative freedom as it is not too hemmed in by the outline, but the need for some structured framework has been settled. So now I can be a pantser operating within a plot–I think it will work out beautifully!

Rejection–A Necessary Evil

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Last week I started sending out query letters. Inevitably, I started receiving rejections. My biggest surprise upon receiving these rejection emails was that the agents had taken the time to actually hammer out a rejection;  usually it was only one line of text, but it was more than I expected after reading the horror stories on various blogs of sitting anxiously for months and months, never getting a response. Thus, a quick “Sorry, this isn’t for me.” was completely more shocking than the denial itself.

I was denied by three agents last week–plus, I had the bad luck of all three denying me on the same day! Rejection is always hard to take, but I was expecting it, so I didn’t take it as hard. I began my queries with some of the top agencies in the country, and it was asking a lot to ask my query to live up to their exacting standards. But it was worth a shot. It’s always worth a shot–you never know when that one special agent will read your words and fall in love with your novel. Many blogs and websites say that finding an agent is a lot like finding a romantic partner; you have to just get each other. I’m sure most people would agree that the search for love is not supposed to be easy, and you almost never get it right the first time. Just like we’ve all had a bad date, the querying process isn’t going to be love at first sight with every agent. But just because you’ve had a bad date, or the relationship you thought was sure to be “the one” didn’t work out doesn’t mean you stop dating. Thus, rejections shouldn’t mean it’s time to stop querying–yes they are frustrating, but who wants an agent who isn’t the right fit?

In the meantime, between these “bad dates,” I am making myself fall a bit less in love with Capacitance. If I sink my heart into it too much, rejection gets all the more difficult to handle. Now my challenge is to walk the thin line between confidence and blind adoration of my novel. It is not “my baby” anymore, it is a marketable product–while I can be confident in its qualities, I cannot be overly sensitive if it is not the right product for everyone.

Admittedly, I did take a few days off from querying. Maybe that is not weakness–maybe it’s for the best, since I have gotten rather off track in my work on Inductance. However, I will resume my efforts to find and agent and get published; I want my books to be read and I won’t stop until that effort is fulfilled.

Disconnected

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Through all my adventures lately–both in attending the conference and querying–working on my second novel Inductance, has taken a backseat. This has been frustrating both because it is leading to a few errors in the work as well as because I don’t like days where I don’t write; unless it is a specified day off, I feel anxious and less accomplished than I do on those days where I have written a chapter. Don’t get me wrong, I usually take the weekends off, unless I am sitting at home with no plans (there have to be some days to recharge the mind and give the story a break!). However, especially with the conference, I did not have time to write for four days, and before that, preparing for the conference was time consuming as well. I started Inductance a little less than a month ago, and now I have 27,000 words done, so I am not doing awful at the whole thing, but I am definitely not as prolific as I was in my heaviest work phases of writing Capacitance.

I want this to change. This disconnected process that I have going right now is causing just that–disconnect–in my story. Once again, I am forever thankful to my Dad, the in-progress reader and editor, as he has caught some of these disconnects as he reads the new chapters of Inductance. For the most part, they have been relatively small, easy to correct errors. For example, today at lunch he caught a snag where the characters had planned to change their meeting place to different room, but then later on when the meeting actually occurs, I forgot to change its location to match the new plans. A minor detail, but one that readers WILL notice. I am glad it was caught, and I am actually excited to go back and change it because by connecting the details and having the characters meet at the new room, I think I can insert some really cool scenes into the story.

All that being said, I have decided to go back and read my work so far on Inductance–when I write, sometimes it is such an organic process that I literally don’t remember what I wrote after it’s done. This isn’t such a problem when I am writing a chapter each day and the flow remains fresh in my mind. I think that by going back and reading my manuscript thus far, I can refresh myself with the story and that will make it easier to keep on track with things, as well as possibly spark some new plot lines (the necessity for an action packed book is still daunting me!). It will also give me a chance to get some early edits!

Today I prepared and sent out five query letters, and hope to get a couple more done before the day is through. I think once I have all those sent out, then focus on Inductance will come much more easily.