Hiatus

I have taken a brief Hiatus from the novel since I am moving at the end of the month. There is much work to do, so I have had little time to work on it, or write posts on the blog. I am excited about starting in on it again and I believe that the break will help me bring fresh ideas to the story. I am already considering a major change in the family structure of Elocin. Also, I have allowed my imagination to run a bit and I believe that I have some interesting ideas about cultural details for my new world. I really need to delve into Melukore and discover the history and nuiance of this strange place.

Away to the Publisher

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, I mailed off a cover letter, a seven page synopsis, and the first three chapters and the prologue of my book to the editors at Tor Publishing. I requested a return reciept and I expect to get that back by the end of the week. It could take up to six months to hear back from the publisher, though I don't suppose it will take that long. when they finally get around to reading my proposal they will either send me a small form letter saying thanks but no thanks, or they will request to see the rest of my manuscript. That still doesn't gaurantee that they are going to publish, but I have a feeling that these overworked editors don't go around reading every manuscript in the world unless they are reasonably sure it will be good, and the senior editors will want to publish it. I will admit to being as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but the Lord will do what He wants with it, so I would appreciate any of your prayers.

Good News about the Packet

I sent an email to the Senior Scifi Editor at Tor asking him if my submission could be a little longer than the normal proposal due to chapter divisions and all. He responded by saying, "Don't sweat it, send what works." This was a huge relief to me partially because I wanted to be able to include the beginning of Chapter 3 in the proposal, and because I was nervous to hear from an award winning editor, who will eventually be the last men to say "yeah or nay" on publishing my work.
Also, I have finished the first draft of editing on the chapters I'm submitting, so I'll read over it, have some of you read over it, and then start making more changes. It has to be the best I can do, so I'll be giving it my all. My goal is to send the packet off the day I leave for vacation, Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

Working on Tor Packet

I am currently editing the first few chapters of the book to get them ready for an editor at Tor to read. Don't let me mislead you, it isn't as grand as it sounds. Tor accepts unsolicited manuscripts and reads thousands of proposals a year; mine is just one of them. They give very strict guidelines on how to submit a packet, I suppose to weed out those that are not serious about publishing, so I am nervously trying to make everything perfect.
Basically, the 2-3 chapters of my book that I send, and a 3-10 page synopsis have to be convincingly good to the point that an overworked editor, who is forced to read garbage stories day after day, will perk up and take notice of the story, then actually be interested enough to request the full manuscript and then give a big portion of his/her time to reading my story. Then, if it is loved and believed to be marketable, he/she will present it to the board of chief editors who peruse it to see if they approve of it's marketability. Finally, if all goes well, the book will be published and on the shelves at your local bookstore.
Now you see why this is a nerve-racking nightmare. The good thing is, I am trusting the Lord to do all the heavy lifting and convincing of peoples in charge, so I'm just working and trusting him to bring the nightmare to a day dream, and then to reality.

Plot Problems

I am having difficulty developing the plots of the now seven book series. I have plots for books 1, 2, 6, and 7, but the middle three are proving difficult. I would like to see adventures into the lands of the other three races in addition to continuing the overall storyline. Several good ideas have come to mind while staring at several relatively blank notebook pages and a pile of note cards. Some of the ideas have even ended up on the cards!

Founding of the Blog

I originally decided to make a blog for the sole purpose of being able to add witty remarks to my good friend Mike's blog, while he is in Africa with the Peace Corps. God Bless you and keep you safe Mike. But now I admit to being a little excited about having something on the net about my book. I know the series will do well, because the Lord will bless it; He is the one who gave me the idea for it during a sermon!
Anyways, I will be adding litle segments of the story on here for family, friends, and fans, along with my own thoughts as the arduous process of publishing a book unfolds. Enjoy