Finished. In essence, done. Not polished, but done. First, Since my last blog, I deleted all those chapters that were lurking out there old and getting older and totally out of place. Yikes. That put me back to 82K. Then I figured out the exact ending and have now drafted the chapters and am at 85,567 and done. Now I just go back and layer and set-up and polish and tie up the loose ends. Get it in front of a critique group, adjust as necessary (am mentally wincing even as I write this) and make it stunningly good. No big deal. Hah. Today I checked Amazon and Lord Ruin was 6,000 something in the rankings, how did that happen? Well, I just bopped out and checked and it's a more reasonable 25,257 which is still up from before. Guess somebody's finger slipped or something. Anyway, I'm so relieved to have at last a working draft of The Spare about which I feel really excited. I'd like to be done, polished and sold by March 2003.
posted by Carolyn @ 12/27/2002 10:35:00 PM Permalink
87,165 words for The Spare. Had a great idea about the ending, notebooking and writing furiously. Working things out, letting some of my changes settle into place. Getting a handle on SA and how he comes to propose to OW. Things feel pretty good, and right now, I'm willing to go with that.
posted by Carolyn @ 12/20/2002 10:24:00 PM Permalink
84,586 for The Spare. Spent this evening reordering the chapters (why do I do that so often?) and getting in the skeleton of the ending chapters. Poor OW. Things just can't get much worse for her... And then they do. Well, anyway, I despise writing from scratch, but that is what I have to do on these chapters. All brand new stuff, so even when the chapters are written, I know they're going to stink. But, I also know I will fix them. Also, I've had some lovely and flattering emails about Lord Ruin, and everyone mentions a hope that I will write Devon and Emily. Of course that was always the plan, but it sure looked like I couldn't sell one storiy let alone one of a series. Anyway, I sort of dropped the immediacy of that idea. But I do want to write about Emily and Devon, and Lucy and Thrale. I started bumping around some ideas. But I also really, really like The List. That speaks to me. And The Barbarian, too. But maybe I like The List more right now. Well, first I have to finished The Spare, which I am really exciting about right now. Yippee!!
posted by Carolyn @ 12/13/2002 10:56:00 PM Permalink
I "notebooked" the ending yesterday and had a fabulous idea that really raises the stakes. SA does a very mean thing to OW early on by refusing (w/o her knowledge) to give her a recommendation for a job. And then as OW's predicament regarding money and her mother worsens, and SA knows OW better, he regrets what he's done. Oh, just bunches of stuff that raise the stakes for everybody. Have added the new elements and started on the a new chapter where things for OW just couldn't seem worse....
posted by Carolyn @ 12/12/2002 11:16:00 AM Permalink
Well, The Spare is at 83,124 now. Things are going well. Hit a rough patch this afternoon, but I believe I've worked through it. Onward!
posted by Carolyn @ 12/09/2002 02:12:00 PM Permalink
Good golly. I just found out that Romantic Times gave Lord Ruin a K.I.S.S. award in their December issue. "For Knights in Shining Silver... A couple of rugged, virile men can light up your life -- men like Quinn created by Patricia Waddell for DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH and Carolyn Jewel's LORD RUIN" Well, congratulations to Patricia, too! How exciting. OK. OK. The Spare is at 81K and I made a change in how SA acts toward OW that I swear makes the pages sizzle. Yippee!! I will be, over the next several days - weeks, be analyzing why this change, which really wasn't hard to do once I thought of it, works so darn well. Anyway, I'm stoked. Right now, I am a very happy writer. Tomorrow, I will be feeling wretched about something that isn't yet right.
posted by Carolyn @ 12/04/2002 09:02:00 PM Permalink
I'm pleased to report that The Best Reviews gave Lord Ruin an excellent review. Whew! I feel like I've dodged another bullet. What, like maybe I have no talent and didn't work really really really hard to make the book good? [Note to self: You can write AND tell a story.] It sure is nice to know other people like the book. (Two so far!) Very flattering. But I sure wish writing were easier. Sigh. As for The Spare, I spent most of yesterday re-ording the chapters, and then, something interesting happened, which is that all of a sudden, I could feel them as a couple. All this stemmed from my having SA propose in Chapter 13 (which at the moment I cannot recall whether it's still chapter 13.) Major change in focus, which is great because I know I need more than ghosts and now I have it. SA trying to convince OW to marry him out of pity, basically, but now I can see the emotion of the ending. Yippee! Now, I should be scolding myself because this element has been lurking there all this time, but I never picked up on it before now. I need to follow my own advice more often.
posted by Carolyn @ 12/01/2002 12:14:00 PM Permalink
Liz Maverick
Jennifer Ashley
Sandy Schawb
Patti O'Shea
Marjorie M. Liu
Megan Frampton
Kristin Nelson
Miss Snark
Dystel & Goderich
The Rejecter
Evil Editor