I’d like to just mention the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13’s successful failure for the last week; their attempt in exploring space for the good of science and for the entire planet. There are so many articles on why and how this happened, the best one I found being on my favourite science online magazine, Arstechnica.
Today is not about Apollo 13 or anything else, but about the progress of my book, being about the most important thing in my life (external to myself and relationship).
My subscribed readers will know the name of the book in the coming months, but for the moment, it’s still not revealed to anyone except a few trusted people, with my publisher thinking about the cover already. Even I can’t think of what I would want to have on the cover.
This past week, I have taken on a co-Author to help flesh out the world with more detail, as the writing, editing, editing, then editor, then editing again was taking just too long. For the newer chapters, we have a process; I write the story (analogy – in black and white), my co-Author adds colour to the world with greater detail, then I edit that work to add greater depth to the colour (3d or HD if you like), and bring changes into the imaginings of the story. So far, this has had a rocky start, but we’re learning each other’s style, bringing a better story to life.
Progress report – Act one has been completed, only edits required before going to the editor, and at some stage I get to break ground with the next chapter to start Act two. My editor is pushing me hard now for more chapters, and with my co-Author agreeing to help (for credit on the cover), the chapters should flow faster, because I don’t have to rehash story/detail I think is complete, when it’s not. Two heads are better than one.
I have been introduced recently to some works by Sylvia Plath, as she writes-
“What is my life for and what am I going to do with it? I don’t know and I’m afraid. I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.”
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
She goes on in more detail about her depression in her autobiographic novel, but the comments ‘I can never read all the books, never be all the people I want and live the lives’ comment is sort of how I feel. Learning to write a great novel is hard and time consuming and not enough time. It’s not just great grammar or characters or story; you can’t bake a cake if you don’t know the order of the recipe or you leave out that last ingredient.
As I write this, tomorrow is Anzac Day. It almost feels surreal as we remember those lost in war defending the rights of the country and people, as we now fight another war, the current human Malware crisis. I’ll be standing at the end of my driveway tomorrow morning at 6 with a candle, commemorating those people who can’t be with us –
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
I’m still working, but from home now, so the only place I’m making time is the weekends to smash out words in a readable order. I’m writing this while my computer performs a test install of software into the Windows 10 environment, so, I should really get back to work before my remote access times out.
More writing this weekend and editing chapters, I hope your weekend is more active than mine. Stay safe and heathy everyone, and I look forward to a title reveal over the next few months, then a cover… hey, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Lee Breeze - Science Fiction Novelist 