The Girdle of Melian

Just in time to celebrate the end of my resolution not to buy any more books, comes notice that JK Rowling's Beedle the Bard will be made available to all of us who didn't have the millions to bid on the original last year. Now, what other books should I get to qualify for free shipping? :-)

Now I know what Jenny meant! I've been revising and editing for over a week now, and can't seem to get past Chapter 6 - every time I look at the MS, there's more places to cut and more vocabulary to fine-tune. With the dreaded Q word hanging over my head, I'm trying to make sure my first 6 pages (not 3! not 5!) will at least make others ask "what happens next?" I've also got a short list of agents! Thank you, AgentQuery.com. I sure hope it doesn't matter that all these agents are in far-flung parts of the US and not a single one is in Canada. I also borrowed Jenny's title, since it's a Manic Street Preachers song :-)

Still progressing - I've sort of stuck in the middle of Chapter 4, but at least I'm doing steady work, by which I mean at least three to four pages per day. Tht's the reread. Next comes fixing dialect and topical references. Then looking for imagery and theme - anything I can build on. Did I mention that after drafting the template letter for agents, I realised that Austin doesn't have a last name? Well, he doesn't! So I'm working on that too...

6514 of 74314 words edited tonight! Plus, I removed almost all of the notes and comments, inserted text for all the half-finished scene endings, and drafted a query letter. Pretty good week, though I could be doing much more than this. I still need to: Complete a final version of the query Reduce the three-page synopsis to one page Visit the library/bookstore to draw up a list of agents Write the last ten pages Double-check *all* my research notes, etc., in my notebook and on the computer, to make sure I've addressed all comments/hints/tips/facts/dates/names/etc. Keep editing! As my Facebook status said, I need an intern... How is everyone else doing?

Here's a hilarious look at a Font Conference . And here is Pam 's link to a video of Ricky Gervais interviewing Chris Martin of Coldplay . I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's no point watching TV if it's not British. And presenting... When professional cakes go horribly wrong !

I can't believe that the S-word and the Q-word are prominent. I've gotta start blogging about themes more often!

Go see it now ! It's hilarious!