Spring update
Thanks to all who expressed their condolences about the loss of our cat, Athena. She was a very special cat with a larger-than-life personality, and we miss her. I'll write more about her later once I've had more time to get my thoughts together. The kittens are doing well and doing their cute, fuzzy best to fill the void.
I finished a draft of my short story, "The Golden Larnyx," which I am describing as a "steampunk opera dystopia." My critique group read it last week, and thought the ending was rather abrupt, which it was. I hadn't intended to end it yet and had two more scenes planned, but when I read it aloud to my husband, he thought that it could end right then. When I first asked for his feedback, he was so disturbed by the premise of the story that he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it. (Muahaha!) I decided he was right that I had a possible ending, but didn't have much time to try to make the beginning of the story match the ending. I'm still not sure it's the right ending, but I think its a sign of learning how to plot small that I realized sometimes things are better without going into those other two scenes.
A minor character showed up to talk to the narrator in what was supposed to be just an instigation for something else, but her reaction has a definite sense of finality. I hope to puzzle over what I got from the critiques and think about where I really want the story to go and do another revision. I had started the story in a more or less omniscient voice, then decided I wanted a first-person narrator. I'm pretty sure I've got the right voice for the story, now it's just that darn plot thing. The story is now about 2000 words, so I have some room to expand.
In other news, I seem to have strained some ligaments in my knees during Pirates of Penzance rehearsals and performances. I'm pretty sure I know which dance step caused the problem. After two and a half weeks of walking carefully and limping up and down stairs, I finally went to the doctor. I'm supposed to rest the knees as much as possible and take some anti-inflammatory for another two weeks and hopefully it will be better.
I finished a draft of my short story, "The Golden Larnyx," which I am describing as a "steampunk opera dystopia." My critique group read it last week, and thought the ending was rather abrupt, which it was. I hadn't intended to end it yet and had two more scenes planned, but when I read it aloud to my husband, he thought that it could end right then. When I first asked for his feedback, he was so disturbed by the premise of the story that he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it. (Muahaha!) I decided he was right that I had a possible ending, but didn't have much time to try to make the beginning of the story match the ending. I'm still not sure it's the right ending, but I think its a sign of learning how to plot small that I realized sometimes things are better without going into those other two scenes.
A minor character showed up to talk to the narrator in what was supposed to be just an instigation for something else, but her reaction has a definite sense of finality. I hope to puzzle over what I got from the critiques and think about where I really want the story to go and do another revision. I had started the story in a more or less omniscient voice, then decided I wanted a first-person narrator. I'm pretty sure I've got the right voice for the story, now it's just that darn plot thing. The story is now about 2000 words, so I have some room to expand.
In other news, I seem to have strained some ligaments in my knees during Pirates of Penzance rehearsals and performances. I'm pretty sure I know which dance step caused the problem. After two and a half weeks of walking carefully and limping up and down stairs, I finally went to the doctor. I'm supposed to rest the knees as much as possible and take some anti-inflammatory for another two weeks and hopefully it will be better.