Novel & stuff
Well, I think I've mentioned in here before that I am writing a novel (it began life as a submission for the Anvil Press 3-Day Novel Contest over a year ago, but it's grown beyond what was in that quicky version). It feels nearly done, but I haven't quite got it where I want it. I have an author friend who is prepared to look at it, but he has said he doesn't want to see it until it's more or less complete, and I can't fault him for that. I will certainly put it through more revision after he has looked at it, anyway. But right now, it's just kind of frustrating trying to get over the very last hump of getting it presentable. There are several spots in the story I'm still not satisfied with, and I keep fiddling with them. Plus I'd like to go through the whole thing and make the prose all flow a little more smoothly.
Everyone I have shown the rough draft to seems to like it, so that is encouraging.
It's very jarring having to flip between the novel and doing the two comic strips every week, because the tone of the two stories is very different. I'm not happy with the artwork in today's strip, because I didn't take the time to shade it (when I shade I just use plain black shadows on the back of objects and varied line weight, rather than gray tones), and I've tried to make a point to do that lately. And my backgrounds today don't look toony, they just look lazy.
The novel is taking away time that i should be spending job hunting. I'm still at the bookstore, but I'm not getting enough hours these days, and there are plenty of other reasons I should get out of there.
My secondary hard drive crashed last week. I'm supposed to hear back from the data salvage people tomorrow. Bleah. I'm glad the novel wasn't on there. I've got it backed up in a couple of places. My car had to go into the shop, too. Between those two things, getting stood up for a date the weekend before last, and my asthma acting up (maybe because of smoke from the annual California landscape catching fire, which is nowhere near me but the smoke reaches out here)... last week pretty much sucked. And as I try to finish up this book narrative, which is a love story at base, I'm just having a hard time getting into the right sentimental mindset again. Feh.
Then I'll see if I can get the thing published. Hopefully my author friend can help. And assuming I get past that hurdle, I'll see if anybody buys it. I've been informed that nobody really makes any significant money on their first book (seriously, I won't quote the pay rates I've heard, but it is pathetic). But you can't have a second book without having had a first one. And besides, I feel so artistically stymied that making money off this isn't really the main point. I hope people read it and like it. I really do.
But I gotta get it finished.
The title is Alien In a Small Town.
Everyone I have shown the rough draft to seems to like it, so that is encouraging.
It's very jarring having to flip between the novel and doing the two comic strips every week, because the tone of the two stories is very different. I'm not happy with the artwork in today's strip, because I didn't take the time to shade it (when I shade I just use plain black shadows on the back of objects and varied line weight, rather than gray tones), and I've tried to make a point to do that lately. And my backgrounds today don't look toony, they just look lazy.
The novel is taking away time that i should be spending job hunting. I'm still at the bookstore, but I'm not getting enough hours these days, and there are plenty of other reasons I should get out of there.
My secondary hard drive crashed last week. I'm supposed to hear back from the data salvage people tomorrow. Bleah. I'm glad the novel wasn't on there. I've got it backed up in a couple of places. My car had to go into the shop, too. Between those two things, getting stood up for a date the weekend before last, and my asthma acting up (maybe because of smoke from the annual California landscape catching fire, which is nowhere near me but the smoke reaches out here)... last week pretty much sucked. And as I try to finish up this book narrative, which is a love story at base, I'm just having a hard time getting into the right sentimental mindset again. Feh.
Then I'll see if I can get the thing published. Hopefully my author friend can help. And assuming I get past that hurdle, I'll see if anybody buys it. I've been informed that nobody really makes any significant money on their first book (seriously, I won't quote the pay rates I've heard, but it is pathetic). But you can't have a second book without having had a first one. And besides, I feel so artistically stymied that making money off this isn't really the main point. I hope people read it and like it. I really do.
But I gotta get it finished.
The title is Alien In a Small Town.