Edits, Geek Feminism, and Good News
Whew! I've been doing intense line-edits for one book or another ever since I got to America (first the Americanization edits for The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart and then the copyedits for Congress of Secrets), and now it's time to dive into my first big rewrites for my MG spies-and-fairies novel (tentatively titled The Storyteller's Secret). Someone referred to this time as my vacation recently and I may have laughed a little hysterically...but luckily, I really love these books, so I'm happy to be immersed in all of their different worlds again!
(And speaking of different book-worlds: my new Kat story was sent out to my newsletter subscribers this morning at around 7 a.m. UK-time - but when I woke up this morning in the US, five hours later, I saw that a few people had signed up for the newsletter just after this particular issue was sent. If you are one of those people who signed up this morning, and you were hoping to get the issue with the story inside, please let me know which email address you signed up with, and I'll forward you the newsletter ASAP.)
I've also been reading myself, of course, and the book that I've been loving most this past week has been Kameron Hurley's The Geek Feminist Revolution, which is smart and fun, powerful, thought-provoking, entertaining and inspiring. I've resonated with an awful lot of it - and even when I disagree with Hurley on specific points, I still love the reading experience. Highly recommended!
My seven-year-old was practicing with his camera one night and took a picture of me reading it. Don't I look like I'm pondering Serious Philosophical Issues? ;)
(Sadly, the real truth is that he told me how to pose. But still! ;) )
This week I also had good news for Congress of Secrets, which was that I got some really gorgeous new blurbs for it from authors I love. And when I say 'love'...well, you guys may remember that the person who inspired me to write historical fantasy in the first place was Judith Tarr. I discovered her books as a teenager and thought: YES. Not only did I love them (I can't even count how many times I've re-read Lord of the Two Lands!) but they showed me the way and I knew that THAT was what I wanted to do, too!
So when I saw this blurb...
Congress of Secrets is a feast for the lover of historical fantasy: rich, complex, beautifully researched and engrossingly told. Burgis is a new star of the genre, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Judith Tarr, author of World Fantasy Award finalist Lord of the Two Lands
...Well. Yes. There were some tears involved. And you can see the rest of the lovely blurbs on the book's page. They all made me really, really happy.
Now it's time to dive into my spies-and-fairies book to try to turn it from a messy first draft into a slightly more polished Draft 1.5 to send to my agent. Luckily, I have chocolate on hand to help! :)
Happy Tuesday!
(And speaking of different book-worlds: my new Kat story was sent out to my newsletter subscribers this morning at around 7 a.m. UK-time - but when I woke up this morning in the US, five hours later, I saw that a few people had signed up for the newsletter just after this particular issue was sent. If you are one of those people who signed up this morning, and you were hoping to get the issue with the story inside, please let me know which email address you signed up with, and I'll forward you the newsletter ASAP.)
I've also been reading myself, of course, and the book that I've been loving most this past week has been Kameron Hurley's The Geek Feminist Revolution, which is smart and fun, powerful, thought-provoking, entertaining and inspiring. I've resonated with an awful lot of it - and even when I disagree with Hurley on specific points, I still love the reading experience. Highly recommended!
My seven-year-old was practicing with his camera one night and took a picture of me reading it. Don't I look like I'm pondering Serious Philosophical Issues? ;)
(Sadly, the real truth is that he told me how to pose. But still! ;) )
This week I also had good news for Congress of Secrets, which was that I got some really gorgeous new blurbs for it from authors I love. And when I say 'love'...well, you guys may remember that the person who inspired me to write historical fantasy in the first place was Judith Tarr. I discovered her books as a teenager and thought: YES. Not only did I love them (I can't even count how many times I've re-read Lord of the Two Lands!) but they showed me the way and I knew that THAT was what I wanted to do, too!
So when I saw this blurb...
Congress of Secrets is a feast for the lover of historical fantasy: rich, complex, beautifully researched and engrossingly told. Burgis is a new star of the genre, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Judith Tarr, author of World Fantasy Award finalist Lord of the Two Lands
...Well. Yes. There were some tears involved. And you can see the rest of the lovely blurbs on the book's page. They all made me really, really happy.
Now it's time to dive into my spies-and-fairies book to try to turn it from a messy first draft into a slightly more polished Draft 1.5 to send to my agent. Luckily, I have chocolate on hand to help! :)
Happy Tuesday!