The much-honoured Readers Of The Apocalypse have been looking at a draft of
Red Space (last book in the HMCS
Borealis series) and they've been providing feedback.
They're all enjoying it, which is great, and their main issues have been around details of technology and continuity. Things like, "how are they able to [spoiler] if the [spoiler] is [spoiler]?" and "why isn't anyone wearing pants in chapter 13?" These are good questions. Especially the one about pants.
One slip-up I make -- and the sharp-eyed Readers pick up on it -- is that I sometimes repeat sections. I might be thinking, for instance, that Dillon and the Chief need to talk about coffee (hey, it could happen). I write a scene, and include the conversation. Then, a few days later I'm writing a later scene, and remember that Dillon and the Chief need to talk about coffee. I effectively write the same scene again, having forgotten that I already took care of it a few days ago. This isn't a fault of the book, of course: it's a fault of the brain that I use when I do most of my writing. If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that my brain has been involved in every dumb decision I've ever made. It must be defective or something. Unfortunately, it's out of warranty.
At the moment, I'm standing by for some more feedback. I'll be gathering it all up into a new(er) draft, which I'll review while I start polishing. I'm also getting close to having a final cover for the book, which I'll share here once I'm satisfied with it.
I'm also accumulating a pile of scribbled notes for my next book, which is getting ready to take up residence in my head. But more on that later.
Quote of the day:
"I'm tough, I can take care of myselAAAAAAIEEE!"
- Lady Murderbeam, playing a very new, very squishy character
