Editing, Endings and Evolution

Well, I “met” my editor for my short story and… It wasn’t as bad as I feared. Me, being me (as it’s inconvient to be anyone else right now), had figured something along the lines of “OMG, they realized they hated the story and don’t know how to tell me… or maybe it’s SO horrible it’s taking so long and they hate me and and and…” Yah, I have the tendency to go waaaay past normal and into worst possible case scenario LOL. (In my defense— I do try not to involve too many people in my drama, and I always ASK someone I trust before I go flying off the handle with all the “nobody loves me” stuff.)

ANYHOO— was very nice. Not very painful, at all. Mostly grammar and such, which I get. Well, I understand that the changes need to be made, and made them and sent it back all neat and tidy. SO… that hurdle was cleared and we’re marching onwards toward PUBLICATION! YAY!

 

Ok. So enough tooting my own horn. Lets get down to business.

Specifically, endings.

I don’t claim to have the secret to great endings. I *know* I’m relatively untried as a writer, however… As a reader, you’ll be hard pressed to name 10 people you personally know who reads more than I do unless it’s for their job. And that’s not even counting the books I put down because I can’t get it to them.

There were two great books, one of them A Vintage Affair by Isabell Wolff and the other was Redoubt by Mercedes Lackey. Books held my interest all the way through… And then the endings.

With Wolff’s book, I hadn’t read one of her’s before. Maybe it’s her style. But I honestly thought I skipped a chapter. On my Nook, no less. I went back and forth, through the chapter thing that you can jump around in,… and nope. No missing pages. But to take a book, a really good book, and blow it like that?

Heartbreaking.

You can’t have the heroine telling someone that she’d found someone, but someone who’s currently only a friend, and then in the blooming next chapter holding hands and planning to meet his parents. If you’re going to end it ambiguous, do that. Don’t put the holding hands and plans for future in there. That would have been fine. F I N E. I personally LOVE a happy ending, but not all great books have them.

They do, however, feel COMPLETE. Not as if the publisher had left a chapter out.

Now, I’m going to throw this one out there. First of all, I’ve got nothing but love for Mercedes Lackey. She is one of my all time favorites. The Foundation series that she’s writing right now? I’ve bought all except the current one. In hard back.

I really like this author.

And it sucks that there’s a niggle of doubt over the e-book version of Redoubt, because it is a great read. Oh.. my… gawd… it gets GREAT. And when he realizes what love is, what it truly truly is deep down inside, you feel like crying.

And then you feel like throwing the Nook against the wall when you get to the end and realize… there’s not going to be a reunion between the friends where they can hash things out. For the first time in the series, it doesn’t end with Bear, Lena and Mags huddled up in the Hearler’s college, trying to figure out what’s next.

Now, that could be cuz these kids are growing up. Bear and Lena have gotten married. The second half of the book really picks up and goes and has you by the throat…. and then Dallen is there and you’re cheering, and then… IT’S FREAKING OVER.

And it’s really only a problem for 2 reasons. #1– it didn’t end as the others had, with the friends together and #2…. Someone posted on B&N in their review posted that the publisher had not put everything that is in the hard cover into the Nook version. That it had been EDITED DOWN.

What the heck?!???!!!!

Now, in the first book, I will say in no uncertain terms that I felt as if Wolff had forgotten a chapter. But for Mercedes Lackey? It might just be that it felt too quick because I was gripped into it and wanted more… I wanted the resolution and the kicking of butts to commence. I wanted to find out what it *meant* to Mags… but this could just be a great cliff hanger for the next book.

However…

I can’t tell. Because the pagination in e-books is wonky.

So….

For A Vintage Affair by Isabelle Wolf: Grade B. Solid book, even if it read weird for me. The romance part of it wasn’t really the main part of the story, and the REAL story was taken to it’s full conclusion.

 

Redoubt, by Mercedes Lackey…. I’m going to grudingly give an A to. It would be an A plus, except I STILL (weeks later) feel cheated. Dang it, Ms. Lackey— WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

 

Sorry I’ve been a little wonky myself on posting. I went to doctor’s yesterday— it’s my annual upper respitory / sinus infection time. yay me. But as I am taking my medication, hopefully will be gone by weekend.

 

Ta for now, my lovelies.

 

It’s almost the happiest time of year!

I am a sucker for all things Christmas. I am the one who wants to put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving… and in my very first apartment I might not have taken down my tree until almost Valentines day… Hehehehe.

I watch Hallmark movies, and the Lifetime Christmas ones, too. (Only the Christmas ones, I don’t like all the dude killed/beat/whatever’d  his wife and she/her sister/ mother got revenge.) Satna Paws, Santa Clause, the movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas… you get the idea.

So it was with great pleasure that I started my holiday reading. Now, the disclaimer– I had ARC’s on What Happens at Christmas by Victoria Alexander and Babycakes by Donna Kauffman from Kensington books.

What Happens at Christmas was written so well, I went and bought His Mistress by Christmas for my nook as soon as I was done. I loved them both. I haven’t laughed like that… well, since last Christmas’ batch of books. Where she really excells, though, with both novels is when the farce that is going on in the characters’ lives brings in the family. It is so hilarious… Hire some orphans for a “real” Dickens christmas? Done! These novels both bring so much laughter, as well as the heartwarming bringing together of the family (whether bought and paid for or via blood), I did find it interesting that while both heroines were widows, they each had very different ideas on remarrying.

Babycakes is not a traditional holiday novel, but I think it does well. Kit has lost everything, her family, her family business, even the family house… And all because she trusted someone who *should* have had her back. Morgan has fled his high flautin family’s influence to try and raise his neice as normally as possible.

The Thanksgiving scene is one I haven’t ever seen before, but fits perfectly and illustrates perfectly that while the people in this little island might not have blood relations around… They definately have family. Because sometimes, just sometimes, the family you need isn’t the one you were born with. But you have them anyways.

Babycakes is one of those novels that sneaks up on you. You pick it up, thinking ok… I’ll give this a try…. and three hours later you’re saying “whaaaa?” I love it when that happens!

 

So yes, I got my geek on in all it’s holiday glory. You’ll be glad to know that I only have 1 holiday sweat shirt (poinsettas on a green sweatshirt with 80’s style preppy collar.. love it).

Next time will be on both editing and ending. For while these novels shine… some…. not so much. And I may break my rule about not saying the name of the novels, because I kind of want to see if it was a different expereince for others (or, to be honest, they left a chapter off the nook).

Ta for now, my loverlies!

Dragons Dragons Dragons

So.  A long time ago, when I was a junior in college, I started what was to become my first ever completed novella: If There Be Dragons. It’s at about 55,ooo words, it was never published… And it has one of my very favoritest characters in it.

Alex is a kick sass kind of girl. As Mistress of the Dragons, her first and formost duty is to the dragons. She *likes* that she isn’t responsible for people, as she sees it as a conflict of interest. She learned to fight in a skirt, avenged her bestest friend (and some thought future husband), fell for and married an assassin, kicked a god’s butt and demanded blood price of the rest of them.

I loved her. I adored her. She was everything I wished I could be. Take charge, confident. Not afraid to be exactly who she was. When she learned to deal with the trappings of being a female in her world it was on her terms. She’s a force of nature, and it was an incredible ride when I first started living in her world with her. She is the first character’s whose story I finished, and the last character that my mother was acquanited with. I started it in my Junior year, and mom read EVERYTHING I wrote. Even though she was a strictly romance kind of woman, she read each and every sentence that I wrote during that time. Mom died my Senior year of college. Alex helped me through it (sometimes, I think being able to go into her world is all that saved my sanity).

I kind of cringe when I read it now. I have some really really short scenes. Instead of head jumping, I just switched scenes. But one thing that has never let me down is Alexandria Draconia, Mistress of the Dragons.

And she’s talking to me again.

I can’t wait for the ride that she’s going to take me on this time. Her world is about to explode in a big way, making her do things that she really really doesn’t want to. Making choices no woman should have to.

And with the advent of e-publishing, there seems to be more room for different things, like a chick-lit high fantasy novella. Doesn’t really matter if there’s an audience for it or not however…

Cuz I’m all in.

 

Next week, I fully plan to geek out on Christmas Romance titles. Fair warning to those of you who don’t read it. Probably have dragon updates, too.