The Kemblog: May 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Grant year, week 21: editing, networking

I'm still working on my first 50 pages plus synopsis. The way I tackle it is to do a run-through of the first 50 pages, then the synopsis, then go back to the first 50 pages. I find this gives me a 'mini-break' and I spot new things to fix each time.

I've also given the first 50 pages to a writer friend (in exchange for 50 pages of his novel) and we swapped critiques this week. It's really interesting seeing how other people interpret your work. Something that you intended a certain way can be read in an altogether different context. Critiquing other people's work is good also because through it you learn to read your own work in a more detached way. (That's the theory, anyway).

Caught up with another writing colleague this week and we swapped notes. It's good having that bit of extra time in the week to do things like this. There's this idea that writers are lonely beings who do it all by themselves. The reality is that, while no-one holds your hand while you write, it's important to have a network of other writers to talk to.

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Sunday, May 22, 2011

New t-shirt: S.U.C.H.I.S.L.I.F.E.

via redbubble.com

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Grant year, week 20: editing

I'll keep this short, as I don't have much to report.

Still working on my first 50 pages + synopsis for Hachette MS Development.

Have been doing some critting for friends.

That's about it!

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Grant year, week 19: editing

Have been playing around with Scrivener to output copies of my manuscript for the editor and my Mum. Mum's copy I was aiming to make it look like a book and it was pretty cool seeing my words in a book-ish font/layout. Hopefully Mum will be around for the proper book version, but that's not the most likely outcome, unfortunately.

I've started copy editing the first 50 pages for the Hachette Manuscript Development Program.

It has been a fairly quiet week, to be honest -- the calm before the storm, no doubt.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Grant year, weeks 17 and 18: the end of the beginning

Wow. Somehow I missed week 17's post entirely, and week 18's is a couple of days late.

Must've lost track of time in the race to the finish line.

Finished the first draft. Well, sort of. It's never really that easy, is it? As soon as I'd 'finished' I knew that there were at least two things that needed to be changed before I send it off for the structural edit. Both relate to tattoos. Specifically the first two tattoos (so of course references to them are littered throughout the MS!).

There was an African component to the first two tattoos, because initially I was going to feature the Kihebo massacre as one of the 'flashbacks'. But probably two-thirds of the way through the MS I realised that it was just going to complicate things, since the bulk of the back story relates to stuff that happened in Afghanistan.

So, I still have to go back and change some of that stuff, and then over to the editor it goes.

It's exciting. This is also a dangerous time for me. Well, not dangerous in the sense of the dangers that my protagonists face. You know, bullets, bashings, death. But there's a danger that I'll rest on my laurels and not keep the momentum going.

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Friday, May 06, 2011

Brimstone Press titles to be pulped on Saturday (updated)

UPDATE: Seems there's a fair bit of confusion surrounding Angela's original email. So much so that she's sent out a clarification. In short, it's only her personal stock she's pulping, since there is no longer a Brimstone Press website and so no avenue for people to buy those titles. Macabre is still available at bookshops, as will be Paul Haines' collection, The Last Days of Kali Yuga. Other titles were being offered to contributors at the prices outlined below. Also, Angela says she's going to look into offering earlier Brimstone titles as ebooks/POD. But still, it's okay to rush out and secure your copy of Macabre! :)

It's with heavy heart that I pass on the following email from Angela Challis (Brimstone Press). I've worked with Angela several times, I was 'staff writer' for the well-received but short-lived BLACK magazine, and my stories have appeared in several Brimstone Press anthologies.

If I had the money, I'd buy up some of these titles just to stop them being pulped. Angela and Shane Jiraiya Cummings put so much work into them, they're beautiful books and -- in the case of Macabre -- culturally significant too. Unfortunately, I'm skint at the moment.

So please, if you want any of these books, get in quick...

Via Angela Challis, Brimstone Press:
This is a courtesy email to let you know that all stock of Brimstone Books will be pulped at the end of this week.

Should you be interested in additional copies of the title in which you appeared (or indeed, any other title listed below), I am happy to send them to you at the low costs listed below plus PPH ($10 for <500g parcel and $15 for <3kg parcel – more expensive for O/S postage).

Should you be interested in picking up any of these titles, please drop me an email (angela@achallis.com.au), and I’ll provide you with a precise amount due for postage before you make your decision (no polite conversation is required or expected)

Again, I will be pulping all my stock on Sat May 8 after which time the following titles will no longer be available ...

Shadow Box CD      $5
Black Box CD          $8
Book of Shadows    $5
ADFHv1 (2006)       $8
ADFHv2 (2007)     $13
ADFHv3 (2008)       $8
Macabre                 $25

Single Author Titles also available ...

Shards     $8    (this title will still be available as an ebook available through Amazon, Smashwords, etc – but due to the format, it does not contain the art work of Andrew McKiernan)
The Last Days of Kali Yuga $20     (this title will still be available at the Author’s Melbourne Launch to be held at Dymocks Southland on Sat July 2nd at 12 noon)