Nicholas McRae: Off In My Own Little World

Pursuing Additional Avenues at This Time

2008-03-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

Well, five months is long enough to wait through silence, I think. The editor requested my manuscript; I delivered it; she confirmed its receipt. I waited patiently until I got past her "Please contact me by now," date, and I sent a very polite request for information. I feel like I've been pigeonholed. Meanwhile, I'm editing the second book in the series- primping it for the trashcan. No, I'm tired of waiting.

I knew that my chances of being picked up with my first manuscript were negligible at best, and I was wholly prepared for that rejection. Corie and Jen both seem to feel that I should have heard something by now. They both advise me to send a letter to the editor to inform her that I am now pursuing additional avenues. Corie worded the letter so eloquently last night. I must try to remember what she said.

At any rate, I'm going to be turning back to my original idea, and podcasting the Piggy Moto books. I've been sick lately with a real nasty chest cold, and it's given me time to listen to some of the work of Tee Morris, Phil Rossi and Scott Sigler. I am very inspired, and with friends like Jen and Corie around I have no excuse not to make it happen.

This is a big, huge project, but it's gotta' get done.

Last day of the year

2008-02-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the last night of the year of the pig. Silly, superstitious me. I actually thought this would be the year I found that special someone. I gave up eating pork with the hopes of the big mother sow in the sky taking pity on me and sending me a boar to love. I guess that was pretty dumb, but it was kinda' fun daydreaming about it. Oh well.

I'd hate to day that the year ended on a down note, but it kinda' did. No word from the editor, no realistic nibbles on the romance front. My finances are pretty crappy. All things considered, I think I'm half a step behind where I was last new year.

Maybe I'm just bummed out a lot lately. I've been writing a bunch of my feelings into s series of inappropriately adult stories, and that's been helping me get a good feel for where I am and where I'm coming from.

I'm moving out of this house. Getting a little apartment on my own. I figure I can get a little place, live in it for a few years and pay down my debts a good deal, and then move up into somewhere cooler. Being on my own will probably be very helpful. I'll be free to be myself, to date, to live my own life. It's gonna be great. Of course, the process hasn't been all joy and excitement, but that's what writing is for.

Anyway. I hope the year of the rat is better to me. I feel so stupidly EMO. I mean, my friends and I laugh at the morose idiots who drone on in their LJ's about being lonesome, and here I am. SO, let me get it out of my system.

There's nothing shittier in this world than being alone in a room full of people. All of the people with whom I regularly hang out are spoken for. Not that I'm interested in dating any of them, but “And then there's Nick,” has become my fucking life slogan.

Seven of us go out. Him and him, him and her, her and him- and then there's Nick. Sure, I've been invited into two romances, by two couples. Sure, let me hop right into that one- let's be neglected by twice as many people now.

This shit really sucks. Coming up on another fucking Valentines day single. *sensitive details deleted for inclusion in previously mentioned story* I hate looking at it. All this love all this happiness- everything from which I am excluded. That is why being in my own apartment will be so nice. I will be alone, but it will be okay, because I really will be alone.

Waning Motivation

2008-01-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

While attending Dragoncon in September, I met the senior editor for a pretty well known fantasy publisher. She invited me to send her my Boar Band manuscript. Well, my test readers made some suggestions and gave me a unanimous thumbs up. SO, after two final edits, I sent it in.

Pretty much immediately upon receiving the file, the editor wrote me back and said that she did remember talking to me and was looking forward to reading the manuscript when she could. I was flattered, elated and beside myself. This was in October.

Well, I made it past the deadly first two weeks without any rejection. November came and went, bring and taking NaNo 2007 with it. Still no word by December, but I'm patent. I mean, it's the holidays and whatnot, so I kept my game face on. I did send in a Holiday card saying best wishes and everything, and while I didn't expect it to inspire an immediate response, I did hope that after the holiday hubbub, maybe the second week in January or so.. I'd hear something.

Alas, no.

So, Exactly a week ago today, I sent my official, allowed by tradition, two-month check-in e-mail. I was polite and everything, and even mentioned that I have not simultaneously submitted my manuscript.

It's not that I couldn't handle a rejection letter, I just want to know so that I can proceed. If they don't like it, that's cool, there are a few other places I'd like to try. If they DO like it and just need more time, great! I'd just like to know that so I can put my mind to other projects.
I just feel pigeon-holed at this point, and that feels worse than rejection.

Trying not to lose heart.

@set 2008=_better_than_2007?YES!!!

2008-01-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

2007 was… ugh. You’d think the year of the golden piggy would have been better to me.. Well, I shouldn’t speak so fast, cause it’s not over till February :P So, let’s talk about 2007 instead. My official word for the year is fiasco, 2007, in retrospect, was just.. stupid. I mean, some good things happened, some crappy things happened, but top to bottom, what’s really changed except for $3.00 gas?
Throughout most of the year, I edited All Star Boar Band. Now, I’m waiting to hear from the editor, to see if it’s been bought or not. In the meantime, I’ve written the second in the Piggy Moto series, The Accidental Activists. Im taking a break from it for a while before I begin the edit process- just to clear my mind a bit.
In the novel downtime, I’ve been working on the ongoing, Fate’s Cold Hand story, and at this point, I have the first two segments completed and uploaded here:
http://nicholasmcrae.com/id11.html
I’ve gotten a little bit of feedback already, and it’s all been encouraging. A very generous musician who goes by Lazz is also interested in doing a soundtrack composition for me, so that’s very exciting! I can’t wait to hear it.
There’s also about to appear an art gallery on my website, so keep an eye for that. It’ll be for the story related work I’ve made and will be making in the future. Dunno really when that will be up, but it’s coming.
A friend and I recently worked a bad habit banishing ritual over the new moon, so let’s see if that will help me get things under control. For the up and coming full moon, I’m thinking of doing a little luv ritual, or maybe just something for general good luck.

Well, the official Dragon Wagon, is now the official Puppy Wagon.

2008-01-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, two friends and I went out and traded in my ’98 Plymouth Grand Voayger for a ’99 Saturn LS2. One of the guys used to work for Saturn, so he looked it over top to bottom and gave it high marks. The brakes need some work, but I think he wants to work on those this morning. So, that’s all cool.
He’s a standard (the car- who’s name is Raphiel, by the way), so my other bud took me around in him to teach me how to drive a stick. It’s not so bad, after all. Yesterday I took him out by myself and drove down to catch a bite with a couple friends and show him off to them and a couple more. It was a good evening, and by the time I got back home, I almost felt comfortable shifting.
Besides the brakes, the only things Raph needs are a new headliner and all new speakers. The previous owner blew them all out. It’s the one thing we didn’t check on our test drive. But, the radio and cd player work fine. There’s no tape deck, though, so no more listening to the Ipod while I drive :P.

So that’s it about that. I’ll make another post about the writing.

The Joys of Editing

2007-12-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

Not that many authors have complained within earshot about the work of editing what they have written- about the long hours spent sifting through a manuscript for inconsistencies, punctuation and spelling issues, lulls and repetition- but, I've found the process to be somewhat exciting. Now, I get to add all the really cool bits- those things that make a story come to life for me. You know, it feels like the shooting is done, and now it's time to add all the special effects.

Sketch Draft Done

2007-11-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

I like to call the first draft of my manuscript a sketch. There are thin lines connecting all of the points and large areas of space open for details and expansion. After the initial layout comes the ink- when plots and subplots are definitively set. Then the pencil marks go away and flourishes add the personal touch to the world. After all of this, the technical aspects of my manuscript enjoy a tidying and tightening, and it's off to my test readers. After that, it's post production, final edits, and submission.
Why do I share this? Well, Piggy Moto volume II: Accidental Activist is completely sketched. Since NaNoWriMo is still going on, I'm gonna jump right into book three. This time, Corbin is the MC.

In Full Swing

2007-11-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

November is half over. That means, NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month) is in full swing. Pretty much all of my free time has been devoted to writing the next Piggy Moto manuscript, and last night, I crossed the 50,000 word mark. The story is halfway complete, and I honestly have no idea how it's gonna end.

All Star Boar Band is in the hands of an editor right now, though I am afraid to say just who- for fear of jinxing myself. Suffice it to say, I'm waiting to hear back from the publisher, and I'm doing so on pins and needles.

Wish me luck.

Submission Lockdown

2007-10-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

The good part is that this particular manuscript has slipped through the gauntlet of snares that traps up a vast majority of written works in this world. With lucky timing and tons of support, I managed to pique the curiosity of an editor and get my pages into her hands. While there is still a vastly greater chance that this novel will be rejected rather than published, it's chances fall within the integer levels. This is extremely encouraging.

Now, the down side of this fact is that I feel bound by etiquette not to submit my manuscript to anyone else until the official rejection has been delivered. (Okay, okay, rejection OR approval) I've read that a good time to wait is 6 weeks. Well, week one= gone.

To my close friends who may be reading this, please forgive my return to these following points. I feel that if I do not constantly remind myself of then, then I will go crazy with worry. Besides that, Isn't it better to write my thoughts out here than to sit in front of Yahoo Mail hitting [refresh] [refresh] [refresh].

A couple sources have said that most outright rejections come within the first two weeks. They say that if an author doesn't hear from an agent or editor in two months, then a followup e-mail is not inappropriate. This tells me that news should definitely come by the time the NaNo novel is all sketched out. So, the wait should not be terrible. Not after next week, anyway.

NaNoWriMo starts in only a couple weeks, so while there might be enough time to write a short story, I must not start writing my next novel yet. This causes must frustration. Though, come to think of it, there are other works in progress that can be continued or rewritten.

101k and it's all done

2007-10-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Final edits tool longer than I'd originally anticipated. The nineteenth of September was supposed to be my submission date, and here I sit, nearly a month later- finally done.

Three brave souls lent me their time and patience as test readers, and to them I extend my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude. Jenn, Corey, Laird, y'all are angels.

Also, extra props to Mr. Bruce W. Williams. Thanks for all the insight and guidance, Bruce! You helped breathe life and reality into this story. Best wishes to you and yours.

I'll give the last couple chapters one last read through this evening, but Monday morning, I submit this monster.

Constant Second Thoughts

2007-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Editing is a pain in the ass. Every morning, I get back to it and look over the previous page just to get my bearings. It is without fail that new errors and oversights present themselves each day, despite how carefully the pages were read the morning before. There are days when the whole process just seems overwhelming and hopeless.

I mean, I wrote a novel about pigs. Where the heck could that go? Besides, I've taken so long editing it, there's no doubt that my window of opportunity has closed by now.

Well, this weekend was definitely one of those times. My niece turned three, and my sister invited me down to celebrate. I packed up everything that would come in handy editing and headed down after work Friday. It was really nice to get away from Austin for a while, see my family and old friends. It was a lot of fun, but I got zero editing done.

My good friend Mary (she's working to be a teacher there in Houston) had invited me out for a couple drinks Friday night, and then Saturday Morning, we headed out to the Katy Mills mall (probably by favorite mall in the world). There is a really neat Asian decor shop there with a wall that's full of Chinese New Year stuff. I make it a point to hit that store every time I visit, and usually find something great to walk out with.

Well, I'd not gotten anything productive done all morning before meeting up with Mary, so doubt and self-admonishment weighed heavily on my mind. Mary and I had wandered through several stores before we got to that one, and I had just decided not to buy any more year of the rabbit or year of the pig stuff when she asked, "Did you see that they have a guitar playing pig?"

Sure enough, there on one of the sale displays stood a fat, jubilant boar in a suit and hat playing a mandolin with a gold earing in one ear. And, he was 30% off. A sign from the heavens? Is there still a shot?

So, Yesterday, I passed the 300 page mark, and only have 200 left to edit before the towel officially flutters to the floor. There have been two rewrites, three test readers, two full edits, and then this half-done polishing run. After this, it's done. Finished. Complete. Sure, there will still be a typo or two, I'm sure of it, but the book must be finished at some point, else I'll just edit it into oblivion.

I want to see this book published. Every effort has gone into making it as strong as possible, and even fate seems to offer encouragement. Intuition says, "Go."

Closer, Closer, Closer!

2007-09-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well, Dinner with my test readers last night went well. There are many typos to correct and extra commas to remove, and a few scenes need to be added before all of the inconsistencies are fixed. It's just about finished, though. Next Thursday, my last test reader will get her copy back to me, but by then, I hope to have most of the holes patched. So, My submission date will be October first.