In the morning, the Wife and I leave for the Heartland. Middle America. Kansas -- the Wheat State. Think I'll tear through a cornfield at mdnight and summoun Malakai. Or maybe I'll just wish my grandparents a happy 60th wedding anniversary, and take some pictures.
The eerie thing about this excursion: their 50th blowout doesn't seem all that long ago. In fact, the Wife -- she was the Girlfriend, though she was always the One -- had just moved in together.
The blog will improve when I return next week. Less clunkers, more grins. Seriously. If there's Internet access between now and then, I may through up a post or two. And I get to see Pollster's new house.
Closer to the halfway mark with Team Eagle Eye edits. Of the 32 chapters addressed thus far, 32 end with a cliffhanger. Expect the unexpected, I say. Also, the hero figures more prominently in the narrative. The action is tighter and more consistent. Overall this is getting to be the sort of story I wanted all along, but lacked the tools, the chops, and the life experience to write.
Before the first tech bust, I worked at a consulting company which employed three tech professionals I respect. One of them said, "Deploy the sort of solution you would pay for, nothing less. That's the greatest measure of quality."
He may have been talking about code, but I think his theory applies here as well; this is almost a book I would buy.
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“Deploy the sort of solution you would pay for, nothing less. That’s the greatest measure of quality.â€
Absolutely – if you don’t love your novel, how can you expect anyone else to.
I believe Gaitlin, where the Children of the Corn live, is actually in Nebraska. Which is probably all for the best, really… those wacky kids and their human sacrifices and their summoning of pagan gods… I blame the schools.
Have a good trip!
Debra, you raise the question of the emotional component, which dovetails with my big dilemma. What I vacillate about is rarely my love towards the novel as an idea, or as a manuscript in progress, but rather letting the entire process run its course. While abdicating a large amount of control must be done to reach the finish marker, and I realize this, I still dislike the notion.
So I’d say your words are on point. And also my reply to your comment turned out nothing like I planned.
Ian, whoever gets a nod in print from King first has to buy the other a beer. Deal?
That sounds fair. I’ll even meet you halfway… what’s that? Ohio? Illinois?
It might just be PA. The fricking state is monstrous.