More Submissions!

Well, that's another five submissions sent off... I've made an excel sheet now so I can keep track of who I've submitted to so that I don't accidentally send them my book more than once.
Fingers crossed for some nice replies!

A work of art is never finished...

I heard it said once that "a work of art is never finished, only abandoned."

I've lost count of what draft I'm on now.  Mostly because redrafting doesn't involve a neat start to finish read through improving as you go along.  It involves realising you can improve this part - but if you do, that bit back there needs a change and, oh, while I'm there I'll just improve this...

So I decided it would be a good idea to print out my novel and read through it front to back on paper.  For one thing it's easier that reading on a screen, and for another it allows me to make notes on things without getting distracted by rewriting there and then.

To save paper, I figured I would print both sides of the page.  Well, that turned into a nightmare!  After managing to put the paper back in the wrong way around, having the printer spurt a nice chunk of it onto the floor and mix the pages up, and then running out of ink three quarters of the way through printing, I finally have a paper draft in my hands!

Some bits are getting a touch up.  More than I expected is being left alone.  Maybe after this one it's time to abandon it to the wild...

What a difference a mail makes!

I've been sending out my book submission to agents this week, and was really surprised to get an e-mail back already from Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
It was a no - she didn't feel the book was right for her, and that's fine.

The thing was, I was actually glad to get that mail. Sure I would have loved a "yes, I'd like to see more", but I hugely appreciate the fact that she actually took the time just to send those couple of lines.

So remember folks, if you're ever in the position where you get to decide on something - be it a job application, book submission or business proposal, take those few moments to hit reply and let the person at the other end know what the outcome is. Even if it's a no - you'll let them know that they're not just shouting into the void, and that can make a whole difference to their week - and to their next try.

Official Selection!

You may recall me talking about a short film that I wrote and filmed last year, which was entered into the Nikon European Film Festival.
I am thrilled to announce that it made the shortlist!
I got a lovely e-mail saying I could use this picture too. :)

You can watch Half Full here.

Whether we get any further or not, I am proud of what we have achieved with so few resources and such a small team of people!  (There were only three of us making it!)
I loved writing the script and since it was made I have been co-writing a feature length movie script alongside my novel writing. (Before anyone asks, the feature isn't based on Half Full.  I'm not really sure a conversation about a glass would stretch to more than 40 minutes!)  No matter which way the film goes from here, we'll be sure to keep making movies and you never know, one day perhaps you'll see one of ours at the cinema! ;)

November and Novels

November is the novel writing month - and whenever it comes around it seems I've always just finished a project (so yay for that!) and start another saying "perhaps this year I'll do that novel writing in a month thing"... and I of course get well carried away into a huge project that will not be finished by next week.

But I guess it's a good thing to get started on new things anyway.

In other news, my fantasy novel got proofread, spell-checked and packaged up to send to a publisher... and yesterday I got my first rejection postcard.  So ok, it would have been amazing to get a publisher on the first try, and I didn't expect it.  But I did hope a bit.

Still half of this game is finding the right person for the story, so away it's gone again, and we'll see how this one goes.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about blogging and decided that one of the problems of having a writing blog is that there just isn't that much to say about writing.  Sure I could repeat what other writers have already said about how to write, or lecture you on the rules of grammar (my proofreaders would probably find that funny, at least!) but when it comes down to it writing is mostly: 1) Thinking about stuff.  2) Typing.

As for talking about what I've written, well I will be doing that when it's ready to see, but until then there doesn't seem much point in building up excitement for something that you can't get yet, else everyone will have probably forgotten about it anyway by the time you can get it.

So instead I'll just put up doodles or something.  Enjoy.

A Wild Book Appears

It is weird seeing your book printed out for the first time.  You know you’ve written a lot of words, but to see the chunk of paper that it takes up really brings it home.

You hold it, hefting its weight and think “finally, it’s done.”

But of course, it’s not done.  It’s nowhere near done.

At this point I’d like to thank to my test readers, who each took away a small tree’s worth of paper and spent their free time reading those words that I’ve written.  Your feedback has been great – and I’ve been happy to hear that you all enjoyed the book despite those spelling and grammatical errors which I managed to read over a hundred times and not spot.

I’ve had the recent task of going through that feedback – correcting those spellings, removing those extra commas… (well some of them – there is an ongoing debate about the use of the Oxford comma!) and in some cases rewriting scenes to add a little more depth or clarity.

Some of it has been fun (some typos created some very unintentionally funny sentences), some has been frustrating (we all have days where we just can’t think of a different way to phrase something), but overall it has been rewarding to see the story having the rough edges knocked off.

Not much more work to do before I try my hand at sending it out to publishers.  It’s hard to know when it’s ready, because as the saying goes “A work of art is never finished, only abandoned.” 

It’s scary, but I guess I’ll just have to send it and see what happens.

2013 in reflection

Wow it’s been a busy year.  I can’t believe how fast it seemed to go

So many projects!

Way back in March I helped out with a short movie by Ninchilla Films called “The Local”.  It has recently gone up on You Tube, so you can see it online here!

I organised a group to take action to save historic farm and woodland in my home town, which has expanded and is in talks with the council.  The hope is that this time the local community will be involved with the planning and be able to provide feedback for where new housing would be better suited and how it should be brought about.

In the summer I did a bit of travelling, and got to see some amazing historic sites in Greece and Turkey, as well as spending a bit of time in London, Cork and the Midlands.

The Library in Ephesus.

Late summer brought more filming, with the web series “Need to Know.”  (Check it out if you’d like a laugh!)

In autumn I set up an Etsy shop and blog for my jewellery making hobby.  (Includes tutorials, if you would like a go at making things yourself!)

And of course I’ve been working on THE project, my fantasy novel.

How’s it going?  Good.  There have been set backs, including the crisis of the deleting the second half of the book and needing to rewrite it. (On purpose, I decided I wanted it to go in a different direction, but it’s still disheartening to see so many pages vanish!)

It’s at the point now where I think come the spring you’ll start to see actual things about it, rather than reassurances that it’s still in the works.

In the meantime, I entered a short story competition for which I had to write a story within 48 hours based on a genre, location and object that were randomly assigned.  It was good fun, and although I didn’t get past the second round, I did get some points so that’s a plus!  And they give you feedback, so it’s a good learning experience for where I can improve.

I’ll post the stories up over the next couple of weeks for you to read, and you can see for yourselves what you think.

In the new year there will be more updates, stories and hopefully a bit of art coming your way!

So have a good Christmas, and watch this space!

My face hurts.

Another slight delay this week.  I’ve been a bit ill, and managed to burst the blood vessels in my face from being sick.  Gross I know.  The result is I have a lovely mottled effect that feels like a (very sore) bruise extending from my eyes to my chin.  I’m back to typing today, so things should get back on track.  I know you’ve probably all been holding your breath for the story collection, but I’m afraid I’ll have to keep you waiting a little longer! 

In other news, if you are in the London area, be sure to go along to get your copy of Queen of the World signed by Ben Hennessy!  I’m unfortunately not going to make it due to being on another land mass, however I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of the paperback, which should be arriving this week.      

And finally, a little inspiration!  Last weekend I went over to Scotland, here are some of the shots from that trip!

All photographs copyright © Sarah Cosgrove 2012