Script Frenzy

Brought to you by the same fine folks who run the NaNoWriMo event each November, Script Frenzy is the "Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels" version of that challenge. It starts at midnight on April 1st and ends at midnight on April 30th. To put it simply, your task is to produce "100 pages of original scripted material in 30 days." Quite a reasonable goal, in my opinion.

Their website is full of helpful info on formatting, outlining, and a lot of other things relating to scripts so go over and check it out.

As I've mentioned before about NaNoWriMo, deadlines are a great personal motivator so I decided to give it a shot this year. Care to join me?

Bartimaeus Trilogy - Mini Review

In an effort to provide more frequent updates for my loyal readers (my humble thanks to all three of you), I've decided to do the occasional review on books that I've been reading. They'll be short and to the point -- mostly about sf and fantasy because those are the types of books I like to read.

I'm kicking things off with a fun and breezy read, "The Bartimaeus Trilogy" (Book One: "The Amulet of Samarkand", Book Two: "The Golem's Eye", Book Three: "Ptolemy's Gate").

One of the best fantasy series I've read in a long time. The titular character is an "always too smart for the room" djinni in service to (he would say "enslaved"by ) ambitious magical prodigy, John Mandrake. Crisply written and laugh out loud funny in many places, these books explore a bizarre yet familiar world full of intrigue, powerful spirits, and exciting action.
Highly recommended.

Hey, Why Not?

Submitted Leonard for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It's an annual contest sponsored by CreateSpace, Penguin Group, Publisher's Weekly, and of course, Amazon.com.

The Grand Prize is a publishing contract with Penguin that includes a $25k advance. Not too shabby!

They're only accepting a maximum of 10k manuscripts so the way I look at it, my odds of being chosen are much better than winning the lottery!

3/17 Update: Didn't make it past the first round. Rats!

In Play

Quick update. A submission-worthy draft of "Leonard" was placed in Agent S' hands shortly before Christmas meaning that the game is afoot. I think the manuscript's pretty darned tight and a good read. Hopefully publishers will agree. Finger crossings, prayers, and happy vibe thoughts are all welcome and appreciated.

Note to People Who Read Books

Please buy some! Publishing is yet another industry that is really hurting and could use your help. People are being laid off, imprints are getting the ax, and book lists are sure to be pruned with even more vigor than usual. It's not a pretty picture.

As an aspiring novelist, I fully admit this post is self-serving. But here's the deal: When times are hard, publishers get cautious and cut way back on bringing along new talent, tending to go with their tried and true authors instead of those of us with question marks over our heads. That certainly makes sense from a business perspective, but totally sucks from the "trying to get a foot in the door" side of things. Speaking as my alter ego, Commander Obvious, the low sales trend needs to be reversed in order for them to feel comfortable again about taking on us new guys.

So this holiday season, if you're trying to choose between purchasing a Wisconsin Cheeseman Gift Tower and a good novel or a Kung Fu Panda plushy and a quality picture book, all I'm asking is that you help a novelista in need by dropping your dime on the books. Thanks!

I'm a Weiner!

Well, I did it. Went over the 50k mark at around 3:00 this afternoon. Go me.

Going to continue adding to the word count over the two remaining days in the challenge. Then I'll let it sit (probably until early next year) before I start what I know is going to be a rough and tumble edit.

In general, I'm pleased with what I've got, but there are some interesting logic flaws in the story's time line that should be quite a challenge to solve. I also I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have one or two more main characters than I need. Anyway, I'll deal with all after I've had a chance to rest my critical eye.

Process This

Well, I reached 40k tonight -- a little behind on my personal goal based on 2k a day from Nov. 1, but still within my comfort zone. I've got between now and next Sunday to crank out 10k. Barring any wordless dead zones, I should make it with a little room to spare.

This year's NaNo effort is different than last year in many ways. Foremost is the fact that I finished a complete first draft of this year's novel this past Friday! It came in at around 38k so while I had a rough yet complete manuscript, I did not yet have a winning NaNo word count.

I mentioned that this draft was feeling a little sparse, so what I did was go back to page one and start looking for parts to flesh out. I found close to an additional 2k within the first thirty-three pages so I'm optimistic I'll find 10k in the remaining one hundred and eighty nine. After the end of the month I'll be pushing on, trying to beef it up to around 70k.

Last year, I reached 52k by the end of the month but felt nowhere near the actual end of the story. The finished manuscript for last year's effort came in at around 77k.

I know, lots of boring stats but I have to admit that part of the fun of this challenge is the process.