EATING THE ELEPHANT

Today is a milestone! Just after Fall began I completed the first draft of my novel, EYES LIKE WALLS. I set it aside for a few weeks to allow the dust to settle and to work on a couple of smaller projects. Well, today I completed a major revision of that novel.

My main concentration was continuity and flow with care and attention given to grammar and spelling. I began work just before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. Time was, of course, taken for family and friends both then and at Christmas and New Year. (I'm as obsessive as any writer but try to hide my neurosis). Working a schedule of 5 - 8 hours a day, six days a week eventually got the job done.

What's the final output? 320 double spaced pages in standard formatting for a total of 86,290 words, including chapter numbering and headings. I actually reduced the original by over 5200 words which I feel pretty good about.

What's next? As hard as it is I'm going to walk away from the manuscript for a week. During that time I'll be researching agents and editors to make my pitch to. Any suggestions from the viewers of this blog would be appreciated. It's a contemporaneous tale of science fiction tied into some of the more prevalent conspiracy theories and today's cutting edge developments in science and technology (Think DOCTOR STRANGELOVE meets THE X FILES with undertones of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS). If you've had any experience with agents in this genre and can point out a useful contact I'd love to hear from you. You can shoot me a line in the comment box below. I review all such submissions before they go public, so if you want this to be just between you and me indicate that in your comment. But please leave an email so I can respond to you personally. I will not share it with others without your permission.

Is this next week going to be totally devoid of work? I can't even believe I posed that question. No. I am researching a new novel and have an idea in its rudimentary form for a new short story. I swear - I'm going to buy an old Underwood manual typewriter and have it, along with a ream of paper, buried with me when I finally go. All that time to myself with no phones, commitments, or interruptions! Ah.