Last Call for Comments

Well, things are coming to a close. I’m planning on sending the manuscript to the editor next Monday, August 4th. Speak before then if you’d like any of your thoughts considered for the final wrap up of the manuscript!

Morty

Here’s a start.

Here are a couple of possible openings to the book.

Which do you like best? Perhaps this will help, imagine you’re a twelve year old boy — now, which do you like best? I’ll label them “A” and “B”

A —

All the doors were locked, and the nightlight was lit, and everthing was perfectly still the night the bogeyman came.

He came in the tradtional way — through the closet. Now, the closet was located in a bedroom, and the bedroom was located around a boy. He was a little fellow and on this particular night he was all tuckered out. He’d had a busy day filled with sunshine and watermelons and cousins running through the sprinkler. But when his closet began to stir he opened a bleary eye.

B —

There was once a boy who didn’t want to go to bed.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; but you wouldn’t want to go to bed either if your closet made noises in the middle of the night. His made faint, far away noises that sounded like hammers striking stone. they would go on for hours going: clink, clink, clink. Naturally, no one else ever heard them. The closet seemed to know when others were listening. And just as naturally his parents thought it was all just a phase and he’d grow out of it some day. Besides, they thought it was cute when he crawled into bed with them in the middle of the night.

Then one night, after a long day filled with sunshine . . ..

Go ahead and pick the one you like best and tell me why under comments.

Morty

How Should I Begin?

I’ve probably rewritten the first page of TBP a hundred times over the last 4 years. And every time I do so, I’m happy with the change for about a week, then I begin to see problems.

In the current incarnation I’m working with a fairy tale theme — I want to convey a sense of “homeyness” while raising the prospect that things are the reverse of the normal fairy tale — in other words the magic and wonder of fairyland may be found in what we normally call “home” and what we think of as fairyland is someplace alien and so scary we’d try to escape if we ever found ourselves there.

But I’ve been having second thoughts. Perhaps I should just jump into the scary stuff. Maybe my readers would be put off by my subtlety.

Tomorrow I’ll present two alternative opening paragraphs and ask you for your opinion.

Morty

Finally — the rewrite for The Purloined Boy is done!

After more than a year of work, it is finally finished.

It has been a busy year and I’ve neglected this blog. I’m sorry about that. I’ve occasionally visited the site and I’ve noticed that there are several faithful fans who have been visiting on a regular basis. I’ve gotten several e-mails asking about the progress. Well, the book is finally ready to send off to the editor!

Last summer I spent two days with a well known editor and agent. He’d read the book and he made several very incisive suggestions for improving it. I was pleased with our time together, but I was also discouraged. Taking his advice would mean a total rewrite.

After thinking about it for a week I came to agree with nearly all his criticisms. Later that month I set to work. I’m very happy with the results. Trevor and Maggie are both richer characters (several chapters are told from Maggie’s point of view now). The original story has been broken into two and I’ll probably get started on the second book after the beginning of the new year.

Right now the book is being reviewed by my editor/agent friend. After discussing the new book with him I envision that the manuscript will be off to the editor in August. After that it is probably 4-6 months away from appearing on bookshelves. Sorry about that — the world of book publishing is very slow.

I’ll be blogging more frequently about the progress of the book. I’ve got some exciting things in the works for the promotion of the book. I’ll be in touch about those things!

Morty