3/29/06: Bleah

[davidlevine]

Word count: 18632 | Since last entry: 1340

The day job is kicking my ass. And I seem to have picked up some minor bug -- something that makes me a little phlegmy and a little achy and a little hoarse. Nothing much, to be sure, but enough to slow me down.

However, yesterday the car was in the shop for an oil change, so I took the train to work. Wrote almost a thousand words. I should do that more often. Somewhere around Millikan Way my little novelette became a novella. (Throws confetti.)

At this point I seriously doubt this story will ever sell. It's so long that only the big three magazines would even consider it, and even they buy very few stories this length. It's got too many rivets for Asimov's or F&SF, and it's got gay and transsexual characters which Stan Schmidt doesn't like (not to mention that some of the science is, frankly, a little rubbery). But, having put so much effort into the damn thing, I mean to finish it, for myself if nothing else. Probably a couple thousand words to go. Once it's done I may write an essay here about what this story is really about, and why it's important to me.

After that? I have line edits to do on "Titanium Mike" for F&SF, then some critique comments to incorporate on the Jupiter story so I can start sending it out again. And then it might be time to start on the next novel. Or possibly one more short story first. Something fantasy, just as a change-up. We'll see.

Must sleep now.

Comments

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Try Baen Universe? Being online they have the space to run long things, and they're paying at least as much as the "three big magazines", and they're quick at response too.

But is it upbeat? They definitely want upbeat.

[davidlevine]

It's as upbeat as can be expected given the characters' situation, he says opaquely...

[marksiegal.livejournal.com]

Knee-jerk reaction here: Any thought that your novelette-turned-novella could be expanded further into a full novel?

[davidlevine]

I keep wondering about that, but I really don't think this is a novel-sized idea.

Mind you, this story does lead into a new situation that's pretty intense and scary. I've rejected the idea of a sequel that jumps off from that point, because the end of this story is a resolution to the main character's Big Problem. But I wonder if I could come up with a different Big Problem for the sequel, and lay some groundwork for it in the current story. The two parts together could make a fix-up novel.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Check with small presses like Small Beer. For some reason, I buy a lot of individually wrapped novellas in the dealers room. The reason being maybe because I like them, and they're hard to find elsewhere, and they don't weigh so much.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

and it's got gay and transsexual characters which Stan Schmidt doesn't like

Whoops. I just sent him a novelette with intergendered characters. Ah well. Next on my list: Futurismic.

[davidlevine]

Well, despite what I've said here I'm still planning to send this story to Analog first when it's done. The worst he can do is reject it...