Progress Report, in which I express gratitude

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Matthew S. Rotundo

Another 4K on Petra Released last week.  And I believe Magic Meter has something to share with the rest of the class:



Yes, folks, I have finally attained first draftage.

Much work lies ahead, but September is my official "cooling off" period.  I’ll attack the rewrite starting in October, with an eye toward finishing by year end.  But for now, I’m grateful that I don’t have to look at the damned thing for a bit.

Meanwhile, I have all kinds of correspondence to catch up on, plus a Halloween story to write, and I have to get Petra whipped into submission shape.

No updates for Write Club.

Busy, busy, busy . . .

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Return of De Foosball

Posted on August 30, 2008 by Matthew S. Rotundo

So here we are, less than an hour from kickoff.  2007 was a dreadful year for football for me, as both my Huskers and my Dolphins turned in abysmal performances.

But now both teams have new coaches, some new players, and renewed hope.  I’ll be expecting improvement from both my teams this year–although truth be told, they have nowhere to go but up.

And that’s about as far as I’ll go with the predictions.  Last year, I suggested my ‘Skers weren’t as good as advertised, and I had the misfortune of being right.  Not taking that chance again.

And already we’ve had some upsets, with Pitt going down to Bowling Green, and Virginia Tech losing to ECU.  And it looks like Michigan is facing another opening day loss.  At least this time, it’s to Utah.  But still . . . wow.  

Ah, college football.  Ain’t it grand?

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Progress Report, in which I tread a fine line

Posted on August 25, 2008 by Matthew S. Rotundo

Notched another 5100 words on Petra Released last week, bringing Magic Meter to here:



Looks like I’m finished, but nope.  Not quite.  The climax is passed; all that’s left is the denouement.

And even here, this late in the game, when I’m usually rushing to the end, even here, this novel is giving me fits.  The damned thing has kicked and screamed almost the entire way.  Just working out the blocking for the climactic confrontation took me half an afternoon.  I wound up modifying it a little from what I had been planning to do.  This pleased me, because it’s a little bit more surprising, and it ties together three separate plot threads a bit more neatly.

Not everything is sunshine and roses, though.  As I’m wrapping this novel up, I realize that I’m not at all happy with the resolution of a separate subplot.  Not.  At.  All.  I thought I had it all figured out, but now I see a fairly serious hole in it.  Fixing it will have to wait until the rewrite.  I don’t like leaving it in this shape; it feels like cheating.  But it’s a rough draft, and I still owe a few more pages, and at this point, I just want to get across the finish line.

I didn’t have these problems with Petra.  But then, Petra was a simpler, more straightforward novel.  This one, just by its nature, was bound to be more difficult.  I’m growing as a writer.  I’m stretching.  That’s what I tell myself, anyway.

Or maybe I’ve simply failed.  Who can say?  There’s a fine line between soaring like the eagle and falling flat on your face.

Whatever.  Another couple of days or so, and I’ll have a draft.

No updates for Write Club.

Bed now.

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