The Dread Rewrite

gday gentle reader, 

Now that  The Break of Civilisation  Vol 1 of The Restoration Legends trilogy is out there, both as an eBook and as a trade paperback, I’ve been working on rewriting Vol 2; not just editing but rewriting significant bits.

Originally, that is, way back in 2000 on finishing Vol 1, I ploughed straight into  The Face of the Goddess  Vol 2 writing 50,000 words in a couple of months. 

I kept my trio of POV characters from Break and added two more, a son of one, and a daughter of the other two. Five POV characters, complicated, yes?  

But wait there’s more .....

I always intended each book would be a new generation, so I started roughly 20 years after the events in Vol 1.  But then I, the author, felt I needed to know what happened in between and began filling in the 20-year gap, eventually pushing the story back to where it finished, and adding a 6^th POV character.  Chapter 1 was now Chapter 42, 60,000 words later, half of them (30,000 words) before the heroine, the daughter, is born.

The reason for all the above is attempt to explain why I'm rewriting. I'm trying to recover my original vison. It’s not all bad but I’ve slashed 40,000 words, from the opening, and will reduce the POV characters to the three children. 

All that background material that I needed to know, so I could write with authority I can and will re-use in short stories.

Speaking of which brings me to the just self published (15/12/23) collection  Colony Worlds: 13 of my award winning stories but that  story is for my next blog.

ooroo Rob

The winter of my discontent

 g'day gentle reader

I'm in my seventy fifth year. That's 3/4 gone should I be lucky enough to live to 100.  If you consider 100 a year beginning with spring then I've passed from autumn to the winter of years. So I better get  on with it.

Time to publish the damn trilogy one way or another. As a subscriber to Authors Publish, they send me reviews of publishers 'now accepting' with links to the publishers web sites, often straight to the the submission guidelines. 

The first to intrigue me was CamCat,  so I browsed the quite extensive advice to authors, one of which was  7 Things to do to Your Manuscript Before Submission, 

1. Put your manuscript away

2. Reread your manuscript. Start to finish. Out loud.

I went no further. My magnificent octopus had been sitting in the bottom file of my PC for 3 years. Strike 1,  

I began re-reading out loud - well not exactly - I had word read it aloud to me. I took over 6 months. strike 2.  

Meanwhile  I continued to a short story to WotF each quarter but with less alacrity and it showed; after 8 consecutive successes I missed 2.  I had become re-engaged in the world of my novel. 

After filling in their incredibly detailed application form (which, I have to say was one of the most useful writing exercises I have ever done, I now know what my story is about) I find my book is too big for them. Strike 3 your out.  

So in the end I after 20 plus years in the making and 20 plus rejection I've published my magnificent octopus, 

now available for pre-order.    

https://books2read.com/.../rob-bleckly/subscribe/1/428714/

ooroo Rob

until my next post

Genealogical Consideration

gday gentle reader

Here's another writing project that occupies my time. Writing biographies for long dead ancestors on WikiTree is both rewarding and fascinating. 

  embeddable family tree updated live from WikiTree

One of my next stories will use material discovered in a family closet. The things the people did to their children in "the good old days" would today get them arrested. One of my venerable ancestors shipped a couple his sons to sea for wagging school to attend their sister’s funeral. On of them though twice shipwrecked not only survived but made it Australia where fortunately he thrived. I might ot ever have been born otherwise, a scary thought - for me at least.

As you can see my tree goes back a way. The recently added  ( Siminis / Simonis / Simianis / Simionis BLAKEY) is tenuously linked as my Simon's father  because he had a son Simon Blakey  baptised about the right estimated  DOB. Records in the 1600's often lack detail. 

I hesitate to voice the thought, but like Charles Darwin it appears 

I at least have a Simian ancestor   

Up unto Thomas Bleckly/ BLEAKLY  the record is clear and verifiable as are the next two generation back - as individuals. It's the Links between that are tenuous. They remain in place however until further evidence refutes their presence. It's a work in progress.

Unlike some other online genealogical programs that I shall not mention, they're  unmentionable, who charge annual fees, and then get you to do all the work putting all your ancestor online have the temerity to effectively re-sell your contributions.

WikiTree is FREE.

I love my WikiTree. (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bleckly-1) 

ooroo until my next post 

Rob