Saturday, March 25, 2017

An Update and an Answer to a Question

Hello! I realized that it's been quite a while since I posted here and didn't want to let things fall completely by the wayside. Unfortunately, I'm in Week 4 of a terrible sinus infection - the third I've had in my lifetime. Anyone who suffers from chronic sinus problems - I take my hat off to you and empathize so much with your grief. The recent medical trend for not prescribing antibiotics backfired in my case - I started out with a viral infection, but it segued to a bacterial one which has called for the heavy artillery. I've been one sick chick. Never taken so much sick time from my day job since I had an emergency gall bladder removal.

Sadly, my writing schedule has fallen way behind and this, my first weekend in a month where I've felt relatively human, is being devoted to moving forward with Love and Sacrifice and clearing some of the wreckage that occurs when you don't pick up the house for God knows how long!

I'm still hoping for a late April release of Love and Sacrifice. It was largely finished, but I go through an exhaustive editing process that sometimes requires rewriting of entire portions of the book. To be honest, I never want to read Weaving Man again! I must have read it over a hundred times during the final editing - and believe it or not, after I did so, I found a screamer on the third page as soon as I punched the "publish" button - a terrible grammatical error that made me turn red in embarrassment. Part of the editing process involves reading the material aloud - you can find really cringeworthy phrases and errors that you would never notice by reading it silently.

It's a good thing I live alone (well, I do share the house with a big red pitbull named Waldo), particularly when the reading aloud begins. Especially when I start doing the voices, including any who speak with an accent (Borsen.)

A question I've been asked a few times might need an answer, so here goes.

Question: Why did you leave sex scenes out of Weaving Man?

Answer: This was a deliberate decision. When my ex-husband and I were collaborating on the original storyline, we discussed this and decided that, as the novel was written in something of a Victorian/Edwardian style and would also reflect the morals and outlook of of the characters, that leaving actual sex acts up to the imagination of the reader would be most appropriate.

We aren't prudes - but our society is so inundated with sexual imagery that we didn't feel that we needed to add to the array. My intent with the Eirdon books was to explore the minds and relationships of the characters, who are in an unusual and often dangerous and heartbreaking situation. They are bound by duty, honor, morals and many of them sacrifice a great deal of themselves for a higher cause. Of course they fall in love and express that love with one another - but do we really need to peer into their bedrooms? Do we need to know who did what, how, how long and in what positions?

You can find graphic descriptions of sex acts in so many books, to say nothing of on millions of sites online, in movies, in all forms of media. Weaving Man didn't need it to tell the story. So we didn't put it in. The imagination can far surpass any description I could write of people having sex!

So that's the thought for the day, for what it's worth. And just to give you a little glimpse at my very attractive housemate, I'm going to put in a picture of the Wonderful Waldo, my adorable and slightly insane rescued pitbull. He's a seven year old red-fella with a gammy leg and a very highly attuned sense of humor, who tolerates my reading chapters of the book aloud while he's trying to sleep!

Waldo, aka Walderino, Waldingus, The Wonderful Waldoni, etc.



2 comments:

  1. First, Weaving Man mesmerized me. Thank you for writing it. Second, thank you, deeply and sincerely, for the time and effort you put in to editing your written before publishing! As a never-ending reader with an English degree who writes communications for a living, you are the very best of the best of self-publishing authors.

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  2. Hi Lsebastian7- thank you for your comment and the compliment! I do try to be sure that my writing is well edited. I can still miss things, but it's a huge part of the process! I just wanted to let you know that Love and Sacrifice is now live on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072WPSP65. The story continues!

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