The Fun of It

Made excellent progress on "Mongan Manor" yesterday with Stefanie and Paul in the heat of the treasure hunt. Their search took them back to the tower of the title manor where there is supposed to be one or more clues to a family secret and/or buried treasure. They put their talents together and uncovered some major clues, but there is still one element missing. 

At the same time, as they get closer to solving the mystery, various members of the Manor's family are weighing in with information and subtly revealing which side they are on. As with any secret, there are those who want it revealed and those who want it to remain secret. It's a lot of motivations to juggle. 

Very soon, it will be time for a Big Scene, one which has been percolating in my imagination for weeks now and was at the heart of the inspiration for the book. I try to stop myself from looking at the word count on my computer screen as a guide to how far along I am in the story. By that measure, I am at about the half-way point. I know I shouldn't pay any attention to it. (Maybe MS Word will let me turn it off?) I always go back and do major edits after the first draft is done anyway. Still, since my work on the ms. comes is spurts, it's hard to know if I've got the pacing right or not. 

Hope to have word pretty soon on "Where Power Lies." I was talking with my husband the other night, and he was telling me some of what he read in the newspaper. I only look at the weather page usually. Anyway, some of the things he read about were ideas I incorporated into "Power" and its future setting. I don't put myself in the same visionary class as Arthur C. Clarke, but then, his predictions for 2001 and 2010 didn't totally hit the mark either.

Updates and A Bit of News

I did some more fiddling with the cover for "Where Power Lies" and with the blurb as well. I wanted to do some experiments with changing the background colors and to be sure that there is ample room for the title and byline to be added without losing any important elements. I reduced the shadows to only one row so that more of the background is revealed, which also adds a bit more color. Unfortunately, my graphics skills and toolkit are very limited, so all my attempts to change the color pallet resulted in shades of one color only, which looked less attractive than the original.

Also added a small amount of text to "Mongan Manor," getting through a scene where I was not really sure what I wanted to happen. It needed to be an event of some importance, but what was it supposed to say? The resolution brought me new inspiration for how a subplot unravels going forward.

This afternoon, I'm going on a job interview. Yes, out of temporary retirement, perhaps, and back into a day job. Thus far, it could go either way I suppose. While I would certainly love to continue focusing on my writing career, it isn't bringing income in a major way. So it looks like I'll return to squeezing it in around a real job. Ah, well...

Updates and Miscellany

Yesterday afternoon, I received my print copy of "Dabblers," and frankly, the sense of satisfaction never diminishes with each book. One more print book left to receive, and I understand it's on its way.

I checked with the libraries where I donated books and was delighted to find "The Dreamer Gambit" in both their catalogs. One of them was even checked out! Might this lead to people discovering my other books, too? Sure hope so, because that was the whole idea about donating to the libraries.

Everything is prepped for "Where Power Lies" now, as I've pretty much settled on the most recent cover design, the one with the blood on it. That red spot really pops, I think, and more or less settles the fact that the woman beside it is the murder victim mentioned in the blurb. Anyway, I think it will work.

Back to Mongan Manor today. I need to sit back and consider the scene I'm working on next and what change it will bring about.  I think I know what it is, but it's just a matter of how I can reveal it.

The Name Game

Working on a crucial piece of "Mongan Manor" this morning, I realized that one of the names I had selected early on caused a problem with the method of delivering pieces of the puzzle. I went back to my list of Irish names previously collected, but I did not find anything workable. Back to the Internet. A little searching on the Behind-The-Name site gave me a good name to use but it then too closely resembled another name I had selected for a different character, already changed once before for the same reason. So I found a new name for that one too. (Bless Microsoft Word's find and replace.)  Now I'm deciding where the next step goes, especially in light of the pacing issues I mentioned in an earlier post.

After another peek at my cover for "Where Power Lies," I played around a bit with the background colors looking for a way to charge it up a little. Then I had a burst of inspiration, and this morning, I managed to execute it in another sample cover.

I think the pool of blood draws the eye fairly well. The most time consuming thing about this cover design is the shadows. When pasted over the background, tiny flecks of white surrounded each "head" and needed to be touched up.

Just for reference sake, I'll include my working blurb here, too.

In 2075, fifty years after a cataclysm nearly leveled the continent, the United States has been reborn with cities rising from the ruins. Deanna Kirkland struggled out of poverty to land a job in one of them, working for Senator Wolfson. On the bottom rung of the new society, Dee spices her humdrum life with daydreams of glamorous adventure while accepting that working for Wolfson is as close as she'll ever come to realizing her fantasies.

Then she happens to find a coworker dead in the Senator’s office and her life becomes more like one of those fantasies. Although everyone tries to convince her the woman committed suicide, Dee seems to be alone in thinking it was murder until she runs into Reese Ballard. He says it's evidence of the machinations of secret networks he calls Power Blocs that run everything while hiding behind a sham of democracy. Leery at first, she joins his search for the truth and soon finds his conspiracy theories are not merely theories. She plunges headlong into a different and dangerous world as those shadowy networks seek to silence them before they can reveal the truth about where power lies.

Lo and Behold

I do believe I have a cover for "Where Power Lies" and the blurb is now in pretty good shape too. A couple of ideas/thoughts/inspirations led to the cover design process, and I thought I'd map that process out.

I started with the blurb. First pass was very wordy and included way too much information. I honed it to the essentials after a few passes, realizing that the blurb cannot possibly convey every aspect of the plot or the setting.

An earlier cover concept featured the bright, modern city surrounded by what is called the No Zone, areas of crumbling buildings and such. As I worked on the blurb, the No Zone definition got cut, so the illustration of it on the cover was no longer workable.

The latest version of the blurb has a number of significant details: a main character who comes to the reborn city, a dead body in the Senator's office, shadowy secret networks, the Senator as a puppet for those networks.

I had a few elements already--woman's dead body (and I'll bet I'm now on a watch list somewhere for searching on THAT any number of times!), a man in a suit (the Senator), silhouettes of male figures, i.e., shadows. I experimented with some tools at my disposal and finally got the Senator and the dead woman in a black-and-white graphic look. I put them on a gray background which resolves into groups of shadow figures. Then I needed a back drop for all of it, and I found it in the print shop program I bought some time ago. It works well because I can format all the elements in an image that is the correct size for the cover art. I tried a few background options, and fortunately, found the perfect one.

And now, here is the design I've come up with. Penny for your thoughts?

Still Two Worlds at Once

I did some more work on "Mongan Manor" this morning, tweaking a few things in earlier pages and double-checking details. I was pleased to note that some early clues are suitably ambiguous yet fair. I then got past the hump to move forward. Four more players have shown up at the house, and next up, Paul will meet Robert Markey, heir to Mongan Manor and another genius. The wordplay between them is where I had to pause, and I'll pick up there again once I decide what information they should exchange. Their interactions are going to be crucial and tricky.

Yesterday, I did some more polishing of the blurb for "Where Power Lies" in order to help define what the cover should look like. I also thought my first pass was too long with too much detail. The whole idea of the blurb is to intrigue and entice the reader, deliver a flavor of the story without going into a lot of definition. The current version is down to around 200 words, which is not a bad size. Interestingly, without really trying to do so, the editing has removed mention of certain elements that would justify one of my cover design concepts. With that, I can focus on the remaining idea I had for it, and I'm going to play with it today while I work out the next scene of "Mongan Manor."

Feel the Power!

Query for submission of "Where Power Lies" came back positive, so the manuscript is on its way to the selection committee! I spent some time fiddling around with the cover art (not so good) and with the blurb. I think the blurb I've got truly represents the story, but it's too long and not really "snappy." While my intent is never to falsely represent anything, I want to come up with a descriptive piece that's quick and intriguing. As for my cover art attempts, I have a couple of designs in mind. One features a futuristic city growing out of the ruins of the old, i.e. the "No Zone." The other concept is to have a silhouette vignette of the woman's dead body with a man (the Senator) standing over it, but the shadow he casts starts at his feet and then becomes the shadows of many people. I guess it depends on the blurb again, so if I rewrite what I have, one or the other covers may seem like the better option. The problem is, I'm not sure I can execute either of them very well with my meager tools and skills. I actually had a third option but it doesn't fit well with a blurb because it uses symbols that the reader will only discover by reading the book. Ah, well. Back to the drawing board.

"Mongan Manor" is still waiting to move to the next scene, but "Power" has been the focus of my attention and I haven't even thought about what should happen next in any detail. I find that sitting and staring at the computer screen, waiting for inspiration to come, doesn't work for me in these cases. I just have to sit and think about it, not doing anything else. On a few occasions, I've been able to just start typing something and my muse suddenly reveals the path ahead, but usually not. And I have never yet been able to skip over a leading section and just write the scene I've been so eager to get to. Just can't bring myself to do it. Maybe it has to do with not working from an outline. The story must unfold for me as it does my characters, so I can't skip over connecting sections to write the "fun stuff" out of sequence.

Gone and Done It

I completed my edit of "Where Power Lies" yesterday, and this morning, I sent off a query letter to Write Words about it. Guess that's that. Of course, until I get a request to see a sample, I can still make minor changes, but I'm going to try to avoid that. It's time to move on. If the manuscript is accepted, I already have the blurb, but the specter of cover art will then loom. Perhaps when I reach the next stuck place on "Mongan Manor," I'll take another whack at a cover image I have in my head.

Back to "Mongan Manor." I had some ideas on how to move forward, which involves Paul determining how the search for answers will move forward. I'm still pulling the passage together, getting ideas into proper sequence. Stefanie and Paul will be trying to get more information from the members of the family at Mongan Manor and to determine who might be behind the trouble the Ken is warning Stefanie about. Of course, their investigation is going to stir up the antagonists and bring some of that trouble their way. I've also considered a few aspects of the big conclusion scene which has already been foreshadowed, but there are a lot of details to work out. A key element is that while events of the past shaped the current situation and many of the players are long dead, there must be enough information among the living to enable Stefanie to solve the mystery.

The Final Edit?

Finished reading hard copy of "Where Power Lies" and I have started the painstaking effort to make electronic changes without introducing any new errors. Once that's done, its query time.

Since I got onto this editing pass, I haven't had time to consider the next phase of "Mongan Manor" as yet, but once again, it's one of those cases where I want to get through the buildup and on to the next action which will be a major turning point. I also have to work out the murder aspect. I have the players and motives arranged, I think, but how it actually happens has yet to be developed. Of course, Stefanie and everyone else at Mongan Manor will first find the body and have to work out how it happened. All that's down the road a bit, nothing more than an outline of events at this stage.

A friend of mine has been posting Halloween music videos (from YouTube) on his Facebook page for some days now, and one of them is a recently-discovered favorite for me. "Voodoo" by Godsmack. He laughs at the notion of what people who don't know me would say to my liking it, but people who really know me know I have a widely (wildly?) eclectic taste in music. Anyway, in response to his post, I mentioned how surreal it was to listen to the song (which I could not resist) at 7 a.m., and he said something about a new story line. I said I'd see what my imagination could come up with. Voila! An idea. Still very formative, but I'm intrigued by the notion of doing a horror story. Well, maybe not horror as the genre is usually taken to be. I'm not a fan of blood and gore because, as Stephen King once wrote, the icky factor is the lowest level of horror fiction. I'd rather try for the top level--pulling the reader into the story so that he/she feels the terror and horror of the characters. An interesting challenge...

News and Updates

I heard from the publisher over the weekend and hopefully "Game Faces" and "Dabblers" will soon be out in paperback! Can hardly wait to get my author's copies.

I started writing a blurb for "Where Power Lies" in the interest of coming up with a cover concept, either that I could do myself or hire someone to do. Of course, I still have a long way to go on the proofing from hard copy that I began, and then making all the corrections to the manuscript. You'd think as many times as this story has been rewritten, I'd have it down by now, but alas... Sometimes, how I respond to reading my own book relates to my particular mood at the time. I had thought I would hold off doing more editing for a bit, but I may get back to it sooner rather than later.

That's because I'm stalled in "Mongan Manor" for the moment. It's time for Paul to get involved in solving the mysteries, an his interactions with the other characters are crucial. They will reveal things in very subtle ways which makes the coming passages tricky to plan and write. While I'm making every effort to not fall into the same plot pattern as in the first two books, there is one pattern that stubbornly exerts its influence, and that's not necessarily bad. Stefanie absorbs events and details and she reacts to them in her own emotional way. Paul comes in and applies his logical thinking and people-reading skills to pull her observations together to indicate what people are planning and doing. This is their synergy, filling in each other's gaps in ability. In this outing, in the name of changing things up, Paul is not resistant to the uncanny and Stefanie is not hiding anything from him any more. I guess another recurring theme is that Stefanie's psychic abilities continue to develop, but that's intentional. It's part of her character growth, which in turn is what makes me want to keep writing the same characters.

Also on my mind of late is more promotional activities. I need to polish my book brochure for a slicker look, as well as on-site materials for book fairs, etc. Since there may be speaking engagements in my future, I should probably outline a talk to give. I'm also considering a sort of book give-away, but I need to work out the details before I announce it.

Useless Words

Another appointment this morning gave me more time to read "Where Power Lies" off hard copy, and I keep finding tons of stuff to change. All those conversation tags that add nothing--I said, he said, she asked. So remembering some tips from one of my favorite editing books, I devised a set of "rules" to follow regarding tags.

• Replace a tag with some action where feasible. "I think you're wrong on that." He looked down his nose at her. "You need to rethink your reasons."
• If there has been a break in conversation, a narrative passage for example, tag the first two exchanges of dialog to establish who is speaking to whom. 
• Use tags a bit more liberally (or better yet, the action substitution mentioned above) when more than two characters are speaking. 
• If a line of dialog opens a chapter or scene, make sure the reader knows who is speaking.
• If the tag does not clarify anything, cut it.
• Watch out for overuse of adverbs on tags, i.e., seriously, jovially, softly, gently, etc.
• Avoid repeating the same pattern of avoidance. For example, doing the first option above over and over again. Mix it up.

What I also (re)discovered is that by removing those useless words, it leaves room for more creative stuff where it really makes an impact. I'll be reading more in days ahead.

Now I'm eager to write the next scene in "Mongan Manor" which will crank up the action some more.

Decisions, Decisions

While waiting for workmen to keep an appointment this morning, I started reading a printed copy of "Where Power Lies." Aaargh! Found mistakes--real mistakes!--on page 2. It's that old closure thing again. Also, having been away from the manuscript for a while, I spotted a couple of things to change for the sake of clarity, as well as unnecessary stuff I could remove, mainly tags that aren't needed. I've read about half way thorough Chapter 2 and I cringe at the number of corrections to be made. Lots of corrections also means lots of opportunities for me to introduce MORE errors. But maybe it'll all be worth it.

Made some progress on "Mongan Manor," especially in the thinking department which led to the next scene to be written. But now I'm into "Power" again, but maybe I can juggle the two books at once.

Since my morning appointment required a bit of a drive, I found myself thinking about the cover for "Power," and trying to figure out how much ease of execution should weigh into my decision on a design. There are a lot more factors that go into a cover concept. Eye-catching is certainly paramount, but I personally hate it when an attractive book cover misrepresents the story within. I believe that when someone reads the blurb on the back (or screen), the cover art should mesh with that little information and invite further investigation, i.e., reading the book. Some of my concepts for "Power" would be impossible(?) for me to do myself, but before I run off to find a graphic artist, I have to decide if a particular concept will follow my rule above. Perhaps what I should do is write the blurb first! Haven't done that yet, maybe because my early attempts have indicated it will be a tough job.

Planning Ahead

I have an errand to run tomorrow which will require me to sit and wait for an unknown period of time, so my first activity this morning was to print a copy of "Where Power Lies" to proofread. In the past, proofing from paper has allowed me to find errors I missed, and I hope it will this time too. I'm still thinking about giving self-publishing a try on this one, just for the experience. Got to do a cover for it as yet too.

Some work happening on "Mongan Manor," but I find myself at a point where I need to figure out what happens next. Paul has arrived at the manor and is about to meet some of the family there. He'll go head to head with one of them who happens to be a genius, too. I need to plan that conversation carefully to move things in the right direction. It's also about time to provide some more clues and perhaps for Stefanie to have a warning vision of something bad about to happen, i.e., the murder. Seems I have a few things to iron out in order to move forward.

Still prevaricating on the whole book trailer thing. It's going to take a good deal of work even after I decide what I want the finished product to look like. I have to wonder if my time would be better spent elsewhere, like spiffing up my promotional materials. I was showing my hubby one of my book brochures compared to that of another author which I picked up at Glen Ellyn Bookfest a few weeks ago. Hers was on slick paper, not just plain bond, and the graphics were more professional looking rather than clip art and other images available on Microsoft Word. Also on the promotion front, I may have some personal appearances pending next year, and it may not be too early to outline a talk about my writing career. I've spoken in public a couple of times before and was on a panel discussion at Love Is Murder this year, but being the "star" will be somewhat different. On the up side, I'll be talking about a subject close to my heart.

The Promo Engine, etc.

Last week, I sent letters and book brochures to six libraries near me, offering them a choice of a free book as well as my willingness to join in book fairs or meet with book clubs. I received one very nice response expressing interest in my offer of a free book (they actually asked about two of them). The other response I received yesterday mystified me a little. It came in an email saying only the library would not be able to add my titles at this time and thanking me for the information. They didn't want a freebie? It makes me wonder if that person actually read the letter. The email said nothing at all about author events, etc.

After my online efforts at promotion yesterday, i.e., joining or updating various websites, I got a spike in visits to my blog. I can only assume it's related. I'll keep exploring. I'm also giving more thought to offering editing services on Authors Den. For a fee, I'd read the first 20 or so pages. The fees might change according to how much the writer wants me to do. Grammar, spelling, punctuation would be the first level. Then structure and style. Then maybe a critique of how well the book opens. Need to work out the particulars of the plan, such as how works are sent and payment received.

And "Where Power Lies" now begins with a prologue. I think the idea works well to acquaint the reader with the setting and also alleviates the need for my first-person POV character to convey that information. Now the year of the story is up front, along with a description of the events that gave birth to the changes in society. Gone is the longish "thinking" part which did not occur until Chapter 2. The result gives me that satisfied feeling you get when you've fixed something that needed repair with a quick nod and a dusting off of hands. Just hope I didn't introduce any new errors. (*sigh*)

Now, back to "Mongan Manor" and some tricky first encounters.

I Know I Shouldn't, But...

Had a great idea for "Where Power Lies" over the weekend. In earlier posts, I wrestled with the issue of back story, how to present to the reader what my character already knows about the future world she lives in. The current manuscript contains a long passage of her thoughts as she travels to work one morning, but the soliloquy has always felt stilted and too much like what it is--info dump. Later on, another leading character recounts some of the same information as part of a speech.

Inspiration struck. I'll write a Prologue! It will be an excerpt from a speech which occurred ten years prior to the actual story. That later speech will echo it in an offbeat way. Dee's reflections on her way to work in the city will be greatly shortened with that long narrative eliminated, all the better to have her think about something more important! I'll get down to making that final (?) tweak later today, and then perhaps my muse will rest easier.

I also have more ideas about moving "Treasure of Mongan Manor" forward. I stopped at a point where Stefanie is about to meet more of the "players" in the mystery/puzzle, but I wasn't sure which characters to have her interact with or what the outcome would be. After being away from the story for a day or so, I realized the decision was actually easy and the result will move the plot along. That's what it's all about, after all.

This morning, I started pursuing some promotional leads as well. I'll put a link to the newest addition of websites I have information on on this page as well as all the others. That's what takes the most time--having every site link to all the others. Based on an email from Authors Den about how to make the most of my author page there, I did a bunch of updates on that site. There is also an article I kept in my favorites list about making book trailers. I may have skimmed it at first, but I'll take another look. The main question I  hope to answer is once you make a book trailer, where do you put it so people will see it?

Anybody out there care to comment on book trailers? Helpful? Never look at them? Hard to do? I'd love to get comments.

Publicity, Etc.

Well, I had planned to be at the Joliet Public Library Author Fair on Saturday, October 12, but unfortunately had to withdraw in light of other personal matters. Because of that, and upon some reflection following the Glen Ellyn Bookfest, I've been taking another look at publicity. Part of my endeavors this morning was to get contact addresses for other local libraries. Then I created a letter to send them offering to donate one of my books as well as to make personal appearances. Since I have some paperbacks on hand after Bookfest, and some brochures, I'm going to do a mailing to the libraries in my area. If they like the free book, they might just want some of the others. You never know, and it's worth a shot.

The other thing I did this morning was complete the query letter for "Where Power Lies," which I am now calling finito. I could probably go on editing and tweaking the manuscript for ages, but what's the use in that? I received a comment on the subject on this blog which sort of pushed me over the edge. It is time to move on.

I also did just a wee bit of research on "Mongan Manor" for an upcoming scene. I need an Irish character to say something supremely Irish that gives him away, and it must be in a specific context. I believe I found it, and now I'm eager to get into writing the scene which is still, sadly, a ways down the road.

When Will It Ever Be Done?

Still tinkering with "Where Power Lies" and with each change, I ask myself if I should just call it done and move on. Then I'll come across something that really needs to be changed, if not an outright mistake, and I dig in again.

The urge to get back to "The Treasure of Mongan Manor" grows ever stronger. Thoughts of how to set up the mystery for Stefanie continually send up a siren song to open the document and do something. Then I think "Power" needing to be finished before I can put full attention on "Mongan Manor," and around it goes again.

While I had planned to go to Author Fest at the Joliet Public Library this Saturday, I've had to back out for personal priorities. Besides that, I'm giving my promotional strategy an overhaul. So far, only thinking about what to do and how to do it, but the idea that continues to reverberate from Glen Ellyn Bookfest is that all the other authors' displays had a more professional look as well as something to catch people's eyes. I realized that what I had out there was not set up to entice people from a distance; they had to be right up next to the table to see what was on it. In light of that, I also wound up speaking to more authors than to readers, which gives me pause. Time for a new approach.

The Quest for Perfection

Reading "Where Power Lies" from the back to the front this morning, and doing this way does seem to help me find things. I've also had a few snippets of ideas occur to me at odd moments during the weekend, just details to tweak the setting a bit. I also noticed a few cases of repetition, but do I really want to go through the process of running the word frequency counter again? Some of the repetition I've noticed occurs in different forms or tenses of a word, for example, wary and wariness, intense and intensity, warning and warned.

It comes down to the constant question of when have I done enough proofing/editing. In all of my previous books, I have found more errors in the final product, from out-and-out spelling or grammar errors to those pesky repetitions. Working with a small publisher, I don't have the input of an editor who will go over every word and punctuation mark. I could hire the service of such a person on my own, but even in books which I've read that supposedly went through a professional's fine-toothed comb, I have found  mistakes. Sometimes BIG ones.

On the other hand, I have also read books, both best sellers and self published, that other readers raved about without a single mention of errors of any kind. That raises the question of the worth of the effort to reach perfection. If readers overlook the imperfections in books, then they certainly won't notice complete perfection either. Is striving for zero errors an effective use of my time or anyone else's? I think if the story is good, if people enjoy it and remember it and want to think about it, any errors they find won't matter.

I'm not making excuses here. Proofing is still necessary, and I'll keep trying to reduce errors and such as far as is feasible. But sooner or later, that manuscript has to be called "done" and head out into the world.

Word Pictures

Working on "Treasure of Mongan Manor" today, and it's such fun describing the images I have in my head about the title residence. When I left off yesterday, Stefanie was still a day away from her trip into the Wisconsin countryside, and I wasn't sure what to do next. Then I decided, what the heck? Let's get her out there to where things get going in a big way. Chapter break and then she's driving into the small town (which will be the scene of an important turning point) and on to Mongan Manor. I wanted to give it a place-out-of-time feeling, a throwback to another age, because part of the coming action will have Stefanie wondering what age she's living in.

I also started doing some proofreading on "Where Power Lies" yesterday, starting with the last chapter. Whether it's starting fresh at the end or because I've been away from it for a few days, I immediately found a few things to change. I'm also thinking a bit more about the Reese Ballard character. He's an enigmatic man that Dee compares to Jekyll and Hyde. Not that he's evil. He just gets very focused and driven about his job and turns hard-edged and intense which fascinates her. Other times, he's like any other guy, a little shy and sweet. Dee discovers the key to his many moods along the way.

Anyway, the method of reading from the end to the beginning looks like a viable tool. When I do get back to full scale reading, my plan is to contemplate each sentence (if long enough to warrant it) and sharpen the prose as much as possible. Now if I can just get "Mongan Manor" to a good breaking point where my fingers don't itch to type more on it.

Trying to Stay Focused

While "Where Power Lies" sits waiting for another proofreading, I've decided to concentrate for the rest of the week on "The Treasure of Mongan Manor," where things are heating up. I'm in the easy-flow stages of this one, where the ideas keep coming and fitting neatly into the plan. Why fight it?

The other reason I'm holding back on "Power" is to ensure I have time to really do it right. I plan to start at the last chapter and work backwards. Reason? Too often, when I read from start to finish, the last part of the book gets less attention as I get involved in experiencing the story. By starting at the end, maybe I'll not get so excited by the building tension and pay more attention to looking for errors.

As for pitching "Power" to my publisher, my top concern is genre. In talking to other people about it, I've called it a futuristic political thriller mystery. While that captures the spirit of it, I doubt it will suffice. There is a murder to be solved. It involves political maneuverings. It's a thriller because action and danger continue to move forward. And it takes place in the future, showcasing new technology, but that's not the real center of the story. Since this is rewrite elebenty-seben of this book, I'm obviously committed to telling the story in some fashion, mainly because I think it's a good one. Maybe even better now that I've added the pseudo-political element. As for the cover art, I've actually contemplated the unthinkable--hiring an artist!