Cherie Priest

In the course of the last few weeks I’ve (a). removed over 8000 words from Fathom — but they were sucky words, so it’s okay, (b). chopped up the chapters into more semi-even chunks and shuffled a few around for better narrative balance, (c). composed about 6200 new words, and (d). figured out that the beginning needed roughly as much reworking as the ending did … or, does. Well, let us say, “Did, and now still does — only not as much as it did before.”

I don’t suppose I’m making much sense. The short version is this: Draft One is dead. Long live Draft Two … just as soon as I can finish going over it one last time.* I told my marvelous editor that I’d have it back to her by the end of the month, and so I shall. But it’s going to be a squeaker.

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* Oh, who am I kidding? Probably two more times before I’ve psyched myself into believing that Liz won’t be tempted to slit her wrists upon receiving it. Truth is, I totally deserved a Hideous-Killy-Death-O-Gram for subjecting that poor woman to Draft One. Whatever she’s getting paid to read my early drafts, it’s almost certainly not enough.

I’m still alive; I’ve just been busy. Halloween is a madhouse time of year when you write horror, but that’s just the way it works (and really? It’s an awful lot of fun). But by way of catching this page up in a hasty manner — here’s the skinny, the down-low, the scoop, even, on the last week:

• Dear Mr. Schafer declared himself “happy” with Draft One of Those Who Went Remain There Still, which is a great relief — as you might imagine. Eventually we shall chat about notes and such, and I will give him a Draft Two. But for right now, I am devoting all creative energy to the Fathom revisions, which shall zip their way back to NYC by the end of this month.

• I had a most productive phone call with Liz, and I’m pretty sure that there’s an excellent chance that Fathom won’t suck. But it needs some work; and now that I’ve freshly handed in my most recent freelance assignment, I can give that manuscript my undivided attention for a little bit.

• I am besotted with the new themes on LiveJournal, and I’ve revamped my daily blog accordingly. Since people keep asking about my new default icon over there, let me just say that it comes from this image — a caricature/illustration of yours truly by the marvelous and talented Daniel Krall. It was created to accompany a very kind review of the Eden novels (review by Adrienne Martini) for Baltimore’s City Paper.
  

Okay. That’s all I’ve got for now. For more regular updates on subjects more diverse, keep an eye on the LJ. I tend to pay more attention to that page than this one.