Kotaku has the rundown on the fantasy game Deep Down for the forthcoming PS4. Gorgeous looking graphics. But how good is the story? How plausible is the milieu? Will the game allow me to create my own character (a la the Elder Scrolls) or explore an interesting character (as you do in the Witcher)?
We’ll probably pick up a Playstation 4. We delayed for a couple years on the PS3, until the price had dropped. I am not excited by what I’ve heard from Sony so far. I hope I’m proven wrong, but the addition of a ‘share’ button suggests creative lethargy. As a gamer, I don’t much care about another button. I want my gaming experience improved. Help me fool all five senses. (Yes, including smell.) Innovate with controls but never forget the technology is only as good as its ability to create engaging experiences that (to borrow from Sid Meier) offer players a series of interesting choices.
Wired talks about the dearth of female roles in imaginative fiction. When I worked in a bookstore, decades ago, I was struck by the differences between the blonde haired, blue eyed male protagonists of most sci-fi/fantasy novels and the people reading the books.
After writing the first draft of a new novel (THIEF of the colonies) I’ve turned back to the task of selling the previous novel, WITCH of the colonies. I’ve opted to avoid snail mail this time around for my query letters, and focus upon agencies who accept ‘electronic submissions.’
I uncovered an initial list of agencies (and other free resources) at the Poets & Writers site. Nice site. I also forked over a subscription free to a site that featured the names of 44 agencies representing speculative fiction. I didn’t realize until after sign up only 6 or so of those 44 entries had been updated in the past two years. Just goes to show that online, even an old digital kung fu champion like myself can get duped.
My next stop for names is PublishersMarketplace.com. I won’t let rejection slow me down. I received my very first formal rejection letter for WITCH… the other day. I won’t kid you, the dismissal stung. But the email oddly also gave me heart. Somewhere, someone had been sufficiently moved by my words to take the time to write a brief, courteous note. Maybe next time I get a response they’ll want to see a sample of the WITCH manuscript. And maybe after I share the manuscript a few times, I’ll get an offer.
For now, all I can do is set my lines, as many as I can, and wait.
I’m finished with WITCH of the colonies. Now, if a publisher wanted me to make some changes to grease the rails towards widespread distribution, I’d most likely go along without a whimper. But I’ve spent the past six months making edits suggested by two of the readers in the world I trust most. As I look over a much improved manuscript, I feel I’ve done what I set out to accomplish, and I’m ready to turn my attention to the next chapter. Um. Next book.
I can’t stress enough how peaceful I feel. My first novel is far from perfect, but it is (finally) complete. And that’s enough. More than enough.
You’re wondering why I’ve been so quiet? I blame that darn question: ‘is the manuscript as good as you can make it?”
My sister reviewed the latest draft and was excited by what she read. She was also generous enough to offer up some blunt observations and pose some provocative questions. January I spent working up the plot and doing research for HEIST, the next installment in the Northern Arcadia series. February and March were dedicated to revisions and fixes, but as March comes to a close I’m hoping to shift my attention back to getting WITCH sold.
I’m not promising daily updates, but you’ll be hearing more from me, more often.
Kotaku.com reports in on the financial success of Skyrim, the fifth Elder Scrolls game:
The press release says that they expect that the game will generate more than $450 million in global retail sales at launch. They also tell us they shipped seven million copies worldwide. Also, and stay with me here, half of the game’s “launch units” were sold in the first 48 hours and the studio says it is swamped for large reorders.
Story, setting, history, factions, characters and critters… Northern Arcadia has them all. Now, if I could just convince people to start emigrating…
Moving on! I mailed five more agents today, and – golly! – it sure would be nice if at least one responded. I’m not about to suggest that my first book will race up the New York Times bestsellers list and make everyone involved pots of money, but I do feel confident that – even without editorial input and subsequent revisions – the manuscript of Witch of the Colonies is at least as good as half the sci-fi/fantasy fiction published every year.
Piers Anthony spent five years trying to get a book published. John Kennedy Toole only achieved success after he was dead! And there are plenty more examples of authors who endured repeated rejections only to win out in the end.
But I still hope I hear something back soon. This is a lonely road to walk.
Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is my excuse for not posting the past few days. Well, that, and finally cracking Terry Pratchett’s new novel Snuff. Also, the last Harry Potter movie is available On Demand in HD! And the weather was really nice in Chicago this weekend!
I’m enjoying documenting my slow train to publication. I’d prefer if I got some actual rejection letters, so I could photograph and post, but so far I’ve heard only silence. Tomorrow I start soliciting agents again.
Today I think I’m going to play some Skyrim.