Hallelujah! The Ghostbook polishings are done and dusted. I can take it no further, and now think it’s time to hand it over to my editors.
That was a very interesting exercise; going back to a book four years after it was first written and getting the chance to rework it. It would be a great if all my projects got to rest for so long. Certainly, I did find it a slog at first; the first hot fire is gone from my belly, I guess, because I’ve written three books since Ghostbook was first finished. But this is the kind of job that needs a certain dispassion (what one of my Ed’s and I call ‘the fish eye’ LOL!) and it was actually very helpful to have this amount of distance; especially as Ghostbook is so close to my heart.
Most of the tweaks were linguistic as usual - my usual obsessive restructuring of sentences for rhythm and sound and flow. And, of course, a brutal tightening of my usual verbosity. Quite a few of the tweaks were minor but essential narrative changes. This very much being a book of two halfs, I wanted to find a way to tie the two sections together and so I discarded some stand alone references in the beginning and replaced them with references that would resonate later on. I also found that some of the character motivations - though clear in my head - were not yet there on the page, and so I added lines and words here and there to bring historical or personal motivations into focus for the reader; all the time trying not to bog the story down in political history.
All in all it’s a better book for this opportunity; not to mention shorter ( I cut almost 5000k!)
But now it’s time to hand it over. At this stage in the writing process an author can no longer see the work. We’re too close and we need someone with fresh eyes, to read the manuscript, and make notes; to tell us what does and does not resonate, what is clear and what is not, what is deadwood and must be pruned, and what falls flat and must be pumped up. That’s the next step for Ghostbook. It’s all in the hands of my ed’s now; until they get back to me, I’m done!
Another thing that’s done is The Rebel Prince! Yes indeedy. I got a note to say the proofs are finished, and it’s off to the typesetter! I’m very excited to see what the publishers come up with in terms of covers etc. Can’t wait! But really, that’s it, Moorehawke is also done. My four year journey with my lovely trio is over.
Wow. That feels weird. That feels damned weird.
I think I’m going to have a very quiet two weeks. I’ll spend some time with my beloved Dad, who’s very ill. I’ll do some gardening ( I don’t care if it SNOWS!) I’ll catchup on my reading - and I’ll start to get myself into the right headspace for the new project. I’ll be back to Moorehawke at some stage in the future ( there’s so much left to tell!!) but for now it’s time to turn my attention to some new babies, and have my new adventures.
(but first - two weeks off! I mean it! Don’t let me work for two weeks!)
I was researching horse drawn carriages for the new book ( one of the characters works in a cab depot in 1890’s Dublin) and I found this on youtube - the episode of the 70’s tv show ‘Hands’ that showed a horse drawn carriage makers. Bloody invaluable stuff. ( and check out those clothes! That’s what people really dressed like in the seventies - forget all that groovy retro stuff you see on telly now - THAT’s what we really looked like!)
Had to shamelessly filch lovingly draw your attention to this brilliant post on the Alien Onions blog (AKA the editorial blog of my Australian publishers, Allen and Unwin. Where my good humoured, hilarious, (but hopelessly cake-addicted) Aussie editors hang out.)
It does an amazingly good job of explaining exactly what structural editing entails ( via the hilarious use of LOLcats no less)
This weekend, I received a lovely e-mail from an Australian reader, Millie. In this e-mail Millie asked me some interesting questions.
Loup-garou in it's semi-wolf form.
It’s the first time I’ve actually been asked these, and thought they were worth reproducing here. Thank you Millie, for your permission to include parts of your e-mail here ( and thanks for all the kind words! I really do hope Rebel Prince lives up to the first two for you)
Ok. Millie asked me:
What happens to the people called the wolves? Do they turn into wolves or are they just people that act like wolves?
Why did you decide to put the cats and the ghosts in the story? And do they play a major part in the next book cause i was a little confused at there place in the book
This is my answer:
The Loups-Garous do indeed become Wolves (full Wolves when they want to, but sometimes semi-Wolves when fighting.) I hesitated a long time over that, whether or not to let them actually be wolf-creatures. Originally they were just ordinary men who used the Wolf legend to terrorize their victims. But in the end I decided to push things that step further, and have their greed and disregard of others manifest itself as a physical change. The name Loups-Garous is a tribal name, it refers to a very specific group of Wolves. Other then their wolfness, the Loups-Garous are, like Jonathon’s people, an eclectic mix of races. Being a Wolf is what binds the Loups-Garous together, and it is the thing that their leaders have used to both strengthen and exploit them.
I hesitated a long time before taking this step. I have always hated that convention in literature where one particular race/set of people are inherently evil. It seems to happen a lot in young adult’s/children’s literature and it has always disturbed me. I don’t believe anyone is inherently bad or evil. The Wolves are not inherently bad - but the Loups-Garous leaders have seeked out and taken children whose physical/emotional traits tend to separate them from society, and offered them a place where they belong - that place happens to be within a group of ruthless bandits. I chose to show the other side of being a Wolf through one of my main characters. By introducing a Wolf character who was raised in a society open to differences, and whose childhood experiences had help him manage rather then revel in his inheritance, I was able to show that being a Wolf is just a physical thing and does not automatically make you a bad person. For this character, it is not greed and selfish disregard for others that manifests as a Wolf, but fear and a deep, mostly unexpressed anger and resentment against what has been done to him.
The cats and the ghosts were another way of showing all the things that will be lost should the chaos in the kingdom over come the good things. I wanted to symbolizing freedom of expression, independence, and wonder without being too heavy handed about it, so I chose spirits and talking cats. I wanted them to be fantastical things which are part of an ordinary setting and so are taken for granted by those around them. Like most things which humans take for granted, the impact of losing such wonderful things as talking cats and ghosts, won’t be felt until they’re gone and it’s too late to turn back.
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There you go, my crazy reasons for things! I hope my answers made sense.
If anyone wants to know more just ask me.
Thank’s again to Millie for her lovely letter
click the photo to read the Ghostbook snippet at insideadog.
As you know, I’m currently polishing the Ghostbook before handing it over to my OBP editors. Today I’ve posted a wee snippet of it over at insideadog. Hope you like it.
As usual I’ve chosen to illustrate it with one of graciferblue’s mosh photos - they just resonate so well with this story.
