April 2006
Hello everyone,
March was a busy month at my day job, but I still made good progress on my noveling. My critique group is going strong, and we added a third member. We are all at different stages of our novels (composing, first round edit, and polishing) and that turns out to be a great way to do it. Seeing the problems of the earlier stages helps me as I edit and vice versa.
In addition to editing based on my critique and grammar checker feedback, I'm also drafting Cover Letters and a Synopsis. That and hunting down prospective agents. I have a few targeted, and I'm on track to get three submissions out by the end of April.
I have a new project going now, a community story. I call it the World Wide Story. Check it out at: http://www.toddcedwards.com/wws/ and join in the fun [Editor's Note: that site has been closed for now]. The basic idea is that there is a wiki story, so anyone can edit it, add to the story line etc. Or you can make your own story that only you can edit. Because it is a wiki, you can go back and clean it up. The goal is to make a place where people can do their free writing (i.e. write for 10 min and see what comes up) every day. So try it out and tell your friends. I need to add some FAQ's to it so people can have an easier time editing and creating their own story.
In gaming news, I recently discovered Warhammer (http://www.games-workshop.com/). It is a miniature figure-based gaming system that looks fun. Also it has a huge backstory and its own publishing house. As you can imagine, I'm wringing my hands and saying "excellent, Smithers". Gaming and writing. What better combination can you have? Well, A Clockwork Murder. Ha ha. But seriously. I'll have to learn the game so I can poke fun at it in a future novel. And maybe I can publish a Warhammer novel sometime. I've always wanted to write a war story...
Anyway, here is the reading suggestion for the month: Gene Wolfe. If you haven't read his work, go get Sword and Citadel right now. He is one of the great writers, and not just of fantasy and sf. I'm reading The Knight right now. Another good book is Hard Rain by Barry Eisler. It is about a hapa (I just learned that word) assassin in Japan. A fun thriller and the first of a series.
Please tell your friends to sign up for the newsletter (and you too if you haven't yet) and enjoy the spring!
--Todd