April 2007
Hello again,
I didn't want to send the message on April Fool's Day, because I have a great update, and you know I like to joke around. :) The big news this month is Writer's weekend. I went to a small conference (20 people!) and got to spend a lot of time hanging out with several editors, agents, and published writers. I pitched ACM to the editor at Bantam, and he compared it to I, Robot by Issac Asimov. I don't mind that one bit! He even loved the title. So he asked me to send chapters. Great news, sure, but then we got to chatting. I just so happened (wink, wink) to mention Viral Coat, and he asked for more info. After describing that story to him, he asked me to send chapters for it as well!
So, I've sent them out, and I'm feeling great. I'm writing a new section for ACM, because it was too short and I didn't flesh out one of the possible suspects. I like the new section, and it will make the story much stronger. It won't even feel tacked on, because I had all the hooks in place already. That should be done by the end of the week.
In other writing news, my crit group has been doing plot hooks. We've all had some great ones and some stinkers. I'm going to start putting mine up on my LiveJournal, so feel free to go check them out: http://doctodd.livejournal.com/
For other reading, check out my writing sample page on my website. I have a few stories up there now, and more on the way (right after taxes and my two week work trip to beautiful Connecticut).
For yet other reading, try Recursion by Tony Ballantyne. It was a great blend of AI, self-replicating machines, and space battles.
As always, be sure to spread the word. At the conference, the experts said that the bigger your mailing list, the better. Tell your friends to check out the site (http://toddcedwards.com) and be sure to tell them to sign up.
And now it is time to go hunting for property tax records from last year...wish me luck...
--Todd