Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Waiting...Waiting...

Seems like "waiting" is the order of the day.

Waiting for news. Waiting for readers. Waiting for Air Canada to to be less dumb with their ticket pricing.

Okay, I figure the latter will never happen, but it's a thought. ::laugh::

Waiting. Still, there's the long weekend this weekend...then next is Ad Astra. So plenty to keep myself busy.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Summer of Flight - Draft 2

...is done like dinner.

Okay, maybe not like a dinner I've made, since I can't cook my way out of a paper bag.

...how about done like a plate of delicious gnocci from DaVino's though? (the best Italian restaurant in the Windsor - Essex Region).

Writing retreats -- oh how I love you.

Yes, I just got back from two nights in London, Ontario.

London -- Cheap, close, and I don't know anyone who lives there. What more could I have asked for? The weather was even dreadful, making me have no desire to go outside. It's like everything was in my favour.

Funny thing -- I wasn't actually intended to finish the second draft this weekend. I wanted to get the mass of niggly edits done, so I could focus another retreat on writing the two new scenes I wanted to add. Apparently, my brain thought that wasn't enough work.

I am not complaining.

I don't actually know my final word count for the weekend, since I know I got rid of a lot of words -- especially some bumf (is that a real word?) at the beginning.

I did up the word count to 76,991 from the first draft tally of 74,325. This still lands it nicely in the YA target of under 80k, which is good.

The scary thing is that now I'll need to let people who aren't my awesome writing partner read it.

Scary. Scary. Scary.

I do think it's to the point where it's not dreadful. At least, I can hope. But the people I'm going to ask likely won't pull any punches if it is. Not that I'd want them to.

I guess I'll find out soon enough.

As to the Television Show thing -- the big boss of the company was out of town last week, so not much was happening. Apparently the main topic is over the best target audience (i.e., the 8pm or 10pm crowd). This is one I don't have a clue about, so it should be interesting to see what the verdict is.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

What am I Going to Do When...

I have to wait months (or years) to hear about a novel I submitted?

I can't even tell you how anxious I am getting about the whole pitch thing -- even though I do *know* full well the chances of it ever going anywhere are minuscule.

Seriously. I really do. You'd think I'd just tell myself to shut up.

But I can't help the What if? Factor. What if? It's the nebulous, I don't really know -- that makes it so tantalizingly interesting.

Thank goodness things move quickly. I may find out tomorrow if the Development Company's going to run with it.

Either way, it will be over soon. Likely in less time than it would take an Agent to even consider asking me to submit a Full Manuscript.

In other words...I should enjoy the What if? Factor while it lasts...

Monday, March 15, 2010

Ad Astra Schedule

For something different - I got my schedule for Ad Astra, which runs April 9 - 11 in Toronto. I asked them only to put me on panels Saturday and Sunday, because I am not sure when I'll be arriving.

In any event...here's where you'll be able to find me:

Sat 11:00 AM
Ballr. East
Editing Your Own Work: Authors and editors share tips on how to spot the problems that are so easy to miss in your own work, how to add a bit more polish to your writing, and how to prepare your draft so that editing goes as smoothly as possible.

Sun 1:00 PM
Ballr. East
An Editor's Dream: Learn the characteristics that editors appreciate in an author.

Sun 2:00 PM
Salon 243
Business Basics of Writing: Learn about all the business-side and organizational jobs that come with starting up a writing career, and good resources for getting that done.

Play it Again, Sam

Yup - Version #2 of the series pitch is out the door.

Initial response received this morning was: "Wow - a hundred percent better." They like both the new structure of the team and the tone of the pitch itself. They also like the new Pilot episode, and the way I've handled conveying information.

Note to Self: A synopsis can't just state the facts - it needs to carry the same tone and tension as the real thing.

Only comments so far have been minor nitpicks about the new Pilot -- but all very quick fixes. Most of these resulted from my lack of understanding regarding a particular hierarchy in the US (i.e., who would be called in when in a given situation).

I am talking to them this afternoon to nail down the last few details -- and then it will go to their full development team tomorrow.

Assuming it gets approval -- my job will be done (I think). Well, until they sell it that is.

Who knows how that will go -- but it's fun to imagine.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The "Notes"

I received the written notes today from the development company. I have to admit I liked getting these as it let me view their comments in a more holistic manner than I received from the phone call.

Overall, the comments made very good sense. Key thoughts outside of the ones mentioned the other day included:
  • A need to ante up the tone of the show...apparently I aimed it too young. I wonder if that's because I've spent so much time writing a young adult novel lately?
  • A need to show more about how the characters would interact. It wasn't readily apparent in the episode synopses (synopsises, synopsi?) and the character sketches were individually focused. Kind of obvious in hindsight. I'll be adding a "Team Dynamics" section to address the issue.
  • A need to mention key sub-plots (where I'd just focused on the major theme of each episode).

Overall, I should be able to address their comments fairly easily. Fortunately it wasn't so much about what they didn't like, so much as about what else they wanted me to mention. I figure that's not bad at all, considering how much I am still learning.

Wish me luck for the next draft -- which I'll be doing this weekend.

Oh...and as an added note: you have to love the quick turn around times I've been getting on the review of materials. The desire to be "first out the gate" is really working in my favour at the moment.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Next Steps

I got the extended pitch submitted on Sunday...yes, it was late Sunday -- why do you ask?

Did I write it on Sunday? Of course I did. Funny how that works. I did do a week of research first though.

Either way, the company had a meeting about it today. Apparently they liked it (Thank goodness). They do want a few tweaks -- but from conversation, there didn't seem to be anything I wouldn't agree with. Changing one character's profession. Adding more back story to another character. Nothing crazy.

They also want a different pilot episode because apparently the concept I sketched was a little too much like another show -- fine as an episode, but not as a pilot. They picked one of my other episode ideas and said run with that instead.

No problem! I can do that.

I am supposed to get "written notes" in the next day or so -- and will turn around the next version this weekend.

Have I said how much fun this is? Seriously -- I love that people like my concepts enough to give feedback and want to see it gel together. It makes me kind of giddy.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Extended Pitch

I just finished the Extended Pitch for the TV show concept.

This one was much harder than the first -- mostly because I had to do a lot of research on the concept. It was easy to come up with a pitch, but sketching out all the characters was complicated. Not to mention coming up with episode ideas, each of which had to revolve around a specific case. I am the one who managed once to write a mystery that had no mystery at all, so you can see where I might have trouble.

But, all is good. I got the pitch done -- and even had a chance to review it with a friend first.

So, off it goes to the company. They'll be speaking about it on Tuesday, so I should know shortly if they like it, if they are going to keep moving forward with it, and what -- if anything -- they want to change.

Keep your fingers crossed.