Thursday, February 09, 2006
Paragaea, from a distance
I just finished reviewing Deanna Hoak's masterful copy-edits on Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, and found it a strange experience. Even though it's been only seven months since I handed in the finished manuscript, I discovered that there were large chunks of the novel that I didn't remember writing, and even a few supporting characters I had completely forgotten about until they appeared onstage. Towards the end, I was reading along, forgetting to pay attention to the copy-edits and notations, just to see what would happen next.
Admittedly, it's been a busy, stressful seven months, but still and all! Perhaps it's that early senility I've been dreading, or I suppose it could be attributable to sharing a house, a most of my day, with a 2 year old. But I think this was all to the good.
Enough distance, and one don't measure the actuality of the book with the pristine conception they had in mind when starting the project (and the actuality is never as good as the first lofty ambitions for it, I've found), but can instead approach the thing on its own terms. And, for my part, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paragaea is an enjoyable read. How about that? (Now I just have to worry about readers enjoying it, too. So far, I don't think anyone beyond my editor, my copy-editor, and the map-maker have read the thing.)
Admittedly, it's been a busy, stressful seven months, but still and all! Perhaps it's that early senility I've been dreading, or I suppose it could be attributable to sharing a house, a most of my day, with a 2 year old. But I think this was all to the good.
Enough distance, and one don't measure the actuality of the book with the pristine conception they had in mind when starting the project (and the actuality is never as good as the first lofty ambitions for it, I've found), but can instead approach the thing on its own terms. And, for my part, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Paragaea is an enjoyable read. How about that? (Now I just have to worry about readers enjoying it, too. So far, I don't think anyone beyond my editor, my copy-editor, and the map-maker have read the thing.)
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I have to admit, I'm more than a little curious as to what has become of the Bonaventure clan and Paragaea itself (which got a sneak preview back in the days of CWSB).
On a side note, I was going to tell you to check out Tobias Buckell's _Crystal Rain_ in case you haven't already, but considering Mr. Buckell has posted on this very site, I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet that you've heard of his book. Small world, I guess.
On a side note, I was going to tell you to check out Tobias Buckell's _Crystal Rain_ in case you haven't already, but considering Mr. Buckell has posted on this very site, I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet that you've heard of his book. Small world, I guess.
Hey, thanks, Radek! Actually, very little has changed in the early chapters from the bits that appeared on the Clockwork site back in the dinosaur days. I hope you like where it goes.
And yes, Mr. Buckell and I are pals. I've got Crystal Rain on order from Amazon, and am looking forward to checking it out. As it is, I'm already deeply envious of his gorgeous cover.
And yes, Mr. Buckell and I are pals. I've got Crystal Rain on order from Amazon, and am looking forward to checking it out. As it is, I'm already deeply envious of his gorgeous cover.
I'd just like to say that it's great to see you mentioning (and praising) your copy-editor by name :) I think it'd be nice if they always got credited in books, so yeah.
Looking forward to reading Paragaea!
Looking forward to reading Paragaea!
Yup, Paragaea's cover art is quite good, and you've yet to suffer from the dreaded bad cover syndrome in general, Chris.
It's somewhat surprising to hear you say that very little has changed in Paragaea's opening, though. Didn't you mention in one of your blog-posts that after reading someone else's novel with a similar atmosphere, you were motivated to go back and rework a lot of Paragaea?
Also, a very belated congratulations on appearing in Nowa Fantastyka -- it's our version of Asimov's, so it's really neat to see your story make an appearance there, Chris.
It's somewhat surprising to hear you say that very little has changed in Paragaea's opening, though. Didn't you mention in one of your blog-posts that after reading someone else's novel with a similar atmosphere, you were motivated to go back and rework a lot of Paragaea?
Also, a very belated congratulations on appearing in Nowa Fantastyka -- it's our version of Asimov's, so it's really neat to see your story make an appearance there, Chris.
Radek, where the story goes is completley different than I'd originally intended, but the place is starts is virtually identical. In fact, aside from adding a few paragraphs to the opening chapter, the rest is word for word as it was in that original draft, up until the point where Hieronymus Bonaventure introduces himself. What had been a formless romp from that point onwards, though, became something very different in the final form.
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