Why has my head gone numb?

[panik]

I've had an unusual morning; having decided (as I have) to make a fresh attempt at flogging my Great Unsold Novel again, as well as the bloody road book that's still basically unfinished (Well, it needs a few rough edges smoothing but I haven't the stomach for it until someone shows an interest - something they have, up to now, singularly failed to do).

I still feel the novel - a tale of a poor, lost soul who goes to Cuba to find The Revolution and ends up crapped on by CIA and Cuban G2 both (loosely based on bizarre personal experience) - is probably a better bet for eventual publication than the road trip book, so I thought I might as well hawk that round while I'm pimping the other.

So, I've been working on that this morning; finished a re-write of chapter one; 5,147 words. It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it might be, but the style seemed a bit choppy to me - just a matter of smoothing that out and editing a bit. There are 26 chapters so a chapter a day should see the thing right in less than a month.

I'm thinking of sending it to Andrew Lownie first - he expressed interest in my road book, but he wanted so much work putting into the submission I was put off. I've now discovered he's Terry Pratchett's agent and he seems to like journos; he has masses of the buggers on his books. So I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet on the excessive submission procedure and bang my novel at him first.

The rest of the day has been taken up with vacuuming the house and dealing with a British Gas engineer. These might seem two simple tasks, easily dealt with inside an hour, but his is my Mum and Dad's house where nothing is simple. I'll spare you the hideous details but, four hours later, suffice to say I now feel like my head is about to come off (if the aneurism/heart attack doesn’t kill me first).

I'm hoping to spend my afternoon on a run, a brief trip to Penistone to buy tea bags, writing a smidgeon of fanfic and working on this damn submission. Mum and Dad are safely ensconced eating salmon sandwiches and watching some Godawful thing on ITV. Who knows, if they stay this quiet, I might even get something done. Stranger things have happened, and not only at sea.

Comments

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

"British Gas drove her to it" is currently the most likely inscription for my head stone; in other words - you have my deepest sympathy *g*

Hope the book submission is going well - I long to read you in print.

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

LOL! Actually, the engineer was fine - a rather lovely man actually; it was Dad asking 'why is he here?' over and over and over, then getting up on a chair to meddle with the thing, when no one was around and falling off the chair and almost breaking his neck that caused all the angst.

As for the hoovering... I'd really rather not even talk about that. ::is drawing a mental veil for the sake of sanity::

[kaelana.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the book!!! And I hope you survived your day ;)

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

Thanks; I live in constant hope. (o:

I did survive - only just, though. The parents are worse than toddlers.

And can I say, Icon Love!!!

[slipperieslope.livejournal.com]

Yes! Your original novel sounds very promising. Did you see the news articles about the ancient lady who has been living in Cuba in genteel poverty in a crumbling mansion while her money is held in the US? Fascinating stuff and when Castro passes away there is bound to be added interest! Go for it! Best of luck!

[gillyp.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't read that one, but there are thousands more like her - there are a ton of musicians whose money is being held by US companies because the US Government won't allow it to be transferred to Cuba.

As for post-Fidel; they're doing the sensible thing and laying the way for a smooth transition right now. Most Cubans are terrified of post-Fidel; they think the people in Miami will come back and try to take their homes from them.

I'm tightening the novel up, a chapter a day - it's better than I remembered. Ialmost (oh so close! (o:) got published last time around, but I thought I'd give it another try.

Thanks for the good wishes!