Wrote a rough draft of my Caribbean story of love and slavery. Took a week off. Re-wrote Chapter 18, edited to the rest. The release date of the beta-read manuscript is tomorrow. Beta readers, start your engines. Enjoy.
August 4, 2011
Tesora refuses to end itself
Still slogging through the end of the rough draft of my novel, Tesora. The plot must be complete for me to give it a rest, so there is yet no rest for me. It’s hard to finish a story that concerns slavery. And it’s hard to let go of characters I’ve grown to love. Stay tuned. I will finish it.
July 24, 2011
Almost finished with the Tesora rough draft
I’m on a final push to finish my manuscript for the novel, so I haven’t posted in a while and I probably won’t post again for another week or two. After that, I will post some new things from the novel. Thanks.
July 15, 2011
Esmeralda Santiago’s “Conquistadora” —a Puerto Rican Plantation Mistress Strikes Out
In a review in The NY Times it says that Esmeralda Santiago’s “Conquistadora” is a novel about a Puerto Rican plantation mistress. It’s set in mid-19th-century Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was one of the last holdouts for slavery in the Americas, ending it in 1873, although slavery in Cuba wasn’t abolished until 1884. The novel’s heroine ends up a widow running a sugar plantation who becomes romantically involved with an overseer. She is a heroine, however, of mixed reviews: she was not above having her slaves tied to a tree and whipped when it profited her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/books/review/book-review-conquistadora-by-esmeralda-santiago.html
July 8, 2011
Ronan’s Stolen Gold Meets the Pirates Who Once Owned It
The main character from Tesora, Ronan, is confronted by three pirates. They once sailed the pirate ship which supplied Ronan with his traveling money (gold coins). They appear in his town to get the money back. They carry muskets like the one pictured below. They also walk the same swagger as this musketeer. They count on Ronan being young and afraid—they don’t count on his support from the folk in Puerto Toque.
June 22, 2011
How much surprise do you like in a story?
How much surprise do you like in a story? I like a story to be unexpected at every turn. It doesn’t need to have multiple or parallel plots or one plot with many trailing sub-plots, but I find it’s the smaller surprises that help define a story and its characters. In my own life I find a competition of motives and possible actions which give spontaneity a chance to bloom. I expect any new detail to have its own story, so I pick and choose to create the characters and the themes. Among those things, I like to choose the one least probable.
June 16, 2011
“Book sales are up, way up, from twenty years ago.”
McSweeney’s has some positive notes on the state of publishing today. Here. They say: “Book sales are up, way up, from twenty years ago. Young adult readership is far wider and deeper than ever before. Library membership and circulation is at all-time high. The good news goes on and on.” Of course all that takes place with everything else about the industry in a total state of change. Cool.
June 12, 2011
Tim Gager Announces the Debut of Printer’s Devil Review
Tim Gager, the principal of the Dire Reader Series, announces a new literary journal: Printer’s Devil Review (PDR). He’s its Editorial Consultant and he helped find authors to submit to the journal. Thomas Dobson created it along with his staff of editors. It’s is an open-access journal of stories, poems, and visual art. They aim to provide emerging writers and artists with greater access to publishing. For the reader they hope to deliver new voices and visions. The journal has all the contents downloadable on PDF files from the Website. If the story of Kate Racculia is an example, he’s met his promise to showcase good writing. I was once a printer’s devil (a printing assistant) and had my own Red Howl Press when “press” meant paper under my feet and ink under my fingernails.
June 9, 2011
Real pirate treasure is shown is this slide show.
Real pirate treasure is shown is this slide show. Click this link:
davidkrancher.com 