Finis?

Done, finis, complete … okay, not done done but done. I finished my novel Refuge this week. It is a complete rewrite; 58,627 words.

I know I’m not finished … there’s still a lot of work ahead. (I accumulated pages of notes as I slogged through this latest iteration.) I’ve learned that writing the book is but a fraction of the work involved in the journey to publication.

I still need to polish the bible and refine definitions, write a multi-page summary, a one paragraph summary and a single sentence summary and oh … find an agent (I’ve decided I’m going to follow the “traditional” route to publication).

It’ a daunting task. The agent thing is probably going to be the hardest part of the whole journey. I have to do a ton of research to locate someone who works with science fiction authors, accepts new clients, makes a good match, and likes what I’ve produced.

What agents like seems so hard to quantify.

Last year, I attended a conference and sat in on a panel discussion that featured four agents critiquing first pages from a variety of attendee manuscripts. A page was read, then each agent explained what she liked (or disliked) regarding the submission. One author’s first page spent a paragraph describing Victorian wallpaper in a study room. One of the agents suggested that this page caught her attention because she liked wallpaper. Wallpaper? Really? But, that may have been enough to get this person to read beyond the first page. Isn’t that what authors strive for? Another agent did not like the submission because it had too much detail for a first page.

Regardless of what lies ahead, I’m up to the task. I started this journey a number of years past and I’ve come too far to quit.

Have a suggestion or agent/submission story you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.

A Game of Thrones

Courtesy Google Images

A Game of Thrones is a Home Box Office (HBO) series based on George R.R. Martin’s books in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. I have not watched the show, but Dwight Schrute, Rainn Wilson’s character in NBC’s The Office, describes it thusly, “The superb Home Box Office series A Game of Thrones; it has a lot of nudity which I fast forward through to get to the chopped off heads.”

I saw an interview with Mr. Martin where he indicated the total volumes in the series would be seven, possibly eight, books. To date, five are complete and number six is scheduled for a 2014 release.

I don’t know what rock I’ve been living under; but until my son gave me a copy of A Game of Thrones, the first book in the series, I had never heard of George R. R. Martin. According to the Houston Chronicle, he’s been writing genre fiction since 1970. He has written for television (Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast) and A Game of Thrones was published in 1996.

Courtesy Google Images

I was pleasantly surprised. I haven’t read much fantasy so at first blush, A Game of Thrones looked to be a ponderous read. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The book is set in a fantasy realm that has the feel of feudal England; it reads like historical fiction. There are knights and lords but the element of fantasy is strong, as there are dragons and the undead. Martin also weaves in the hint of magic.

Each chapter is named for a different character and all the characters have interdependency— what happens to one will eventually affect another. And don’t get too enamored with any one character. Martin has demonstrated they are mortal … they die.

The main players are the Lannisters and the Starks. The struggles of, and between, these two families may decide who will rule Martin’s fantasy realm.

I’ve started book two, A Clash of Kings, and so far I like it as much as book one. If the HBO series is as well-crafted as the books (it won eight Emmys in 2012), it must be good viewing.

I’m curious to know the opinion of those who’ve read the books or seen the television series. Leave comments below.

Season 2 Recap

Christmas Eels

Back in the day when there were only three networks and subsequently only three channels to watch, I’d get up on a Saturday morning and settle in for a morning of cartoon watching. I have a recollection of a character’s body going rigid and translucent as electric current coursed through his frame when he grabbed hold of an electric eel.

Courtesy Google Images

As funny as this was to a preteen, apparently it’s not so farfetched. According to tvtropes.org  an electric eel (which isn’t really an eel but rather a species of knife fish) is capable of delivering a jolt capable of killing an ungrounded adult. When you consider that less than one tenth (1/10) of one (1) amp can prove fatal if it travels through the heart, you can understand the plausibility of meeting your demise if you were to encounter an electric eel.

However, the current emitted by electric eels is capable of more than incapacitating other life forms. Turns out their power can be harnessed for good. Currently (pun intended), the folks at the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, Utah have illuminated Christmas lights that they attached to an eel tank. As the eel swims through the water, it generates a current necessary to power the lights.

How cool is that? It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t diminish its interest factor.

Anyone have any idea how many eels it would take to power a house?

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