By now, stalwart reader, you would have heard that I’m self-publishing my space opera romance, War Games. Here’s the update.
War Games is currently being worked on by my Developmental Editor (known as DevEd from now on). He’s running late. I had hoped to have those edits back by now but he’s been swamped in his day job so I know the proper thing to do is to sit on my hands and not bug him.
I also have my Copy/Line Editor lined up. Like DevEd, he works peripherally in literature but has a wonderful command of the (UK) English language and was intrigued enough by the first chapter I sent him to take on the task of editing the entire book. (He was terribly disappointed by the “high level” of errors he found in the first ten pages. One instance of improper usage (Americanism), three outright mistakes and two other recommendations on rephrasing! He was appalled, I was delighted, but it’s going to be a roller-coaster of a ride, of that I’m in no doubt.)
You’ll notice that neither of my editors are genre editors. I picked them because they both have an eclectic view of fiction that doesn’t draw lines between literature and genre or even within genres themselves. Because they don’t have extensive knowledge of particular genre tropes, they are more likely to step on the brakes when something is not explained as well as it should have been rather than just accept a particular shorthand and move on. (I like that they ask, “Why?” a lot.) Given a choice, I always prefer an editor who is able to offer a different perspective.
While I wait on DevEd and War Games, I’m working on the second-draft edit of alter-ego Cara d’Bastian’s first book, The Check Your Luck Agency. This will be the start of a paranormal series set in south-east Asia and featuring a coloured (Eurasian) protagonist. Cara has her own blog here, which she/I updates every Tuesday. If you’d like to hear more of The Check Your Luck Agency, please consider signing up for the bi-monthly newsletter. We’d be most grateful! 
You might also like the post that’s coming out on Tuesday on Cara’s blog. It concerns electrical storms in Malaysia.
I have contracted one story, Tainted Love, to an upcoming Halloween anthology from Total-E-Bound and am plotting out both a short thriller for a 2012 anthology (I dreamt the first scene, would you believe?) and Book 2 of the Check Your Luck series, tentatively titled “Return of the Hantu”. “Hantu” is the Malay word for “ghost”. And there’s another SFR in the works too (set back in the Republic universe), so the rest of 2011/2012 should be busy and, I hope, productive.
Have a good weekend and I’ll catch you next week.
