After careful consideration, and much vacillating, I’ve decided not to publish The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts through the YouWriteOn.com “publish 5000 writers” scheme. Some of you are already aware of my reasons but for those who aren’t, briefly, I feel that the lack of editorial input and author control over the finished product isn’t really for me. I do believe that the scheme in general has some merits, but by and large I no longer feel that it has anything to offer me.
I’m very happy and comfortable with my decision, which is always a good sign, and wish Ted and everyone involved with the project well.
That aside, I’ve been focusing on my current project; the chapter outlines for The Dummy. The novel’s going to be, potentially, pretty huge — spanning about eighty years and, even though it centres around one character (the eponymous “dummy”), featuring a large cast of characters. I want to see if I can write in that classic 19th-century style — chronicling the entire life of a single character. Quite a challenge, especially since my history isn’t all that good! (It isn’t exactly bad, either, but considerable research is already being required, since I’m rather fond of necessary detail.)
I’m not setting myself deadlines of any kind. I’ll probably end up working at it quite obsessively, but I really want to wallow in this one. I don’t, however, want it to be self-indulgent. A novel covering eighty years requires a degree of self-control! Economy will have to be the key word — whilst attempting to avoid losing the period richness. I also want to try a few “new things”.
If you’re really well-behaved and at all interested (shout up if you are!), I may a share a little of the outline with you here. It’s always good to have feedback/involvement — something I found especially useful with Children of the Resolution. It makes writing that little bit less lonely!
