Blogmalion

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Well, it looks as if I may just manage to get one new story under my belt by December 31, bringing the annual total to 2, so it won't have been a totally wasted year. Part of the reason for my lack of productivity is that I've been involved in an unrelated non-web project which has been eating into more of my spare time than I thought it would. I may be doing less of that next year, and if so I'll have more time to write.

I'm also hoping to finish Ketrin Part 9, if not by the end of the year then at least by mid-January.

Oh, boy, Ketrin. Is it me, or does it seem slightly ludicrous to spend nine years writing a novel and only manage to complete 10,000 words a year? I keep telling myself to hurry up and finish the damn thing, but as usual it just crawls along at its own pace. Believe it or not, I do have an ending planned which will make some kind of logical sense and give satisfactory closure to the various character arcs,* and nobody will be happier than me if I manage to complete it before the ice caps melt.**

The thing is, I've always considered Ketrin to be my baby. I've lavished what I hope is some good prose and plotting on it, and I've always tried to make the characters and their environments as varied and interesting as possible. Unfortunately, that means anyone who wants to read it just for the porn is going to be disappointed by all the non-erotic material, and anyone who just wants an adventure story may be put off by the sex.

Or am I just over-analysing here? The last thing I want to do is come across like Dan Shive, bless him, who spends an entire page analysing the minutiae of each six-panel strip.

I did post a link to Ketrin on Pages Unbound, where it received glowing praise for its prose and some useful criticism over other points. But apart from that solicited opinion, I've had little or no feedback about the story. (No, Marc, I'm not talking about you.) I supose I shouldn't complain too much - this is the internet, after all, where anything can happen and very seldom does, and when it does it's often with glacial sloth.** All I'm saying is, if there is anyone out there who's actually reading and enjoying my stories then please, please, please let me know about it. There's the link, right over there.

Have a great Christmas and I'll try to update more frequently n 2009.

----
*Note: I've never liked the term "arc" because it implies something that goes up and then comes crashing back down again. I'd prefer a word that suggests continuous progress instead, but apparently there isn't one in common usage.

**I believe these two references constitute a mixed metaphor of sorts. If the ice caps melt there won't be any glaciers either.