The project that never dies, even when I chop off its head!
Thanks to some incredibly insightful comments from May, I have a few more things I want to tweak in the Maya fantasy. The opening still isn’t strong enough. I need to make it more personal from the first line. I think I have an idea for that. She also thought Geoffrey was a useless character, and yeah, he is, sort of. So I need to make him matter in a way that’s currently missing. I have an idea, there, too — I just need to put the pieces together. She made similar notes about One Death and Dr. Reyes. They’re a little too shallow compared to the other more intricate characters.
This story is all about crossing lines. Everyone is forced to cross a line they swore they never would. I failed to do so for these three characters in particular. They weren’t POV or major characters, so I got lazy. *slaps self*
And the synopsis is still on my list, as well as a hook/blurb. I really want these done this week — I can’t stand all these details hanging over my head. I want to be DONE and moving with the next project. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of Xibalba!!
In other news, I finished reading Clockwork Heart. I don’t think I’ll write up a full review, but I’ll be happy to chat in comments or e-mail if anyone wants to. It was a good story, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as New Blood by Gail Dayton. I really liked some of the elements of the worldbuilding, but the characters….meh. Just didn’t blaze on the page if you know what I mean. I thought the archaic programming of the Great Engine with punch cards was very interesting (remember, I’m a computer programmer for the Evil Day Job), and I was intrigued by the social structure. A good read, especially if you like clockwork and engine elements of Steampunk.