Grind, Grind, Grind

I think I have my particular play-style in video games to thank in some small way for my ability to start and actually finish a novel (The question of whether they’re any good or not is a whole other topic). I tend to be what some would call a “completist”. In game terms, this means that I have a compulsive need to get/unlock/steal/see every single secret, item, bonus cinema or whatever the developers have thrown into a game, and in pursuit of this goal of making sure I haven’t missed a single thing, I am willing to focus for hours at a time, days at a time, months at a time, until I finally let myself put the controller down (mentally or otherwise) and focus my attention elsewhere.

The reason I’m thinking of this is, of course, that I’ve started another RPG. Well, it’s an old RPG, called Suikoden III, for the Playstation 2, and I’m playing through it again… well, mostly because I feel this need to play a really good, massive RPG, and partially because there’s a cheat I’ve been meaning to try which require about 20 hours of tediously repeating the same battle over and over again, then dying in a random fight afterwards so that you’re carried back to your last save point, but with all the levels you acquired intact. The reason it has to be done this way is because the practical “ceiling” for leveling in this rpg is 60. This is the only way to reasonably circumvent that and get characters to level 99, something I usually try to do in my RPGs.

But I expect it’s probably this same relentless focus and ability to withstand daily, hourly doses of monotony that also make it more bearable for me to sit in front of a monitor every day and crank out more to a novel that will seemingly never end.

Speaking of which, I have to start on the new one.

However, there is a new gig in the offing. It turns out that my “audition” script sample for the people who are looking for a dramatic scriptwriter went over pretty well. I got a call today asking if I’d still be interested in the project and said okay, so now I just have to wait for the details and see how things go. After all this time, I FINALLY get to work on a script that’s narrative. Well, one that’s narrative and actually goes to air anyway…

Hey, We Got A Murder

This is the second one in three months.

It’s also a bit of a stunner as [sarcasm on] Singapore has never, ever had a crime committed on its shores and these are the first in it’s entire history [sarcasm off]. What amazes me about these crimes is how it shows clearly that the locals are all talk, no action. I mean, back home, people watch CSI rabidly, take copious notes, and then when they go and commit their crimes, they follow all the “advice” on how not to get caught that CSI offers to viewers. FOR FREE, mind you, they don’t even have to pay seminar attendance fees for “How to commit a murder and leave as little forensic evidence behind as possible for future convictions” and it shows in the number of murders in America that occur on a daily basis that go without an arrest.

Here, they obviously WANT CSI to be shown here because they want to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak, and maintain the appearance of being culturally “with it”, but it’s all lip service. They say they watch CSI. They don’t really mean it.

I mean, the first murder a while back was some Chinese manager who was OPENLY DATING his employee in front of his coworkers, who finally get fed up (possibly it was threats to go public with their affair, the guy was married with kids) and chopped her to pieces, wrapping the body parts in plastic, putting them in cardboard boxes and tossing them into the river. He was found later with the same plastic bags in his house.

Just a day or two ago, we had another dismemberment here. In Orchard Road, mythical shopping nirvana and traditional Sunday roosting home to a million, buzillion picknicking Filipina maids, a head and some other limbs were found stuffed into a bag. The torso area was found at a reservoir. These were also of a woman. The cops have found the perp, and it turns out that this seems to be a case of one Filipina maid killing another.

I suppose you could make an argument that people who kill aren’t the most rational people to beginw with, but still… If you’re meticulous enough to cut the body into nice neat pieces, wrap it up so it’s unidentifiable, then why can’t you just go that extra mile and find a more reasonable way to dispose of it? Heck, look at Fargo, that guy had the right idea just shredding a body in a wood chipper. It was a smart way to dispose of evidence.

Man, if you’re going to kill somebody, at least do your homework and figure out what to do afterwards. This is supposed to be an Intelligence Based economy in Singapore. So far there has yet to be one intelligent murder. That’s just a little embarassing for a society that prides itself on it’s intellect…

One Night At The Bar

I imagine something like this must have already happened. Or if it hasn’t, it will soon.

Setting: A quiet, anonymous bar somewhere out in the unfashionable side of L.A. Mark Hamill sits there nursing a drink. No one looks up when a new guy enters the bar. He’s wearing dark glasses and a baseball cap, but everyone knows it’s Hayden Christensen. He takes a seat next to Mark. They both stare off into the distance.

Hayden: What are you having?

Mark: A Shirley Temple.

Hayden: [shaking head] God damn… Bartender, whiskey, straight up.

Mark: [Smiling] So I guess you’re here to pay up.

Hayden: [Every muscle in his back tightening] You cheated.

Mark: Oh really? And how’s that?

Hayden: You didn’t tell me what it was going to be like, if I’d known I never would have made the bet.

Mark: I didn’t tell you? I did everything but stick a bullhorn in your ear, you wouldn’t listen. “Ooh, I’m going to be more famous than you! Ooh, I’m not going to be a whiny Jedi! Ooh, no one is going to think I’m annoying! Ooh, I’m gonna’ be the James Dean of Jedi!”

Hayden: All right, all right, all right, enough already!

Mark: [Starts snickering]

Hayden: Aw shut up…

Mark: [Imitating Hayden in high pitched, reedy voice] “I’m going to become the most powerful Jedi ev-ah!“

Hayden: Aw come on, you said you wouldn’t!

Mark: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you’re right. That was mean of me.

Hayden: I thought it would be a good line.

Mark: That was YOURS?!? Not George’s?

Hayden: [Nods and buries face in hands]

Mark: [Staring at the ceiling] Once again, thank you, Irvin Kershner.

Hayden: If I’d had him directing, I could’ve salvaged myself too.

Mark: Yeah, maybe. But you didn’t.

Hayden: So what’s it going to be? Money? Community Service?

Mark: Pinch hitting.

Hayden: What?

Mark: I’ve got a dinner theater gig down in the Catskills. Hope you can sing.

Hayden: GOD DAMN YOU!

Mark: Hey, YOU made the bet! You were the one that was convinced you’d be the greatest screen Jedi in history, not me. Now your confidence is your undoing. My apprentice…

Hayden: AUGH!

Now That It’s Educational, Make It Funny

After a quick look at the first draft of the non-fiction kiddy book, the powers that be have decided, “The content is all there, now just make it more snarky and entertaining.”

I’m not going to see much of a problem with that. The first round was mostly just me making sure I got all my facts right anyway. I wasn’t worried about how I was saying anything, as long as it was literate and accurate. Now that I’ve gotten the green light on the substance, it’s time to tweak the style. This’ll probably take a few days.

I also got word from my agent that my baby has arrived safe and sound. According to the Fed Ex tracking site, the document arrived and was signed for at 8:27 am by his local time, so I’m wondering whether he got woken up, or was in the middle of shaving or God knows what when the Fed Ex guy showed up. But oh well, the book is now in his hands and he tells me he’ll get around to reading it as soon as schedule gets cleared out. He is apparently very busy at the moment.

I am also “auditioning” for a position as a writer on a drama show that is being developed here in Singapore. I didn’t know a thing about this, but some people–the same ones I’m writing the book for–called me in and asked me if I had any dramatic script writing experience. I more or less said “Only for animation” and they weren’t sure if they wanted to go with that. Then the woman developing the project had a sit down and talk with me and asked me to just write something up, which I’ve already done. I imagine they’re poring over it with a fine toothed comb right now and asking themselves if they really want someone this sarcastic writing drama for them.

Oh well.

Having finally finished Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, I am now thinking I need another ludicrously huge game to obsesses over. Either that or play one of the existing ones over again. And I should really think about starting that children’s novel.

Back to laundry…

Domestic Chores & Creative Debates

In the wake of finally sending the book off, things have quieted down in my head. And now the question becomes, “So when should the next book be worked on?”

I’ve actually been tempted to start on it the last couple of days, but have held off. I think I need to stew on it for another day or two. I’m still a bit nervous about whether I’m even up to the task of telling something that’s suitable for kids, but I’m mighty curious to try. After reading The Thief of Always again I was struck by how little Clive Barker actually changed his style and language. If anything was simplified it was the plot and ideas, but the writing itself was at his usual level, potentially challenging a LOT of younger readers with new words they’d never seen before. That was reassuring in some way. On the other end of the spectrum you have Neil-O and Coraline and you can very much tell that this is a book meant to be read out loud. The rhythm and cadence of it are very vocal friendly and Neil-O has himself read it out loud to audiences in one sitting on more than one occasion.

I’m definitely taking my time with this one. It’s going to be much shorter, probably only about 65,000-70,000 words, but it’s a very, very different thing from what I’m used to, so I need to stop and think about a lot of things as I go along. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being the hardest thing I’ve attempted so far.

But first there is laundry to do and laundry to pick up. Possibly a video game magazine or two.

And so I am off.

Camp EA: Challenge Every Sport

I got invited to go down to the big Camp EA presentation that Electronic Arts was holding in a movie theater cineplex. They’d more or less rented out three of the screens, allowing people to play them on massive digital projectors, with some other booths set up to showcase some other games. They had a few models hanging around; some poor bastard that had to get decked out in dester storm style camo gear with a fake M-16, hanging around the door that led to the screens, a girl in a plastic style dress reminiscent of Japanese race queens, and some other slob in shirts and shorts kicking a soccer ball around to add to the “ambiance” of the event.

The event was open to the public, but that wasn’t till 2 pm. Before that, the press had free reign, and of course, were offered the usual bribery in the form of goodies (I got an “EA Sports: IT’S IN THE GAME!” poster and a demo of the new Burnout game for the Xbox) and of course, the standard lucre, FOOD. In case you didn’t know, all journalists expect, nay, DEMAND that they be fed for the time they spend wandering through an exhibition deciding whether to pan or praise a game.

First was a press conference where everyone was led into one of the theaters and a “cute” tutorial was played on-screen about the proper pronunciation of “EA Sports,” which is apparently, “E… A… SPORTS,” but you have to pitch it like you’ve been smoking cigarettes since birth.

After that the EA rep came on and talked about all the upcoming products, followed by an EXTREMELY confusing speech by the Eng Wah cinema rep, who talked about the miracle of playing games on the big screen, and then, to show us what he was talking about, gave us a demonstration by playing clips from some jazz/blues show. I did not make the connection. I mean, sure, the clip showed off that the digital projector can handle nice, rich blacks, but other than that, no show of color, clarity, or anything else that remotely hinted at what digital projection could be like, so I was left utterly confused.

I was also deeply filled with regret that the “Challenge Everything” kid did not put in an appearance, as I would have loved to have challenged him to a test of stamina by sticking his head in a toilet bowl and saying “Challenge this,” while watching him flail, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Overall, EA has done better. Much better. The last Camp EA I went to, they went all out, pimping Battle For Middle Earth, showing off Middle Earth Online, even bringing the developers in for talks and interviews. Hell, they had a Middle Earth DINNER set up in a park at night where we journalists were forced to wear hobbit costumes. I had my lighter stolen by some punk kid pretending to be a kleptomaniac hobbit, who then replaced my lighter with someone else’s, something I decided not mention lest said kid got fired. There were even snooty teenage girls dressed as Elves that wandered around not saying a word and repulsing every advance from all the horny, lonely journalists they came across (Which was everyone).

This one, while having more technical polish behind it, was sadly, SADLY lacking in the kind of content and juicy material that could have really impressed the press. I don’t think that’s completely their fault though, stuff worth talking about is sparse right now as most developers tear their hair out over coming to grips with the new consoles, so there’s not a lot on the horizon that’s really WORTH getting excited about.

Aloha, My Novel

And it’s gone.

I feel like a Kansas farmer sitting there watching his kid push up his glasses and hoist his suitcase to say, “Well, g’bye Pa. G’bye Ma. I’m off to the city.”

The Pale Summer has gone off into the big bad world to see if it can make it’s way. Or at least, gone off to my agent to see if he can sell it. And all the usual parental feelings–I would guess, since I’m not a parent–accompany the departure. There’s the hope it’ll arrive safely, there’s the hope it’ll find a good home, and there’s the hope that it’ll make something of itself and do something to be proud of, like end up on a bookshelf.

It’s a little sad, because I’ve nursed this thing for so long. It started as an idea a few years ago, that toddled around doing not much of anything except uttering the occasional lines, or suggesting a particular scene. And then puberty hit and the thing just grew and grew incredibly rapidly, finding a character, plot and voice. And now it’s ready to see if it can make it out in the world along with all those other books, and I’m proud of it, but worried about it too.

I’m hoping of course, that this will be the one, that The Pale Summer will finally be the book that gets into print, but if it doesn’t, there are other books to write. I’m hoping it won’t come to that, that I won’t have to invest more hope in another book, rather than writing with the knowledge that it too will see print, but I’m prepared for it. It just won’t be much fun.

And the other book, the non-fiction kiddy book is done and away as well. Nothing to do but wait on that too.

And, as promised, I am down to one cigarette in my pack, and it is my final one. I said when The Pale Summer was done, I would stop smoking, and since it’s off and away, and it can’t be much more done than that. So after a final cigarette, I am quitting smoking. Or going to try anyway.

Oh well, I suppose you shouldn’t be smoking while writing a children’s novel anyway.

Final Check

Well, that’s about it for The Pale Summer.

The changes to the synopsis and the manuscript itself have all been made. I went through them both one last time to find anymore errors that I might have missed the last few times ’round and, unsurprisingly, found a few. But then that’s to be expected to some degree. Even when you get as far as the actual printing of the book, with all those words, somehow a few always manage to escape even the most eagle-eyed proof readers.

The normal cover page has been printed out. If you’re not familiar with the format, all the pertinent information is at the top. In my case, this means I have the full contact details of my agent, and then right under all that, the tag “Representing: Wayne Santos”. On the right, I have an approximate word count. When the 1st draft was done, the thing weighed in at over 112, 000 words. After the revisions, it’s gone down to 109,000. That’s roughly 11 pages chopped out. It’s certainly possible that should an editor look at it, still more will go, but I’ll wait and see on that. Oh yeah, and of course smack dab in the center is the title of the book with my name under it.

The “good” book cover will also be included, though I’ll probably send an e-mail to my agent explaining why exactly that’s in there. Included along with the manuscript and a 9 page synopsis will be a CD with both the manuscript and synopsis files burned on it. Tomorrow both documents will be printed out, courtesy of some place near where the Fiance works, and then it’ll be mailed off to America and more or less be permanently beyond my control with nothing to do but wait.

Hopefully, third time really will be the charm.

It will be good day indeed when the sending out of a book is not a nerve wracking experience filled with the litany of “Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease…” running itself over and over again in my head.

But until then the writing continues.

Next up, reading more children’s books. Well, weird ones, anyway. I’m going to be going through Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always again to take more careful note of the difference between the writing he does there, and the writing he does in something like, say, Imajica, or The Great and Secret Show or Weaveworld.

Getting Close Now

Another day or two and I think the rewrite (At least this round of it) will be done, and I shouldn’t tool around with the book anymore until I actually get an editor at a publishing house weigh in with his or her opinions.

I’m now at that phase where I have been thinking and staring at the manuscript too long, and it’s starting to feel less and less like a story I was excited about, and more and more like just a meaningless jumble of letters. The initial fire that sparked off those passages of the first draft has had the water of editing thrown on it. Too much thought and calculation are hanging in the air, and it makes it hard to look at the story and wonder if it’s any good or not. I think this is normal if you spend waaaaaaay too much time on anything, be it a novel, a television show you’ve spent too many hours in edit with, or even a videogame you play beyond all reason, like an MMORPG. It’s kind of like taking any word and repeating it to yourself over and over again; do it too much and the word loses any meaning for you.

There are a few major changes left, and then some tweaking throughout. Then one final pass, a scan over the entire thing just to see how it all hangs together with these new changes, and then it’ll be time to walk on over to the printer at the shopping mall several blocks down, and let them exhaust an entire cartridge of ink or toner to print it out.

Getting there. Nearly done.

Them Damn Rewrites

I think it’s time to pay attention to The Pale Summer again. Here it is, September, and I am bound and determined to get this thing polished and printed and mailed off. After that, it’s all in my agent’s hands. For those of you who are curious, or just didn’t know, here’s the process of Trying To Get Published. Maybe someday that will change to How I Got Published, but for the moment, Trying is more accurate.

First, you have to write the damn thing. That is much, MUCH easier said than done, as I know a lot of people who have ideas for stories, but never do anything about it, citing lack of time, lack of patience, lack of interest, or a few other reasons, but the number one obstacle to getting a book in print is actually writing the book itself. Even if you manage to accomplish this task (Which is not easy, and congratulations to anyone that got even that far) then there is the sometimes even more daunting task of getting it published.

There are a couple of ways to go about it. The first is to just send it out to the publishers and hope that it gets read and liked. This is hard, but not impossible. Publishers have a term for unsolicited manuscripts–that is, manuscripts sent without being first asked if there’s interest in looking at it–and that term is “The Slush Pile.” That’s the stack of books from hopeful writers all over the world that would like to be published authors. More often than not, these slush piles are looked at by interns and assistants first to separate the chaff from the wheat, and if you’re lucky, your book will be wheat and eventually get looked at by an editor who will then decide whether to take your book on or not.

The other way to do it is to get a literary agent. That is the route I took. Agents represent you and take a cut of the earnings (American standard rates are 15% at the moment) and if they’re legit, you DO NOT PAY THEM A SINGLE PENNY. This is important. The agent works for you and represents you. If he or she starts billing you for anything, then odds are they in serious trouble, or they are not legit, as an agent should only ever make money from the sales made by your book. Agents bypass the whole slush pile issue by getting your book straight into the hands of the editor. They have relationships with editors, talk to them regularly, and keep a finger on the pulse of the industry. So it helps somewhat in that because they know what’s going, they can often spot or be informed of a need a particular editor has, and if your book happens to fit the bill, a quick phone call is all it takes for said editor to reply, “Great, send it over, let me take a look at it!”

Note this doesn’t guarantee your book will get published, but it raises the odds somewhat, and if your book does get rejected, this speeds up the process of getting back into circulation with another editor at another publishing house.

So what I am doing now is working on my novel with some of the comments I’ve gotten, trying to get it as good as I can for the moment. When that’s done, I’ll revise the synopsis that goes along with it, and then mail the whole package off to the States and my agent. Once it’s in his hands, he’ll make the calls, write the e-mails, and then get in touch me occasionally to tell me what’s happening with my book. Average response times for editors looking at manuscripts is in weeks, so it’s usually a month or two after getting a book that an editor makes a decision.

And hopefully, a few months from now, I’ll be able to make some kind of post about what it’s like to have a book accepted by a publisher. And if not, well, there’s still Lost In Loveless to write, and two more novels after that. I’m still set as far as knowing what the next three books will be, but after that, I’m kind of lost.

But in the mean time, it’s back to the book…