Grouping, regrouping. I feel like I am in the Phantom Toll
Booth, putting things in one pile only to put them right back again...
I'm not clear on exactly what I need, which is probably why
I'm not getting it... I need a magic wand to anticipate me.
Thirteen sections of manuscript. Silly, because I want short
and tiny chapters, so I'm just going to chop it all up again. But thirteen
pieces seem more manageable chunks to polish for now.
I will need a proper editor, but do I have money to pay an
editor? No. And I'm not really sure how to find someone who works in a way that
will make sense to me, who is familiar with young adult books, and that I can
actually talk to and stuff. So, for now, what I think I need is regular people.
But that hasn't been working out so well. Jodi read section/chapter one
immediately, which was awesome of her. But there are a few people I have
specifically asked for help, sent the first 5k almost one/two months ago, and
never heard back from them about it... It' doesn't seem very hopeful that I
will be able to get any useful feedback about an entire book if I can't even
get people to read the first chunk, or give me any specific feedback. (No Ryan,
you are not in trouble with me, I've only been pestering you for days, not
months.)
So look Hal, or Syn, or whatever your name is, this is why I
could really use you, the internet, to step up. I believe in prayer, but I also
believe in math and ghosts in the machine and cookies placed by programmers
that spy on everything and link unlikely things up, and probably read all my
email and stuff. However, the last time I spoke to the internet, too many
interesting things started happening at once, and I was like that search engine
commercial making fun of people with information overload...
Allophones. Spin-weighted partial derivatives and spherical
harmonics. Elfdalian alphabets and dental fricatives. Awesomeness and etc.
Feeling stuck. Want to take a step forward, but I've always
been bad with directions. Please send help. A guide, a map, or a white rabbit
will do. Thanks.