Bad News

In a bit of actual news from me, I recently got a letter from Malice Domestic saying I did not recieve one of the William F. Deeck Grants this year. Although it's news, it's not an actual surprise. I re-read my rewrite and realized that it all had to go.

That's right. All of it.

I'm rewriting the book. That's right. All of it. I realized that I was trying to make The Book too many things, trying to shoehorn a lot of things into the narrative that just didn't fit, or made it awkward. The result is something that had some good writing, but an inconsistent tone and sketchy detection.

The new version is much lighter in tone and more focused on the characters than the plot. So far, it's going well. I won't know for a while how well, but it makes me feel good, and there's something in that.

The upshot of not getting the grant means that I will be attending only one conference this year, and that's the big one. Bouchercon in Baltimore. And let me tell you, I am really looking forward to it. I'll see friends I haven't seen since the Madison B-Con and I will be much more comfortable and hopefully do some great networking.

Until then, it's up to me to work away and get something good written for people to read.