So, I've finally started working on the final draft of Flora Redux (working title, of course), which first draft I finished at the end of the December. My Divine Editrix has informed me that Flora's further adventures, along with the paperback of Flora Segunda, should arrive in bookstores Spring of 2008.
Which only seems far away. In book production time, that's not so far away at all. One of the many mysteries of book publishing to which I was not privy until recently is that it takes quite some time to go from manuscript to hefty volume. Sometimes as long as year. In Flora Redux's case, the final draft needs to be finalized by July. So I have to get cracking.
I'm super excited about this book; in some respects I think it's ages better than Flora Segunda. That book had a rather long and torturous path from my imagination to printed page. The first draft was only about 3/4 as long as the final, and I had to retro fit an entire subplot into the main plot, and cut quite a bit of extraneous stuff out (including Udo's younger brother--oh Gesilher, we hardly knew ye!), and it was a painful process. While I believe that the Flora Segunda that is in stores now is the best Flora Segunda that Flora Segunda was ever going to be, I couldn't help but feel that I could do better.
Viz., Flora Redux.
Though I initially had a hard time picking up Flora's voice, once I gathered steam, and Flora settled back in, the story really chugged along. The dangers are far more dangerous; the enemies far more devious; and the stakes far higher than they were in the first book. This time, it's not just Flora herself who is threatened, but the entire City of Califa.
Flora Redux picks up a month or so after Flora Segunda ends. Much at Crackpot Hall has changed, and yet, alas, much remains the same.
What else we got? Well...dragon-horse cars; earthquakes; ruined bath-houses; extremely loud rock bands; Hotspur-Sober-Now-A-Stickler-For-Rules; deserter sisters; more rangers; a horrible secret hidden deep beneath the City's crust; a riot; bear-headed girls; phosphorescent bullets; revolutionaries; oubliettes; Udo's new hat; and, of course, snacks.
I think Flora Redux is pretty good. I hope you will ditto.
The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror
The Birthday Girl, or Tiny Doom is Thirteen
Comestible Commissaries, or The Importance of Eating Earnest
Metal More Attractive, or A Young Man's Dilemma
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4 comments:
The sequel sounds very cool. :)
Hi, Miss Erin--Well, I can't say that anyone in the sequel is less weird than they were before--but--having considered your comments about prancing plots carefully--I think I can see that this time the plot proceeds more at a steady trot! Definitely an improvement. Thanks for stopping by...
As a dressage rider, I'm pretty fond of prancing AND trotting. I wish the wait wasn't going to be quite so long, but I guess if wishes were horses I'd own a lot more than three of the dang things! In the meantime, do you know where I can nab a copy of your "Lineaments" story?
The sequel sounds exquisite! One cannot wait to read it, so will you please inform one of its date of publication??
As well, one was wondering: one deserter sister or two?
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