Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Let the hunt begin!

Or rather, the process before the hunt.

tumblr_nhia63H0GX1u3qbs6o1_500

I think it’s time for me to start researching agencies and agents that seek Post-apocalyptic Horror novels. I have to admit, it wasn’t easy for me to admit it, or come to terms with. Somewhere deep down in me, I’m still convinced that my book needs work. On the other hand, I know for a fact I can’t do anything more on it without destroying what I have created. Also, given the fact I’m somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing (OKAY, okay… perhaps “somewhat” is an understatement, fine. Excessively then.), my inhibitions may be related to that. And there’s always the probability of me being a little bit intimidated. Bottom line is I don’t want any of these reasons to hold me back. I don’t want to be that writer who says the manuscript isn’t as good as it should be, when in fact it’s only an excuse, and spends the next 20-30 years always polishing it. And I do believe that if I tamper with the manuscript any more, I will make a mess of it. The perfectionist in me will not allow that. Worst case scenario, even if I do come up with anything to improve, it will be some time later, and I will have the chance to see things clearer than I do now.

So, from now on, I will make use of the LONG list of agencies I have bookmarked over the past three years and see which of their agents would be interested in something related to The Darkening. To increase my chances, I will research agencies in the UK as well as the US. It’s time I start drafting my query and research as much as possible about it.

I will also participate in every (or as many as humanly possible) twitter contests, hoping to pair, if not with an agent, then perhaps one of the editors (acquisition or otherwise), if any participate during these events. If possible, I’d like to have started querying by late spring or early summer, then I imagine around autumn the first rejections will start pouring in. Is it okay if I still hold a sliver of hope that one of them may request the full manuscript?

The query letter comes first though. Another uphill path stretches before me.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Holidays alongside memories

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful time, and I wish you all the best for you and your families.

I was rummaging through some old (very old, to be honest) stuff from my time in Scotland (any Aberdonians here or Scotts in general? Raise your hands please) and I found a booklet I had completely forgotten about. In it I found a dozen or so poems I had written way back in the late 90s. At least, at the time, I thought they were poems; not sure what anyone would call them now. I thought I had lost it, destroyed it, or just left it for the next tenant to find.

As I said, I am a late bloomer as far as writing is concerned, but I guess I did show a tiny spark of the need to write from back then, even though it didn’t flourish, and I totally forgot about I had even attempted it. I wonder if there are any salvageable lines in them? I’ll have to work on them more and do some editing (back then, I still believed writers produced their work in one sitting, and it came out perfect… yeah, I know. Silly me.) before I even attempt to consider them as poems, let alone show them to anyone. But it brought back a lot of memories, from a really nice time in my life.

Anyway, how was your holiday season? Did you do anything fun? Did you visit any other places, go abroad perhaps?

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 19

I’ll be taking the next few weeks off from blogging. The last post of 2015 is an inspirational prompt with an image I consider related to The Darkening.

Though I’ve never watched the show Ripper Street, from which the image is taken, I can not but feel captivated by that look on the girl’s face. Also, notice the body language, how tense she appears.

In The Darkening, my protagonist John Piscus, is a deranged survivor of an apocalyptic event. I envisioned John having this same expression on his face each time he looked inside him and his life, and of what he was capable of doing to carry on; of what lines he was willing to cross.

So, have you ever tried writing a story from the POV of a person like that? How would you tackle it? What POV would you use and why? Does it inspire you to write something?

Until the next time (sometime in January 2016), I wish you all a happy festive season, and a happy New Year!

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Update

I got most of the beta’s feedback and I’m currently into heavy editing mode. I mean I was in heavy editing mode ever since I finished drafting it and decided to re-write The Darkening (twice, mind you), but now I’m really into HEAVY editing mode. I feel like this, this new round of edits is the real deal, the “make me or break me,” kind of thing. This is when I will actually WRITE the book. After all, writing is editing. And while I should be more than excited, not only for getting constructive feedback (every one of my betas pointed out things I had missed completely and they all reached to the same conclusions), but for finally being a few steps away from the final stretch (of this round, of course), alas I lack the motivation to do it. It’s as if I flipped a switch at some point in my head and I considered the work done and done, even though I consciously reminded myself time and again that it was only the beginning. The funny thing is that I’m at the point where I have to read the whole book and do only yet very important two things: reduce the excessive explanations (aka overwriting) and tame some of the descriptions. Once I hurdle over these two things, it’s the minor, though even more important, details I have to fine tune. I already managed to condense the first 7 chapters into 4, and I reduced the total word count by 6K+ words (and every writer knows how hard it is to have to murder our darlings). And I did it with no problem or hesitation, only to find myself unmotivated to cut back on the unnecessary fluff. The fluff! Sometimes I really hate the way my mind behaves. I’m telling you, if I hadn’t developed a daily writing/editing routine by now, I would have abandoned and shelved the Darkening (shame on you, Chris, for even thinking about it!).

No, I can’t do that. It’s my baby, my firstborn. I want to see it reach perfection 🙂

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Inspirational prompt 18

Here’s another image to set you creativity gears in motion. What do you think happened? Accident or something deliberate? WAs someone dear to the girl in the picture lost or is it just a reaction to the loss of worldly possessions? What if the character you create is more selfish and cries not over the ashes and the destruction, but because now she won’t be able to fulfil some self-centred whim? What if she was misguided into doing something that resulted in the fire.

There are a lot of stories you can come up with this one. Try one 🙂