Busy Week

[jasonandrew]

I have a very small assignment that will infuse a good chuck of cash into my budget. It will be over before the week is up.

I have two short stories in the works:

"Murder on the Feng Shui Express" needs a bit more research, but I am enjoying it. I had a surprise this morning about Jonathan Heller and his life just a bit. It works. Nice when characters can surprise you.

"The Elixir of Tears” is a fun gender bending story about a young girl named Devon that is pretending to be a cabin boy on board a magical pirate ship. It is funny to write a story casting pirates in a positive light after my novel.

Feedback is maddeningly slow for Dylan and the Dream Pirates, but I keep hearing page numbers and "I'm loving it." That's a good sign.

Comments

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

I am up to page 100. There is some I definitely like and some I definitely don't. Pretty much par for the course with me.

[highway-west.livejournal.com]

Yes that is true.

You are usually the most negative reviewer on the whole I end up getting.

But I learn from it.

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

Well I figure that you get more from me giving my honest opinion instead of telling you what I think you want to hear. I know you are smart enough to pull what you think is valuable out of it and ignore the rest.

One positive note, I haven't been proofreading per se, but the things that have just jumped off the page have been pretty small and infrequent. When it is time for a proofreader to attack this one they won't be overwhelmed. :D At least in the first 100 pages. ;)

You must find some value in my opinion or you wouldn't keep giving me things to read.

I must find some value in your writing or I wouldn't keep reading it.

We all win. :D

[highway-west.livejournal.com]

Honest opinions are always good, especially if they aren't presented in a way as to hurt feelings.

I suspect you are smart enough and mature enough to do so. That's the real mark of a good beta-reader.

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

If I do present them in a way that hurts feelings be sure to let me know. I don't ever intend to. But I know I come across that way in print sometimes.

[highway-west.livejournal.com]

You have the past been really abrasive, but we've all grown over the last couple of years.