Campagna sat back in her chair and rifled through one of many folders from one of many evidence boxes ["many" repeated here. Also, we don't need to know it's from an evidence box - the rest of the scene leave little doubt she's working on a crime] . She had stopped counting after processing her twelfth box on day three [Might be over-precise; like mentioning it was folder #58]. De Rosa sat at a desk facing hers ["hers" not needed (it's not going to be facing somewhere else, given the layout.] reviewing [days’ worth of (implied)] security footage [from around the residences where the three clerics had lived (implied]. He [had taken to celebrating (would celebrate)] completed videos by crumpling a sheet of paper into a ball and attempting a free throw into the trash by the door. He had yet to make a single shot.

[So far, neither she nor De Rosa had come up with any clues, and she was beginning to doubt the answer lay in endless stacks of paper. (implied)]

[She mulled over the case in her head. With the permission of the Church, the bodies of Cardinal Ferraro and Bishop Rivera had been exhumed and were, like Cardinal Vitale, in the process of being autopsied. The fact that the Church had allowed the bodies to be exhumed suggested they were worried about something. (Could be thinned - this paragraph dances around the topic)]

She and De Rosa had canvassed nearby residences to see if anyone had seen or heard anything [around the time of the clerics’ estimated times of death (implied)]. Just standard procedure, they had told the neighbors to minimize the chance of anyone alerting the press. A few reporters were sniffing around nonetheless, asking the Vatican uncomfortable questions.

The forensic analysis [of the carpet under Cardinal Vitale’s body (Not needed - they would have checked the doors and windows too, right?)]  found no footprints or usable DNA except those of the cardinal, Father Coppola, and the paramedics. Dusting for prints had proved equally unhelpful [This is a repeat concept]. [Somehow, a murderer had entered Vitale’s apartment and hung the cardinal without leaving a shred of evidence that anyone else had been there. (ascertained earlier in story)] It would have required great strength to pull the cardinal up half a foot from the chair, then tie the rope to the chandelier. Although Father Coppola couldn’t be ruled out entirely as a suspect, he didn’t appear to have the strength to do that by himself. More than likely, there were two killers involved.

The buildings in question were supported by a variety of [workers (this should be the main noun and not "the building")], including maintenance staff, maids, doormen, and concierges. No one claimed to have seen anything unusual, although the killers could have been among them. [Or, (juxtaposition unclear but consistent at least, to character's musings)]  someone could have waited for one of the doormen to leave his station, perhaps for a bathroom break, and sailed right through. There was also no known link between the staff at Vitale’s apartment building and those of the lodgings of Cardinal Ferraro and Bishop Rivera at Domus Sanctae Marthae inside the Vatican. The only connection so far was three dead clerics in one week.

Many repeat concepts, such as paragraph 2 "So far, neither she nor De Rosa had come up with any clues..." which need not exist because it it implied by the later paragraphs.

and "With the permission of the Church, ... The fact that the Church had allowed "

I took a whack at it and got it from 438 words to 200

Yes... you can still buy one-time installs of Office, but MS is not exactly forthcoming about the link. You may have to get their customer-care experts to provide it

504

(0 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

This massmarket book I just finished working through, the antagonists really brought their A-game. They caught a protagonist maid stealing food for her sick child or some such. Now, the law says thieves lose a hand, so the antagonists not only get out an axe and whack her, they make the protagonists watch.

I'm not suggesting anything this gruesome for Stella, but being a little mean should provoke a nice bit of outrage. Not too much tho or it'll turn into the trope of the master who mistreats his servants. Even something as simple as talking as if she doesn't exist would work

Dirk B. wrote:
Kdot wrote:

you should remove everything after /ref= so that Amazon cannot track how users are arriving at your story (which may negatively impact your reviews)

Why would that negatively impact reviews? It's still a link to Amazon from a reputable site. They get their cut if someone buys.

In the unlikely event you should get a number of reviews from the same link, Amazon may accidentally flag them as shills. I don't believe it's common, but why lose your valuable reviews?

you should remove everything after /ref= so that Amazon cannot track how users are arriving at your story (which may negatively impact your reviews)

507

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

That doesn't sound like much time for the story to "bake"

508

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I had to google "Bored of the Rings" and I must say the character names are hilarious.

"Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt," == oh dear

509

(17 replies, posted in Close friends)

Suin wrote:

I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried 'hybrid' (or vanity) publishing where you pay for their expertise in publishing including editing, printing, Amazon & marketing...


I used a vanity. Would do so again --  They were happy to dance around my requirements, and they gave me print + US market where I'm deficient. I'd hoped they'd edit a US English version for me but that was a no-go.And marketing was a "hella-no pay us 4x the base". But print really delivered

(posted here instead of premium to preempt the inevitable battle)

I built up a network on Google+ which I shall soon lose

511

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I've not seen the movie, but I can say excess complexity is a real problem for the big names. I find myself reluctant to keep up with O.S.Card and Kim Stanley Robinson for this reason. Love the writing, love the worlds, but it's just too much /work/ to read

Royalty's not so bad if the percentage is right

Oi! Quit revising or it'll never get writ.

You've come so far... why not just finish it before you re-tool it?

The race is almost won. Matters not that it's not the race you set out to run or that you no longer care for that particular prize. Those two satisfying words "The End" are yours for the taking.

The issue is minute. I bet most of your reviewers haven't even spotted it. Connor starts in pretty much the most safe place on the planet barring the Oval Office. So there's more onus on the story to make a threat entertainable

Hi Rayner

Your solution (that humans are cheaper to acquire) has merit but consider: horses are 1/20th the price of a car.

-K

A note regarding the video in case you've not played the game (also huge spoilers): The protagonists are the aliens - the defending Terrans are working for the evil Emperor Mengsk. In a sense, the video asserts a false stasis that the ensuing story will challenge.

To hold Shakespeare's Tragedies as "episodic" makes the point that plays, movies and tv are a form different than a novel, and it is a mistake to formulate a novel in the same fashion.

I also have reservations about formulating a novel in a structure other than that of a novel. Won't stop me from massaging some words around the concept. Easily abandoned if it proves unworkable

Suppose you sit to watch a movie and you see a black screen and dialogue starts up and runs for five minutes,  then flashes of scene and action, perhaps with dialogue

Consider this StarCraft intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4

Where is stasis here? I would hazard to suggest it is about three cinematics ago when Mengsk creates the Terran Empire. None of that matters here. It's just random violence and disjoint narration. Yet, the uninitiated viewer can spot the opposing sides. Make an educated guess who the protagonist might be.

Here, I question the traditional stasis-first concept. To what extent can a novel borrow from a video game? Can a novel launch with  a "Here's Bob and he's fighting for his life"? Can we infer the inciting incident from this mere statement? Certainly not - we merely know there was one and presume it will be related to us at some point.

Regarding Legend, I believe the stasis is not presented until the third episode. That's a rather long wait for such a complex world.

MacBeth Act I Scene I

When shall we three meet again?

Is stasis merely that the witches meet on some agreed upon schedule? I dare say that stasis is introduced in the second chapter rather than the beginning of the story.

This probably won't help at all, but I rarely mention there is a "bolting position". I typically do it if there is some dramatic moment. Or if I need to slow down a scene: "Bob slowly raised his hands to bolting position, crackling energy shooting from hand to hand". Similarly, after a funeral, I had two characters standing a late-night vigil, I went out of my way to mention one of them sat.

"Crystal Singer" by Anne McCaffrey. It's the most plausible premise I've ever seen that a highly futuristic society would use human labour for excavation.

You could potentially lift from it. Norm too, because he has a digging chapter.

New version looks good. You've got a good internal compass.
As per normal, I'll still wait until you hit your stride. Those first 3 chapters on this site can be rough

523

(10 replies, posted in Close friends)

mulling it over

too much, based on where I sense this is headed, but I need about seven to ten more chapters to give you an accurate answer

I didn't get the same feeling. The doctor caught my attention only because you mentioned it and started looking for it.