Completed revision of The Owner’s Tale today – Next big step to getting back to Moon & Sun

This is the first revision I’ve ever done that didn’t even require the fixing of a typo on the first twenty-four pages, and had only the addition of a hyphen on page twenty-five.

This is the lightest revision of a first draft I have ever done.

And it’s making me a little crazy that I don’t know why. 

I love the way this story came out. Made myself cry twice reading the print-out at things I wrote when I was so deep into the story I don’t remember writing them, and that took me by surprise.

This is the ending that I wanted for the entire Longviewseries, and from my perspective, I got it in the first draft, with some very minor revisions, not a single added scene, not a single added page.

This is writing in a whole different place for me, and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been writing to find this ending for so long — for years — or because I’ve made some sort of breakthrough in my writing…

… Or because I’ve lost my objectivity toward my work. That last one will get tested after I get my type-in finished and put this story in front of Matt.

But type-in will be fast. Will probably be done in a couple hours tomorrow, and that’s just with me being extra finicky and paranoid because I’ve NEVER had a first draft that looked this clean when I was done with it.

I am my own toughest critic. I am deeply suspicious first-draft pages that pass through my brutal revision process without coming out the other end battle-scarred by massive changes.

Still — it DID come through, and as far as I can tell, I was being as brutal as usual.

So what comes next?

Short-term,when I get Matt’s edit back:

  • I’ll do my editor’s revision. 
  • I’ll request bug-hunters and will do the typesetting from the bugs they find.
  • Will put the story on sale in single episode version.
  • And will then go through and put together the six-story bundle, because The Owner’s Taleends the Longviewseries.

I figure that along with writing lessons for How to Write a Novel, writing the parts of my Demo Novel (Dead Man’s Party), anddoing the Alone in a Room with Invisible People podcast, that will keep me pretty busy through Christmas.

Once I have the complete Longviewseries available, however, my next step is to reread the first two novels in the Moon & Sun series and get the series voice back in my head, and find the various toys I left on the floor in the first two books. Pick those up, figure out how I want to use them in the final book in the series.

By New Year’s day, 2019, I want to be in a position to start writing The Emerald Sun.I’ll be plotting that out concurrently with writing the first draft of Dead Man’s Party.

And then might find myself writing two novels simultaneously for a couple months. Not optimal, but not the first time I’ve done this, either.

I would like to finish The Emerald Sunand the Moon & Sun series next year — writing, revision, editing, and publication. And get all three books back into print with new covers. Folks have waited way to long to find out how that story ends. As have I.

It’s time to get back to the kids, the cat, and the mystery of the Moonroads, and what went wrong, and how to make it right.

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13 responses to “Completed revision of The Owner’s Tale today – Next big step to getting back to Moon & Sun”

  1. Yuliana Avatar

    Hi, Holly, it’s me again!

    Just remembered another thing in The Ruby Key that confused me as well, and thought that I might as well ask you for clarification.

    …”Why does Letrin think you’re a boy?”

    “Because I could have been. Should have been. We both have nightling fathers and human mothers. Letrin inherited the long life of nightlings from his father, and he assumed that I did as well. I, alas, inherited my life span from my human mother. I have lived over a hundred years, and now I am near death.” — The Ruby Key, pg 246

    This contradicted my understanding on the relationship between Letrin and Doyati. I thought that Letrin was a full-fledged nightling while Doyati a halfblood, and as I stated in my earlier comment, that Letrin was Doyati’s uncle. The only two halfbloods introduced in the series were Doyati and Letrin’s son Oerin, was it not? Please correct me if I misunderstood anything.

    Thank you for reading again!

  2. Yuliana Avatar

    Very, very sorry, Holly! I was wondering why I couldn’t see my own comment and thus kept reposting it. And THEN I thought about reading how the blog works and discovered that it was sent to you first and you would decide if my comment can be posted ??

    Which means that I’ve been spamming you this whole time unknowingly. Really sorry.

    Please forgive me for my silly mistakes!

  3. Yuliana Avatar
    Yuliana

    Hello to Holly!

    Finally! I’ve been waiting for the book 3 to come out for so long! I’ve just reread The Ruby Key and The Silver Chair and noticed a few things I’d like to point out since you plan to republish the whole series.

    In page 265 of The Ruby Key, Doyati said that his cousin was determined to kill him. But from my understanding, wasn’t Letrin supposed to be his uncle? This, however minor and insignificant, really confused me.

    In The Silver Chair, the term Satimaja first appeared on page 188 and appeared several times afterwards throughout the whole book. However, there was no explanation on its meaning except that it can be deduced that it was for someone of high importance. Another thing that got me thinking is will Genna tell her brother that the reason why Catri kissed Jagan was partly due to some sort of spell? Undeniable, nothing would have happened if Catri had not desired so, but still, spells did come in effect. I felt like it would be more like Genna if she did.

    Wish you a continuous success as a writer and in publishing The Emerald Sun and many other stories! Really really hope that even if it turned into another series the main characters will still stay the same! Love for Genna, Dan, the cat. Doyati and many other characters!

    Thank you for reading my long blabber 🙂

    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      😀 The reason I have to read through the first books before writing the third is to find all the things like that, remember what they meant, and then tie them all up in the ending.

      I’ll be starting the the read-through of the books (and doing the notes and some preliminary plotting) around the end of December.

  4. Lita Brooker Avatar
    Lita Brooker

    Hi Teach!

    This all looks so exciting. Looking forward to reading yours books, after HTWAN. I think I’ll start with the Longview series first. 🙂

  5. Elizabeth Avatar

    Woo hoo! Excited as all heck to get the Owner’s Tale and discover the whys and wherefores of what’s been happening in Settled Space. Also super excited about Emerald Sun. I read the first two a couple of years ago and loved them.

  6. Ava Fairhall Avatar
    Ava Fairhall

    I’ve found sometimes stories spill out with such clarity that they hardly need any revision. Sounds like this is one of those times.

  7. Elizabeth Winfield Avatar
    Elizabeth Winfield

    Yay! Can’t Wait for these.

  8. Cat Avatar

    I’m sooo looking orward to M&S3!

  9. Shawna Avatar
    Shawna

    I am SO glad you’re able to go back to Moon & Sun. Of all your work, they’re my favorite. That cat!

  10. SheSellsSeashells Avatar
    SheSellsSeashells

    I read the first Moon & Sun book to my daughter when it first came out. She’ll be ecstatic to learn that there’s MORE. 😀

  11. Amelia Avatar
    Amelia

    So excited for The Emerald Sun!

    1. Holly Lisle Avatar
      Holly Lisle

      Me, too. I’ve missed that world so much, and knowing that in just a couple months I’ll be back in it is wonderful and amazing for me.

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