So...what's new with you?

I was reminded yesterday that we are into the Christmas season now by both my children.  They were telling me I'd better get it in gear and get the lights up, the tree decorated and the presents bought.  Well - it just didn't feel like Christmas - until this happened:

Yes - our first real snowfall.  It will probably all be gone by this afternoon, but there was enough on the ground to get the kids - and the dog - excited.  On the way to school this morning my son bombarded me with snowballs while Willow rolled at every opportunity.  There are a series of "doggie-angels" in the snow right along St. Andrew Street.

When I got back to the house I snapped these pictures:

Since we've had another snowfall, I've posted another of the winter-themed poems over at the writing notebook.  You can get there by clicking this link.

There are a few other new things.  I am now sporting something that has been described as anything from "distinguished" to "scruffy".  Yes - following the Really Raggedy Andy stint at Hallowe'en, I decided to let the beard grow.  I'll post a picture soon.

Another new thing - we have decided to once again become a two car family.  My lovely wife discovered a sweet deal on a used Hyundai Elantra Station Wagon and we just had to take a look.  The car is in excellent shape, is very fuel efficient and has a low enough profile that a middle-aged golden retriever can hop into the back unassisted.  And the price was truly unbeatable.

What gives?  you might be asking.  Why so cheap?  If there's nothing wrong with it, why such a great price?

Well, I didn't say there was nothing wrong with it.  Mechanically it seems fine.  In fact the car is at our local garage being safetied today, otherwise I would have taken a picture to show exactly what is wrong with it.

Let's just say a paint job is in order - the sooner the better.
(Picture to follow - probably tomorrow)

The Wisdom of Raymond Chandler

I love Raymond Chandler.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to find a first American Edition of the The Long Goodbye.

I grew up on movie depictions of Philip Marlowe, his always just getting by private detective.  I like Marlowe - a fellow far too human for the line of work he found himself in.  It's Marlowe's humanity that separates Chandler's writing from a lot of the detective stuff of the same era.  Chandler's stuff was crisp, emotional and moving and it has been largely ignored by those who study literature, relegated to the catch-all bin of pulp fiction.

Yesterday, while my daughter was at her piano lesson, I took a walk to a local book and video store and I came across a skinny book titled, "The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler".  I had to pick it up.

The very first section of the book - right after the introduction  - is a quarter of a page called "Great Thought"

"There are two kinds of truth:  the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart.  The first of these is science, and the second is art.  Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other.  Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber.  Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery.  The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous."
                                  Raymond Chandler  Feb 19th 1938

Pretty philosophical for a mere pulp writer, I think.

What is it about a synopsis?

So... In order to submit book length manuscripts to agents and publishers more often than not you need to supply a synopsis of the story.  The synopsis needs to run through all of the major threads of the story so that whoever ends up reviewing your submission will quickly know the gist of the tale and know whether it is the sort of thing they will want to develop or represent.

A synopsis shouldn't be that daunting.  For Gerry - my children's story about an orphaned giant - a synopsis is a straightforward affair because all of the action follows Gerry.  From the mountain top beginning to the reunion at the end, Gerry is the character we follow around.  With The Edgeling (formerly titled Loremaster) things are a little more complex.

You would think that having written the damn book, the synopsis would be easy.  Not so.

In The Edgeling there are eight major characters and the flow of the story goes from one character to the next as they all scramble off in varying directions.  Layer onto that a politically complex world and a smattering of racial bigotry, a Cain and Able sub-story, a resurrection and a gypsy-like band of travelling folk and a synopsis begins to get daunting.

At 502 revised pages and just over 163,000 words, The Edgeling is a long story.  Attempting to give a fair synopsis in the standard 5-10 page treatment is asking a lot.  Because of the novel's length and complexity, I'm afraid the synopsis may run as long as 15 pages which may in itself be a reason for an agent or publisher to reject the manuscript without reading a single word of the actual text. I am therefore trying to be brief, but it is difficult.

To compound the problem - the weather has been terrific.  Sunny days with mild temperatures have me wanting to be anywhere BUT the basement writing the synopsis.  The last few days I've brought the laptop into the front porch to take advantage of the sunshine and still work on the synopsis.  That's the plan, anyway.

Because I don't really want to write the synopsis, I am find a thousand little things to do other that get the damn thing typed and polished.  Things like dishes, laundry, yard clean up, winterizing the carport and ...well...updating this blog...

Okay - enough  - back to it.