11 October 2012

Manuscript: Rewrites!

This week I got the manuscript back from my editor and had a long phone call with her about structure. Then another long phone call with a supportive friend who helped me bounce ideas back and forth. I've finished the copy-editing corrections and now it's time for rewrites. Eeeeek and/or yay? It'll be interesting to get close to the characters again after all this time. I started the manuscript last Thanksgiving. Time flies.

Ambient reading:
Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look by Pat Kirwan.

24 July 2012

Manuscript: The Horror of the Notes

A few notes to myself during the writing stage. I also have a bunch of research material saved as PDFs or TIFFs.

Manuscript watch: Sent to editor! Still waiting to hear back. I changed the working title. And I may have found a book cover artist. If only I had ideas for what the cover should look like... 

Ambient reading:
Bissinger, Buzz. "Why College Football Should be Banned." The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2012.
Branch, Taylor. "The Shame of College Sports." The Atlantic Monthly, October 2011.
Hinton, Matt. "Billionaire Ball: Epitaph for the Student-Athlete." The Baffler, No. 20, July 11, 2012. [Full-text available for pay-per-view or to subscribers]


28 June 2012

Manuscript: The Soundtrack

Manuscript watch: at the 90% mark in the latest read-through before sending it to the editor. (Oh, I am so happy I found an editor!)

Current reads:   
* And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible's Original Meaning
* Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World



Recent reads:
* Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era
* Home & Away: The Rise and Fall of Professional Football on the Banks of the Ohio, 1919-1934


, but then I spent a long time with this playlist that iTunes calls "Fire 2":
Fire - Kasabian (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum)
Reason or Rhyme - Bryan Ferry (Olympia)
Paradise - Shinhwa (State of the Art)
Light Travels - Simple Minds (Graffiti Soul)
Empire (Album Version) - Kasabian (Empire)
Bloodsport - Killing Joke (Killing Joke (remastered))
Breakdown - Epik High (Breakdown)
Higher Love - Depeche Mode (Songs of Faith and Devotion)
Moscow Underground - Simple Minds (Graffiti Soul)
T.O.P. - Shinhwa (My Choice)
Me Oh My - Bryan Ferry (Olympia)
Stillness of Heart - Lenny Kravitz (Lenny)
そらいろ - Porno Graffitti (Porno Graffitti)
More Than This - Roxy Music (Avalon)
Stars Will Lead the Way - Simple Minds (Graffiti Soul)
Alphaville - Bryan Ferry (Olympia)
Fast Fuse - Kasabian (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum)
Last Trip - Kasabian (Empire)

When the first draft was finished, I moved on to Shinhwa's The Return album, and lately the soundtrack for re-reads and edits has been Neil Finn's Try Whistling This album. I hadn't listened to it in years, and suddenly it popped into my head and I had to listen to it again. What a wonderful album. A real treat to return to after a long silence.