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rhienellethConfession time: yes, I was sick, and it was awful, and yes, things have been busy lately. But now I have no excuses for avoiding work on Nemesis except a new video game, and how lame is that?
The truth is, I find myself stuck. I've reached a point in the novel where I've caught up to the "old draft" - meaning I'm actually keeping some of the original chapters, and not wholesale rewriting every line, like I did for the first, well, several. And I'm second guessing myself in ways I didn't before, and for many and varied reasons, several of my beta readers are unable to read right now.
(Message to those betas: I am totally okay with that, really and truly. I understand that some of you prefer to read the whole thing at once, and some of you have Life Stuff happening, and some of you aren't in the best mental place at this exact moment for giving feedback, and I totally understand. I really, really do. When you can pick it up again - AWESOME! I will be excited to see/read your feedback. I don't want to put pressure on any of you, especially a couple of you going through some tough stuff at the moment, and thus, I am doing this post.)
So, I need a couple of new beta volunteers, if anyone is interested. I am just too damn close to this work to be able to look at it and go "yes, this is totally working, and the rewrite is accomplishing exactly what it was supposed to!", or "no, this is starting to not work, and you should go back to X scene and hack away from there".
To be clear: I'm not looking for cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are great and serve a purpose, but I need to know if this middle part especially is working. I also don't want line by line feedback. This will get an editing pass or two when I'm done. What I need is honest story/character feedback.
If it really, really works for you, great, tell me that, even if it ends up sounding like cheerleading. :) If it works for you BUT-- even better, definitely tell me that! I need to know!
I am confident enough to say, if it totally doesn't work for you in any way, shape, or form, that's fine, tell me that, but that probably means this isn't the right story for you, and that's fine. (Unless it is, and I've just totally broken it in the rewrite, but I think one of the betas who've read those first chapters would have said something, if that were the case. *g*)
I am, simply put, too involved in the individual trees to clearly see the forest right now, and I desperately need some feedback from someone who hasn't read the first draft, and doesn't have any preconceptions about it. Someone who, preferably, enjoys reading genre work, in this case space opera with a non-traditional romance flare (it isn't hard SF - if you usually prefer reading fantasy, but have, for instance, enjoyed Firefly or BSG fanfic, then this would probably be right up your alley.) If you can read and respond relatively quickly, even better.
And no obligations - if you start the first chapter and hate it/can't get into it, please do walk away without any guilt (just let me know that's what you're doing!) There is nothing to be gained by forcing yourself to read something you have no interest in.
So. After all that, anyone interested? If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about, you must be VERY new to this journal. But, on the off-chance you have no idea what Nemesis is supposed to be about, a three word blurb:
Telepathic space pirates.
What, that wasn't enough to hook you? Okay, how about this:
As a Rescue pilot in the Commonwealth Navy, Mercy Kincaid swore an oath to save lives at the risk of her own, even if that means relying on a deadly secret. Mercy's a telepath, an outlawed Talent that puts her sanity at risk each time she uses it. Worse yet, being a telepath carries a death sentence in the Commonwealth, if she's ever discovered. But Mercy will use every gift at her command, in order to find and save a life. Until that life turns out to be another telepath, and Mercy is forced to choose between loyalty to everything she's ever known, and a group of Talented pirates who have their own agenda.
Any takers?
The truth is, I find myself stuck. I've reached a point in the novel where I've caught up to the "old draft" - meaning I'm actually keeping some of the original chapters, and not wholesale rewriting every line, like I did for the first, well, several. And I'm second guessing myself in ways I didn't before, and for many and varied reasons, several of my beta readers are unable to read right now.
(Message to those betas: I am totally okay with that, really and truly. I understand that some of you prefer to read the whole thing at once, and some of you have Life Stuff happening, and some of you aren't in the best mental place at this exact moment for giving feedback, and I totally understand. I really, really do. When you can pick it up again - AWESOME! I will be excited to see/read your feedback. I don't want to put pressure on any of you, especially a couple of you going through some tough stuff at the moment, and thus, I am doing this post.)
So, I need a couple of new beta volunteers, if anyone is interested. I am just too damn close to this work to be able to look at it and go "yes, this is totally working, and the rewrite is accomplishing exactly what it was supposed to!", or "no, this is starting to not work, and you should go back to X scene and hack away from there".
To be clear: I'm not looking for cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are great and serve a purpose, but I need to know if this middle part especially is working. I also don't want line by line feedback. This will get an editing pass or two when I'm done. What I need is honest story/character feedback.
If it really, really works for you, great, tell me that, even if it ends up sounding like cheerleading. :) If it works for you BUT-- even better, definitely tell me that! I need to know!
I am confident enough to say, if it totally doesn't work for you in any way, shape, or form, that's fine, tell me that, but that probably means this isn't the right story for you, and that's fine. (Unless it is, and I've just totally broken it in the rewrite, but I think one of the betas who've read those first chapters would have said something, if that were the case. *g*)
I am, simply put, too involved in the individual trees to clearly see the forest right now, and I desperately need some feedback from someone who hasn't read the first draft, and doesn't have any preconceptions about it. Someone who, preferably, enjoys reading genre work, in this case space opera with a non-traditional romance flare (it isn't hard SF - if you usually prefer reading fantasy, but have, for instance, enjoyed Firefly or BSG fanfic, then this would probably be right up your alley.) If you can read and respond relatively quickly, even better.
And no obligations - if you start the first chapter and hate it/can't get into it, please do walk away without any guilt (just let me know that's what you're doing!) There is nothing to be gained by forcing yourself to read something you have no interest in.
So. After all that, anyone interested? If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about, you must be VERY new to this journal. But, on the off-chance you have no idea what Nemesis is supposed to be about, a three word blurb:
Telepathic space pirates.
What, that wasn't enough to hook you? Okay, how about this:
As a Rescue pilot in the Commonwealth Navy, Mercy Kincaid swore an oath to save lives at the risk of her own, even if that means relying on a deadly secret. Mercy's a telepath, an outlawed Talent that puts her sanity at risk each time she uses it. Worse yet, being a telepath carries a death sentence in the Commonwealth, if she's ever discovered. But Mercy will use every gift at her command, in order to find and save a life. Until that life turns out to be another telepath, and Mercy is forced to choose between loyalty to everything she's ever known, and a group of Talented pirates who have their own agenda.
Any takers?
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 02:23 am (UTC)Hello!
You had me at "telepathic space pirates", but then again you knew that already :)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 02:44 am (UTC)And I'm loving it.
Comments eventually...argh.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 06:21 am (UTC)In other words, if you'll have me, I would love to fill in as a beta, at least for the next month or so until my life goes crazy again.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 09:58 pm (UTC)