under construction
New look to the website, courtesy of a switch from Blogger to WordPress! I’m still fiddling around with theme customization and transferring everything, so please excuse any temporary broken links, etc. I hope to have everything in order shortly!
Hope everyone’s having a relaxing holiday break!
First, an update about THE PEOPLE LIST, the book I’ve been working on for a while. The latest round of editorial suggestions has taken almost a year to implement, but I’m nearing the finish line of what has felt not like a sprint but a marathon. At just under 100,000 words, this is now the longest novel I’ve written. I’ve learned a lot in the process of writing this one, not the least of which is how important having an uninterrupted block of daily writing time is to my process — and its opposite, that’s it’s key to step away from the manuscript for a while, or I get lost in the trees. And, as I keep reminding myself, nothing in publishing happens fast, so this is par for the course.
Next, I’ve been lucky enough to get a dedicated writing space, a studio at a local arts/writing non-profit, ArtWorks. (Yay!) I can already tell that having the space and a community of creatives will be a great experience. If you’re in the mood to support a local haven for creatives, they take donations here.
Finally, as ever, thank you for supporting my books, and may 2020 bring you many wonderful things!
Twin Cities Book Festival
If you’re looking for something to do this upcoming Saturday, come to this year’s Twin Cities Book Festival. The day, according to my weather app, is slated to be gray, cold and overcast – perfect for writerly events and book browsing! The festival is being held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Admission is free.
Here’s some festival info from the organizer’s website:
Rain Taxi’s TWIN CITIES BOOK FESTIVAL is not only the largest, most adventurous literary event in the Upper Midwest; it is THE annual get together for devoted book lovers from the Twin Cities and beyond!
The single-day TCBF will feature hundreds of exhibitors, dozens of presenting authors from near and far, special children’s programming and endless curiosities for all ages, all in a massive celebration of our vibrant Minnesota literary culture.
FREE ADMISSION
FREE parking • FREE Metro Transit rides to the Fairgrounds
You can find me at the Book Fair portion of the festival, which is being held in the Progress Center of the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, located at 1265 Snelling Ave., Saint Paul, MN (directions here). I’ll have a table somewhere in the hall, though I’m not sure yet where (edit: I’ll be at table 409 in the middle of the hall). Stop by to get a book signed or just to say hi! This is my first year attending and it promises to be interesting.
Book Update
In other news, the novel I’ve been working on for quite a while has come back from my editor Kristen Weber and… it needs more work. I’ve enjoyed writing this one but it’s turned out to be somewhat of a beast to wrestle into a coherent story. No one is as impatient as I am to get this book on the road as soon as possible. This is one of those instances of It’s better to do it well than to do it fast. I am very much looking forward to holding the finished book one of these days.
On the plus side, we finally have a title. Ta, da, here we go: THE PEOPLE LIST, a standalone near-future novel!
Stay tuned for the cover reveal and back-page description.
Grif the Dog
On the personal side of things, and what might be putting a slight damper on my available editing time this fall, is the newcomer to the household, Grif the mini goldendoodle. He’s a fast-growing bundle of energy.
The picture was taken a couple of weeks after he came to live with us. What an adorable face!
My apologies, but I’ll have to miss tomorrow’s Rosemount Writers Festival as I’m down with the flu. If you’re interested in purchasing one of my books, more information can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Uncle Hugo’s.
Read more about the festival here. Hope a good time is had by all!
Season’s greetings!
I’ve been a little lax about updating this blog, so here’s a quick look on writerly matters going forward. First, the book I’ve been working on for a while, a standalone novel (tentatively titled, ta da… THE LIST: A NOVEL) is FINALLY done (yay!) and has gotten the thumbs-up from my agent (double yay!). Stay tuned for details of the how and when of publication.
Meanwhile and second, I’ve started a NEW book, which is, somewhat unexpectedly, coming along at a good clip (assuming I haven’t just jinxed myself by writing that). I’m about a third of my way into the first draft.
(As an aside, someone asked me how I can say 1/3 with any certainty since I won’t know the book’s exact length until I’ve finished writing the full draft. The answer is that the more you write, the more you get a feel for these things — this one, I’m thinking, will end up being around 75,000 words and I’m at just about 26,000. Plus I’m getting better at sticking to my outlines…or, rather, I’m getting better at making the outline be CLOSER to the story I end up writing. The current outline is still turning out to be very fluid, but it helps provide structure to the whole project and road-side posts along the way.
I’ll have to see how it plays out, but I’m thinking this new one might make a good series starter and might end up being Book 1 of three.)
Thirdly and most importantly, I wanted to thank everyone who supports my writing by buying my books, reading my early drafts, giving me feedback, and engaging with me via email or social media. I am grateful for you all!
With that all said, I’ll wrap up this brief update by wishing you and yours a happy holiday season and a GREAT 2018! I hope the new year brings some calmer seas to the world as a whole and many good, exciting things your way!
Summer sale! Regarding Ducks and Universes is on sale for all of June on Kindle. Mystery! Parallel universes! Ducks!
The book is part of a promotion, “150 Kindle books for $1.50″. You can find all the included books here.
A brief update on the new book: it’s taking longer than expected.
In somewhat more detail: the working title is just that (“The New Book”) and there’s a full draft of just under ninety thousand words, or 300 pages. The story takes place in near-future Seattle. I’m in the process of incorporating early feedback from beta readers — my agent and a couple of writer friends who kindly agreed to take a look at the manuscript.
How long will this editing pass take? Hard to say. I’m making slow and steady progress. In general I’ve found that where the creative process is concerned, that’s what seems to work best for me — not trying to rush things. Deadlines often require moving along fast, which can be both good and bad, but this time around I have the luxury of being able to take my time.
Which is not to say that I’m spending my days reclined on the couch with my back turned to the computer and my feet up, reading election news on my iPad mini and eating endless chocolate bars to help with the digesting of the election news. Just that getting the story to the level where it needs to be requires some thought as I edit the manuscript (Does this scene do its job of propelling the story along or should it be cut? Can I make that sentence snappier? Would a different word work better in establishing the world building of the story? You get the idea.) This past week I cut ten pages total, consisting of bits and pieces that were bogging down the early parts of the book. Yay!
Neve Maslakovic