That’s right! As of yesterday afternoon, I’ve officially reacquired Chasing Nonconformity, the sequel to my debut novel Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, from my beta readers. Huzzah!
Granted, I only actually got it back from two beta readers — specifically, my mother and brother. Three big cheers for them! The rest of my so-called “beta readers” haven’t done a whole lot of reading. But that’s okay! Because I’m going to be doing a lot of re-writing (again), so by the time they remember they’re supposed to be reading the book, I’ll have a new draft for them anyway. Then they can busily not read the new draft while I start on the next one. This plan, my friends, is fool proof. FOOL PROOF!
Ahem. So, onwards and upwards with the re-writing! I’ve got a lovely 200 page manuscript full of red ink sitting beside me just waiting for me to begin my perusal, so that’s exciting. More awesome, however, are the small cartoons I noticed that my mother and brother and slipped into the manuscript every now and again. They’re quite artistic, my family members. Thus without further delay, I present to you:
Drawings from Chasing Nonconformity (Summer 2013 draft)
Artists: Jesse Proulx and Linda Schneidereit
Note: Please don’t ask me to explain these, because … well, because I can’t. Enjoy!
And that about wraps that up. Now that you’ve seen the drawings, can you imagine the kind of ridiculous comments and suggestions I have to put up with from these people???
Michelle Proulx - Author 
That is an awesome looking sword drawing.
Hehehe. I’ll let my brother know you’re a fan. Or a sword. Whichever sounds more manly. Oooh, perhaps a flail? Actually, no, that doesn’t sound very manly at all. Now I’m picture you flailing around. Perhaps a bastard sword? References to illegitimate offspring are, in my understanding, the height of manliness.
Flails were pretty big with knights from what I’ve heard. Mourning stars were a type of flail. I always liked the bastard sword, but I prefer twin sabers. 🙂
I’m going to hazard a guess that you’re a Drizzt fan?
Actually, Luke Callindor from my book uses twin sabers. Drizzt uses twin scimitars. 🙂
I’m still just so impressed that your mom reads your work and gives you honest feedback. 🙂
It takes her a while, but she gets it done 🙂 All kidding aside, she’s totally awesome and I never forget that for a minute. Well, I do sometimes — usually around the three month mark, where I’m like, “MOM! How can it POSSIBLY take you so long to read this? Argh!” But then she gives me a huge stack of insightful comments and I climb down off my rage stallion (yes, that is now a thing).
Ooh, I like it! That needs to be a line in a book. “Climb down off your rage stallion, Sweetheart, and let me explain.”
(I was using #ImminentDanger as a Facebook hash tag when this notification popped up. Coincidence?)
Clearly it’s fate 😀 As for the rage stallion … hmm … see, the only problem with that is that the speaker would have to be someone from Earth, due to the fact that aliens don’t know what stallions are. Tricky tricky …
If you don’t want it, I’ll have to throw it into something some day as a secret shout-out.
Or, you know, you could write something on Earth. Whichever. 😉
I’d be happy to read your book…I’m an avid reader and I was a technical editor for nine years before I retired. Couldn’t get to it until Tuesday, but will promise to read it!!
Well, current readers need are for the sequel, which I now need to re-write, but if you’re interested in beta reading that for me, that’d be awesome 🙂
Michelle – if you’re looking for Betas, count me in too. 🙂 Anything I can do to help a fellow author. Although technically, you’re a woman, not a fellow.Oh, you know what I mean…
Awesome! I’ll stick you on my list 🙂
Love the cartoons! And if they get your creative revision juices flowing, so much the better!
You know what, my creative juices ARE flowing! I actually had a dream last night about marketing my book, which I don’t think I’ve ever had before. I’ll probably write a post about it, because I’m not sure if it’s brilliant or ridiculous. Sneak peek: it involves going door-to-door around my neighborhood and saying, “Hi, I’m Michelle — I live over on ___ street. I recently published a sci-fi book called Imminent Danger, and I’m trying to drum up readers and spread the word. Would you be interested in purchasing a copy to help support a local author?” I think that’s more or less the speech I gave in my dream, although I might have added in the “spread the word” bit. Dreams are tricky, flighty things.
I once met an author who lived in Brooklyn and set up the equivalent of a lemonade stand to sell her book on the street. She said she’d consistently sell a dozen each time she did that–amazing, huh? Not sure I’d have the nerve to do that–or go door-to-door–but if you do, I applaud your out-of-the-box thinking!
I’d love to do that, but … aren’t there laws against that sort of thing? Unsolicited … soliciting? Or something? Lol. Clearly I need to befriend a lawyer so I can get these questions resolved.
That looks an awful lot like a BANANA CAR. Which would be totally rad. XD And I appreciate your family’s humor. My family has its own brand of humor, but, well… Mine is a little bit different from that, ha ha.
EITHER WAY, I can’t believe your lame beta-readers! My goodness, I would have had that thing done in no time. (Granted, I lead a life with much more free time than they probably do.) Still, I’m sure there will be a lot of re-writing, trimming down, and re-writing again to come, so. Keep on keeping on!
Hahaha oh dear, I think I might have misrepresented my “lame” beta readers — they’re actually wonderful people! They just didn’t have time to read it. Which I still think is quite suspicious, but whatever 🙂 They actually read my blog, so when they saw this post they were like, “Michelle … *annoyed face* … what’s with the guilt trip?” and I was like, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” And one of them actually did finish the book, unbeknownest to me, so extra cool points for him!
And don’t worry, you’re next on my beta reading list 🙂 My primary round of readers is reserved for people who are so thoroughly entrenched in my lives for so long that they have no choice but to continue speaking to me even if my writing is garbage. You, my dear, get to see the manuscript once it’s not awful 😀 Consider yourself lucky, lol.
Ha ha ha! There you go, that’s the way to get them into gear–POST about them! x) Ha ha, but it’s cool. I know what you mean. ^^ And aw, thanks for the thought, I think? xD Event though I’m DYING to read it, I guess I can wait until it’s been through the wringer a little bit. =D Totally worth the wait!
Man, I wish you could work the drawings into the book somehow!
Wouldn’t that be awesome??? Maybe as a like a “Special Extras!” bit at the end?
Ha, your mother and brother are awesome. Those are some fantastic cartoons. xD Supersonic pig-cow capacitator indeed.
I suspect that was my brother’s work, lol. My mother is a bit more … sane. Actually, that’s not true 😀
The drawings are great! But what about your other beta-readers? I’ve beta-read several manuscripts in the last few years, and took it really seriously. I have a theory that the more we use social media (which has great benefits) the harder it is to do offline things that take concentration and a non-trivial time commitment — including writing novels, I’m afraid. Good for you that you’re still doing that, but fie on those recalcitrant beta-readers!
Well, see, when you beta-read manuscripts, you probably went into it from the mindset of a professional author … whereas my dear, recalcitrant friends are going into it with the mindset of, “Michelle wrote another book! Cool! I’ll read it whenever I have free time, which is practically never.” But in their defense, they gave it their best shots 🙂 Oh, and I definitely agree with you about social media making everything else harder. My current attempt to get around that is wandering off to internet-less places with my netbook and having nothing but my writing to distract me. And I can’t even play games on my netbook, because it’s so slow that it can’t run them!
Love the doodle pics! I am so impressed and inspired by your drive to be a writer and look forward to your finished product!
Thanks 🙂 The finished product will probably be awhile in coming, but hopefully it will be worth the wait 😀
Love the cartoons 🙂 For my most recent round of beta readers the only person not to get it back to me – or even finish! – was my own sister! In her defence, she didn’t have it on her dreaded and reading on a computer is tricky, and she has been very busy at work … 🙂
Can I ask what a “dreaded” is? And yes, being busy combined with limited access to the manuscript is a decent reason 😀 Still!
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I want beta readers that leave cool drawings in my book!!! 🙂
Hire my artistically challenged brother. I hear he’s available 😀