I am looking to swap readthroughs -- not line-editing or even necessarily heavy-duty story editing, but more of the "this part worked and that didn't" variety -- on *The Quest for Norumbega*. I finished a rough draft of the MS about a year ago then set it aside to work on another piece that I'm currently flogging to agents. I'd like to cut around 10K words from Norumbega.
I'm thinking of submitting this MS to editors directly to try out that avenue of attack. Here is the query boilerplate for *Norumbega* so you can decide if you're interested.
In the far distant future, mighty warrior sages roam the ruined landscape of North America, meting out justice with a syncretic mix of Orthodox Judaism and Buddhism.
Benno is a young bandit slave with an incurable habit of speaking his mind and asking questions that people don't want to hear. When Master Choseng frees him from the bandit guild, a grateful Benno pesters Choseng into accepting him as a disciple. Now Benno has a teacher who welcomes questions, although as often as not he answers them with questions of his own. Benno is free to speak his mind, as long as he doesn't mind having the inadequacies of that mind ruthlessly exposed. And he is learning the esoteric martial arts of the fighting sages.
Benno has even found a purpose in life: to accompany Master Choseng on the quest to reopen Norumbega, the legendary treasure-house of sages. In Norumbega there is power to cure a world sickened by ignorance and injustice, but that power comes at a price. Benno must pay that price and learn the true nature of human bondage; only then will the quest become his own. It will break his heart, then lead him to his heart's desire, lost a thousand years before he was born.
The Quest for Norumbega is a 112 thousand word novel blending elements of fantasy, science fiction and wuxia (magical martial arts epic) in a story that is in turn satirical, romantic and thought-provoking.
Posted by Denevius (Member # 9682) on :
hey matt. i don't tend to take people's novels, but i'm willing to swap the first three chapters, or the first 60 pages, or the first 18,000 words. whatever is most convenient for you.
let me know if you're interested.
Posted by MattLeo (Member # 9331) on :
Denevius -- sent the MS along; feel free to send me any WIP MS you need read.
Folks, at present I don't have any critique obligations pending so this would be a good time if you want me to do a read-through.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
My schedule happens to be fairly open right now, too.
I don't have anything this minute, but I'm working through a revision of MAGE STORM, a 57,000 word middle grade fantasy, that I hope to have completed around the end of the month.
Will that work?
Posted by Denevius (Member # 9682) on :
hello matt, can you resend it? i didn't see it in my inbox.
Posted by MattLeo (Member # 9331) on :
Denevius -- Sure. I'm sending it to the hotmail address listed in your Hatrack profile. It's possible that hotmail is bouncing it because it's a .doc file; if you don't have it by now in your inbox drop me a line (grumpynerd at yahoo dot com) and I can send in .odt, .pdf, or .rtf.
Posted by MattLeo (Member # 9331) on :
Meredith -- I'm always happy to read anything you have to share. Send it along, and when I get it I'll shoot you a copy of Norumbega -- which is twice as long than MAGE STORM. Same deal as before -- I'm looking for people to read as far as is interesting, skip and mark the boring bits.
I'll be interested to see what you've done with MAGE STORM -- I've already critiqued the first two chapters if you recall. I remember that there were some minor stage management problems but some really sharp characterization, especially with the protag's family. Let me know the kind of feedback you're looking for.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Go ahead and send NORUMBEGA now. I can get started on it since it's longer. I'll send MAGE STORM as soon as I finish it.
Posted by babygears81 (Member # 9745) on :
Hey Matt, Sounds like you have some volunteers already, but if you want a third, I'm game. Posted by MattLeo (Member # 9331) on :
Sure, no problem. I can exchange with up to two more beta readers so I'll shoot you a copy.
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