Newsletter May 2025 - Building Steam
I wrote the novel 20+ years ago, but a lot of the themes are still relevant, or maybe even more so.
Hello!
May was another challenging month re: world events, but on the bright side, I carved out time to fix my opening chapters and call them good enough for a second draft. After that, I've been building steam as I move through the rest of the book filling in the gaps I left for myself, trimming sub plots that didn't pan out, and setting up new sub plots that will pay out later in the story.
I had been dreading the second draft, because it's where I have to do all the deep research, make hard choices, and generally do all the work to shape the rough first draft into a form that can truly be called a novel. It won't be good yet, but I need to make all the major decisions and changes before I can get into the polishing and adding of the fancy bits. You know, the art part. I kid, it's all art, but right now it sure feels more like work.
That said, I find myself having more fun on this second draft than I did back when I did the second draft of my first novel (i.e. when I didn't know what I was doing) or when I did the second draft of A Clockwork Murder. I guess I'm getting better at it?
Speaking of A Clockwork Murder, during an event with my online writing group, I decided that it's a shame to let that novel sit around collecting dust. I wrote the novel 20+ years ago, but a lot of the themes are still relevant, or maybe even more so. After I finish the second draft of Under the Diamond Moon, I'll reread A Clockwork Murder, and then go about pitching it to agents. If nothing else, it will get my name out there and force me to learn the current landscape. So keep tuned!
In other news, my choir has a concert in a few weeks. It will be our 6th concert, and the end of our second season. It's great to see how far we come. I've become the official videographer, which means I get to spend a lot of time editing video footage together. You can check out our last concert and marvel at my amateur video editing skills.
A playlist of our last concert. I'm the middle aged, balding, white guy. With glasses.
In other singing news, I have my debut singing solo in front of a (hopefully) crowded bar this weekend. Some of my fellow choir members have a band, and they invited me to sing with them. I'll be doing Moondance by Van Morrison. Will it be more stressful than singing karaoke? You bet! Will my stage fright come into play? That's what the beer's for.
Now I'm off to schedule the newsletter to send tomorrow morning and get back to editing!
Best,
Todd
