swan_tower | Entries tagged with kit

"The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe"

3,247 / 3,247
(100.0%)

Okay, so it ended much more quickly than I expected.

I don't know, at present, whether the story works. All I know is that I've written a story with nary a speculative element in it, and I'm not sure what to do with it. I mean, I can only think of one other time I've done that, and it was on commission for the Microsoft Intern Game. I guess enough writers read this journal now that I can ask: where does one send such things? (Other than Paradox, the obvious one). Are there any other spec-fic markets that are friendly to non-speculative historical fiction? What about non-speculative markets?

I should, by the way, record my gratitude to Peter Farey, for applying Occam's Razor to the Le Doux theory and finding under the surface, not a Marlowe/Shakespeare conspiracy, but Anthony Bacon. For someone who had made a fairly scholarly and thorough argument for Marlowe as Le Doux as Shakespeare, it's impressive to see a follow-up where he sighs and demolishes his own argument to kindling. It saved me from this turning into a Marlovian story, hence the gratitude.

Anyway. It's written, and it can bloody well sit for a while before I deal with it again.

"The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe"

2,805 / 5,000
(55.0%)

Stopping short of the third death because I have to go do other things. I probably won't get a chance to write any more today, but methinks the end of the story approacheth. I've dropped the estimated count to 5K, and it may well be shorter than that.

Kit entertained me with his ego in this scene. I may have to go back and work that in a little more pervasively -- provided I can do so in a way that won't point me at a "then he wrote Shakespeare's plays!" conclusion. This may be a Marlowe story, but I refuse to make it a Marlovian story.

"The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe"

2,061 / 6,000
(34.0%)

Inexplicably passed out for two hours, but after I woke up, my brain was ready to tackle the second version of his death.

The 6,000 is a standard estimate, by the way -- I don't know how long this will turn out to be. Currently I think it might be shorter, but everything depends on what the hell the end of this story is supposed to be.

It's requiring an irritating amount of mid-writing research and revision (looking up the names of the guys hanged for sedition and the members of the "School of Night," getting rid of this reference to espionage and instead putting it in that part of the story), but at least it's getting written. After lurking in my brain for something like a year plus.

"The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe"

1,153 / 6,000
(18.0%)

I expect I'll write more before the end of the day, but it encourages me to post an update. Kit's died once so far. There's at least two more to come.

Does England go on Daylight Saving Time? Kit died (or didn't die) at 6 p.m. on May 30th, and I'm trying to figure out what the light would have been like. Sunset's at about 9 p.m. right now in London.

As Amazon has finally posted the cover image for Warrior and Witch, and Doppelganger has been out for over a month, I took some time to update the sequel's webpage with things like the back cover copy. SPOILER WARNING: do NOT go look at that page if you haven't yet finished the first book.

The revisions I promised my agent got sent off yesterday, so you know what that means? Yes, little chickadees -- it means it's time for me to make good on my promise to Kit that I would pay attention to him soon. Stupid amounts of research for not a very long story, here I come. (Again.)

Half an hour ago, "Waiting for Beauty" was the short story I was planning to write next, and "The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe" was one of those ideas that sounded vaguely nifty, but had been sitting around for quite a while and was never actually going to get written.

Now, thanks to matociquala posting her new opening paragraphs for The Stratford Man, Kit's woken up again in my subconscious. Woken up again, found an opening line, found some more lines, mugged "Waiting for Beauty" and dumped it in a dark alley, cracked his knuckles, picked up a sap, and begun casting a speculative eye at the novel revisions I promised to send my agent soon.

Uppity little bastard. The structure of the story did a brief do-si-do, and I still may not be entirely sure where it's going, but I know what half or more of it will be, and that's more than enough for me to get started writing. Just as soon as I, y'know, read every bit of information and crackpot speculation about May 30th, 1593 that I can get my hands on.

And do those revisions. They should get priority, and a novel's big enough to take a short story in a fight. But Kit's a sneaky bastard, in addition to being uppity, and I fear he may dodge through the novel's defenses and emerge in the lead.

In which case, the only real solution will be to write his story as fast as possible, so I can get on with the things I ought to be doing.

"The Deaths of Christopher Marlowe"