. . . is my idea of a pretty good way to finish a novel. In fact, I was so tickled to write the final chapter of NOVEL NO. 15 (title’s not set in stone) that I took advantage of the Internet link and signed on, sending an e-mail to the SO and announcing my status on Facebook.
The result was a flurry of questions. When will it be published? (2010, but I’m not sure what month.) Is it a Tess or a stand-alone? (A stand-alone.) Will I tear up my latest “design”? (No, I’ll probably create a new version.) How long did it take?
It has taken me about ten months to get to this point, and that includes a month I took off in April, when the combination of travel and sheer mental fatigue overwhelmed me. Typically, I finish a book between September 1 and October 1, and almost all of the editing — my editor’s notes, copy-editing, galleys — is done by mid-December, which makes for a nice break. I start again on the first weekday after Jan. 1.
Last year, I turned in the galleys in person, on Jan. 5th, having started NOVEL NO. 15 the day before. And I was coming off a year in which I had written LIFE SENTENCES, THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT and SCRATCH A WOMAN. It finally caught up with me this spring and, for the first time in a decade-plus of writing, I asked for extra time. It was agreed that I could have until the first week of January to submit the book, so it’s far from “finished.” But the first half, which has already been revised multiple times, is in pretty good shape and the second half, while a raggedy mess, is structurally in order. Much work remains, but I prefer revision to creation. The disorderly, chaotic, disorganized Laura has been banished from the room and the cooler-headed inner editor, the darling killer, has taken her place, ready to get to work.
congrats, laura. great news and something to look forward to for us all.
have been offline for awhile due to travel and other issues; nice to reconnect, particularly to see such good tidings.
i am a solid month behind. but when my out of towners leave this week, it�s *on.*
//karen
Congrats.
It’s a play on “kill your little darlings” isn’t it? But who said/wrote it?
Sandra
I know Stephen King used it in On Writing, but I’m not sure he’s the first.
But it’s awfully good advice.
Good for you, Laura! 15 is something to be very proud of. Actually, 1 is something to be proud of as well.
And I love “the darling killer” phrase.
And, now I have the Cole Porter songbook running through my noggin.
If I ever form a rock and roll band, I’m definitely calling it “Darling Killer.”
And I’m doing a little happy dance at the thought of another Lippman book on the way…and a standalone at that! I’ve mentioned before that I love the Tess books, but it’s the standalones that I put down when I’ve finished and go “Whoa. THAT was AMAZING.”
Then I cycle back and forth between despair and the determination to write better.
Congratulations, and many thanks!
“Not Set In Stone” is a good title for a novel. Oh, wait, you meant……….
<i>”Not Set In Stone” is a good title for a novel. </i>
Or the debut album from Darling Killer.
OK so those 15 came since Baltimore Blues in ’97? Wow, I’ve been reading you longer than my first marriage lasted, longer than I’ve owned any piece of clothing except my ratty tweed jacket, and longer than my affair with Jamoca Almond Fudge. Thanks for the stable relationship!
Found out it was Faulkner.
Congrats! Actually the congrats is also to us, your readers, on the good news that there is another Lippman novel on its way to print!
So – this means another book tour through Indiana, right?!
(true enough, we fans are never satisfied)
Yes, yes, to another stand-alone book.
Can’t wait.
I can never put one of these down, stay up until
all hours, have tea and cookies, keep reading
until I’m finished.
And then rave to friends. And keep thinking
about the characters. Some of them still haunt
me.
Kathy D.
Curious… are you familiar with the ‘coffin corner’?
(This may or may not be interesting. Yes, it is relevant to flying too high. I just looked it up on wikipedia, and unfortunately it provides a really lousy definition. Unfortunately, google gives no good hits either.)
The wikipedia entry is correct, but neglects the nasty bit. Planes have a minimum flying speed, the stall speed (generally VS0 or VS1). This is a ‘indicated airspeed’, meaning that it’s a function of air pressure — as air gets thinner (the aircraft goes up), it gets faster and faster.
Planes also have a maximum flying speed, Vne (never-exceed speed), above which they may exhibit “flutter” aka “undamped aeroelastic vibration” or other abrupt catastrophic failure. Vne is generally a “true airspeed”, and does not increase with altitude.
At high altitudes, these speeds converge, and at the ‘absolute ceiling’ they match. At that point in the flight envelope, flying any faster will cause the aircraft to exceed Vne (and potentially break up). Flying any slower will cause the aircraft to stall.
Stalling the aircraft, however, will cause the aircraft to dive — and exceed Vne, usually substantially. Aircraft will typically come apart in a few seconds in this scenario.
How cheery! Especially for someone who flies about every other week!