Hybridising

If narrative poems are a kind of hybrid of poetry and prose, then that's what I'm up to, particularly as the main character in the poem I'm trying to write comes from a novel I've already written.  And if you think that the Assyrian hybrid pictured above has an And-how-exactly-is-this-going-to-work? expression on his face, I know why.

A Year Ago Today

Don't get me wrong - I love my large, lithe fur boys the size they are now - an armful of cat is just the right amount, in my opinion.  But here is where it all began, a year ago today -

Fly, My Pretties

Auspicious Cranes by Huizong of Song (1082-1135)

Well, the novel re-writes are off to my editor and a flock of poems are away seeking new roosts.  Of course I'm not checking my emails every 30 seconds to see if they've got back to me yet.  That would be insane.

Pass Four

Pass Four, that's where I am, ploughing on ...

(Laura Knight Land Army Girl 1939)

Chunks and Threads - the Scalpel and the Darning Needle

I'm in the throes of editing.  I'm on the third pass.  Pass One was re-acquainting myself with the manuscript (as it's been a while and I've been head-full of other stories) and taking on board my editor's comments.  Pass Two was to take as many words out as possible, in chunks and on the level of sentences.  (The book was too long as it stood.)  Pass Three is to deal with those chapters where I took chunks out and needed to put different, smaller chunks in, and couldn't see exactly how to in Pass Two.  Pass Four will be to see if any of the seams show, and to make sure that none of the threads are broken or have gone adrift.  Then it's back to the editor, who will then send it back to me with more comments for Pass Five.

Having said the word "Pass" so often, my mind is now clogged up with phrases like "This Too Will Pass" and "Pass Go" and "You Passed!"  Or maybe "A Pretty Pass" and "A Mountain Pass" ...

Onwards.  An excellent direction.