First pass proof!

~ M. L. Rio

This fat stack of paper arrived from the folks at Flatiron Books today. Now’s when we go through the whole MS with a fine-tooth comb, looking for every last little fix and adjusting the formatting where needed. But this is pretty much what the inside of the hardcover will look like, and that’s exciting.

insta23

I’ll be hard at work on this for the next week or so. I’ve gone through Act I already this morning and it’s a bit like an out-of-body experience, because it’s been a while since I read through the whole text–long enough that I can almost pretend I didn’t write it, and read it as a reader.

Getting closer all the time.

Books Show Off 5

~ M. L. Rio

Now that the dissertation is turned in, I can start doing fun things again. Today that mostly consisted of raiding bookshops and record stores, but later this month I’ll be joining some other lit freaks for Books Show Off 5 at the Waterstones on Tottenham Court Road. If you want to have some wine, hang out in a bookshop, and listen to me and a few other people talk about books and publishing in a (hopefully) entertaining way, book a ticket soon because these events sell out fast!

Hope to see you on September 28th!

The readiness is all.

~ M. L. Rio

A little while ago a friend posted a link on my Facebook wall for a contest to stay the night of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death at Kronborg Castle–the castle most of us know as ‘Elsinore.’ And in a very strange twist of fate… I actually won. (Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are.) We kept it a secret for a while so we could sort out the particulars, but I’m Denmark-bound on the 21st! If you want, you can read more about it here.

Kronborg by night 02 - Foto Peter Brinck 2015 - Ejer SLKE
Press photo by Peter Brinck.

RBM

~ M. L. Rio

My wonderful editor Christine Kopprasch just sent me a photo of If We Were Villains in its newest incarnation as an RBM–no cover art yet, but I am beyond excited to see this. It’s starting to look like a real book!

rbm

Writer’s Toolbox

~ M. L. Rio

This week in a conversation with my fellow MA students about the upcoming hellmonth of term papers and preliminary dissertation work I realized that a lot of the apps and tools and Chrome extensions I use for writing, research, and productivity aren’t necessarily common knowledge. So here, for anyone who wants it, is a collection of writer tools.

Productivity

  • Momentum: Chrome extension that helps organize your daily goals
  • Strict Workflow: Chrome extension based on the Pomodoro Technique; blocks social media to keep you focused when working online
  • Pacemaker: highly customizable tool which helps you form a plan of attack for various drafts, projects, rewriters, etc.
  • f.lux: freeware which gradually adjusts the colors on your computer screen to make working after dark easier on the eyes
  • Coffitivity: app and website which provides ambient background noise to fake that coffee-shop feeling and keep you focused
  • WriteChain: app which reminds/motivates you to write every day

Outlining & Word Processing

  • iMindMap: mind-mapping software
  • Scrivener: word processor designed for writers (who also happen to be Mac users; seriously if you’re on a PC don’t bother)
  • Evernote: online workspace which can be synced to your laptop and smartphone 
  • Final Draft: script and screenwriting software that does the formatting for you
  • Celtx: the free version of Final Draft
  • LitLift: online outlinging tool and way to keep track of all your projects

Names & World-Building

  • AutoRealm: free mapmaking software; there’s a learning curve but it’s not rocket science
  • SketchUp: 3D modeling software that helps you create imaginary buildings and keep them consistent
  • Google Earth: great for working in real-world locations
  • Stellarium: lets you get a real-time look at the night sky in any location on Earth
  • Ambient Mixer: free tool for creating custom soundscapes; or you can listen to soundscapes other people have already made
  • City and Town Name Generator: a lot of great resources here for fantasy/RPG writes but this also provides examples of real-world place names based on geographic data
  • Ever-Changing Book of Names: freeware which creates random names, also based on geographic/linguistic data; geared toward fantasy but extra sets can be downloaded individually
  • Names by Decade: US census data of popular baby names by decade

Lit Agents & Query Letters

  • QueryShark: blog run by ruthless lit agent Janet Reid who will teach you how to write a query letter, and how not to
  • QueryTracker: online directory of lit agents and agencies
  • Writer’s Marketplace: the paper version of QueryTracker
  • #mswishlist: agents open to queries and what they’re looking for
  • MSWL: a more organized website which keeps track of the above hashtag

Other

  • Calibre: free software which lets you create your own ebooks; a great way to read later drafts and look for errors on the go
  • Mendeley: for organizing research/resources if you don’t want to pay for Scrivener
  • timeanddate.com: calendars for any book you might be writing that takes place in recent history; also provides solar/lunar info
  • Dropbox: document storage so you don’t literally lose your shit

This is a very short list and I will probably expand it as other tools and tricks I use on a regular basis occur to me. But in the meantime, I hope this is useful to other writers (and grad students) out there.

Complicity

~ M. L. Rio

A bit of Shakespearean wisdom from Sir Ian McKellen at the Oxford Literary Festival today: the purpose of a soliloquy is to make you, the audience, complicit.

Green Eggs and Hamlet

~ M. L. Rio

(with my deepest apologies to Shakespeare and Dr. Seuss)

Can I kill my Uncle Claude?
Yes, I can, I can, by God!
I will kill my Uncle Claude!

Should I kill him in the house?
Should I kill him while he’s soused?
I could kill him here or there
I could kill him anywhere
Would I, could I, while he prays?
Kill him! Kill him! Wherefore stay?
I would not, could not, while he prays!

Not in the house, not when he’s soused,
Not with his sister, now his spouse!
Not while he prays, not while he feasts,
O, incestuous, adulterate beast!
I do not like my Uncle Claude,
I do not like that bloody bawd!

Say! In the dark? Here in the dark!
Would I, could I, in the dark?

Should I kill him in his bed?
Should I there strike off his head?
Kill him with his nightcap on?
Kill him when the churchyards yawn?
Should I kill him where he lies?
I will kill him, by and by!
I do not like my Uncle Claude,
I’ll kill him, i’ th’ name of God!

The play! The play! The play’s the thing!
The thing wherein I’ll catch the king!
No more ‘to be or not to be,’
I will kill him, you will see!

Kill him while he wears his crown
Kill him while his guard is down
Kill him with some poisoned wine
Kill him with this sword of mine
O, is the point envenomed, too?
I’m dead–Horatio, adieu!
But tell them, tell them, more or less,
Who it was that made this mess!

I did not like my Uncle Claude,
I killed him in the name of God!
Good friend report my cause aright–
A now, goodnight goodnight goodnight!

Production Draft!

~ M. L. Rio

proddraft.jpg

So, it’s been pretty quiet here for a while, and that’s because I’ve been hard at work on the last revisions for Villains. And with the help of copious amounts of coffee and five (count ’em, five) different editions of King Lear, I got my final final draft turned in to my editor today! Which means that we’re one step closer to the finish line. There’s still a lot to be done, but now that the text itself can be handed over to copy editors, we get to start talking about fun stuff like art and blurbs and rough front. More soon.