This novel's been trunked for a year because--frankly--I've been a bit intimidated by the idea of actually editing the damnbeast and getting it out there. There's a lot of work tied up in it, and I know there's a lot more work to be done.
That's where you come in! Hopefully. Pretty please?
I'm looking for critiquers. Noble souls willing to wade through rough draft and give me feedback--line-by-line, chapter-by-chapter, and/or on the overall thing. I will
reward these critiquers with free dinner, coffee/alcohol, credit in the acknowledgment page if/when this thing is ever published, and/or a trade in services (photography, critiquing your writing, a sneak peek at some of my other writing you've been wanting to read but can't afford to buy, a couple of lessons in self-defense, whatever). I did start getting this critiqued a while ago, but between overwhelming schedule demands and plain ole bad timing, most of it didn't get done. For those who read this who are also on
Critters, I'm in the process of posting an RFDR there, so you would get credit.
Why else would you want to read and critique
Vicesteed?
Because it's fabulous, that's why! Vicesteed is a neo-Victorian science fiction novel that is equal proportions locked-room murder mystery, exploration of how society forms identity, and high-octane quest for vengeance. With sex, violence, romance, spaceships, androids, explosions, politics, intrigue, and clockwork automata. The style it is written in can be compared in parts to Stephenson's Diamond Age.
Night mist swirled around Valinda's boots as she walked through the empty street. She heard a faint buzzing, barely audible, as the neon signs that lined the street flickered, died, and were reborn. The only other sounds were her boot heels striking the asphalt and an occasional splash when she stepped in one of the filthy puddles spawned by the predictable drizzle.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen the stars. At night, the sky only reflected back the pollution-tainted yellow light of the city, and during the day, the sun shone sullenly through gray clouds that never lifted.
She wished she could see the stars. She was on her way to an appointment that she did not want to keep, a rather unpleasant appointment. She had no choice but to go, but she thought that if she could see the stars it would help her to bear it. In her squat, she kept a few found treasures under the molding mattress she slept on. Among them were three plastic stars covered with silver glitter. It was not the same, but she sometimes held them up to the fogged sky and pretended that she could see the stars.
Read more....
The plan is to go through two chapters a month. I'll email out the first two chapters, and after I get back the critique, I'll send out the next two (so if you finish reading and critiquing it in a week and Must Have More, I'll email out the next couple). Obviously, I'm entirely willing to be pretty flexible about handling this, so long as a certain amount is done by a certain time.
Help? Pretty please?
