tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post116645202928688424..comments2024-03-26T18:28:06.391-04:00Comments on Evil Editor: Face-Lift 247Evil Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166647856122907662006-12-20T15:50:00.000-05:002006-12-20T15:50:00.000-05:00Well, I've rewritten the query - as far as that go...Well, I've rewritten the query - as far as that goes, I don't disagree with anybody's comments, and hopefully, I've managed to put them to good use.<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't say that my book or character is perfectly true to the time - I'm writing a historical romance, and I took a few liberties - but my character doesn't do anything that I don't know for sure that at least one real woman of the time has done.<BR/><BR/>In any case - no, she's actually not traveling alone. She has a companion (the former concubine mentioned in the query). And she doesn't have sex with the hero the first night, or in QUITE so public a locale.<BR/><BR/>The hiding has more to do with a quick, clean change of identities. Until she gets on the ship, she's been dressing and acting like a proper Muslim woman wearing a veil. Afterwards, she's back to corsets and pelisses. Since she doesn't buy her own ticket aboard the ship, there's no record of her passage and it will be like the veiled woman disappared in one place and the Englishwoman reappeared in another. I think it would make it harder to trace her, or even just psychologically, draw a line between the two.erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965692284942052198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166642573436144742006-12-20T14:22:00.000-05:002006-12-20T14:22:00.000-05:00I know it's a convention in romance, but the sugge...I know it's a convention in romance, but the suggestion that he boinks her against the bulwarks or up against the thwarts the first time they meet doesn't really fit with her desire to travel incognito in a "windowless" cabin.<BR/>I am sure this is addressed in the novel but it reads oddly in the query.Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166637461641933812006-12-20T12:57:00.000-05:002006-12-20T12:57:00.000-05:00Erin, there's a world of difference between wantin...Erin, there's a world of difference between wanting a character to seem authentic to their era and suggesting that historical females should be "twittering cowards."<BR/><BR/>Most women were nothing of the sort, and I'm surprised you think the Minions aren't aware of this. But your query hinted at anachronism to this reader with a degree in history, and who reads non-fiction history almost exclusively.<BR/><BR/>If you feel confident that your writing isn't anachronistic, no worries, right? Just find a way to convey this a little better in your query.<BR/><BR/>Believe me, no one is saying you should make your females sound like something out of James Fenimore Cooper.Ann (bunnygirl)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04938134750150653386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166636900849438602006-12-20T12:48:00.000-05:002006-12-20T12:48:00.000-05:00erin, I'm not questioning a woman travelling or ev...erin, I'm not questioning a woman travelling or even a woman explorer - there's a great book about Victorian women explorers called 'The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt', which you've probably read. I did find myself wondering a bit whether Diotima, on her return to civilised parts, had a maid or any servants with her. I could kind of see her hiding to avoid people curious about why she was unescorted, because it would look rather strange if she was alone on shipboard. Is that the case?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166622072248193032006-12-20T08:41:00.000-05:002006-12-20T08:41:00.000-05:00Thanks erin and EE. It makes sense when you put i...Thanks erin and EE. It makes sense when you put it that way. -JTCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166594318436018322006-12-20T00:58:00.000-05:002006-12-20T00:58:00.000-05:00Actually, people who think that you're only writin...Actually, people who think that you're only writing "authentically" if your historical women are twittering cowards kind of get my goat. Part of the reason why I wrote the story I did is that I spent a lot of time reading biographies of early Victorian female travelers to the middle east. Women like Hester Stanhope, Isabelle Eberhardt, or Jane Digby would put most twentieth century "feisty" women to shame - they were real adventuresses. Daring, plain-speaking, strong-willed, independent.<BR/><BR/>I think that women in general have been done a real disservice by the idea that women who break out of this very particular Jane Austen-esque mold of what women should be like must be anachronistic. Women, as a gender, have never and can never be made to conform en masse to a particular mold. The counter examples are there, just waiting to be discovered.erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965692284942052198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166588661001517502006-12-19T23:24:00.000-05:002006-12-19T23:24:00.000-05:00I'm with Marissa here-- there are some things happ...I'm with Marissa here-- there are some things happening that don't appear to make sense, given the year in which this story is set. <BR/><BR/>That a daughter of a duke should be the secret widow of a bandit is a stretch, but she also sleeps with a strange man on a ship while being pursued by nameless something-or-others? <BR/><BR/>It all might make sense in the context of the story, but the way you're pitching this now makes one wonder if you really understand your era. Be careful of this as you do your re-write.Ann (bunnygirl)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04938134750150653386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166586871485552162006-12-19T22:54:00.000-05:002006-12-19T22:54:00.000-05:00Someone should write a children's picture book abo...Someone should write a children's picture book about GTP #1.Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166585427996971562006-12-19T22:30:00.000-05:002006-12-19T22:30:00.000-05:00only mention your education if you have absolutely...only mention your education if you have absolutely no professional accomplishments.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166583348327251742006-12-19T21:55:00.000-05:002006-12-19T21:55:00.000-05:00I know about the Great Game (and 1838 was early da...I know about the Great Game (and 1838 was early days for it) but have no clue re the Orphan Pearl...or what it has to do with your story as detailed here.<BR/><BR/>I'm also curious as to how old your heroine is, and how she can explain traveling alone in the Middle East at this time and still expect to be socially unstained--how can her family have no idea of what she's been up to? You might want to reconsider what details you include in your query so as not to introduce questions about things like this, some of which might cast doubt upon your historical credibility.<BR/><BR/>Historicals that feature twenty-first century heroines striding about being feisty and independent while thinly disguised by corsets and bonnets make my hair stand on end. Okay, I'll stop ranting now.Marissa Doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11248406475808085694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166582194441705412006-12-19T21:36:00.000-05:002006-12-19T21:36:00.000-05:00Diotima as a name may have a meaningful origin, bu...Diotima as a name may have a meaningful origin, but it sounds too much like plankton to me. Do reconsider it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166580114492679682006-12-19T21:01:00.000-05:002006-12-19T21:01:00.000-05:00She should turn into a zombie. There aren't enoug...She should turn into a zombie. There aren't enough early 19th century Brit-Middle East zombie novels out there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166573434904136872006-12-19T19:10:00.000-05:002006-12-19T19:10:00.000-05:00I kinda think that this is the Scarlet Pimpernel m...I kinda think that this is the Scarlet Pimpernel meets Death on the Nile - - and that would work as a murder mystery. The query doesn't focus on the struggle to get away from the villians and the love affair.It has too many details that don't add to the action of the query. <BR/><BR/>As for Alma Mater - never sell a good education short. Graduation from a prestigious university has benefits. One of them is what you are supposed to have learned many things and that learning is assumed. A second is that you know how to work hard because presumably the university challenged you. It counts as an introduction. it is not a guarantee of quality. I know lots of PHDs who lack common sense.Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166571775435977132006-12-19T18:42:00.000-05:002006-12-19T18:42:00.000-05:00As a reader, I would not know until told what the ...As a reader, I would not know until told what the "Orphan Pearl" is, and to me the "great game" is polo. If these two items are vital to the plot 9and I think they are from what I read) please educate those of us who are in the dark. I do like learning things through books and will often research afterwards, but would not want to research DURING the read. ruins the cozy mood I get when reading.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166571567437100082006-12-19T18:39:00.000-05:002006-12-19T18:39:00.000-05:00You mention a lot of seemingly incongruous items p...You mention a lot of seemingly incongruous items personae and circumstances without connecting them. Lots of name dropping. I'm left wondering, huh? Could be a good story but I can't tell what the heck these characters are about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166565854298287582006-12-19T17:04:00.000-05:002006-12-19T17:04:00.000-05:00anonymous: I've actually wondered the same thing. ...anonymous: I've actually wondered the same thing. My point is actually pretty specific (I had access to a really great research library, and I was writing a historical novel), and I don't have a ton of other credentials. But sometimes I wonder if I'm shooting myself in the foot by bringing up my degrees.erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965692284942052198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166565626738214242006-12-19T17:00:00.000-05:002006-12-19T17:00:00.000-05:00I got Diotima from Plato's Symposium - it's the na...I got Diotima from Plato's Symposium - it's the name of the woman to teaches Socrates what love is. I thought it was a kinda cool name for a romance, but I guess it could be off-putting. I named one of my pet lovebirds Diotima, though, and I do like saying it. It's fun!<BR/><BR/>As for the rest, I think you're right & will sit down to re-work the query. I think the characters have a good reason for keeping a low profile on the ship, but it's not important and if it can't be explained it doesn't need to be in there.erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965692284942052198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166565781421513722006-12-19T17:03:00.000-05:002006-12-19T17:03:00.000-05:00The Middle East travel is a more important credit,...The Middle East travel is a more important credit, or would be if it were more clear how that figures in. The education seems to be here to suggest research skills. I doubt a less-impressive educational resume would matter. Of course, if you happen to know the agent attended the same school you did, it doesn't hurt to mention it.Evil Editorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1166565386078546902006-12-19T16:56:00.000-05:002006-12-19T16:56:00.000-05:00This question is NOT a snipe. Do agents and publi...This question is NOT a snipe. Do agents and publishers really care if an author has a degree from Harvard (or anywhere else)? Would it matter if it were Wayland Baptist or Prairie View? -JTCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com