Blogspot seems to be burping today, so I'll try to post this again.Late last night, finished the 2.5 draft on THE ELEVATOR (I call it that because I got to the mid-point and started over). Sunday afternoon will be triage; Monday we'll begin the third round.Some pretty needy areas are staring out at me.
First, I need at least 20,000 more words. After writing so many 100,000 plus word books, I can't believe this one is coming in at only 57,000 so far, but okay. I know what needs to be added, including
More flashback scenes to deepen character, especially the character of Gina, my gnarliest woman in the elevator. I need to make sure we can see why she's so gnarly.
I have dozens of notes (Love that comment feature in Word!) to myself sprinkled throughout the manuscript--mainly to remind myself of things I need to keep consistent.
And the elevator mechanics. Randy Singer was kind enough to introduce me to Michael Garnier, an elevator expert. At first I was only going to ask Michael to read a completed draft, but once I began to ask him questions, I'm so glad I didn't wait! This book has to be credible (for the sake of my own self-respect, if nothing else), so I want to get the mechanics right. So Michael and some of his friends are checking out all the details. I've learned some fascinating (and frightening!) things about elevators.
(Aside: I was with Patty Hickman last week in Nashville. We were in an elevator that looked like it had a polished brass roof, but I jumped up and jiggled one of the tiles to show her where the escape hatch was. I think she was impressed. Too bad the hatch will only open from the OUTSIDE.)
And sensory details. Though I have stood at my window and watched a hurricane blow by, I wasn't in a skyscraper and the hurricane wasn't a category four. So I need to do some more research.
Ah, round three. I'm ready!
Angie
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