I finally decided to take the plunge and self-publish, probably as ebook only. The decision was triggered when a tweeter I follow mentioned his editor had some open slots. We talked, and he agreed to take on the manuscript.

Three days ago I received the file back. The editor thought … more → ]]> Well, my first novel is back from the editor. This was a successful NaNoWriMo ’06 effort and ‘finished’ by June of ’07. It was tweaked off and on for the next oh, four or five years and shelved when no agents were interested. Either the idea was *ahem* crap or the proposal was.

I finally decided to take the plunge and self-publish, probably as ebook only. The decision was triggered when a tweeter I follow mentioned his editor had some open slots. We talked, and he agreed to take on the manuscript.

Three days ago I received the file back. The editor thought the book was good and is awaiting the final product. First independent opinion that my writing isn’t total crap.

I’m about to crack open the file and see what needs to be done. I’ll admit to being a little nervous. Well, okay, a lot nervous, but it has to be done.

More to come…

The explanation goes like this, your movie (or novel) must have two named, female characters that have a conversation about something other than a man. It can be any subject, even something that is cliched, like shoes or shopping. If not, then you fail the test.

It was originally conceived for movies, but I decided to apply it to my first novel to see … more → ]]> Over the weekend, I saw a reference to the Bechdel Test (one of many links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test), which, for anyone unfamiliar, is a test of gender bias. Passing the test is supposed to indicated three-dimensional female characters.

The explanation goes like this, your movie (or novel) must have two named, female characters that have a conversation about something other than a man. It can be any subject, even something that is cliched, like shoes or shopping. If not, then you fail the test.

It was originally conceived for movies, but I decided to apply it to my first novel to see how it rated. It failed.

My novel has lots of named female characters, but without going back and rereading the whole thing, I can’t think of an instance where any two of them talk about a non-male-related subject. I could go back and insert a scene with such a conversation, but in a way it feels like cheating. Like I am putting it in just to pass the test.

I’ll have to think about this some more.