Google Books & Story Note

First, a comment that I've "discovered" Google Books -- and I have been absolutely elated, on Cloud Nine, in Seventh Heaven, I've died and gone to Valhalla, I've ascended and become a new life form, I've decided to give up smoking and I didn't even smoke to begin with, I -- I -- I -- well, you get the picture.

What an absolutely fantastic resource!

You have probably heard about it, but I'll mention it in case you haven't: through Google Books you can search and find complete online scans of an amazing variety and quantity of public domain books. The complete scans are usually available for free download as Adobe Acrobrat files.

I have downloaded over 100 megabytes already of high quality books from the late 1800's and early 1900's. I couldn't be happier. My smile is brighter, my clothes fit better, people that I don't even know greet me and wish me well, and restaurants seat me at the best tables without my even asking -- all this because I "discovered" Google Books.

And the amazing thing is . . . YOU CAN, TOO! Check it out.

And, a story note regarding my novel. I'm happy I've given myself a little time to rethink the chapters I'm editing, in light of the new scene I added to Chapter 4, and the very important scenes that I'm setting up through these two chapters. I think it's great to have this extra scene, and bring these two characters together to talk and sort some things out, but the way I wrote it, I think now I had them get a little too far ahead of themselves. In fact, a LOT too far (?). I think I need to edit it, rewriting a portion of it, to take out some of the advancements to their relationship and their understanding and acceptance of their situation. I realize that with what went before in previous chapters, the love interest character is not possibly going to react the way I wrote this. I wrote it the way I'd LIKE it to be, but this scene must wait for later. They have to get to that sometime by the end of the book, even in the last chapter. It's too much for them now. Yes, this is new wisdom, and it appears solid. I have a much clearer sense now of the mindset of the love interest character.

As I mentioned previously, while rethinking these things, I've also been "tinkering" with other scenes. I also went so far as to write 5,000 words of another novel in the third person, then go and rewrite all that as a first person narrative. I'm so eager to get the current novel done and work on other stories, I'm finding it hard to keep myself in check, but I am staying the course -- I don't want to allow myself to get too distracted with anything else until the current novel is through this first intensive edit.

I hope to finish adjustments on this one new scene this weekend. The rest of Chapter 4 will still need only minor tweaking and then I can work on that last scene of Chapter 5, which has always been so problematic. I'll be sure to schedule work time along with time to read those wonderful, priceless books I've been able to download from the wonderful Google people.

Adrian