In times of old, The Furies protected Mother Right. If a mother (or any woman) was harmed, The Furies swooped down and took their vengeance. They were one of the last vestiges of a world that existed before the patriarchy. When we feel righteous anger, it is The Furies who are calling out to us to make what is wrong right again.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

First Draft 

Just four hours ago I finished the first draft of Ruby's Imagine. In case you care about birth weight etc. Ruby' Imagine is longer in pages and wordage than my two previous YA ventures, Mercy, Unbound and Broken Moon (all of whom Momma loves).

Yes, I'm giddy. I read it to Mario. He said it was marvelous, fantastic, and some more complex sentences. I was crying near the end, so I had to have Mario finish reading it outloud. (Mario says he had one tearing up episode near the end, too.)

Tomorrow I start the first rewrite. Ruby has a particular dialect that changes throughout the book (it's part of the story), so that is very, very tricky. I will say (as opposed to not saying) that writing the scenes during and after the hurricane were difficult. I cried a lot. When you write a book like this, it requires a lot of research, but in the end, you have to put all that away and just let the character tell the story. But I know so many of the stories. This is the same way I felt about Nadira in Broken Moon. I think it is so important to be respectful and tell these stories with compassion. That's my job. I don't think the people of this country should forget what happened in New Orleans—what's still happening there.

So I know I owe letters and the like to people, so I apologize here and let you know that I will soon sit down and respond. But for now, I've got library work to do and then I want to try and get the first 50 pages of Ruby's Imagine rewritten and solid enough to send off to my agent next week. I love, love, love writing these young adult books. (I told you Broken Moon was chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection, didn't I? They sent me a certificate and everything. I was really touched by that. I love that they loved the story.)

As Ruby would say, "I loves, loves, loves."

Not a bad gig.

Catch you on the flip side.
Posted by: Kim Antieau / 10/18/2006 09:55:00 PM
2 comments

2 Comments:

Looking forward to "Ruby", Kim - it sounds like something I shall read again and again. Love and hugs, Cate

By kerrdelune, at 8:04 AM  

Thanks, darlin'!

By Kim Antieau, at 6:00 PM  

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