Research Trip Bomb

It seems I didn't plan things too well.

On reading the finer details, you know, little things like the opening times, it seems my plan to visit one of my story's sites was a little wrong. Who would have thought that a bustling tourist destination would have it's historical information building closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday! Never having been a tourist, I didn't know the rare species only visited designated tourist spots during the week.

So we didn't end up going. Instead we diverted to rummage through some book stores looking for old tomes to gleam some much needed personal information from the times. Result, nothing! Well, not quite nothing. It's true I didn't buy a single book and became very disheartened as time went on but it has germinated a new idea. I think I will have to move my time frame forward a little. Currently my story is set in the late 1830s but very little detail has been written about the time. There are vast sweeping overviews which one would think allow a fictional writer to have his or her head, but the overviews must be extremely liberal with what they claim. Now I'm not saying that the history books are taking a little "poetic" license but some of the claims of what the original pioneers had or were able to purchase once here, seem a little "out there" would be a kind way of putting it.

I need to settle my mind on a couple of questions which should be possible once I gain entrance to the historical trust site on location. Tomorrow, I'm spending time in the State Library to see if I can uncover more there. We'll see.

It may seem like I'm pandering and allowing myself to be bogged down in minor details. I don't think so. If I get the flavour wrong, or the setting in one or two of the major settings, it could ruin the whole book. Should a story be able to stand on its own anyway? One should hope so, but I'm not writing a story that could be set anywhere in an imaginary universe, this is set at a specific time and in a specific place. If I propose a hotel existed in a place and find out later that there wasn't one there till 15 years later, then I won't be happy. I'd like this book to have wide appeal when done but I'm realistic to know that its possibly biggest audience will be the folk who live in these places. Some of them are big historians, one of them gave me this idea to begin with. If they start saying how many things are wrong with it, then the bad publicity could ruin things before they begin.

On another bad note: Dark Rose has been rejected again. This one piece seems to be bouncing in and out quicker than any other story. Should I use the old three strikes and you're out philosophy? I'm not sure.

I think I'll print it out and sit down for a good read through before making any further decisions.

Story title: Dark Rose
Market: The Edge of Propinquity
Status: Rejected
Comments: "Thank you for submitting "Dark Rose" to The Edge of Propinquity webzine. I am sorry but this story does not meet our needs at this time."

This is a form rejection sent personally, but I'm worried because I thought this story had all the elements they were looking for. I'm beginning to think parts of it come across as contrived. I think that because I was trying to listen to well meant advice from TPN members. I think I may have gone too far. It may have pleased them but I'm not sure it pleased me.

Next step: The above comments are why I'll now print this out and read through it a few times with different hats on. I may try a couple of beta readers who have asked to read some of my work in the past.

I've written a request to the administration of my diploma asking for a please explain in regards to my grades for semester one. From all the investigations I've done, I think I should have gained 2 Credits instead of the Credit and Pass marks I did gain. We'll see what they say.

No writing and no reading accomplished this weekend which is disappointing. No word on Issue #2 of SA50s+ either, which should have been out for close to a week by now.

I've been asked to help another writer out with short piece they're working on. I've already given them a huge amount of feedback on it so it'll be interesting to see where that goes from here.

So I've printed my story. Time to cast a really critical eye over it and see if I can pin down what's causing it to bounce.

Good luck with your submissions.

BT