Tag: editor

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Reclamation Project Year Two Update

This book could use a little heart.
This book could use a little heart.

After months of delay—well, let’s face it, after 2020, pretty much—Reclamation Project: Year Two is finally starting to take some shape. I still have to write my own story for the book, but I have many very good submissions, including lots of returning faces.

But I feel that something is missing, which I described on Twitter as “soul,” but I think it might be better to describe as “heart.” Most of the submissions so far have put a lot of emphasis on action, and have been very fun to read on that basis. But one of the things I was most surprised and pleased by in Year One were the quieter, more reflective stories, that (for lack of a better term) “humanized” this world full of furry adventurers, flying cities, and deranged robots. So far this collection doesn’t really have a “Dark Garden Lake” or “Flavors of Sunlight” to give it heft. It also doesn’t really have much “solarpunk,” veering more into “cold war” style intrigue between humans and furries, or post-apocalypse action.

In The Reclamation Project “Formula” I touched on some of what is missing in the “Character Is King” section; but I think it needs some emphasis. Year Two still needs at least one story that is really about emotional connection, even when that involves blowing up rogue bots or having fun playing with the details of the setting. It also really needs some good solarpunking up—although what that might look like, I’m unsure of. (That’s why I’m editing the thing, instead of just writing it all myself! ;D )

So if you’re out there and you have something you think might fit the bill, please send it along! The “submission cutoff date” has been stretched so many times at this point it’s snapped, and I’m not going to worry about it. My goal is to have the book on the table at AnthroCon 2021, assuming that actually happens, but as mentioned I’ve still got to write my own story for it as well, and I’d rather have a great book that came out late, than an “all right” book that came out on time.

So hit me with your furry solarpunk awesomeness!

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From the Word Mines: Editing is Hard!

Crow T. Robot - I want to decide who lives and who dies.
Not counting my own story, The Reclamation Project received over 260,000 words’ worth of submissions.

Dude. Are you kidding me? O.o

I read them all, and loved them all; even the roughest ones of the lot had something awesome about them. But with a wordcount target of 100,000 – 150,000, that meant that at a minimum I would have to say no to 110,000 words written for a world that I spun out of thin air by mashing together some of my favorite tropes.

I gotta tell you, it hasn’t been easy. I still have a double-handful of stories that I just can’t quite decide about, and the clock is ticking. Do all editors go through this?

On the other hand, the stories that I know are definitely in? They are freakin’ amazing. I am proud and astonished to be able to put my name on this book, and I’m ridiculously grateful to FurPlanet for making it possible. Just from my seat in the editor’s chair my own writing has also leveled up from experiencing the different voices and perspectives, and from seeing what worked in each story, what didn’t, and why.

So, yeah, editing is hard. But it’s been way more than worth it.

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Ten Days to Get Into the Reclamation Project!

Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ywbgJ
Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ywbgJ

Just a calm, collected freakout to remind you that YOU NEED TO GET YOUR STORIES IN! The Reclamation Project is coming together fast now, but we’ve still got a little space you could squeeze into!

At the risk of tooting my own horn, this book is going to be amazing. We’ve nabbed some of the best writers on the furry scene, and they’ve really done an amazing job of making the world of The Reclamation Project come alive. It’s got mystery! It’s got romance! It’s got adventure, and excitement, and really wild things!

I think that what I’m most impressed by is the amount of love and deep thought that’s shining through in these stories. Even the most gonzo adventure tale I’ve received so far (and there have been some doozies) has been built on a profoundly human foundation. I feel deeply honored to be collecting and curating these tales to bring to the world, and I’d love for you to be a part of it!