Final draft (sic) of Isis of the Red Mirror Series
May 16, 2010 at 1:24 am 8 comments
It seems like it has taken me almost as long to do the 2nd and 3rd drafts of Isis as it did to write the original draft. But it’s a better book now, thanks to a workshop I attended with Catherine Ryan Hyde on self-editing. We were seven aspiring novelists who bared our souls to the group by bringing the first 25 pages of our books and listening to Catherine read them out loud. I learned a lot about my propensity to use the verbs “was” and “were.”
Some of the chapters have had only one re-write while others took two. I spent almost two days condensing the first 5 chapters to 2. I have gone from 100,000 words to 95,000, so believe you might call that progress.
I also have designed a book cover which acted as an inspiration for me as I wrote. I highly recommend creating a cover and keeping the image in front of you.
Catherine encouraged me to go the traditional route and send out to agents. She told me I needed to get a lot of rejections before I gave up. That part comes next!
The next problem is genre. Catherine intimated that I may have created my own. I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing. Not really romance because Isis has three gorgeous men in her life that any woman could fall in love with. There is lots of action and adventure, plenty of sex but always with passion or purpose, and lots of information about the wonderful period of history called the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. My goal was to take the reader back and so far, everyone who has read passages from the book, agrees that I succeeded. But it’s not totally historical, because much of it takes place in glamorous Las Vegas. Then there is the paranormal aspect of reincarnation, visiting past lives and the mystery of the Emerald Tablet. I packed a lot into these pages!
I am going to use Sandra Gore for this book. I had thought Sabrina Gee, but it turned out not to be that racy, after all. I’ll put my name on it!
note: If you want to see a photo of the actual Red Mirror, go to The Red Mirror in my pages section: Excerpts from Sex and Zen.
Entry filed under: Sandra's Comments. Tags: Catherine Ryan Hyde, Emerald Tablet, Isis, Late Period Egypt, The Isis Trilogy.
S. L. Gore 
1.
Anne R. Allen | May 19, 2010 at 4:18 pm
I think you can call this paranormal romance–or urban fantasy, since you’ve got the Las Vegas element.
Stop over at my blog for advice on agents. I post once a week. http://annerallen.blogspot.com
Great cover!
2.
Sandra Gore Nielsen | May 21, 2010 at 1:03 am
Thanks a lot for taking the time to check out my site. Glad you like the cover. I worked hard on it and think it really says what Isis and the book is all about. I’ve got paranormal but lots of adventure. Nothing like getting lost in a sandstorm and kidnapped by Persians to get the blood flowing.
3.
Ann Calhoun | May 22, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Yes. LOVE the cover. It makes me want to pick it up and snoop inside. Can’t wait to read it. Persians! Sandstorms! Handsome Persians! And don’t forget some Tuareg sloughis! Oh, wait, that’d be the Azwakhs. And Basenjis, of course. Can’t be in ancient Egypt without some Basenjis.
4.
Sandra Gore Nielsen | May 22, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Glad you like the cover! Guess I’m going to need a sequel just to get all the dogs in.
5.
Ann Calhoun | May 26, 2010 at 1:40 pm
YES! The Red Kibble Bowl series!
6.
Sandra Gore Nielsen | May 26, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I see a best seller and a cable show at minimum!
7.
Charles Merkel | June 21, 2010 at 2:25 am
Dear Sandra I need your help I am leaving for 2 months through west Africa and wonder if you still have contacts in Cote Ivoire.And recomendations for Mali .Have you ever read any of the novels of Georg Ebers, I have a number of them .Chuck Merkel
8.
Sandra Gore Nielsen | June 29, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Hey Chuck,
Congratulations on traveling to West Africa. It has been years since I lived there (late 70’s) so I’m afraid any acquaintances have long moved on.
The main attraction in Mali is, of course, Timbuktu, which I highly recommend. But please keep in mind that I haven’t been there since 1973 so I doubt it has the same authenticity. Still, it can’t be on the regular tourist bus tour. The north of Mali is populated with Toureg (Beduoin) and many of the elusive “blue men.” The south is mainly black African. The transition between the two cultures is fascinating and can only be seen when you travel overland.
If you get a chance to experience a museim (spelling?) which is grand gathering of the nomadic tribes for camel-trading and music making. Simply marvelous if you are lucky enough to be there. It does seem like you are traveling in the summer – so expect HEAT! Check out this link: http://www.temoust.org/footsteps-in-africa-remix-the,14301
George Ebers is a renown Egyptologist. The Germans are primo at the branch of Egyptology that deals with literature. They simply can’t be beat.