Today will be another quick newsletter while I continue to chug along on the novel. Things are going well (more on that below!), so I plan to return to my normal newsletter length (i.e., way too long) in June.
Hope your Memorial Day weekends have been lovely and that summer plans are off to a great start. I'll be back in your inboxes soon—in the meantime, I'm sending y'all lots of love!
☕ Project Curses
As of today, I'm a little over 75% of the way through Draft 3.0! Now that I'm done with the middle section—which was a doozy, though I think it turned out really well—my progress should be pretty steady. This final bit still needs revision, obviously, but most of the heavy lifting for this round has been done to set up existing payoffs in this section. That means less restructuring and rewriting for me (yay!) and thus that I have a high likelihood of finishing the revision by June 7th, which is my target date. You guys should be proud of me—this is the first time I've made a timeline that I've actually been able to stick to, in either direction!
Now, as I've mentioned before, this revision is just the first—albeit longest and most intensive—step in the process of producing the "final" manuscript*. In total, I'll only be halfway through the process once Draft 3.0 is complete. Work on Draft 3.1, which will focus on a bunch of precise, targeted edits across the manuscript, will start right after completion of 3.0 and go for about four weeks. I'll begin Draft 3.2—ostensibly the "final" draft**, focused on reducing word count and fine tuning the reading experience—right after that. That one should take about five to six weeks, but—and this is a soft launch for this announcement!—will coincide with a section-by-section read-through of the manuscript by some returning Beta Readers and new Gamma Readers. More on that next time :)
All of this is to say that there's a lot of track left ahead of me, and gosh darn it if I'm not still really stoked to be chugging along.
Novel Progress Bar
% revised
*I put "final" in scare quotes because if I'm lucky enough to be offered representation, there will be another "final" manuscript that's sent to publishers—and if I'm lucky enough to have the manuscript picked up for publication, there will be another, final final manuscript that will actually get published.
**I put this instance of "final" in scare quotes because technically there will be a new "final" draft (Draft 3.3) after I implement the feedback from my last batch of early readers—but I hadn't explained the new reader thing yet. I mean, now that I'm looking at this, I realize explaining any of this was overkill...but this is my newsletter and I can do what I want. Don't complain. You literally signed up for this.
🎧 Listening
Since I went heavy on reading recommendations last time (and since I spent the last two weeks reading some pretty dry philosophy and a friend's unpublished manuscript) I decided that this week I'm going to recommend a bunch of music. But I'm gonna get weird with it!
Long time subscribers will know that I have a deep admiration and appreciation for the Seattle-based KEXP, who publish a plethora of really amazing live sets from touring bands on their YouTube channel. Sarah and I put one on at least every couple days and then let the "up next" algorithm take us for a ride. Here are some very strange but also extremely cool and talented bands that we've enjoyed recently:
Glass Beams | Vibey, groovy, sparkly mask people from Australia playing East-West rock fusion! If you dig bands like Khraungbin or Arc de Soleil, these guys are for you. They're also for you if you don't dig those bands. They're for everyone.
Castle Rat | Basically like your cool older cousin's group of edgy D&D friends got very into cosplay, found some instruments, and then started playing incredible power metal. These guys have lore, man. And swords. And they sound really good.
Angine de Poitrine | I can't really explain Angine de Poitrine beyond that they (1) play microtonal math rock and (2) have a geometry kink. These guys have been around for years, but they just blew up a couple months ago—and if they're not already in your algorithm, they will be soon. Seriously. Try Googling them.
🍿 Watching
Widow's Bay | Many of you will know that I do not handle horror well—so the fact that I'm recommending Apple's new horror show may be a bit of a surprise. But this is a horror comedy starring Matthew Rhys—so, like, yeah, I'm going to watch it. The series follows Rhys as Tom Loftis, the mayor of an isolated New England island town who just wants to revitalize the local economy and promote the tourism industry. Problem is, the town is a little cursed. Hijinks ensure (if, by hijinks, you mean all of my nightmares coming to life). The first season is ongoing, so I don't know if they'll stick the landing yet—but I'm excited/terrified to find out.
In the frame: Thank goodness for watermarks and pixelation.
Last week was my wonderful wife's birthday!* We got to spend the weekend with family, doing a bunch of fun activities up to and including a trip to Dollywood (for the uninitiated yes, that is a Dolly Parton-themed amusement park). As we celebrated Sarah by riding roller coasters, going to saunas and DJ sets, eating great food and playing games and laughing and generally, genuinely enjoying life, I found myself thinking, as I do every year and every day, how glad I am to have met her, and how grateful I am to spend every day together. Happy birthday, Sarah! I love you!
*Listen. I get that this isn't really a Show & Tell—but it's how we compromised that I don't have to make one awkward annual post on social media anymore. Thank you for your cooperation :)
Enjoying Coffee Chats?
Visit the links below to support the newsletter and discover more of my writing 👇
💌 Share the newsletter with a friend → Hit forward!
📬 Send me your questions, ideas, and suggestions → Email me
Hello again! Hope you're doing well today—maybe enjoying some lovely spring weather and a leisurely Sunday evening. Whatever the case, I'm sending good vibes and positivity your way! Sarah and I just returned from a really lovely trip to visit friends in Vienna, Austria (pictures in today's Show & Tell!), so, as I mentioned in the last newsletter, I'm keeping things short today (and for the rest of May). See below for all the interesting stuff. Hugs in the meantime. PS – Happy Mother's Day!...
Hello! A few weeks ago, early on the morning of my 30th birthday, I went for a solo hike to do a little reflection on the aptly name Looking Glass Rock. I thought (and talked) to myself a lot on the hike: about this milestone birthday, about the past, very tumultuous, year, about my writing, and my aspirations—about where I've been, and where I'm going. It was really great, honestly—I had some tough talks with myself, a minor epiphany, decided on the next novel I'd like to write, and added...
Hi friends, So, first: I ought to acknowledge that, technically, I missed a week of the newsletter—i.e., this was supposed to be sent a week ago; it obviously wasn't. I can make excuses—that there are five Sundays in March and I was adjusting the schedule, that we've been busy with all the little intricacies of life—but I think it's really, mostly that I'm still feeling a bit unmoored. ... Hey! Future Corbett here. The ellipsis up there represents several hours and a couple thousand words...
