This has been a reading and watching weekend. I’ve been reading over a manuscript for a friend of mine, giving feedback. I read 200 pages on Thursday/Friday, another 180 pages yesterday and am waiting for the last section of the novel to reach me today sometime. I don’t do this very often, because it is very time consuming. Also, there’s the issue of me being a fairly harsh editor. Brutal, I might say. I look at other people’s manuscripts as if they were my own work. I’m a big fan of slashing excess verbiage. As Tabitha King said to me recently in an interview: use fewer words more precisely. I can’t vouch for the ego of the person I’m offering advice to, but so far it all seems to be well received, in the spirit in which it was intended—to help improve a work before it is submitted.
Today I spent proofing Secretary of Dreams before it goes to the printer. One last set of eyes over the manuscript. I only picked up a few minor typos. Missing comma, one bizarrely mangled word, a dropped letter. This is the first time I’ve seen the work other than the excerpts CD posted online when the book was first announced. It’s a treat! I look forward to seeing the finished product in full size so I can spend a lot of time scrutinizing Glenn Chadbourne’s intricate illustrations.
Yesterday, I watched two-thirds of the Black Guardian trilogy (Doctor Who). Unfortunately, due to technical problems with a DVD, it was the second and third serials. I have to wait on a replacement for Mawdryn Undead. I’m also getting the last two Fifth Doctor serials on my list this week: Arc of Infinity and the very first episode, Castrovalva.
Terminus was okay. I liked the Norse mythology overtones, and the “villainous” monster, who turned out to be a softie after all. Nyssa looked quite exquisite in her brief outfit, and was intrigued when, for no obvious reason, she decided to shed her pants part-way through. It wasn’t a great episode, but Nyssa’s departure at the end was oddly touching. Reportedly, the producers had wanted to ditch her character much earlier but Davison wanted her on since her scientific attitude was so akin to the Doctor’s.
Enlightment was interesting, though I was disappointed to find out it had no relationship to the character of the same name from Four To Doomsday. Captain Wrack was a little over the top, but the scene with the sailors belowdecks was nicely done, and the interaction between Tegan and her would-be-suitor was fun, too. I liked the scene where the Doctor, browsing the buffet, trades in his wilted celery for a fresh new model—no comment by anyone—and the scene where he tosses a coin, and tosses it again to get the desired result, which he has done in other episodes. Nice little character touches that are shown but not belaboured.
Last night my daughter and I watched Edmonton rout Carolina 4-0 to necessitate game seven tomorrow night in Raleigh. It was like Carolina forgot to show up or something. They didn’t manage a shot on goal for the vast majority of the second period. My hopes are on Edmonton to do what hasn’t been done for decades—return from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series to win. The odds are against them, as will be the crowd, though.
My latest Storytellers Unplugged essay I’m Glad You Asked Me That went online yesterday. The subject is interviews.
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