The Heart of a Novel

Yesterday, I poured over my laptop, scanning my editors' notes. I was halfway through a chapter six revision, and suddenly it hit me-- I had found the heart of my novel. I don't want to give away too much, so I won't elaborate, but it was the romance angle I'd been looking for. Within this ghost-, mafia-, business-, spiritual-, and romance story, I had been too focused on the main character's anguish, on his pain. After reviewing my China trip notes, I realized how hilarious many of the situations were, and I have integrated those within the first chapters. Man, does that make a difference in the way it reads!

But back to the romance. I didn't want a Harlequin-esqe storyline, but I didn't want to be too cool and calculating in my description of the romance between Ben (maybe it's Tom now) and Hong. After living with my coauthor and his wife for nine days, and seeing their relationship firsthand, I have found the balance between soppy sugary romance writing and the aloof style of many modern romance storytellers, you know, the "I'm really just too cool to feel these feelings" kind of thing.

So within Gary and Hong's dialogue and infrequent miscommunications, I found the warmth between them, and that's what I injecting into the novel. Tonight, I'll be revising the last third of the story, and then it's back to our editors for the final round of editing.

We will run our first thousand copies in mid-November, and keep our deadline of a December 15th release. Cross your fingers for me.

The Third Edit

Wow. As this is my first time writing a novel, I have been overwhelmed by the editing process-- write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, etc. The character's name has been changed, from "Felix" to "Ben". Our editors wanted a more "Midwestern" style name, and Felix sounded a bit priggish, evidently.

I hated to see Felix change his name, but part of the process is not getting too attached to any single part, and allowing the novel to take its shape throughout the editing process.

The sad part is that Gary and I met a Felix on the way back from Yiang Jiang. His full name was Felix Li, and he was a rep. for the Oxo corporation, the manufacturers of those fantastic household products. I have a set of Oxo mixing bowls, and I've always thought their black and white design is reminiscent of a panda, appropriate in the context of China, right?

So after meeting a Felix in China, I kind of felt a spiritual connection between China and our main character. Oh well, I'm sure I'll have a chance to meet a Ben or two when I make it back to China in the spring.

The Return from Shenzhen

After a full week of decompression, I think I've finally shaken the 11-hour jet lag. And although I'm so happy to be back home, with my wife and baby boy, I do miss the utter chaos of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the crazy cab drivers who ignore lanes and take stoplights as suggestions. I also miss the fantastic foods.

After bragging on the Cantonese food Gary's wife, Ting, whipped up, I'm already looking through the yellow pages for a Cantonese restaurant. I haven't found any yet.