Catherine Stine's IDEA CITY

Welcome Visitors

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Fun When the Manuscript Draft is Done



I finally finished a draft of my YA urban fantasy, clocking in at nine months (almost a real baby!), and a wordy 93K, or about 350 pages. Decided not to show it to my agent until it’s been combed-through by a professional editor, which is a first for me, and quite a luxury.

I have also just finished teaching the spring lit semester, so I suddenly have some real time to play around with new story ideas, to clean up the piles of books and paper on my desk, my shelves, and well, everywhere. Oh, and I have some time for FUN.

The first thing I did, was to go to the auto show at the Javits Center in NYC. This has turned into a yearly ritual for me. There is something about climbing into the latest model Mustang, or BMW and imagining tearing down the highway in it that really appeals to me. Of late, I most love to check out the latest hybrids, from the Nissan Leaf, which runs totally on electric, to the Chevy Volt, which runs on a combination of gas and electric, and boasts a total mileage of around 350 miles! (See image above)

This was the first year you could climb into a Volt; there were two on-site. I sorta, kinda fell in love with it. It looks like a sexy sedan with a tinge of racing car in it, but not too hot rod that a “grown-*ss woman” couldn’t own one without looking ridiculous.
BTW, the Chevy Cruz boasts a MPG of 40, but still, it’s all gas. And the Nissan Leaf needs to up its battery-span to at least 160 miles before it's a realistic choice. Right now, it's 100 tops.

But then… in the Volkswagen section, I found… drum roll… the BULLI.
What the heck is a Bulli, you ask? It’s a super-compact crazy-good reinvention of the old Volkswagen van. Think what one of those old buses would look like cut in half, and then smoothed out to a futuristic cube-y shape a la the Nissan Cube, and then run through a smokin’ design studio to add two-tone color reminiscent of a surfer van. You know the ones with the wood panels? Check out the Bulli above, and on this website.

The catch? It’s still only a concept car! That means that Volkswagen folks may never actually manufacture it to sell. In the meantime, I may have to buy another Subaru, a car that has lasted me an incredible 15 years.

So, tell me, what do you do for fun after you’ve finished a novel draft, or a teaching gig, or simply need a long break from your computer? And what’s your dream car?


17 comments:

  1. Congrats on finishing your first draft! What do I do for fun after finishing a novel draft? Um, I start a new one. Crazy, right? I guess I don't like down time. It's too soon to revise objectively--yeah, right, is it ever objective? So I move on to something else and then come back to it with fresh eyes. I can't help it. I don't ever feel like I need a break from writing. I love it.

    My dream car? I was never a big car person, but a few months ago I bought a fully loaded 2011 Accord, and I love it! I've never loved a car so much and I really loved my previous 2004 Mazda 6 5-door. So that's saying a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations! That's a great feeling. You'll have to let us know how it goes with the editor. My dream car? I'm not much of a car person, so my answer is going to be really boring. My dream car would be my current car lasting for another ten years or so. Yeah, it's a bit of a beater, but I love it. Plus, when you're living in the city and parking on the street, you don't want anything too shiny to catch the eyes of all the car thieves!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I want a purple viper!!!! But I'll keep driving my little Fit. Congrats on finishing ur manuscript! I wish I could finish the one I'm working on. And I wish I had an agent! I love YA urban fantasy. Does it have romance? I especially love that.
    bethfred.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like the bulli! Totally my style.

    I just finished a first draft too, so congrats and cheers! I celebrate by not looking at it for a couple of weeks. It gives me brain a chance to relax and refresh before tackling revisions.

    Good luck with yours!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello, I'm a friend of Judith Miller's out here on the west coast, visiting you for the first time. I too have just finished a first draft, and took a few months off before diving back into it with fresh vigor. As a teacher, all my writing time is quickly consumed with teaching work, of course, at the close of any draft, but I did read a few good books over Spring Break, notably a historical mystery, very noir, called The Man Who Never Returned, by Peter Quinn. Smart and enjoyable. He's learned, as someone said, to write leaving out the parts people skip over. Enjoy your freetime reading and congratulations on the draft. I'd love to talk more. My blog is kfgallagher.blogspot.com. Best, KG

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi KF, I'm following your blog now. Left a comment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yay! Draft #1 complete. And bully for the Bulli. Looks sharp.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah, Bulli is a strange name for a car--too aligned with road rage or something, so not sure I like the name. But I love the car, so I hope they go ahead and manufacture it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Catherine,

    Congrats, writer-friend, on your completion!!! Wow, what a spectacular feeling. You must be walking in the clouds right about now. I, too, am days away from finally finishing the 1st draft of my YA novel!! I'm at a nasty 101,000-words now and still not done. I have a ick feeling I'll be cutting a ton out. I haven't revisited page one in two years!

    I love VW!!! I'm on my 4th Jetta!!! How can you beat 40 miles to the gallon...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, CL, 101K is more far gone than mine! And despite my high word count, I found very little to cut. Sure hope the freelance editor finds some items to cut and compress. I have seen some very long YAs lately...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congrats! Stop over to my blog, I have an award for you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I LOVE the feeling of finishing a manuscript. But mainly because I'm dying to start the one that's been festering in my brain like a zit ready to explode! I wish so bad I had more time. One of these days I'll invent a way for humans not to need sleep anymore. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good one, Rachel. Yes, the bodily needs do take up precious time!!! BTW, thanks for following.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Firstly, yay for finishing!

    My dream car's some kind of Aston Martin, I think... DB9, perhaps? Though do keep in mind I just on looks alone.

    My reward for finishing a MS usually involves marathoning a TV show. I love being able to kick back guilt free!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Amie, I hear ya! I've been known to marathon Fringe.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Catherine! This is Courtney from YALitChat. Huge congrats for finishing the first draft! And the auto show sounds like so much fun! I look forward chatting with you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks, Courtney! I look forward to reading your book reviews.

    ReplyDelete