No cleaning done yesterday. Actually, that's a good thing because it means I was working on revisions all day and not avoiding writing. Of course, that means I'll be running around like a mad woman tonight, dusting all surfaces, sweeping, etc. Sigh.
Anyway, revisions are more or less finished for In the Midnight Hour. I would like to read through it one more time without looking for spots because I found a few missing words, some repeated words and some other errors and I'm sure there's more in there that I could find if I did a read through. I also found a few places where I could streamline or clarify my thoughts.
But this makes me wonder--is this perfectionism or is it avoiding the WIP which has been miserable so far? I've trashed the beginning so many times, I've lost count, and while I do finally, have some pages that don't completely suck, they're still rough and I'm still slogging, trying to get into these characters.
Maia and Creed really haven't been talking to me long enough to feel as if I have a good sense of them. Sure, they both made appearances in Midnight Hour, but the focus was never on either one of them. I have an idea what they're like. Maia is dealing with the fact that Ryne (her sister and the heroine of Midnight Hour) doesn't need like she did before Deke. Ryne had been alone, cut off, and Maia was the one person Ryne could trust, but that's not true any longer. Now Maia is the one feeling adrift. She ceded her powers 7 years earlier and became an outsider to the Gineal, but she doesn't fit in among humans either. But she had Ryne, and since her sister had no one else for years, Maia didn't feel alone. Now Ryne does and now Maia does feel alone. She's going to have to face making the transition emotionally.
Creed is very dark in his personality. He can be ruthless and remorseless. He's going to be an interesting hero to write, I think. It's difficult to know for sure because he is barely passing along any information to me at all. I'm having to glean what I can from his few brief appearances in my head. Right now, I believe he might be the darkest hero I've ever had show up. I think--and I have to qualify it because of his silence--that he's fighting to hang on because his people need him. Unlike other heroes I've had in the past, I don't know if Creed has that core of honor left inside him. He's lied to Ryne by omission and put her in a dangerous position in Midnight Hour and she's mad as hell at him. Yet, facing down evil to protect the Gineal is honorable. I don't know. He's just not telling me enough to get a bead on him.
So the only thing to do is keep slogging through his story and try to figure him out as I go along. Yeah, I'd much rather be working on revisions. Ryne and Deke are familiar and the tough work is done for them.
