I Went to NYC and Met with my Agent and it was Fun

Believe it or not, in the midst of all this Italy-mania, I'm still actually writing. I even got quite a fair share of writing done while on the trip, on trains mostly. It was pretty cool. I just took a little notebook (like a real notebook, the kind with paper) and a pen and got some writing in whenever I could. Writing by hand was an interesting experience; I'd be interesting in attempting an entire novel that way one day. I'm really glad I did it, too. I've gotten into a great routine with Dark Immolation lately, and I was worried that going on a trip would throw me out of that, but I think taking the time to write while on vacation really helped me stay focused. And it was kind of cool--writing on location, basically.

One perk of going to Italy was a 12-hour layover in NYC, where I got to have lunch with Sam and a couple others from JABberwocky. That was awesome. It was cool to get some actual facetime with the agency, see their offices (which are now in a prime location just a few blocks from Times Square), meet a lot of the other agents that work there, and so forth. I had fish and chips at an Irish pub whose name and location both elude me. But it was delicious. And Krystyna, one of the foreign rights agents at JABberwocky, had some notes for me on Duskfall that were really fantastic. She gave me some great ideas for the direction I want to go in and what I want to focus on for the next revision of the novel. In fact, based on that excitement and some other conversations we had, I've put work on Dark Immolation on hold and jumped right into revising Duskfall again. Version 6.0 this time.

As you can see I'm about 12% through, although that doesn't count a lot of my own prewriting and own notes as I've read through Krystyna's suggestions and some of the thoughts some editors had who have passed on the manuscript. I'm hoping now that a lot of that preliminary stuff is taken care of, the revision will really take off and I'll be done with it in a couple of weeks or so. It's going well so far, and I'm pleasantly surprised by a lot of things in the novel--I really think it's got some good moments. That said, I don't think it's achieved it's full potential yet (not even close in some ways), so I'm happy to take another pass at it.

Anyway, so that's what's going on with writing these days. Another revision, and then after that I'll probably jump back into Dark Immolation...or, perhaps, depending on how things go, a more direct sequel to Duskfall.

In the meantime, I've still got two more Italy posts queued up, a couple posts to wrap up my musings on story structure, and much more to come!

Viva l'Italia! (Part 3 - Roma & Firenze)

I have to admit, I went to Rome with something of a chip on my shoulder. I'd heard all about Rome, all about the Colosseum, all about the ruins and St. Peter's and everything, but I figured "I've seen a lot of Italy. I've seen cool things. What can Rome show me that I haven't seen already?"

I was an idiot. Because Rome was freaking amazing.

Wait, there are Mormons in Italy?

AND they're building a temple?! #mindblown

Apparently this building was kind of a big deal like 2000 years ago.

Personally, I didn't see what all the fuss was about.

But Rachel did get to walk on some marble where Roman Caesars walked. That was neat.

The Roman Forum. WAY cooler than I expected it to be. Just being there was a really surreal, kind of eerie, anachronistic experience.

Apparently this door still works, lock and key and everything. I don't know what's more impressive: that the lock still works after 2000 years, or that they still have the key...

Temple of Saturn. Kind of puts those Agrigentian Greek temples to shame. Or it would, anyway, if it was more than just this side.

Monument to Vittorio Emmanuele - the first king of Italy.

This Vittorio Emmanuele monument is HUGE.

Turns out ancient Rome had an obsession with obelisks...um, phallic much?

St. Peter's Basilica. We saw a lot of cool things in Italy, but this was probably my favorite. It blew my mind. You might as well give up getting even an inkling of an idea as to how cool this place is right now; these pictures are but a fraction of a fraction. Ineffability in action, my friends.

La pieta', inside St. Peter's.

I literally don't even know what to say about these pictures. Seeing this place was amazing.

View of the apse on our way up to the dome.

We got real familiar with climbing tiny staircases--this is also on the way up to the dome of St. Peter's.

Aaaand we're still on our way up to the dome of St. Peter's.

View from the dome.

Ahem...obelisk.

The Pantheon. (...obelisk.)

Trevi Fountain.

We interrupt this program for a brief photo of Italian shoes suspended in a store completely bathed in blue light. Because that is normal.

The Spanish Steps (and,  yes, an obelisk).

So that was Rome, folks. (And trust me, that wasn't even half of all the obelisks we saw. Obelisk.) From there, we journeyed to the famed crown of Tuscany (okay now I'm just making stuff up): Firenze (Florence).

Another church I remember literally nothing about it. Seriously, guys, there are like a LOT of churches in Italy.

Aaaaaand here's where my obsession with Dante starts to show through. Florence, if you aren't aware, is the birthplace and home of Dante Alighieri, greatest poet to ever grace this earth. I even wrote my Honors Thesis about him.

Florence from the top of the Duomo bell tower.

More claustrophobic staircases.

View from the top of the dome of Florence's Duomo (remember, Duomo = cathedral, dome = dome).

Il Palazzo Vecchio.

View of the Duomo from the Palazzo Vecchio.

Via Dante!

We stayed in the "Dante" room in our hotel and IT WASN'T EVEN PLANNED YOU GUYS.

Dante Dante Dante.

More Dante.

The outside of the Duomo. That's the bell tower on the right.

Il Ponte Vecchio.

La bella Firenze.

If you start seeing Dante Alighieri profiles on the cobblestones, you know you're in Florence.

That's Rome and Florence for you. Next time on "Rachel and Chris Tour Italy," we'll be covering Cinque Terre, Milan, and Venice. Don't touch that dial!

Viva l'Italia! (Part 2 - Calabria and Puglia)

Ok ya'll, I'm back for part two of our phenomenal vacay in Italy that was totes amazballs and fun for everyone. Today I'll be covering the second part of our trip, in the regions of Calabria (the toe of Italy, if you subscribe to the whole Italy-looks-like-a-boot thing) and Puglia (the heel of Italy, see previous parenthetical [and Puglia is not pronounced "POO-glee-ah," but something closer to "Poolya"--I think we americans actually call the region Apulia]). This post still covers cities where I lived/visited when I lived in Italy ten years ago; starting next time, we'll get into unknown territory. So, without further ado, our first city was Reggio di Calabria...*

Il Monumento ai Caduti (Monument to the Fallen), seen from the Lungo Mare (street that runs along the sea).

#nofilter

So Reggio is a city on a big hill, and apparently since I was last in Italy they decided to build a giant set of covered escalators from the beach to the top of the hill. I can't tell you how much sweat this would have saved me when I lived there...walking up Reggio's hill when it is 100 degrees F and a billion percent humidity makes for one sweaty Christopher.

We saw a castle.

This is that castle.

The aforementioned string of escalators in all their glory (they are the five or six tube-y things).

The door to the palazzo I lived in 10 years ago.

Some friends from 10 years ago who own a little shop that sells arancini, panzerotti, and all sorts of deliciousness. Also pictured: my giant gut. I blame Italian food.

From Reggio Calabria we journeyed through the cities of Cosenza (also in Calabria), and then Taranto (in the Puglia region now)...

We took trains.

Something new (wasn't in Cosenza when I was there ten years ago, anyway).

Something old (what we affectionately termed the "Darth Vader Helmet" when I lived in Cosenza).

Something borrowed (Rachel borrowed her sister's backpack for our trip. We took backpacks and it was awesome and made us feel very cool in an REI, granola-y kind of way.).

And something...bold? Blue? I don't even know. This was the view from our balcony at our hotel in Taranto.

Next stop: Brindisi, the gateway to Greece!

Like a boss.

Il Monumento al Marinaio d'Italia (the monument to Italian sailors).

Brindisi in the background.

Stairs to the top of the Monumento al Marinaio.

Brindisi and surrounding harbor, as seen from the top of the Monumento.

Weird angle.

It was cool to walk where I walked ten years ago, see the sights I saw. This fountain = nostalgia.

Brindisi's Duomo (Cathedral/main Church).

And the final stop on our tour of southern Italy was, last but not least (well maybe the least now that I think about it), Bari...

Sometimes I think sittin' on trains
Every stop I get to I'm clocking that game
Everyone's a winner, we're making our fame
Bonafide hustler making my name
(MIA, anyone...?)

Yet another castle. And, surprise, it was awesome.

Cool architectural things?

Castle again. That grass used to be a moat.

Aaaand that's all for now, folks. Stay tuned: next time, we're going to Rome!




* Previous disclaimer applies: I take no responsibility for the artistry or lack thereof of these photos; they were all taken with my iPhone, and all filters are strictly ironic.