LUMPY LEAD IN

-
I know it's bad form for an author to make excuses for their work, but I was reading BRITANNIA yesterday and I was cringing a bit. A lot.

There aren't excuses, I should have fixed it before I threw it up there, but I wanted to explain that I know it is lumpy and awkward, especially in those first couple of pages.

The reason is that it is now very different from its original form.

It was first written in poetic prose, very long winded, and sinuous, and verbose. Every sentence followed a particular cadence and the meter was very important. The theme of [sacred] knots and unravelling futures ran as a constant metaphor, which then followed the twisting and reweaving of a new life. All of the emotion, most notably Maia's deep sense of shame, smashed the reader in the face. (She did a lot of scouring with salt and strigil) It was overwritten in the extreme.

6000 words removed from the first five chapters were also cut back in, having been chopped for the sake of pace and word count. Its original ending is still around somewhere, in draft form, but it was a bit more gruesome than the intended audience prefer.

I loved it. But as I say; I love Jim Steinman, Leonard Cohen, Van Gogh and massive Wagnerian overtures.

More is more. Nothing succeeds like excess.

It had to be cut up and cut back and I deleted all the original drafts, although I didn't know how effectively I had removed all traces of it, until I went looking for copies of it in the original research folder. Anyway, when it better resembled a story, I left it and went on with others until I decided to put this set online.

I should have taken the time to smooth the rough sentences and tidy up the leftovers, but I didn't and for that I apologize.

Just so you know.

letitia.coyne@gmail.com

Thanks.
L.