Here goes nothing…I’m going to cut several chapters from book 2 because they are flatter than the screen they’re displayed on and it’s been bugging me since before the Phoenix Comicon crunch fell upon me. It won’t be the first time I’ve slaughtered thousands of words, and it surely won’t be the last. Still, I have to reread the whole mess first so I don’t kill whatever semblance of decent writing might exist amidst the rubble. I’m sure it’s not all as garbage-y as I think it is, but there’s still a burning need for a major overhaul.
One big question is: How do I tone it down without making it fall into a black hole of boring? At the moment I have a heroine who is nigh invulnerable, and that just doesn’t work. She’s got to have at least some weaknesses; if I make her beyond superhuman, that leaves no room for growth or advancement. That would be just as dull, if not more so, as having her weak and useless. There’s a balance I have to find, that line between godlike and fragile where she’s both strong and vulnerable.
I have my work cut out for me, but I’m confident that I can achieve that balance and make the action more interesting. I just have to mull it over, buckle down, and git ‘er done.
AJ Mullican, Author 