Laughing Man Publications

Chapter 43

Crazy busy with book 3 editing. It has to go to the copy-editor next week and Deb wants changes. Not much to say on this chapter.

Chapter 44

Still crazy with the book editing for book 3.

George is FINALLY on the road to happiness. Pretty good considering people have been commenting about "poor George" from story 4.

Chapter 45

Book 3, book 3, book 3. Okay, normally when I say, "If you buy the book, you're getting the same story," that's true. In book 3 it will not be true. The plot is mostly the same, but some of the reasons behind the plot and the impact it has on the characters is significantly different. Editorial demands.

Note on this chapter: Harris's List of Convent Garden Ladies is a real book , of course. It was widely available in the late 1700's and has recently been made available again, along with an introduction explaining the history of the book. It's actually a very interesting read and far less pornographic than you would think.

Chapter 46 - An Officer and a Gentleman

The officer refers to Wickham, the Gentleman refers to his son George. For those of you still grappling with it.

Next chapter is the last chapter in the story, per se, and chapter 48 is the epilogue, which is pretty much just a wrap-up of the story and some last-minute events. Time flies when you're busy editing book 3, huh?

Chapter 47

More problems with the editing process in book 3. Don't want to go into it.

Danny gets the honorific "sama" because he is a monk.

You can pre-order book 2, The Plight of the Darcy Brothers, on Amazon. It's "The Price of Family," so if you're not interested in buying something you've read, do me a favor and add tags or click up the tags already existing on the Amazon page to help with searches. Thank you!

Up next: The end of story 10! My G-d, time flies.

Chapter 48

Will get thoughts up later; am very busy at the moment.

Chapter 48

Sorry for the delay in my posting, but I was sick on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and today I've been busy with book 2, which just came back from layout. They give it to me on a 11x17 sheet all laid out like it would look in the book itself, and I have to find the last minute typos and corrections because this is the last time I will ever get a pass at the manuscript before it goes to print.

Book 3 has also been very frustrating, being in the first editorial stage (not the third and last) since it was submitted on January 15th. The publication date was pushed back from November 2009 to February 2010. Three months is not a huge deal and February is still a good month to publish (and a Feb publication means the book will start appearing on shelves in late January, even better), but it basically came down to a a huge disagreement between me and my editor about the tone of the book. Normally the editing that is done with the first editor involves tightening the book, removing various pointless subplots and clarifying other ones, and general but easily-fixable issues with consistency. Then it goes to copyediting, where they check for grammar, spelling, and continuity mistakes. Then it goes to layout, where they actually put it in the right font on the page and make it look like it's going to appear in the book version, and then it goes to press, meaning it's printed up. I have to approve it after every stage until it goes to press, which involves me looking up their revisions and checking that they match and that they didn't forget anything. It's a very grueling process.

Generally when you're working out a difference with the editor, it's over some matter of direction or plot that doesn't make sense to them, and if there's a disagreement, you meet them halfway. We discovered with book 3 that the disagreement was so vast in nature (should the book have dark themes and traumatic plot twists or should it be light and funny?) that meeting in the middle would result in a confused and inferior book. Now if you're reading me talking about story 10, which would be book 9, then you definitely read "Left to Follow" and probably remember it's the darkest book in the series. As I see it, it's a crucial turning point in the lives of Darcy and Dr. Maddox, in that some of who they are is decided by their experiences in Transylvania, and the whole "madness in the Darcy family" plotline is exposed and continues in every book to some extent. To eliminate the bad things that happen to them while they're captive in Austria is ... well, shattering to their character arcs. So really, it's a problem.

Anyway, story 10. I've already said a lot about it on this thread. It's interesting to hear people's views on how the Charles plot was handled, as really, there's no "happy" ending to his story, just one that's "not so bad." Or we'll see. And Edmund is a bastard beyond redemption, which if you've followed my series means you know I'll probably try to redeem him in story 11. Georgie embraced motherhood in this story, even if a lot of it was off-camera, more than she was able to do in stories 8 and 9. I realize that she's not always as sympathetic a character as I would like her to be, which may result in some minor rewrites if I get the whole series into publication. One reviewer on Amazon for book 1 called me out as having written a series with an obvious Mary Sue (self-insertion character), but fortunately Amazon.com has guidelines about what's you're allowed to say in reviews, and personal attacks on the author or discussions of non-published books she's written are not in accordance with those guidelines, so the review was removed. She had a point though; I identify a lot with Georgie, though I never intended it to be that way. It was just a consequence of writing. It shouldn't matter in the end of she's a well-developed and likable character, but not so much if she's not. Georgie's flaws are dramatic, yet she doesn't involve the sympathy from readers that George does, even though at times she's just as incapable of dealing with the world around her as George. Geoffrey comes off as long-suffering even though it's HER that rescues HIM more often than not, so there's an inherent flaw in the plotline. Story 10 did something to redeem Georgie, but if I take another crack at this series, I'll look at her as a character again.

To answer questions from the comments on story 10: Yes, book 1 is now available on Kindle. It was for awhile, but Amazon and Sourcebooks weren't really on top of making sure people actually had access to that information. Yes, George and Cynthia Wickham will have time and plot in story 11.

If you have any other questions, as them here. If you want to join the forums, register and them email me to let me know at dj_clawson@yahoo.com, because otherwise I'll think you're a one of the hundreds of spammers I get a day. You can post in this section as an guest, but you don't have access to some of the other sections.

The goal is to start story 11 before I go to India in May, and then either take a 2-week break or have Brandy update, depending on a number of factors that aren't settled yet. Story 11 is LONG (over 50 chapters) so rejoice! The series isn't over quite yet.

I remember reading that review, and while I do like your stories, I saw her point as well. And I credit you for admitting that Georgie did have some redemption that needed to take place. Georgie, to this point, has been your proverbial id personality. As for Georgie rescuing Geoffrey, aside from the Hatcher plotline in TKoD, a lot of that has been brought about because of Georgie- and none of it was Geoffrey's fault. I stayed with Story 9 because I counted on it being a turning point for Georgie- but there were points in it where I just wanted to strangle her, honestly. I seem to recall a nasty confrontation between G&G where Georgie didn't like being told that it's not just HER anymore, she has Alison to think about. To be honest, as a reader, I have seen Geoffrey make a lot of sacrifices for his wife.....he patiently dealt with the aftermath of her children being born....the baby blues and PPD that no one talked about in those times....and I felt the trip to Japan was a huge sacrifice for Geoffrey. He did that for no other reason besides loving Georgie above all other things on Earth.....it wasn't him who had a big yen to go there. Geoffrey is a well born, hide bound English gentleman...and above all- a Darcy, and while he was fortunate enough to inherit much of his mother's countenance and good humor, it doesn't mean there's not a Darcy lurking in there- I suppose we shall see some of that in the final story, particularly as Alison grows up and goes out. It was very gratifying to see how Georgie had finally done some critical growing up.....and finally some acceptance of her role. Ever since she could remember, her life had been tied to Geoffrey Darcy...and when she became a woman, she realized he was the only one for her. At the same time, she was slow to accept what being Mrs. Geoffrey Darcy would entail for her......that her role would one day be Mrs. Darcy of Pemberley.

I think the reason Georgie comes off as less sympathetic than George is because George so obviously has a mental illness. Perhaps one could categorize Georgie as a mad woman....but I think that is largely said because she is so unique. Georgie's parents were the wonderful Charles and Jane Bingley, who clearly loved their daughter in spite of her eccentricities. George was stuck with having Lydia for a mother, Wickham for a father, and the rather dim, but well-meaning Mr. Bradley for a stepfather. Besides, George bottles all of his emotions inside- while Georgie has had an obvious outlet for hers.

As for Edmund, I feel that in no way has he come across as a total unsympathetic bastard. Do you think Edmund's reaction any different from what Darcy's would be if he were to find out? What about Frederick Maddox? How would he react to knowing that not only is his cousin and one of his very best friends is homosexual, but had also harbored romantic feelings for him as well? Edmund is judgmental, certainly- but I think it's important that readers take things in context of the period in which the story is written. In other words, it is unwise to apply our 21st century values to this story. If we did, then what Lydia did in P&P by running off with GW and having premarital sex is "just fine".

As for Left to Follow, it was not only a turning point for Darcy and Dr. Maddox, but for Brian Maddox as well. As much as he loved his brother, he never had anyone in his life that he would be willing to do anything for, include take responsibility and grow up. Brian had come full circle as a character when Nadezhda told Daniel that his brother was the best man she had ever known. I had always hoped for a miracle for Brian and Nady- but alas, that wasn't happening.

I know this is a pretty long yarn about your books and all, but I wouldn't say anything at all if I weren't keenly interested in what you've written.

It's very helpful, if there's going to be another revision overall of Georgie's character. I can't see the events happening any other way (with a few exceptions) but Georgie is pretty harsh even on Geoffrey, and unable at first to communicate her love for Alison, and bad mothers are not sympathetic characters.

Also Georgie actually losing her virginity to Audley instead of just kissing him may not make it into a revision if we get that far into publication. I wrote the scene as I wanted to write it, and people have really mixed feelings about it (some people liking it just fine), but it may be something that doesn't make the final cut if we get to a final cut. (That would be book 6! G-d willing!) When I want to write something badly, I just write it and deal with the consequences later, which can result in some messing editing stages and polarizing fans, but is generally worth it.

Fortunately Georgie really comes into the motherhood role in story 11, but she's older now, and she's had a bunch of kids. Emotionally, Georgie was young when she married, and it takes her longer than it takes a lot of the other female characters to adjust to her role as wife and mother. (She doesn't stop having kids with Brian Darcy, who's kid #3, is all I'll say at this point)

Good points on the George/Georgie comparisons, and you are right about Edmund - he's not a bad person, inherently, just very caught up in the world he's created for himself as the second son just as Charles is lost in his world as a homosexual who believes he will never be happy.

Further comments are always appreciated, and you nailed it on Brian's development, something I'd forgotten about because so far revisions hadn't gotten past his initial return to England.