Discussion of "Renaissance: Head Above – Day 192, 9:44am" by JD_Renaissance

Love the new character. He's the observer, the one who sees it all and says little, huh? Great job.

Glad he came off that way. He is a little more grounded than the others, not quite so extreme as Mrs. Shoes and Mr. Sharp.

I have read the entire storyline in the past few days. I can't wait for more. What will come next? Where or what will happen to Renni?
It was a great read and you have me wanting more. Thanks for sharing your work.

Wow, thank you so much, Bjv! More to come, I promise. :D

Haha! I am such a Goober! Was on my friend's computer and didn't realize I'd typed in the comment using her name. Anyways, as I said earlier, Thanks, Bjv!

"I am such a Goober"...LMAO...I haven't heard that for years and years!

I liked this chapter and the new character, as well, JD. Maybe it's just me and, this isn't a criticism so much as a personal thought; but, you've more than adequately built Renni's character and this just seems to be adding on unecessarily.

I think I mentioned before that this piece should really be a novel or novelette. If that's the case then I understand this chapter better; if not, don't you think it time to move on to Renni earning her battle streamers? ;o)

Glad you like Solomon. As for moving it along, this is just about the half way point for the story and these character chapters not only build Renni's character and how she's growing in the camp, they also kind of foreshadow the plot itself in a way. Can't tell you more without giving the story away.

If I do an actual word count instead of an SM word count, this story is almost 35,000 words already and it is practically only a rough draft. If I continue this and revise it, I plan to add two or three subplots - what happens to Max, Thomas, and maybe Carter. I'm wondering if I should pull it from SM. I never expected it to take off so well and only started posting it as an experiment. I have a rule that I don't publish anything here that might become novel material later on in order to avoid rights issues. Any thoughts or suggestions?

JD, from what I understand, even if you wanted to go and get this published (shouldn't be hard), SM incourages you to do so. They won't hold you back in the least.

Unfortunately, publishers might consider any online publication, even SM, to be first publication. Most publishers want first publishing rights. Since right now this is a rough, I don't think it will be an issue. But the more I post, I start to wonder if I'm shooting myself in the foot.

It's a rock and hard place, JD. When I first joined SM, I posted three or four chapters of the novel I had just started - also rough drafts - to test the water.

The chapters were well received and, like you, I started wondering about publishing rights. Eventually, I pulled all but the first chapter (I couldn't pull that one because someone had mashed it and then disappeared from SM - so, it's posted here).

On the one hand, it's great to be able to gauge the impact and quality of your work...on the other, SM is vague and doesn't respond to direct questions about rights. I think you are right about first publication rights. SM could, as far as I've been able to determine and based upon their contract, chase down a future publication and demand payment.

Lots more to discuss on this topic, but here is probably not the appropriate venue. Bottom line - I'd hate to lose the opportunity of reading about Renaissance but, I'd understand perfectly if you pulled it. And hey, I'll read when it's published traditionally!!! ;o)