Making The Novel

The MAKING THE NOVEL project is divided into four parts: EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS EXCERPTS DELETED WHILE WRITING UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS EXCERPTS FROM FAILED NOVELS We are grateful to the novelists, published and unpublished, for participating. Click on names below to go to the writers' contributions. For convenience, I place an asterisk by each newly-added author's name with each update: A Project Introduction & Submissions Information Eileen R. Tabios EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS Sesshu Foster Mary Mackey Reine Arcache Melvin Renee Macalino Rutledge Christopher X. Shade Eileen R. Tabios   (3) * Jason Tanamor Addie Tsai Forthcoming: Eric Gamalinda Brian Ascalon Roley More To Come EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS Jonel Abellanosa John Bloomberg-Rissman (1) John Bloomberg-Rissman (2) John Bloomberg-Rissman...

Introduction to Making the Novel Scroll Below for Submissions Information In 2016, I completed the first draft of my first long-form novel, DoveLion —its year-long writing process is documented in a book aptly entitled  #EileenWritesNovel  (Otoliths, 2017). I set that first draft aside for two years as I wanted to maximize objectivity when I turned an editor’s eye to it; editing is as critical as first-draft writing in creating a novel. Having worked mostly as a poet, I also required the time to clear away a lot of poetry-related obligations so that I could make 2019 a year devoted almost entirely to the novel. By this I meant, not only editing to finish the novel but exploring possibilities for its publication. Most of my editing occurred in the first half of 2019 but I continue to tinker with it—I might, indeed, not stop editing it until someone publishes it to put me out of my misery. In editing  DoveLion , I was blessed to have two readers (one of whom wa...

Introduction:  This was previously published in  All That  (Moneypenny Press, 2008) in a small edition put together by Crag Hill.   Failed Novel idea   She stood five foot four inches barefoot now loose blond hair rather ratted.  She stood with a 1930s silk slip to her knees.  The house was cold and damp.  The creek was at flood stage.  Late December deep in the north coast California redwoods.  She hacked more than once and spat out the door.  “Damn, I love this drug,”   If anyone is interested in studying queer behavior in the late 90’s this is a good place to begin.  He waltzed into the room behind her and asked to borrow (a) the 1930’s slip and (b) her bazooka (slang for hypodermic needle from Anna Kavan novel  Ice ).  It was that kind of relationship and there was little doubt that the dog would suffer.  Standing in the rain-soaked yard barking loudly as if t...

Introduction:  This novel is about two young women separated by time, connected by a dollhouse. In this scene we are introduced to the parlor of the Archer residence in 1887, and the matriarch of the family Philomena Archer. She is the mother of Victoria, the protagonist of the story. Excerpt with an Illustration (ink, watercolor, and gouache, 2021) from  The Old-Fashioned Dollhouse The parlor was mother’s domain. Every square inch had something to marvel at. Gilt frames everywhere featured watercolors, oil paintings, silhouettes of the lovely Archer girls, and some embroideries and tapestries made by the women of the family going back generations. Nothing made mother happier than a newly framed embroidery, proof that her daughter would make a great wife in the future.  A red walnut China cabinet filled with heirloom Wedgewood plates were on display, with drawers of gleaming silverware tucked away. It gave Mrs. Archer great pleasure to know they were there shined and read...

Introduction: The excerpts below were deleted from the published version of   DOVELION: A Fairy Tale for Our Times   (AC Books, New York, 2021). I thought to share them outside of the book because they also exemplify a tactic with which I was experimenting for writing the book: the collapse of time (hence, an early draft's use of "XXXX" instead of a specified year). Theoretically, the linear unfolding would be irrelevant for  DOVELION ’s story. This means, in part, that one could print out each individual section, throw them up in the air, gather the pieces in the random order they’re picked up, and then be published in that order … and the story would still work. One could try that with these five sections; the change of emphases would be logical but would the story still work?    The author on why these excerpts were deleted: These excerpts repeated other themes addressed by other sections and deleting them ramped up the energy flow of the novel.   ...

Introduction : The novel begins with a series of events that leads to the loss and rediscovery and loss and rediscovery again (and again) of a St Christopher medal. But that’s incidental. It’s about the people that encounter St Christopher along the way. In this early chapter, we meet Suzanna Quinton, who receives the medal from a friend.   Excerpt from  STUCK INSIDE SAMSARA WITH THE NIRVANA BLUES AGAIN Everybody called her Suzy Q and she hated it—but what can you do? Her first day in kindergarten was her introduction to inhumanity: —Hey Suzy Q, wanna play  Little House on the Prairie ? —No and my name is Suzanna. —Suzy Q Suzy Q her hair looks like doggie poo! Even the teacher laughed and when Suzy delivered a left uppercut to Veronica Dean for starting it all, it was Suzy who got yelled at and sent to the principal’s office. By junior high she had accepted that she would be called Suzy but drew the line at the Q. In homeroom one morning in 7 th  grade Joey Paternows...

Introduction:  I started this novel inspired by the idea of a young woman discovering that not only were her parents Soviet spies, they disappear without a trace while she’s in college and she now has to make her way in the world alone. She's left with more questions than answers and finds clues in unexpected places. This scene is written in present tense and left that way, since this novel is abandoned.   “Leave It to Anna” I arrive at my parent's apartment, home for Thanksgiving weekend. Nobody answers the door, so I let myself in with my key. The apartment smells stale, like no one has been home for a while.  "Anyone home?" I say, although I can tell no one's here. Great, I’m talking to an empty apartment. I head to the living room and sit on the couch, kick off my shoes, excited to stretch my toes after what has already been an exhausting semester. I glance down at the coffee table before I put my feet up. Where are my fuzzy bunny slippers when I need them? Ri...