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I've finished my novel, "Shadow of the Lion" which is about the fall of Alexander's dynasty. It's gone thru one final edit but still needs some more editing. I'm just heading off to Greece again (this time to visit the Mani) and will resume work to finalize it before pitching to agents/publisher, though I've had one person voice an interst so far. It was a long, arduous journey to finish this novel, with many trips to locations in the book, including a lot of research in Greece with help from Classical scholars and archaeologist and the Greeks themselves.

Sounds like lots of traveling and research for the sake of the book. I'm looking forward to reading it!

Yes, it took me years to finish it with lots and lots of research at libraries (here and in Athens), on site and with the help of some classical scholars. At one point the Greek Tourism provided me air fare to Greece to research (thanks to the local Greek consulate). Alexander has been my passion since I was 16 years old so to write this novel was a labor of love and I hope a publisher picks it up.

Well please keep us informed! I haven't been too big on the Alexander novel scene but it really sounds like this is a labor of love from you and with all your research it definately deserves attention. Ill be happy to preorder whenever possible. : )
Best of luck to you,
Spitamenes

That is very exciting news about your novel, Ruthaki. I remember when you first discussed it, so it has been quite a journey to finish it I see. Much good luck in finding the right publisher for your work. I have begun an effort to write a novel also, but am only in first draft stage...I rewrite it all the time too, as once we get into the thinking pattern, we just can't let go, can we? Would you give us your website page again please? I remember reading a small sample that you had provided, but in all these years passing, I have had so many computer interruptions that your website is missing...thanks, Jan

It's been a few months since I've logged in here so I wanted interested folks to know the status of my novel
"Shadow of the Lion". So far, it's gone through two extensive reading critiques plus edits. In October I approached a couple of agents while at the Surrey International Writer's Conference just to query and learned that most of these agents nowadays only want novels of 120,000 words. This put Shadow way over the top and if I were to chop it down to that I'd be cutting it by 3/4 and totally trash the whole story. So I am currently once again going through the MSS meticulously (and painfully) cutting passages that may not be necessary. By the end of this month I'll be turning it over to a professional editor for the final cuts and corrections and after that the pitch begins. (I've decided that if approaching the traditional publishers fails I will consider the self-publishers that are popular these days.) I know the writing is my best and the story is important and interesting so to chop it down to where these agents required it to be would totally ruin it. Meanwhile I have a couple of excellent 'leads' which I will pursue, and I'm doing as much promo about it as possible. Will soon be putting up a blog about the novel, meanwhile there's a page about it on my website at
www.ruthkozak.com And if you are on Facebook I have a group called "Introduction to Shadow of the Lion" which gets a lot of positive response. Find me on Facebook at my name Ruth Kozak

ruthaki wrote:most of these agents nowadays only want novels of 120,000 words. This put Shadow way over the top and if I were to chop it down to that I'd be cutting it by 3/4 and totally trash the whole story. So I am currently once again going through the MSS meticulously (and painfully) cutting passages that may not be necessary.

That must indeed be very painful, Ruth. I feel for you.

I have to say that I'm rather surprised to read this, as I would have expected their expectations to be for longer books. Still, it's an interesting point and one for any aspiring writer to bear in mind. (Having said that, my Alexander novel is around 190,000 words, and I ain't cutting nothing, as it's pretty much as spare as it can be without making the whole thing pointless ...)

Keep us informed, and best of luck!

ATB

I feel the same way regarding this limited word count because most historical fiction novels of any worth are much, much longer. That word count would amout to about 300 pages. And for this particular story, it simply wouldn't work. Yes, it is terribly painful to have to cut so much and, like you, I will NOT cut it down that much. When I talked to Margaret George at that same conference, she said "Don't worry about the word count", but then she's a well established author and her books are usually very long.

Just want to voice my interest in reading your book. Will there be an epub/digital version? Keep us updated !

I'll definitely keep you up to date here. After the professional editor has look, I'll be pitching it out into the big wide word of publishers, traditional ones first, then if that fails I'll go for a well-established self-publisher and probably in that case an e-book as well.

Im happy to hear your sticking to your guns on this. Too many stories have been butchered due to extreme editing, by the people who 'know whats best'.
Best of luck!

I was even reluctant about turning it over to a professional editor as I felt it needed to be in the hands of someone who understood the history or they'd be chopping it all to hell. Anyway, the one I've been recommended to edits for a friend of mine who also writes history (though mainly non-fiction) She also knows how to format for self publishing if necessary. But meanwhile I'm doing as much of the cutting that I can by myself. This third time round has been easier as the writer is not doing the thinking now, the 'editor' is, and as difficult as it is, I know it has to be pared down so at least I am able to choose which places are not necessary to forward the plot.

If it needs cutting by 3/4 could you not rework the structure to yield a trilogy or tetrology? They seem all the rage, after all it's three or four times the profit for the publisher!

I was going to mention a trilogy. . It is all the rage these days. And though it wasnt a trilogy, I could see bringing Alexander into the limelight like Brown did for Davinci a possibility.

I say go for it Ruth! Just remember who gave you the idea...
Oh wait... it was Agesilaos..

I agree. If you have to cut by that much, then you easily have enough material for more than one book. It sounds like it's crying out to be turned into a trilogy.

Derek