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hrjThe reason that test-readers are typically called beta-readers is that the alpha-reader is assumed to be the author herself. (Just as the beta-tester for code comes after the coder herself.) There are certainly some writers who can turn out a raw first draft that is ready for general reader review, but most of us (I suspect) need at least one pass-through to tidy things up before that stage. I had a certain amount of trepidation in taking on a true alpha-reader--someone who sees the raw story a chapter at a time as it emerges from the keyboar--but girlfriends get certain perks.
With Chapter 15, some of the drawbacks of being an alpha-reader may become clear, because the e-mail with last week's output was prefaced by a discussion of events in past chapters that have now happened entirely differently. It's not so much retroactive continuity as that sort of time-paradox effect where you discover unexpectedly that your past time-stream isn't the same as what you thought you remembered.
Serafina's absent husband now is not merely a a chaser after interesting manuscripts in his spare time from his archivist position, but a specialist in thaumaturgical texts who sometimes pursues them for his employers and sometimes tries to siphon off the most interesting ones for his own collection and studies. Now one of the reasons for his extended posting from the Vatican archives to Paris is not simply the general task of helping to retrieve collections that Napoleon had carted off during his time in power (this, by the way, is actual history -- it took decades for the Vatican to retrieve many of those documents and some were lost entirely), but the specific task of tracking down certain mystical texts that have fallen into the hands of French thaumaturgists. An additional aspect of this is a greater motivation for his interest in securing Serafina's services via marriage. Her mystical sensitivity was supposed to be a major asset (while his library and interests were a significant attraction for her), but her issues around actually performing mysteries are part of the falling away of his interest. All this now has to be integrated into previous chapters. (And it sets up some very useful sub-plots for Mistress of Shadows. Sub-plots that will prove fatal for...well, for someone. I haven't actually decided exactly who yet.)
Another set of necessary revisions that haven't entirely appeared as consequences yet, is that Margerit's investigations into how the flaws in Alpennia's Great Mysteries left their defenses open have been actively discouraged by the thaumaturgical establishment, with the implication that more experienced people are already looking into the matter, thank you very much, now run along and play. It's exactly the sort of response that would get her back up, but the distraction of planning for her women's college has meant that it's been a minor focus. The Austrian spy, Kreiser, on the other hand, remains deeply interested in the political implications of the weather magic wreaking havoc across wide swathes of south-central Europe, and in addition to collaborating with Barbara on his investigation, I've recently concluded that he will have tapped Serafina for help as well. Her ability to sense the workings of mysteries at a great distance will provide a basis for more focused investigations.
And on a more personal front, I've been flip-flopping back and forth as to exactly what the chronology and progress of Serafina and Luzie's relationship should be. But with chapter 15 I realized that I need to have gotten them a lot further than shy and embarrassed glances and comments by now. So chapter 13 is now going to end with something a bit more than a chaste kiss on the hand.
Nobody else read Daughter of Mystery until it had been through a couple of serious revisions. And The Mystic Marriage went out to its first-reader in 4-chapter chunks as I made the first major revision pass. So it's a new experience both for me and for that first-reader to deal with just how floppy that plot-octopus can get!
With Chapter 15, some of the drawbacks of being an alpha-reader may become clear, because the e-mail with last week's output was prefaced by a discussion of events in past chapters that have now happened entirely differently. It's not so much retroactive continuity as that sort of time-paradox effect where you discover unexpectedly that your past time-stream isn't the same as what you thought you remembered.
Serafina's absent husband now is not merely a a chaser after interesting manuscripts in his spare time from his archivist position, but a specialist in thaumaturgical texts who sometimes pursues them for his employers and sometimes tries to siphon off the most interesting ones for his own collection and studies. Now one of the reasons for his extended posting from the Vatican archives to Paris is not simply the general task of helping to retrieve collections that Napoleon had carted off during his time in power (this, by the way, is actual history -- it took decades for the Vatican to retrieve many of those documents and some were lost entirely), but the specific task of tracking down certain mystical texts that have fallen into the hands of French thaumaturgists. An additional aspect of this is a greater motivation for his interest in securing Serafina's services via marriage. Her mystical sensitivity was supposed to be a major asset (while his library and interests were a significant attraction for her), but her issues around actually performing mysteries are part of the falling away of his interest. All this now has to be integrated into previous chapters. (And it sets up some very useful sub-plots for Mistress of Shadows. Sub-plots that will prove fatal for...well, for someone. I haven't actually decided exactly who yet.)
Another set of necessary revisions that haven't entirely appeared as consequences yet, is that Margerit's investigations into how the flaws in Alpennia's Great Mysteries left their defenses open have been actively discouraged by the thaumaturgical establishment, with the implication that more experienced people are already looking into the matter, thank you very much, now run along and play. It's exactly the sort of response that would get her back up, but the distraction of planning for her women's college has meant that it's been a minor focus. The Austrian spy, Kreiser, on the other hand, remains deeply interested in the political implications of the weather magic wreaking havoc across wide swathes of south-central Europe, and in addition to collaborating with Barbara on his investigation, I've recently concluded that he will have tapped Serafina for help as well. Her ability to sense the workings of mysteries at a great distance will provide a basis for more focused investigations.
And on a more personal front, I've been flip-flopping back and forth as to exactly what the chronology and progress of Serafina and Luzie's relationship should be. But with chapter 15 I realized that I need to have gotten them a lot further than shy and embarrassed glances and comments by now. So chapter 13 is now going to end with something a bit more than a chaste kiss on the hand.
Nobody else read Daughter of Mystery until it had been through a couple of serious revisions. And The Mystic Marriage went out to its first-reader in 4-chapter chunks as I made the first major revision pass. So it's a new experience both for me and for that first-reader to deal with just how floppy that plot-octopus can get!
