"So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and new one's just begun." - John Lennon, "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"2012, a.k.a. the so-called year of the apocalypse. I'm still not buying the Mayans' warning.
Nevertheless, 2012 is coming to an end, and now we have to look toward 2013. Personally, this year has been nothing more than another ordinary year for me. It disappoints me to say that my goal to get Angelic Guardians: The Gathering signed by an agent has failed. I've had one nibble out of a pool of over 50 possible agents in my target genre, but even that nibble was thrown into the growing pile of rejection replies. The only good thing that came out of that experience was not hearing the words, "Frankly, you suck". Still, not one agent was interested in what could be the next best thing.
So, like many authors and artists, I went back and looked at the manuscript again. That was probably not the smartest move on my half because I'm a perfectionist. Then again, I saw a few things that could use some tweaking. Now, I started that back in late April/early May. Here it is... December, close to Christmas, and I'm now tweaking the last chapter.
But I'm not done. During the summer, my Toshiba crashed, and I resorted to my old MacBook that I had back in college to continue my writing. (thank God for flash drives!) I was doing pretty good until I was in the middle of tweaking Chapter 3 during my break at my night job, and I didn't safely remove the flash drive by the Mac protocol. So, my file got corrupted and lost. Thankfully, I've got backups... except I get to start over again, which is okay, considering I had an idea of where I wanted to go with that chapter.
Not only that, but I feel it's time to start incorporating the proper Japanese honorifics in the dialogue. It used to be that when Japanese manga was first translated into English, the honorifics were dropped because it would confuse readers. Nowadays, most translators are keeping the honorifics while including a translation or note page at the end of each issue. A prime example can be found in the re-release issues of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Kodansha Comics where Usagi (Bunny/Serena) refers to her Inner Senshi friends with -chan at the end of their first names, -san for her Outer Senshi allies (because they're older and not as close to her as the others), etc. I have two copies of #9 and #10 from the Tokyopop/Mixx release from back in 2005, and nowhere are the honorifics ever used in the English translation. Seven years of cultural and language understanding can make a difference, no?
As soon as I feel like I am ready to take on the world again, I will look into publishing companies before I go back to agents.
But at least The Gathering looks better this time around.
On a side note, I've been thinking about writing a Christmas television screepnplay or short story within the Angelic Guardians franchise set sometime between The Choice and The Revelations. What do you think about this: Rizu and Robu are about to celebrate their first Christmas together in their new apartment, but to Rizu, a decorated home isn't the same without a Nativity set like the one her parents had, which gives Robu an idea of what to get her for Christmas.
Meanwhile, Myoujou the Dark Demon travels back in time to the day when the Magi are warned about going back to Judea, where the king is plotting to kill baby Iesu in order to secure his throne, and successfully convinces them to continue on their way. History is rewritten, and by Christmas Eve in the present day, everything related to Iesu--carols, Nativity sets, and Christmas itself--disappears without a trace, only to be replaced by Christmas' other famous icon Santa Claus. Not just that, but the purpose of the Angelic Guardians is missing, and they're the only ones who know Christmas is something more than just the presents.
And because I think of the Grinch every time I envision Myoujou trying to thrwart Tamashii & co., "How the Dark Demon Stopped Christmas" somehow keeps coming back to me. What do you think? Good concept?
Thanks to those who have supported me in 2012. I hope you'll do the same in 2013. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year to all.
L.D. Smith
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