Adventures in Book Publishing - The Great Purge

By -
Getting a book published is no mean feat. There's the research, the writing, the re-writing, and more re-writing and maybe some more research. Then a publisher needs to be found and then... then the author has to take their baby and hack it to bits. Seriously.

My manuscript is in the 170,000 word range and needs to be hacked back to the 120,000 word range. All those bios I researched on characters in the Josef saga? Gone... except for the chosen few - like Stephens... and Hinchley-Cooke. I am shaving and condensing and hacking and then sanding over the transitions and rough bits. I know that the manuscript is better after I've done this... but it is still a hard thing to watch so many choice bits end up on the cutting room floor.

I am taking comfort from the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and The Little Prince. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." I need to keep that in mind.

I also liken this to my flabby, bloated manuscript being put through a serious physical fitness program... I'm hoping that a lean, mean machine is going to come out the other end. It is time-intensive and... the blog suffers a bit as a result.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clara Bauerle is Finally Laid to Rest

By -
Image
It has taken me a few years, pursuing many leads, but I can finally say that Clara Bauerle has been laid to rest.

Clara did not die stuffed into a Wych Elm in England. She was not Bella in the Wych Elm. She was a German actress and singer who passed away in a Berlin hospital on December 16, 1942.

A while ago, I ordered the birth registration for Clara, from the Standesamt in Ulm. That record gave her death registration number in Berlin.

With that in hand, I wrote to the relevant Standesamt in Berlin and, after a lengthy wait, received her death registration in the mail last week. Translation follows below...

The actress Hedwig Klara Bauerle, Protestant, living in Berlin, Bleibtreustrasse 32, did, on 16 December 1942 at 12:15 in Berlin-Oberschoneweide, Konigin-Elisabeth-Hospital, die.
The deceased was born on 27 August 1905 in Ulm (Standesamt Ulm/Donau Nr.../...).
Father - Fruitseller Adolf Bauerle, deceased, last living in Ulm.
Mother - Dorothea Barbara Bauerle, born Schaufele, d…
Read more

Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

By -
Image
N.B. 2020 10 15 - I should note that the picture of the wych elm featured below is NOT the actual wych elm. And, the "police sketch" was first published in Donald McCormick's book, Murder by Witchcraft. That sketch does NOT occur in the police files.
Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?
On 18 April 1943, near the town of Stourbridge, four young boys in search of bird nests in Hagley Wood found a hollow elm tree (a Wych Elm or Scots Elm). One boy climbed up and peered into the hollow trunk and found a human skull staring back at him. Despite a pact of silence, one boy, Tommy Willetts, told his father about their grisly discovery and the police were quickly called.
The Worcestershire County Police recovered a skeleton from the trunk, along with some fragments of clothing and finger bones scattered around the trunk. A pathologist concluded that the remains belonged to a woman  who had been placed in the tree about 18 months previously (October 1941) while still warm. She h…
Read more

The Truth about Clara Bauerle

By -
Image
Who was Clara Bauerle? What really happened to her? To begin with, we have to recognize that Clara Bauerle's name could be spelled in a variety of ways:      Claire/Cläre/Clära/Clara
     Kläre/Klära/Klara
     Bauerle/Bäuerle
If one searches long and hard on the internet, one can find the following information on the singer/actress known as Clara Bauerle.

Early Life & Movie Career
Clara was born 27 August 1905 in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

In 1932-1933, Clara had a small part in the movie Die Blume von Hawaii (The Flower of Hawaii) which was released on 21 March 1933.

In 1939-1940, she played a young lady at the ball in the movie Bal Paré which was released 22 May 1940.

Singing Career
Clara also had a music career and by piecing together her recordings, the following timeline emerges: 1940 September - Wenn die kleinen Veilchen blü'n (1608 - Tempo 5035) with Bernhard Etté Orchester1940 September - Die Männer sind schon die Liebe wert (1612 - Tempo 5038 & 4176A) with…
Read more