Congratulations!

Not too surprising considering my last post, today I put those lovely words on the page: The End.

Coma Wedding is the first novel I have completed since my NaNo almost two years ago on November 30th of 2007. If you’ve been following for a bit, you’ll possibly remember that a medical mystery knocked me silly all of last year and so this is a major win :).

That said, this story is not what I’d consider my normal fare, though elements of it do cross over with other stories. I thought From the Sea was hard to classify (originally Selkie), but Coma Wedding takes it a step further.

This is a romance with no on-screen sex–heck, no sex at all, though a honeymoon has certain implications :). It is a time travel story with no explanation of the event beyond the fates, and the characters don’t believe in time travel despite having to admit it happened in this one unique case. Yes, there’s a ghost. No, he doesn’t haunt, he doesn’t scare little children, and he isn’t trapped there until some great wrong is undone. He hangs around because something is unfinished, true, but he’s so unghostlike that both he and the others often forget his lack of corporeal form until his chill reminds them.

And most importantly, it ends just after the honeymoon…when the Laura gets an offer to return to the industry she loves–in other words, a job.

I haven’t reread it yet. It could be the most horrible, mixed-up story ever, but I really don’t think so. The characters caught me and wouldn’t let go. They dragged me through the chaos of their tale, refusing to settle into any known pattern and refusing to compromise even on something as simple as length. I thought 80k-90k was reasonable…they thought differently.

Whether this story will find a home, I cannot say. Of all my outlier novels, I think this is the furthest out. On the other hand, because it has a (mostly) contemporary setting, because it’s about "normal people" despite the strange things that happen to them, it may have an easier time finding a place. After all, the mainstream market tends to be rather egalitarian, even if science fiction and fantasy aren’t as welcome. Good thing then, I guess, that the time travel isn’t explained :).

And stats:
New Words: 0 words
80 scenes
80 complete – 100% of the novel
0 Scenes remain
0 Remaining word count
107039 Estimated length – with an average of 1338 words per scene.
107039 Current Total

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10 Responses to Congratulations!

  1. darsjournal says:

    It sounds really interesting.

  2. baka_kit says:

    Woot!

    Congratulations, Mar!

  3. david_bridger says:

    Well done! 🙂

  4. shadawyn says:

    Sounds very cool, and I’m glad you’re back on your feet! I’ve been out of touch for way too long. 🙁

  5. marfisk says:

    Thanks :). And that’s good, cause maybe it’ll find a home somewhere if it’s interesting to anyone but me :D.

  6. marfisk says:

    Thanks :). Now of course someday you’ll read this book and say what WAS she thinking ;), but it was an interesting run while it lasted.

  7. marfisk says:

    Thanks :D.

  8. marfisk says:

    Well, I’m not going to quibble on the out of touch, but I’m thrilled that you’re coming back INTO touch :). Thanks. It’s been a crazy time for a bit, but I seem to have rolled with that particular punch and come up on my feet.

  9. bonniers says:

    With a book called “The Time Traveler’s Wife” on recent bestseller lists, I don’t think you have to worry about the subject not being acceptable to the mainstream.

    There’s a lot of SF stuff being published as mainstream these days. The only difference is, it’s mostly not called SF. It’s just a story about whatever.

  10. marfisk says:

    LOL, I like that. Once Upon a Coma is very much “just a story about whatever.” But I like to think it’s a good story :).

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