pbray: (ur-bar)
pbray ([personal profile] pbray) wrote2010-04-18 08:43 am
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A Sith Emperor walks into a bar

Yesterday during the day I read the last of the anthology submissions, and then last night partner-in-crime Joshua and I got together to go through all of the stories. A marathon session, those who know us will be shocked to realize that we went for over two hours before realizing we had yet to break into the chocolate.

The quote that kept coming to mind was one from Return of the Jedi ("Everything is proceeding exactly as I had foreseen") as we realized that our original estimates for average word counts, number of dropouts, etc., were right on target.

We're very happy with the stories submitted, and it's going to be a great anthology.

Interestingly we agreed on almost everything. I'd thought there would be more conflict, since our tastes in books are overlapping not identical. But we both had the same list of favorite stories, both agreed on which author had surprised us most (in a good way). There was one story that resonated more with me than with Joshua, but other than that, we were the most complementary of co-editors. If this was a Project Runway team challenge, we'd spend our time in front of the judges raving about how easy it was to work with each other.

(If this was the Amazing Race, I'd still be stuck at the top of some impossibly tall object, explaining to Joshua that "No, I'm never going to bungee jump/climb from one cable car to another/rappel down a skyscraper/etc." But I digress.)

Obviously massive amounts of work left between now and July 1st, when we turn in the final production-ready manuscript. But the same cheerful optimism that got us into this project will no doubt carry us through the remaining tasks.

And we're already planning our next collection.

[identity profile] mtlawson.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 01:54 pm (UTC)(link)
So....

....how does the joke end? You've got a great intro (a Sith Emperor and a bar), and I want to hear the rest.

Oh, and congrats on the submissions so far.

[identity profile] pbray.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm still waiting for one of the authors to finish the rest of that prompt. That's what editors do, right?

And thanks for the congrats. We're thrilled.

[identity profile] vespican.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
If you do get behind between now and July 1st, perhaps that new writer who has recently appeared on Love Journal could help. I understand that Benjamin Tate resides in the same general area!
Dave

[identity profile] pbray.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Coincidentally enough, Benjamin Tate was invited to submit a story for the anthology, which is being considered.

[identity profile] allaboutm-e.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Kudos on a successful marathon session and all the work that went onti preparing for it.

[identity profile] pbray.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! I'm OCD organized and Josh is eternally optimistic ("Of course we can do this") so we balance each other well.

And we get along--right up until that final square of chocolate. Then the daggers come out and it's all stabbity-stabbity-MINE!

... it's all stabbity-stabbity-MINE!

[identity profile] allaboutm-e.livejournal.com 2010-04-18 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, yeah -- chocolate is at stake.
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)

Re: ... it's all stabbity-stabbity-MINE!

[personal profile] lagilman 2010-04-19 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
during which, a writer sneaks in and takes it...