Repurposing a First Novel

This week on Authors Answer (which I forgot to post a few days ago. Oops.), we talk about Foreign Language Novels.

Also a few days ago, that I'm just now finally catching up on, author Jim C. Hines did an entertaining presentation at our NaNoWriMo regional TGIO party. He has a new book out that is also an entertaining read. Having seen him in person, the commentary on the page comes alive.

He had a fun idea with this new book, Rise of the Spider Goddess. After successfully publishing a shelf full of books, he went back and pulled out his first novel that never made it to publication. Like most of us, he know realizes that first novel sucked.

Rather than putting it back and trying to forget it ever happened, he decided to publish it as is, but now with commentary sprinkled throughout as to why it sucks. Think of it as a self-depreciating guide to what not to do. I thought it was a rather creative and productive use of an old project. We've all been there so his mistakes were easy to relate to. Learning to overcome the mortification of their existence to the point where one can laugh at them is also a good thing. If you're looking for a laugh along with the opportunity to possibly learn a few things, give it a read.