60 Pages of Ugly Fat

I am so HUGELY grateful to Leila right now - she showed me where Ax REALLY begins.  It's a beautiful thing having writing partnerships you can trust, and it's an even better one when a fairly profound piece of critique means you can slice off SIXTY PAGES of a manuscript without extreme issues with continuity.  At this moment, The Ax and the Vase opens in 481 AD, at the point where Clovis' father, Childeric, is fighting beside Odovakar  at Angers - a setpiece where Clovis draws (and loses) his first blood.

Leila, though, tells me in reading the manuscript, where her excitement truly came into play.  And it makes sense: the story of a king doesn't start with his first battle.  It starts - obviously - at his crowning.  This is the point at which Clovis becomes CLOVIS - becomes Clovis I.  The point at which he becomes king.  This novel is about the king - not the prince.

This novel begins, not with the setpiece of a battle - a battle which, it must be pointed out, is in fact a minor one even in the career of a then-obscure Frankish scion of minor royalty not even yet proved - but with the point at which this character gains his power.  And begins to exert it.


Thank you again, Leila.  And, yep - I am excited to start carving!