Post 2: ISO Beta Readers ISO: Editor for Keep Living. Love, Kent. Fiction/Nonfiction Tragedy/Romance Historical

[P. E. Knapp]

Hello everyone,

Let me start off by saying that this story, Keep living. Love, Kent. (Final Name is TBD) is based on actual events that occurred in the 1979 to 1992 timeframe. Which way this story goes after that is TBD. That is because there are many dark, tragic events being discussed. To include, rape, abuse, drug use, AIDS, death, murder and the list continues. There are two versions of this story written. One follows the MC continuing life alone for twenty years before a new relationship begins. The second follows the path of the MC's change after the loss to build into a polyamorous relationship. I'm still deciding if I will release one or the other. Or possibly both. That being said. They are loaded with triggers, mentioned above, that may affect people. Please be warned. Consider this a Do not read if you don't want to see these items warning. I completely understand why you would not!  If you believe this would not trigger you, please continue.

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ISO: Beta Readers:

I'm looking for Beta Readers. 2 or three, preferably, to read and provide constructive feedback on the romance tragedy book Starting in 1979 and going to 2020. This is a LGBTQ Tragedy Romance. Life of the Survivor, type story. Sex, Graphic Violence, Sensitive Content, Profanity.

I've taken it as far as I can by myself and need eyes reading to see problems I need to solve, that being said. 

I need Beta Readers to read the entire book or books (approximately 110k words each), chapter by chapter, starting with the Prologue up to the current ending at Chapter 22. I am envisioning starting this within the next few weeks. These are clean chapters. Meaning I have edited them down the best I could. There should be no spelling, grammar, punctuation, or word choice errors. Read, submit feedback and thoughts on plot, character development, pacing, tone. How do they sound? Are they believable? Is there a smooth transition between scenes, or is it sounding forced and jumping all over the place? Should I tone down the various incidents or death, drug use, abuse? I don’t know how much is too much as I feel I have been desensitized to it.

I'll work through the feedback and decide if I want to make any changes, then we reread to repeat the process on the rewritten chapter to ensure I didn't make it worse, before I send it to an editor. 
 

Lots of work. I hope to be able to do a chapter a week, but that depends on our workflow ability, more if possible. So, I need people that can make a long-term commitment. I write in Scrivener and transfer to Word for online publishing. Word is preferred, but Google docs may be an option to share.

 

ISO: Editor:
Looking for an Editor that likes and understands Tragedy Romance, Military, Life of the Survivor type story, ect. 
After I have sufficiently worked out the feedback of the Beta Readers. It's time to let the Editor loose on the project. What does that entail? I have no idea beyond fixing or suggest fixes to enhance the story? Never having had an editor before. I have used a few Beta readers to help me catch problems that pop up during reading, but I envision an editor to take the story and polish it for publication. I'm looking for someone who has done this before and can provide links to examples of previous works. 

Lots of work. I hope to be able to do a chapter a week, but that depends on our workflow ability, more if possible. So, I need people that can make a long-term commitment. I write in Scrivener and transfer to Word for online publishing. Word is preferred, but Google docs may be an option to share.

Thanks for your consideration in these positions.

First few paragraphs of the Prologue.

We were taking one of our morning walks down on Ocean Beach. It’s a ritual of ours when we come up to San Francisco to visit friends. Bryan always loved the water and beach with its sand dunes. We have traveled to Cape Cod. Another place Bryan likes to go. We’ve been to many places with our friends. Most of which we have known for twenty years or more. 
“Are we staying another day?” I asked. Bryan looked around and then, satisfied, leaned into me for a kiss.
“No Alex. We can head back after lunch so you can be back in the office on Monday.” Bryan said.
“Thanks baby. Love you too.” He smiled as he shifted our direction and headed for one trail through the dunes. 
The sun had just made it over the horizon by this point and Bryan knew I loved walking among the shadows of the dunes. Watching for the seabirds and other wildlife as the sun continued to rise. Some of said wildlife is on two legs too. Today was no different, except it was laying in the fetal position, shaking and murmuring incoherently, which sounded like stop or don’t. We stopped walking and Bryan looked around. Seeing no other people, he sighed. I turned slightly and saw the tattered sneaker behind the clump of dune grass by some shrub brush. Tugging Bryan’s hand, and we moved towards it to check it out. Probably needing to call the police for another beating. Finding a gay person beaten in the dunes is a common occurrence in 1979. As we got closer, we saw the malnourished kid. Fourteen, maybe fifteen years old. Clothes tattered. Breathing ragged and tear streaks on his bruised and dirty face. His pants were still hanging around his knees. Blood caked sand around his ass. 
“Alex. Jesus. He’s just a fucking kid,” Said Bryan as he dropped on his knees next to him, trying to check him for other injuries. I’m sure Bryan had the same flashbacks I did of all the cruelty we’ve seen inflicted on gay people. People hate you just because of who you love As I pulled the handkerchief out of my pocket and poured some of my black coffee on it. Wiping his ass carefully to remove the sand as Bryan pulled his sleeves up. Scrutinizing his arms closely. Bruised and covered with needle marks. 

Last paragraph of the Prologue.

I held them both tight as I tried to fight the emotions burning through my body. A week ago, I wished I could die. I even tried twice to get up from the cold sand and make my way towards the ocean. I could step in and it would all be over when I put my head under the water. The currents would pull me out and away from my miserable life. Then these two discovered me. I whimpered one last time for them to not hurt me, but I felt them brushing off the sand and cleaning me before they practically carried me to a car. The next few hours were a haze of people and needle pricks, questions, cold metal on my chest and back. By dinner, they had me eating soup and an IV feeding into my arm, with many plans for me. Now I have rested and eaten for days. Had multiple discussions with them and the doctors, with drugs to help ween me off the heroin. Dr. William had made appointments for me with doctors he knows down in Los Angeles. The drive down was long and sometimes quiet as I looked out the window at the world around me. I had two new suitcases filled with my new clothing in the trunk and now this room. It’s huge and all for me. In another year, I can get a car too. I couldn’t stop the tears that fell as I felt like I was home for the first time in my almost fifteen years of life. I felt like I was loved for the first time by someone other than my little brother. 

Edited July 22, 2024 by P. E. Knapp

[LJCC]

A short excerpt of the story would be nice so that at least beta readers and editors would have an insight into what they're signing up to do concerning your writing style and the flow of your story.

 

[P. E. Knapp]

13 minutes ago, LJCC said:

A short excerpt of the story would be nice so that at least beta readers and editors would have an insight into what they're signing up to do concerning your writing style and the flow of your story.

 

Thanks for the idea LJCC. I'll drop a few parts from the Prologue.

[P. E. Knapp]

8 minutes ago, P. E. Knapp said:

Thanks for the idea LJCC. I'll drop a few parts from the Prologue.

I edited the main post itself. Formating came out screwed up, but I just copy and pasted from Scrivener.

[kbois]

If you don't use an editing program, I suggest checking out Grammarly or ProWriter. They do wonders for catching a lot of different issues. There are also a lot of great articles on this site in the archives. Check out the blogs Comicality used to post. (We lost him way too soon) He had a lot of insightful tips. 

Good luck!

[P. E. Knapp]

7 minutes ago, kbois said:

If you don't use an editing program, I suggest checking out Grammarly or ProWriter. They do wonders for catching a lot of different issues. There are also a lot of great articles on this site in the archives. Check out the blogs Comicality used to post. (We lost him way too soon) He had a lot of insightful tips. 

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I use ProWritingAid, but for posting I drop it into Word first from Scrivener, then post here. It comes out cleaner as the formatting holds up better. I was in a hurry earlier. And the archives have been my haunts for the past few years.