Jealousy

There it is. I admit it. I am jealous. Of a friend and her ability to write. Actually, I have this feeling for several of my friends, but this one in particular... I'd really hate her if I didn't like her so much.

Why the green-eyed monster? Because of her story she sent me to critique. It's her first novel. Up 'til this time, she's been writing software tutorials and other self-help books. This is her first full-length novel. So what's wrong? It's good. Darned good. One of the best paranormal romances I've read in a while. And she cranked out the entire 400 page manuscript in two weeks! And she's got agents panting after her. And it's not even edited - and it's still good.

See what I mean?

It took me nearly a year to write my last 400 pager. And the edits are driving me nuts. I've struggled and sweated blood over this story. And I've been getting nothing but rejections. I've joined writers groups and critique groups. I've attended conferences, taken on-line courses, worked to learn the craft. I've done everything you're "supposed" to do in this business.

Then she comes along and does this.

Again, see what I mean?

Sigh.

But I will swallow my insecurities (hah!) and cheer her on because I really am happy for her. She deserves a break in life and if this is the way it comes, so be it. I will be first in line to get a signed copy when her book comes out and I will help her all I can.

But first, I think I'll take just another day or two to wallow in self-pity.

Week's End

And thus ends another week. As is normal, there were ups and downs. I managed to write my synopsis and cover letter for my latest work and send it off along with the first three chapters. And now I'm working on editing the remainder of the manuscript. It's a very slow process and is often harder than writing the work itself.

My way of editing my own work may not be the fastest, but it works for me. First I go through and highlight all my "trouble" words. These are words like: that, it, just, a bit, only, was/were, feel/felt, and so on. Once they are highlighted, I take all the crits I've received from my crit partners and merge them into one document so I have all their comments in one place. I delete all the "good" stuff and just leave their comments and corrections and print this out.

Then the work begins.

When I find one of the highlighted words, I read the surrounding sentence(s) carefully to see if a stronger word can be substituted. In most cases, the answer is yes. I read over every sentence, every word out loud so I know how it sounds. This is an incredible tool for finding missed words, duplicate words, or repetitions that halt the flow of the story. Next, I compare my version to what my crit partners suggested and make changes as necessary. Once I'm done with that, I go over it again, highlighting different areas according to Margie Lawson's "Deep Editing" class - an incredible on-line class that I highly recommend to any fiction writer. This helps find areas where there is too much exposition or too much (or not enough) setting. It is an aid in balancing the manuscript.

If you think this is a quick job, you've never done a deep edit.

And that's what I'm working on right now.

I've also finished another "judging" book. Seven down, one to go. Whew!

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Teaser: What is the best book you've ever read? Why? What was it about this book that touched you?

Book Signings

I went to my first book signing yesterday. We drove nearly an hour through snow - fortunately, it was the kind that doesn't cover the roads; they were just wet. But visibility was low. But we made it.

The signing was held at a tiny gourmet coffee shop called "One Good Woman" and the ladies there were incredible. They had two tables set up for the four of us with signs and pretty decorations and treated us to sticky buns. The aroma in the place was incredible - and I don't even like coffee. We got set up, then the people started coming in. At various times, the place was packed. Granted, most of the bodies were friends or relatives of the four of us, but that doesn't matter. We had a great time. And even managed to sell a few books!

All in all, my first signing was a success. I know it's something I'll do again.

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Progress last night - critted a ten page short for a friend and worked on the synopses for my new WIP. Have I told you how much I hate synopses? Ugh.

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Teaser: For your future book(s), how would you sign your title page? Would you use a quip, something to do with the book, a generic "enjoy", or what?

EXCITEMENT!

Okay, I know I'm "shouting", but I'm excited. You see, my book--The Shape of Love--is finally out. And it's available not only at the publisher's site (www.draumrpublishing.com), but also at Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

I can't tell you how exciting that is to me. To have a book I can actually hold in my hands. And that other people can find easily at common places to buy books. My fellow author, Misty, called me last night to tell me our author copies will be in today (we each get one). And that the copies we ordered to sell ourselves will also be in (those, we had to pay for). I can't wait to see them. To hold them. To open them and leaf through the pages - and to know that I had a part in this.

Good times. :)