Waiting Doesn't Mean Stopping

Waiting to hear back from several query submissions and researching good fits for more. One rejection so far, but that's okay. Not everybody is a match, nor is every book and agent. I will find my Mr. or Ms. Right Agent when the match is right.

Now, back to the title of this post. Though The Special Project is my first baby, it's not going to be an only child. So, while I'm waiting on Mr. or Ms. Right Agent, I'm also moving on to my next book venture - not sci-fi this time, but another fiction novel. This one will be about a young woman in a not-so-great relationship, bogged down by a new, demanding career, who, after a medical crises, finds herself transformed into a dream state so real...

Sorry, don't want to give too much away. It could all change at this point anyway. I'll have to wait and see where the story takes me. :)

Happy Writing! Happy Reading! It's Banned Book Week, pick up a banned book and enjoy!

Let the Queries Begin!

I started sending queries over the weekend (September 7th, 2013, to be exact). There are so many talented agents out there. I can't wait to find just the right partner with whom to learn and grow throughout what I know is going to be an incredible journey!  :)

Third Time's The Charm?

Hi All,

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy, busy, busy working on my manuscript. I spent the day at Barnes and Noble (my two furry girls make it tough to concentrate at home right now) tying up loose ends from my third round of reader comments. After I finished that, I started reading back through the manuscript and I think the third time's the charm! It looks pretty good, so far. Woooohooooo!

I've also started working on a query letter. I'll soon be sending that out to my reader friends for feedback, too, but I've made a strong start (if I do say so myself, lol). It won't be long before I'm sending out queries! YAY! :)

What do I want for my birthday (in September)? An agent! What do I want for Christmas? A publisher!

Happy Writing!

Status

Okay, so I still suck at this blogging thing. Every spare minute I have, I work on my novel, so the blog tends to fall through the cracks. I want to document this process though, so here's where things stand:

After I finished my last round of revisions (based on my November 2012 feedback), I took a couple more months to read back through the manuscript, smoothing and polishing as I went. Then I handed it off again to my trusted readers, which this time included a very talented author. I absorbed every one of their verbal comments in a feedback session and now have all their markups spread out on my table ready to dig in. I can't wait to incorporate their invaluable feedback into my next round of revisions. It's getting closer! I just wish I had unlimited time to devote to revisions and everything else it takes to craft a well written story that any agent/publisher would be happy to represent. I've decided if that takes selling my house and cutting back on my brain-frying job then that's what I'll do. And after all that, if I die without reaching my goal of becoming a published author, at least I'll leave this world with no regrets about whether I gave it all I had. And that's okay too. :)

Now, back to my novel, coming soon to a bookstore near you. ;)

Two Years - Five Drafts

Two years ago this month (January 10th to be exact), I started writing, and writing, and writing, and haven't stopped. With no experience whatsoever, I finished a novel in 5 months. I didn't know what else to do at that point but send it out. Yes, I was clueless. It stunk of course, but one agent was nice enough to include some direction in her rejection letter. I researched every piece of advice she'd given me then dug back in. This time I knew the task of writing a good novel was more than I could handle on my own. So, I signed up for a class through Word's Worth Writing Center (www.wordsworthdayton.com). I highly recommend this place! The class was taught by uber talented author Katrina Kittle (www.katrinakittle.com). Draft #2 showed improvement over draft #1. Then more classes and workshops through Word's Worth and Antioch Writer's Workshop (www.antiochwritersworkshop.com) helped drafts #3 and #4 get better still.

A full manuscript read through from some awesome trusted writer friends in November has kept me pecking away at the keyboard for the last couple months working on the biggest revisions yet. Last night, one day ahead of my plan, I finished draft #5. WooHooo! It is still a draft that needs to be smoothed and polished, and it could have more revisions in its future, but I'm one step closer. Yay!

Happy New Year!

I'm so excited to see how far I can take my manuscript in 2013! I received such useful feedback from my beta readers in November and have jumped back in revising, revising, revising. I've decided to go from one POV (Point of View) to at least three, bring in new scenes and include others that were just hinted at before, do some pace corrections and modify the overall tone of the main character. So far, I like it much better but have a lot of work left to do to complete these changes. Thanks Ruthann, Jen, Christina, Cindy, Al, Den and Destany for the wonderful feedback! You've put my story on a better path.

My goal for 2013: Finish all my revisions and polishing, run my manuscript through an editor, flood agents with good, solid query letters, get an agent, GET A BOOK DEAL and bring these characters to life for all to meet!