Yup, I'm Back......

Yes, it's true, I'm back!!! Okay, I know, it's been a LOOOONG time since I've posted. Let the flogging ensue. However, I have been legitimately busy. Here's my list of excuses:

1. Daughter graduated.
2. Because I signed up for After Grad Duty, I was also busy arranging a kick-ass party for said daughter and her grad class (can anyone say fire dancers and bonfires??)
3. Sent daughter to India for five months. No, this was not because she was naughty, she actually wanted to go. Check out Latitude Global Volunteering. This kid is amazing and has a heart for the underpriviledged. She is an amazing writer, and her blog blows me away. I really love her....and she comes home Christmas Eve. *sigh*
4.Went to Italy with DH. Okay, I know, you feel really sorry for me right now. But seriously, we have been planning this trip for.....well, forever really. We have never been away for more than a week since we've been married, so this was our first ever BIG trip ( 2 1/2 weeks!) And we've been married for 23 years, so that's a really long time to plan this trip. And I must say, it turned out just as we hoped. Lots of vino and pasta and architecture. I even made him go through the Vatican, that's how much he loves me! (and he made me ride a vespa, that's how much I love him!) Muchos thanks to Rick Steves. I would have been lost without his awesome guide books, especially with a husband who doesn't do tours!
5. Got the boys settled in the new school year. Grades 11 and 8, respectively. This sounds easy on paper, but there's lots to it that I don't even want to get into. Trust me.
6. Got the final feedback from my awesome editor and finished final revisions on IGNITE.
7. Sent IGNITE off to agents and entered Querydom......
8. Joined NaNoWriMo with great intentions to make serious headway on WIP #2.

So there you have it, that's what I've been doing since my last post. Well, that, and swimming in the pool, and fishing, and going to the beach, and....you get the idea.

I Need A Dose Of Literary Fibre

I am shamefully negligent when it comes to posting on my blog. I faithfully read other blogs every day and get inspired and encouraged. Yet, when it comes to my own, I let it wither, just like the plant my Mom gave me for Christmas. It sits in a corner, all dry and sad, just waiting for me to notice it and give it some attention. Oops!

So, my new goal is to become more regular in posting here. Not sure how often that will be right now, but ultimately I want to be showing up three times a week.

And now is a perfect time to do that, because my WIP is back in the hands of my trusty editor. Yet again I am playing the waiting game, biting my nails and obsessively checking my email every five minutes.

Good thing it's spring break and I have the kids to keep me distracted.

Don't give up on me! I will have more to say, I promise!

The Lonely World of Revisions

I've been hiding away in my writing hole for the last month, working hard on revisions to my WIP. Early in December, I had the opportunity to have it read and critiqued by a professional editor. With much fear and trembling, I waited through Christmas and New Years for his reply. When it finally came in early January, I was thrilled to receive ten pages of notes on his thoughts. Wow, ten pages!

He had a lot to say. He pointed out what I was doing right, and what worked (yay!). Then he graciously showed me where my weak spots were, and what I needed to change in order to make it a marketable book.

The changes were big. Basically, the whole first half needed big changes. Which I kind of already knew, but needed someone to explain WHY it wasn't working. Which he did! I knew he was right about everything he said. But did I have the guts to rip it apart, once again, and make it better?

Of course. That's what we writers do. To help me summon my courage, I picked up a couple of books on editing and flipped through them. I found this quote:

"Keep working. Keep trying. Keep believing. If you don't have calluses on your soul, this isn't for you. Take up knitting instead." -D. Eddings

YES!!! Isn't that the truth!

So, I braced my soul and began to rip and tear. I tried wrapping my head around each scene, and figure out what should stay and what needed to go. I tried a computer program that was supposed to make it easy, but after two hours of pulling my hair out, I gave up and tried an old fashioned method. Here's what I did.

And it worked! I wrote out every scene, and stuck it on my bedroom window. (Note the snowy back yard....nice backdrop, isn't it?) Then I re-arranged to my hearts content, knowing that I could always stick a scene back in if I needed to, without worrying that I'd lost it in cyber space.
I liked being able to see every scene all at once, and really got an idea of where the book was lagging, and what scenes weren't driving the plot forwards.

My husband walked in and laughed at me.
My daughter walked in and said, "Now you're a real writer. You've gone crazy."
True, that.

We must be crazy to rip and tear at our babies until they resemble nothing of their original state. Over, and over, and over again.

However, when that baby gets brand new arms and legs, it starts looking better. Prettier. More interesting. And that's what keeps us going, isn't it? The promise, the potential. The possibilities.

Don't give up!