Wow, how is it mid-December already?

Between NaNoWriMo and holidays time has slipped away from me.

I’m working on getting ready for a family trip, as well as (okay, I admit it, slowly) working on fixing the mess I made out of my NaNo project. Somehow I managed to make a 30k word project take up more than 50k. How? By changing things in the middle and rewriting scenes with out going back and removing the wrong stuff. Now I’ve got to do that. It’s not what I want to do… I want to binge watch Bones… but it must get done so here I go.


Book number 8

it’s off to my beta readers…. They are some really good friends. good enough to be honest about what’s missing and what sucks. They’ll also help me name it… I don’t have one yet. Usually the name comes to me somewhere about half way through, but this time I’ve got nothing. When I know what I’m gonna name it, and figure out a release date, I’ll let you all know.


The Devil’s in the Details…

All of them. I’m sure you know I’ve been working on revisions (I’ve certainly not made any secret of it.) In revisions or rewriting you play with a lot of details, make sure some of them are consistent and others vary. It takes time and sometimes it can be tedious, but it always pays off in the end. Personally I go over every manuscript at least five times, sometimes more, before I let anyone else read it.

Am I the only one this obsessive?


Lost in a never-ending chasm of rewrites.

At least it seems like it. For the last several weeks (pretty much since the first of the year,) I’ve been working on revisions of several projects. I move back and forth, rotating with whichever is on my mind at the moment.

I have had a couple of new ideas, I took careful notes and I’m letting them build, but they’re not quite ready yet. In the mean time, I have deadlines and a publication date to meet, so revisions it is. Revisions are just as important as drafting, as they’re where you make it good. First drafts are crappy, they’re supposed to be crappy, but through revisions and rewriting we turn crappy drafts into something that sparkles and shines.

To me, progress on revisions is less obvious. At the end of the day you don’t have a significant word count added to what you started with, and if, like me, you don’t work in software that gives you pages(except for the final revision), you don’t have a page finished count. That doesn’t mean it’s not just as, if not more, important.

So back I go into my seemingly bottomless pit of revisions. When I come out I’ll have at least one fresh, clean manuscript ready for the publisher.

 

How do you do it?


November, and NaNoWriMo are over.

I did  manage to make my 50k words, though, it was only due to some marathon days at the end. I’m glad it’s over and we’ll have our TGIO party next week.

Now, however, it’s time to go back to Hunt and finish my rewrites. I started today and I already have several chapters done. I’m eager to finish this so I can send it out for edits and then get it out to you. I’m hoping you’ll find it as intriguing and absorbing as I did… Now I just have to get it done so you can find out.


The end approaches.

I’m hard at work on Hunt, hoping to finish the first draft before the end of the month, then I’ll set it aside and work on an entirely different project (one that’s been percolating in the back of my mind for a few months now) for NaNo, before coming back to Hunt for rewrites, and then edits, in December. If all goes well, should be able to release Hunt in the early spring. Fingers crossed.

I’ve also started making notes for the next Kitsune book, I don’t know what it’s going to be called yet, or even what it’s really about, that will come with time and writing. 🙂

In the mean time, I have a long list of Guest Authors coming to the site, and more being scheduled all the time, the list can be found on the right hand side of the page. I do my best to keep it up-to-date, so keep an eye on it, new names are appearing all the time. I hope you’re enjoying seeing some new blood, and I hope to even review a few of them after NaNo.


Breakthrough.

I’ve been struggling with a single scene all week. I knew it wasn’t working, I knew I had to do something different, but I didn’t know why or what to do.

This morning, after I was ready to beat my head against the wall, I went into the bedroom to lay down for a while. As I lay in that half awake, half asleep state, it clicked. Suddenly I knew what I needed to do. It was almost as though my characters had spoken to me, told me what needed to be changed.

I made the changes and continued on, making a large amount of progress since. I feel much better about the whole thing and I look forward to a productive weekend.


Busy Busy.

In the last few days I’ve rewritten roughly 150 pages. That’s on top of all the things I usually do, like writing group, knitting group, running kids to and from school, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, etc. I still have quite a ways to go, but I thought 150 pages was good progress for three days work.


First day of rewrites.

I hit 50 pages edited, I feel good about it. I still have quite a bit to go, but 50 pages for the first day is a great start. I’ll keep at it and soon we’ll have the sequel to Change.


Making time for Family.

I recently finished the first draft of Fight, the second book in the Kitsune series, and I’ve set it back on the shelf for a couple of weeks to let my mind rest a little. In the mean time, I’m making some time for family. Taking a trip to visit my dad and grandfather, the kids will be on spring break soon, and the old man is off while the kids are on spring break, the two things together means getting anything done will be next to impossible.

After spring break is over (basically, after Easter,) I’ll pull up Fight and start rewrites. It’s not a simple process but I have high hopes for where the story is going. I’m excited about this installment in Nickie’s story, and already plotting out what will happen in the third book, I just have to keep working to bring it to life. It won’t be fast, and it won’t be easy, but hopefully it will make for a better book. I’m hoping to have Fight available by the end of the summer, but I’ll let you know more as things get closer to that goal.