Revising

For the past several days I have been immersed in revising the second part of my book, Beyond the Stone Eagle Gate. When I first wrote the story, I thought it might be a sequel. However, as it evolved it appeared to be so close a follow-up to David's story, nearly a year later in his life, I now feel it completes his story as a second part. Just yesterday, I rearranged the order of some of the chapters. It amazes me how this simple revision improved the pace and flow. The continuation of David's life now begins Part II and I don't introduce the new main character until chapter two. Of course, my new character is a girl. Her name is Sarrie and she is feisty yet loving as she cares for her younger brother and sisters. Revising involves reading aloud and closely examining sentence structure and word choice. Working over a completed story doesn't pop me out of bed like creating a new one, but it is important work. The bonus is falling in love all over again with my characters and the lives they revealed to me several years  past.

New story has ended. For now!

Yesterday was a writing marathon. Very early in the morning while I was still in bed, the final scenes of my new book came into focus. I knew I was closing in but expected the final pages to take several more weeks to evolve. But sticking with it paid off. I hope. I'm following advice from many quarters and putting the whole thing away for a while, maybe a month. Then I'll visit it again with a fresh eye. It is a young adult "paranormal" adventure/love story about two hundred pages, nearly sixty thousand words. The story came out quickly and I was shocked to look at my calendar and discover I started it the last week in September. I admit to being obsessed with the story and having to pull myself away to do other writing and everyday tasks. I'll reveal the title now but nothing else: Cross Over. Wish me luck, friends and family.

Critique group support

Every two weeks I join an inspiring group of writers in Mount Dora, Florida. More than conferences and books on writing, what happens when we share our individual efforts really helps us to hone our writing skills. Sometimes major confusions in a story's plot are brought to light by caring, constructive criticism. Other times we explore word choice effectiveness or something as simple as placing attributes for conversation in a varied way. Since we all write for children, keeping close to the character's point of view is always a focus. I marvel at the talent of my fellow writers and rejoice in their successes. Sharing in a critique group gives me renewed energy to create and edit my work. Thank you, Sharon, Kim, Eric, Claudia, and James!

Moving along

Maybe I'm getting the hang of this.  I finally managed to get a pic on the screen that wasn't too large. I'll replace it with pics of book covers as soon as that's possible. In the meantime, I am pumped up by my third revision marathon in two weeks on Stone Eagle Gate. I am so glad I went through it another time. I found more inspiration to add to the ending, and I believe I tightened the narrative in many places. First books are like first children. I feel I have grown as a writer since beginning it so many years ago. I read through a folder recently that had letters and written comments from those who have read it in the past. All looked forward to its being published. As soon as copies are available, I'm sending to family, friends, and editors (who didn't buy it, but encouraged me). I think they'll be pleased.

Wishing for a mentor

The idea of creating a blog about writing appeals to me very much.  But...I am still flying blind here as to set up. The most perplexing thing is how do my friends access and read my blog? Do I need to set up a website first?  I hope to find the answer to these questions pretty soon. In the meantime, I have been busy editing Stone Eagle Gate. Will send it to editor next week.

Getting started

Hello, out there.  This is a first blog entry. For the first time in my adult life I am a full time writer and it is thrilling. The new story I am writing is with me on walks, while exercising at the gym, when I go to sleep at night, and more importantly when I wake up. I am the kind of writer who writes to discover what the story is about, what is going to happen next.  Yesterday I thought my new young adult book was coming to an end. Then, to my surprise, something brand new happened and a whole new adventure presented itself to my main character. At the moment, the new story fills my days and I am finding it hard to make time for polishing previous work. Today, I will work on editing that story first so I can get it out to the editor who requested the entire manuscript. Writer friends and all book lovers, wish me luck!