It's Revision Time :)

Well, I got my edit notes the other day and I was happy to see they weren't as bad as I'd feared :) I actually really enjoy revising. Major rewrites can be stressful (I'm in the middle of that for my current WIP) but just regular old revisions....love 'em :)

Maybe because they are less about getting the story out and more about polishing the story. I've got something to work with and I just need to go layer by layer to make sure everything is as it should be.

Right now I'm working on the little stuff - the line edits and minor tweaks. This is often something I'll save for the end, however I need to pare down the word count a bit, so I want all the new stuff in there so I can see exactly how much I need to cut.

So, little stuff up first. Then the big edit I need do do (some tweakage on the setting and background). And then...time to murder my darling a little bit and trim some wordage :) I think I've actually gotten pretty good at this. Oh, there are a few scenes I'd fight to the death to keep. But then again, those scenes are scenes that work well in the story, scenes that I made SURE worked well :)

For everything else...well, I've gotten good at loping anything from words to massive chunks of manuscript. I save it all in a file, just in case :) but it doesn't bother me so much anymore.

How do you edit? Do you go through the manuscript and do it all at once as you come to places that need work? Or do you do things one at a time (going through the ms with one edit in mind and changing everything pertaining to that particular edit before moving on to another one)? Is it hard for you to cut things?

Blog Chain: Wasssup?

For this round of the blog chain, my very sweet and sassy friend, Cole Gibsen, wants to know:

Are you querying? Gearing up to go on submission? Writing? Revising? I'd love to hear what's new with you. And if you'd like to share a snippet of your WIP, even better!

Well, as I predicted a last week, my epic WIP spurt (2 novels, a novel in verse, and everything else I had going on) was impossible to maintain. So, I have narrowed my focus mainly to one novel, a YA historical. I don't want to say too much about it because it's in the very early stages. Bare bones - it's about 3 sisters who find themselves in dire straits and go to extreme measures to better their situation. There's danger, a treasure hunt, a bit of action, a bit of humor (I hope), and of course, as this is me we are talking about, a healthy dose of romance :D

I do also work on the novel in verse from time to time (you can read excerpts of that HERE and HERE), whenever the mood strikes me or if I just want something fun to do. I am writing that one by hand and I enjoy sitting on the couch with my pen and paper and getting all the words I want in the right order. Kind of like doing a crossword puzzle. Good times. :D Oh, and I want to get revisions going on my last novel...but that will probably wait until my kids start back at school and I actually have a nice chunk of time every day to work on all this.

In my non-fiction world, my manuscript is with my editor at the moment, so I am anxiously waiting to hear what she says. I am totally up for revisions on it, but it is nice to have a NF break for a little bit LOL

I have been slowly working on getting proposals ready for my next two non-fiction books as well. One is almost complete, the other is just a page of notes. I tend to work on these when I'm sick of everything else or just plain stuck. Though I do want them finished in the next few months, definitely by the end of the year.

But, for the most part, I am working on the YA historical, and really having fun with it. I'm not quite ready to post anything from it yet though :)

Be sure to check out the fabulous Laura's projects from yesterday and stop by the awesome Shaun's blog to find out what he's up to tomorrow :)

How about everyone else? What are you all up to?

WIP Wednesday and a Little Poetry

Well, now that the non-fiction is safely in the hands of my editor, I've been focusing on my fiction life. Apparently, I've been spending too much time on the non-fiction, because once I opened that fiction door, a whole mess of chaos flooded through.

I am currently working on two new novels, one a YA historical and one a YA fantasy (I think...it starts in the past, ends up in the present, but contains some magic, which is usually the deciding factor for me when it comes to paranormal vs fantasy).

I am also revising my last novel, finally. And just for kicks, have been working here and there on a novel in verse (written entirely in sestinas and villanelles). And believe it or not, I'm actually managing to make good progress on all four projects.

I have no doubt about my abilities to keep this up - I'm going to have to focus on just one (maybe two) projects at some point. But for the moment, I'm having a fiction blast.

I thought I'd post one of the sestinas from the verse novel. (A sestina is a 39 line poem that repeats the same six ending words in a particular pattern. You'll notice every line in this poem ends with the words: hands, touch, blood, breathe, his, you - in a specific order. The last three lines each contain two of the six words).

For those of you who have been with me a while, this novel is based on the sestina I posted a long while ago about the group of men who are wolves during the day and men at night. This is a continuation of that story. (Click HERE to read the first poem)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He holds my face so tenderly, in hands
that had just killed. For me. Fingers gently touch
my cheeks. His lips kiss away my tears, my blood.
“Breathe,” his whispers. His lips brush mine. “Just breathe.”
I shudder, my breath escaping at his
command. “For you,” I sigh, “only for you.”

Howls fill the night air. “They can’t find you
with me. Go!” He freezes, his eyes on our hands,
clasped between pounding hearts. The horror on his
face mirrors that on my own. One last touch,
A quick caress. He wavers. “Go,” I breathe.
He steps back, back, raised hand stained with dark blood.

Mine, his, theirs. His pained howl rips through my blood,
burning his image on my soul. “For you,”
I whisper again, unwilling to breathe,
unable to stop. They’ll come for me, hands
grasping, to return me to our master’s hands.
“Go!” I plead. One last look and he runs, his

tortured fury echoing through me, his
pain my own. They come, see me bathed in blood.
“Who did this?” they ask. I shrink from their touch.
Gently they lift me, murmuring “Let us help you.”
I swallow my protests, settle into their furred hands.
They don’t suspect. He’s gone…and I can’t breathe.

They carry me through dark forests. I breathe,
praying they are distracted and miss his
scent on me. We reach the entrance. Their hands
quickly roll aside the stone door. My blood
drips, drips to the floor. “What happened to you?”
they ask again. I wince with every touch.

I bite my lip, wanting only his touch.
Cleaned up, many wounds left open to breathe,
they wait for answers. “Who did this to you?”
Impatiently now. Then they turn and his
face comes into view, already healed, blood
gone. “Jarek,” they say, bowing. Jaw clenched, hands

fisted, hands aching like mine for one touch.
“Who spills your blood?” he growls. I don’t dare breathe.
Face cold, closed, his anger burns. I say, “You.”

Teaser Thursday

Okay, since this book is one chapter from being finished (with an interested agent :D), I thought I'd post a little teaser. :) This is a bit from chapter 16. My MC is a 17 yr old girl named Kesi Alexander. (thanks BJ!!) :D



The second Gerry rang the bell, we both started circling each other, crazy, anticipatory grins on our faces, hideously distorted as they were by our mouth guards. Gerry stood on one side of the ring, shouting encouragement, while Rachel’s coach did the same on the other side. Rachel’s mother had come and was watching with that slightly pained expression that mothers often get when their children are about to do something that is probably going to end badly. I was glad Netty wasn’t there.

Then Rachel threw a punch that connected to my chin and I narrowed my focus to her. She got in a few more good jabs, but I barely felt them. My blows glanced off her but seemed to be affecting her more. I smiled, grinding my mouth guard between my teeth. I had her; I knew it. I was going to knock her out before our first round was over.

We circled each other a few times, each fending off minor hits. Then my chance came. She dropped her hands, just a little, but it was enough. I aimed a low punch with my left hand and as she tucked to protect her ribs, I let my right fist fly.
My glove connected to her face. Her head whipped around with sickening crack. I saw her eyes for a split second. She looked...surprised. And then she went down. She didn’t move again.

Gerry went nuts. He jumped in the ring, picked me up, and swung me around. “I knew you could do it, I knew you could!”

But I just shook my head, murmuring, “No, no, no, no,” over and over. I couldn’t take my eyes off Rachel. She lay motionless in the ring, her coach frantically trying to revive her. Gerry saw what was going on and stopped celebrating. He put me down and rushed to her side.

Rachel’s coach looked up and stared at me, his eyes horrified and accusing. Her mother was shrieking into the cell phone on her ear. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink. I just stared at the girl on the ground while the sound of ambulance sirens filled my head. What had I done?

WIP Wednesday and a Reading List Update

Quote of the Day:

You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald

This week seemed like a slow week, but I did actually get some work done. I've been working on my non fiction book - I am aiming to have my proposal done by June 1st so I can begin querying. I was able to finish my two sample chapters this week, complete with critiques and edits. I am so proud :D

In fiction news, work was still slow, but I did get a little bit accomplished. Here are the updated stats....

Notebook pages filled: 146 (front and back - total of course, not just this week) :D

Pens drained dry: still 5, but #6 is getting low

Approximate total word count: 43,800/70,000 = 63% complete

READING LIST 2009 UPDATE


Yes, that's right, I finally read another book! Wahoo! Yesterday, I received my long awaited copy of Charlaine Harris's new Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead and Gone. I started reading after dinner and finished it around 1 this morning. LOVED IT! *sigh* now I have to wait for the next one :D I'm not sure what number this is on my list (I think it's 18) but I'll post this and go check and list it once I find out. (Just checked....Dead and Gone makes #19) :D

How is everyone else doing with their projects and reading?