Emerging From the Editing Cave and Sharing News

What happened...

So I got a lot done in the last couple weeks. First off, I finished the monster-expansion project on HIS ROADIE, my first heavy metal romance romance novel.

So please, cross your fingers for me and join me in hoping that the interested publisher picks it up!

Second, I also finished polishing up IRONIC SACRIFICE, book 2 in my urban fantasy romance series, "Brides of Prophecy." I really think this is my best work, but we'll wait for my next batch of beta readers to knock me down a peg and make it even better.

Third, WRENCHING FATE just got its first review up on Amazon and Goodreads and not only was it a raving, five star review, it was from someone I don't know, so they were definitely serious!!! This made my day.

Here's the link!

I also purchased the Domain for my editing service, GRAMMAR SMITH EDITING. The Website is under construction, but if you want to know my rates, send me an email.

What's going to happen...

ARCs will be arriving in a couple weeks for my 2nd historical paranormal romance, ONE BITE PER NIGHT!!! I can't Freakin' wait!!!

I'll be putting up my website for my editing service.

I'll be revising Book 3, BITE AT FIRST SIGHT before passing it on to madam editor.

I was invited to submit a short story to an anthology with a heavy metal theme. Well, it just so happens that I have one! A few years back I wrote a short story about a teenage metal band in a haunted church and it took first place in the Idaho Writer's League's annual contest. So I'm gonna polish it up and make it more metal and see how that goes. The deadline's not until November, so I have lots of room to play.

I'll be starting Book 3 in my Brides of Prophecy series. So far, I don't have a title for that.

So as you can see, Spring is kicking off hella busy! 

The Value of Editing, Revising, and Not Giving Up

I use Grammarly's free grammar checker because it's a nerdastically fabulous source to ensure that you don''t sound like a twelve year old with a MySpace account. 

My first novel took about 4 years. The 1st draft was giant binder full of handwritten pages. Then I was finally able to get a computer, but no internet and type it up. With dreams of book deals dancing in my head, I checked out the latest copy of Writer's Market and mailed out a slew of query letters.

Naturally, that didn't turn out so well. After a few months of dejection, I got an idea for another book.

I hand wrote the pages at work and was encouraged when a coworker snatched them from my hands and demanded to know what happened next. 

I finished it shortly before I was able to get the internet. I immediately googled agents and sent a flurry of email queries. I got a few requests, but mostly rejections.

I tweaked the manuscript and researched the industry and eventually made friends with other authors. Finally I found what I was supposed to have done in the first place: have other people critique it first. Many other writers graciously volunteered. 

Alas, none of them ever sent me feedback, except for one, who critiqued the first couple chapters and flat out said, "I stopped reading here. I'm sorry." 

Thankfully, one saint of a reader made her way through the whole thing and pointed me in the write direction on fixing it.

I rewrote it and found more beta readers.This time, all made it through and provided excellent feedback. None seemed to adore it, however. I rewrote it again before sending out more queries and getting MORE rejections. 

"My book SUCKS!" I wailed, and tossed it in the proverbial trunk and began a new book ...in a completely different subgenre. My 3rd novel, BITE ME, YOUR GRACE ultimately landed me my fist book deal. And that one also endured at least 6 revisions.

However, my previous book, WRENCHING FATE lingered in my mind. Using all I learned from my 3rd book, I completely overhauled and rewrote the 2nd one. It was practically my 4th novel.

I found more critique buddies and guess what: they LIKED it! Alas, with the publication of BITE ME, YOUR GRACE and working on the other books in that series, as well as working on other shiny new ideas, I had little time to work on WRENCHING FATE.

But that story never left my mind.

Whenever I had a spare moment, I utilized the feedback I received from my beta readers and critique partners and revised it again.

And again.

Now it's in the hands of the final batch of beta readers.

And guess what?

They're already messaging me to tell me they LOVE it!! 

The moral of this story is that if you know deep in your heart that you have a good story, it is indeed possible to make it a great, well written story. 

It just takes a TON of hard work, determination, lots of learning, and countless revisions. Utilizing sources like Grammarly, which I mentioned above, as well as reader feedback and learning from your own mistakes can aid you in your journey to success.  

Lessons in Beta Reading, Part I.

In the past 30 days I've read and critiqued 3 manuscripts. In return, my buddies have been working on mine as well. One thing I've learned from doing this is that it helps me to become a better writer. Many of the errors and mistakes I've found in my buddies' stories are often found in my own. Now when my buddies and I go through each other's work we go through it all the way, which means we point out spelling, punctuation, and grammar issues as well as add comments and feedback within the text. Over the course of my reading I've spotted enough patterns to merit two blog posts.

Part One: Common Errors in Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation.

1.) Its vs. It's. Its = belonging to it. It's = It is. Example: It's the biggest one I've ever seen! Its girth is terrifying! (Hey, I'm a romance author. Of course that's the first thing that came to mind.)

2.) Loose vs. Lose. Loose= opposite of tight. Lose = loss of something. Your corset is loose. Your girls may lose their support.

3.) Your vs. You're Your = belonging to you. You're = you are. Ex: Hey, hot guy, you lost your shirt. You're making my tummy flutter.

4.) Each other = 2 words. I had a nasty habit of making it one. Please say I'm not alone!

5.) Questions end with question marks! I blame JR Ward for this one. For some reason her characters turn their questions into demanding statements to emphasize how manly pissed off they are...or something. It worked for a bit but got old fast. "What are you doing." = wrong. "What are you doing?" = no headache.

6.) Plural nouns vs. Names anding with S. For some reason a lot of people want to treat a main character with a name ending with "S" as a plural noun, which is incorrect. Proper use: Silas's breath caught at the girls' incredible music. Wrong: Silas' breath caught...etc.

7.) Commas and the word "then." I don't know anyone, including myself that hasn't had an issue with this. There is no comma before then! Ex. She filled the pitcher then carried it to the table. NOT She filled the pitcher, then carried it to the table. Don't ask me why that's wrong, it just is. (HEY, DEAN, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, PLEASE TELL US WHY, OH FELLOW NERD PAL!)

8.) Proper punctuation with dialogue. This is was a disease I had until a wonderful beta cured me. Wrong: "Blah blah blah." He said. Right: "Blah blah blah," he said.

I know there's tons more, so please feel free to chime in! Next time I'll focus on structural issues.

10 New Things I've Learned as an "Experienced" Author

After having written eight novels, multiple A-grade academic papers, and a couple award winning short stories, I feel I have the right to call myself "experienced."

However, I am still a newbie in the grand scheme and I have learned a ton of things in the last few years. Some are laughably simple, especially the ones involving formatting manuscripts. Please don't laugh at me, more technically inclined people.

After all, the first one and a half books I wrote by hand in large notebooks because I couldn't afford a computer. So of course when I finally got one, I had to learn how to use the thing along with Microsoft Word. And let me tell you, after nearly five years I am still learning Word. So about half the things on this list will deal with that. :)

Without further ado, here's a few things that have improved my job.

1.) Holy Crap there's a difference between "enter" and "tab?"

Apparently hitting tab instead of enter not only adds an extra space, but it also screws up the format. Paranormal Romance author, Terry Spear, directed me to the little paragraph symbol on my MS Word toolbar. Tabs are revealed as arrows and extra spaces....

2.) Whoa, a better way to find extra spaces without relying on eyesight alone?

That nifty paragraph thingie also reveals extra spaces as dots. When you have them before a paragraph break it looks like the paragraph symbol has a nipple and that makes me giggle. Then I sigh in gratitude that I don't have to rely on my eyes alone anymore.

3.) I will always need fresh perspectives on my work. 

No matter how many tips I've received from other writers or how much I think I've improved, there are still times when I think I've written my best work ever and have others reinforce that belief...and I still need to be struck down by those who know better. Because one's work can and should ALWAYS be improved.

4.) More in depth outlines really help me.

I'm like a hybrid between a "plotter" and a "pantser." I always have the characters and at least a scene or two in mind before I start a project. Then I slowly make placeholder notes of scenes between whatever I'm writing.

However, once you're contracted with a publisher you need to have the synopsis and other plot details figured out often BEFORE you write the first sentence. As daunting as it is, I've noticed that doing so makes writing the book go a whole lot easier as it clears a path away from too many rabbit holes.

5.) Habit words will never cease to haunt me.

Like a persistent and constantly mutating virus, habit words infect EVERY manuscript. Most recent ones have been "Was," "That," "And," "But," and "Now." Critique partners and beta readers are priceless for spotting these buggers. The "Find" feature in Word really helps too.

6.) You can set your preferred font.

I don't know how many times I reopened word to have it automatically reset itself to Calibri 11 and exploded into screaming expletives. I mean, who the hell uses that stupid font? I think I manually reset it and shrieked, "Times New Roman 12, bitch!" for over two years before someone, not even a writer, pointed out, "Hey, you can go to 'set default font' y'know."

It was too much of a happy day for me to kick myself for being a moron. Speaking of which...

7.) Inserting page breaks REALLY helps!

Seriously, I spent 8 manuscripts and countless revisions scrolling up and down entire documents and manually tweaking stuff so each chapter is neatly centered on the top of a new page. Then someone's all "Insert Page Break is a lot easier, y'know." This is another D'oh! moment.

8.) How to center stuff like chapters and scene breaks.

I am so grateful for the times I brought by laptop to the bar. Especially the time my drinking buddy leaned over and said, "Control E."

9.) Other authors are incredibly supportive!

Seriously with everything from promo help, advice, and a shoulder to cry on, other authors have been there for me in ways that have me overcome with gratitude. I hope to repay the favor whenever I can.

10.) How to be assertive about my "I need to work" time.

Being a writer is a work at home job for the most part. Some are lucky to have an office to lock themselves in. I am not. My writing area is the couch with my laptop sitting on a TV dinner table. Couple that with 3 kids, a husband, 3 cats, a dog, and surprise guests and it's damn near impossible to get anything done.

Over the years I've had to learn how to make it clear to others that writing is my job and when I'm on my laptop, I am AT WORK!!! Sometimes it gets through their heads. And sometimes I need to have the feline overlords guard me.

My experience working with an editor.

This weekend I've been working with my editor on BITE ME, YOUR GRACE. On Sunday, she called me around midnight her time.

I'm all, "Wow, you're up late!"
She replies, "Well, I'm reading the most awesome book."
I'm about to say, "Oh yeah, I totally know how that is..." Then I discovered that she was talking about MY BOOK!

WOW, working with a professional editor is AMAZING! At first I was petrified at the intimidating prospect of one of the top romance editors in the country scrutinizing my work. I thought she was going to hate it. But she didn't. In fact, it was almost like talking with my critique partners. She had genius suggestions to make the book its very best. And when I disagreed with something, she didn't get grumpy. Instead we brainstormed together until we came upon a solution we both liked. And it was AWESOME!

I cannot believe how incredible it is to have a professional in the industry who loves my book, believes in it, and is on my side to help me make it shine.

Time zone differences can be tricky, though. :)

Anyway, I can't wait to meet her in person and give her a big hug!

Seeking the The "Holy Grail" of publication. (rerun post)

I'm going to share a few things I've learned about my journey using quotes from the movie, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Hey, someone did it with "Princess Bride."

"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England." 

Getting published takes determination and you likely won't succeed until your 3rd or fourth book.

  "Welcome, brave sir Knight. Welcome to the Castle Anthrax."  

"The Castle Anthrax?" 

"Yes... it's not a very good name, is it? Oh, but we are nice, and we'll attend to your every need."

A good title can get you far.

"Meanwhile, not more than two swallow's flights away, Arthur and Bedivere had discovered something. Oh, that's an unladen swallow's flight away, obviously. There were more than two laden swallow's flights away, four really, if they had the coconut on a line between them. I mean, if the birds were walking, and dragging the coconut..."

"Get on with it!"

Your plot needs good pacing and better not ramble.

"Oh, wicked, bad, naughty Zoot! She has been setting a light to our beacon, which, I've just remembered, is Grail shaped. It's not the first time we've had this problem." 

Be sure to always check submission guidelines to be sure that your manuscript is what they are looking for.

"First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it." 

Follow Directions!!!

"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king."
 

"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. 

"Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you. If I went 'round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away."

You may have some credibility issues with your plot.

 "Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he will give us food and shelter for the night, he can join us in our quest for the Holy Grail."

 "Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he will be very keen. Uh, he's already got one, you see."

They may have already bought something similar.

Finally, they may not be the right publisher for you. But if they do this, you should probably report them to Preditors and Editors.

My 2012 Goals

Besides petting kitties and ogling topless guys, of course.

Since my career as an author has reached a new level, most of my goals will be focused on writing. And... this year I'm not even going to bother anything about keeping the house clean. I'm just going to have to accept my limits.

1.) Make all my writing/editing deadlines in time for my editor: This is the most important one. I need to prove I've got what it takes to be a professional author. Since I'm crazy obsessed with punctuality, I feel optimistic about this one.

2.) Finish book 2 of my regency paranormal romance series: With my awesome crit group on my butt about getting pages to them in time, I KNOW I'm going to make this one. Hell, I even have hope I can...

3.) Finish at least the rough draft of book 3. I already have the hero fleshed out in my mind and I can't wait to tell his story.

4.) Finish revisions on WRENCHING FATE: I'm already getting good critiques back on it. The good thing is that everyone loves the story and characters so I just have some technical issues to sort out.


5.) Find a home for WRENCHING FATE/ the UF series. I already have a few ideas, but my regencies need to come first for now.

6.) Keep track of all writing expenses so I survive tax season next year. My husband says I have the organizational skills of a cement mixer...I better do something about that.

7.) Maintain a strong online presence and continue to build my platform. I love my online community!  

8.) Form and follow a plan of preparations for the release of my debut novel (Spring of 2013) Besides the edits, I know there's a ton of other stuff involved. And I still haven't figured out where I'm going to hold my release party...which is fine now, but as that date comes closer....EEK!

9.) Not go insane as my release date creeps closer. OMG OMG, I'm already on my way. I need to keep remembering to do that thing....what's it called again? Oh yeah, breathing.

10.) Maintain good relationships with my friends and family. I would not have succeeded if it weren't for their love and support.

11.) Quit Smoking on August 13. Yeah, you heard me.

12.) Lose twenty pounds. But I'd be happy with fifteen.

Why I'm doing NaNo this year....sorta.

In the last few weeks I've discovered a small (thankfully temporary) downside to getting a book deal: the "not writing" part. While waiting to begin edits on my novel, I occupied myself with research and notes for subsequent books in the series...but I don't want to go too far and fall in love with an idea only to have my editor not like it. I've also been working at keeping up with my social networking, which thanks to all you awesome people, doesn't really feel like work. But...I MISS writing! I miss bringing characters and adventures to life on the page.

So...mere hours before it started, I've decided to unofficially do NaNoWrimo. I'm doing another novella in my rock star series. Like my last one, it's a pure guilty pleasure project. I've had the premise and some fun scenes floating in my head for months and NaNo gave me the perfect excuse to indulge myself.

In summary, this project is pure playtime in which I give myself full permission to write junk and have fun with obvious and not so obvious references to both fiction and the heavy metal subculture. I.E. In the real world, there's a "Big Six" in publishing and the "Big Four" in Thrash metal. In my fictional world, I have a "Big Six" in thrash metal, LOL. I also named the band in this project, Vishӧus. ;)

Taking great hair and great music to the next level? How can I resist?

But as I have no idea where and if this series would fit in the market, I am not that emotionally invested in it. When the time comes to get back to work on BITE ME, YOUR GRACE, I can close this document without regret.

Because I now realize what NaNoWrimo is all about. Getting writers doing what they do best: WRITING.

Subplots are Tricky: Guest Post by Kinley Baker

Thank you, Brooklyn Ann, for inviting me to Supernatural Smut!

I’m excited to be here and talk about one of my favorite things: subplots. I like to construct stories with a lot of subplots mainly because I like to write in multiple POVs (point-of-views). Like in Ruined, I wrote from the perspective of not just the hero and heroine, but also the villain, the mentor, the seductress and the Book Two hero. Since this was my first novel, I learned a lot about subplots during the editing process. The number one thing I learned is that the subplots must relate to the overall story.

The reason why subplots are tricky is because it’s hard to find a good balance. I personally like when a lot is going on in a novel as long as I can follow along. But my favorite scenes in books are always going to be between the hero and heroine. I love the scenes where the hero and heroine fight, where they make up, where they have those soft moments right before something throws them for a loop. So while I like a lot going on in the story, I always want the focus to be on the couple. This is a little different for fantasy compared to paranormal romance. I think you might find more context and characters beyond the world of the hero and heroine in fantasy novels. But since I’m a fan of both, I try to trend more toward the paranormal romance philosophy where everything should relate back to the couple.

Since Ruined is my debut, I’m still learning how to juggle subplots. I think each book I write makes it easier to discern which storylines belong and which should be taken out. I’m especially excited about Book Two in the Ruined trilogy because I love how one of the side stories ends up impacting the major plot.

I automatically associate subplots with POVs. If I reveal a character in a story, that character should have a compelling reason for being there. I constantly have to remind myself of this. It’s also good to understand the goal, motivation and conflict for the characters involved in subplots, whether or not you show their view point.

Questions I learned to ask during the editing process:

Why is this subplot included?

How does this storyline relate to the overarching theme?

What makes this character view point important to the story?

What would be different about this story if this character and their experiences weren’t in it?

If I took this subplot out, will the main story be impacted? (On this one, if the answer is no, it can be taken out.)

Here are a few Pros and Cons of Subplots:

PROs of Subplots

Incorporating storylines for minor characters can encourage an author to make the smaller characters more interesting. It gives an opportunity for the author to ask, what makes this character tick? What does this character want from this story? It can take a villain who we may see as “bad” and give him motivation so we can understand why he’s bad.

Multiple storylines can help in series. Sometimes including storylines for smaller characters can leave the reader wondering . . . whatever happened to (insert name). . . which means they want to know more about the world you built in Book One.

CONs of Subplots

They can be confusing for readers to follow. If there’s too many things going on, readers may find themselves asking why they should care. This also depends on the reader. Some readers have zero tolerance for subplots. Some really like them.

Readers may wonder about the relation between the minor side stories and the main love story. If they can’t figure it out, they may skip past the sections that don’t involve the hero and heroine.

This is what I’ve learned so far. I think this is a constantly changing thing and heavily depends on the individual story. Fantasy usually involves more subplots. I recently finished a futuristic novella where I just show the hero and heroine, which was very challenging for me. I think it’s a good exercise to step out of our comfort zones and do the things that make us nervous.

Subplots can pull readers into the fictional world or they can distract readers. As long as we’re consciously analyzing which subplot is moving the story forward and which are holding it back, I think we’re on the right track.

What’s your reader preference? Lots of subplots, the fewer the better or somewhere in-between?

Thank you so much, Brooklyn Ann! I enjoyed hanging out today.

BIO

Kinley Baker read her first romance novel at the age of thirteen and immediately fell in love with the hero and the genre. She is the author of the fantasy romance, Ruined, recently released from Crescent Moon Press. As a firm supporter of all supernatural lifestyles, she writes fantasy romance, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy. She lives with her husband and her dog, Joker, in the Pacific Northwest. You can find Kinley at www.kinleybaker.com.

The Sh*t Just Got Real.

Dio always knows the right thing to say. These are indeed words to live by...even though they're a little blurry.

Okay, so I finally got a book deal. Now that the ecstatic joy has gone down to a sane level, (okay, as sane as I can be) I need to begin focusing on what this means for me. The obvious being, no longer can I be considered by anyone (or myself on a bad day) a hobby writer.

Because, the sh*t is real now.

My editor said we have a lot of work to do: namely edits and working on my career path. As it says on their website: Sourcebooks publishes authors, not books.

Career...I haven't heard that word applied to me since I got my degree in automotive. A degree I can no longer use. However, I've been treating my writing as a career for the last two years. I've made self-imposed deadlines, gone through line edits with friends, built up a humble platform, and discovered the value of social networking (other than winning free books.)

But now it's a REAL career. The deadlines will be real, the edits will be through trained professionals who are not going to take it easy on me. My platform and social networking could impact my sales.

I know the work my editor referred to is going to be a lot more than revising BITE ME, YOUR GRACE. Speaking of, when I said that to my husband, he said, "But, I thought you edited it already." The house practically shook with my hysterical laughter.

Anyway, besides polishing that work, there's going to be a multitude of preparations before I make my debut. Namely, what project will be the next focus? No longer can I willy-nilly hop around sub-genres. Not right now, anyway. At first that sounds restrictive...until I remember the anxiety that came from: "What project should I work on next? I have one idea here, and another there!" Now, I will have guidance and help in shaping my personal brand. And that comes as such a relief.

What am I doing now, so early on my journey?

As you can see, I've deleted the progress bars for my other projects from my site until I figure out what I'm working on next. Also, I've finally figured out how to add pages to this blog. Aren't the tabs cute? Those pages are pretty bare for now, except for the one where I list my upcoming guest posts. Check it out. I got some good ones lined up already. The "books" tab is for now a source of happy daydreams of what's to come. As for the "About Me," I'm going to do my best to seem awesome. :)

Because my career is REAL now. Hey, do you think if I say that to the kids, they'll behave and let me work when they're around?

No? ::sigh:: That's what I thought.

Thanks to all who are here for me and been supportive of my journey so far. I'll pop back in and say "Hi" later. Now I gotta go to my Idaho Writer's League meeting, where Shelley Martin and I are interviewing everyone as their characters. To keep the Halloween spirit, we're also bringing some spooky goodies. I carved a pumpkin to "barf" up smoked salmon spread and made deviled eggs to look like eyeballs. Shelley's got pumpkin bread, lady fingers...and a chocolate fountain. It bears repeating: A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN. 

Lynn Rush Talks About Editing with a REAL Editor

Thanks so much Lynn, for giving me an excuse to use this pic!

When I was a newbie writer, I used to read about how authors were deep in edits and had deadlines. I wondered if I’d ever get to do something like that. Would it really be as hard as they wrote about? Would I really disappear for days on end from the social media world to get things done?

Well, I found out pretty quick. March 11^th, 2011 was the day I signed my contract for Wasteland with Crescent Moon Press. It was an amazing day. Surreal, actually.

Within the next few weeks, I got my first round of edits.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

I quickly found out everything I’d read about edits, especially the first ones for us newbie authors, was true.

All the mark ups, suggestions, highlights…Some of my non-writing friends questioned the need for such changes, because why else would they buy your book if they didn’t like it, why change it so much?

Because editors have one thing in mind: Make this story shine. Because if it’s the best it can be, everyone wins.

I totally get it.

But yikes, so many changes? Did I really use the word flesh 192 times? Holy Cow!

Editors come at your novel with a fresh, objective eye. They haven’t been writing the story for weeks, months, years. They aren’t close friends wondering if they’ll hurt your feelings if they say something doesn’t work.

They do this for a living. They know what they’re doing. And they say what they mean. No filters. I really enjoy that, actually! Just tell me what needs fixing so I can fix it. That’s what I need.

Usually the editing process starts with bigger issues. Giving suggestions, ideas, direction on story/plot concepts. Then the following rounds of edits get more focused until it ends with making sure every T is crossed and I is dotted.

How long it takes varies with each publishing house and writer. For me, I signed my Wasteland contract March 11^th, and the book officially released September 6^th.

So, yeah, take in all the suggestions and work through your story, still maintaining your voice. But with the guidance of an editor, your novel becomes what it truly is meant to become.

Are you a newbie writer or author? Don’t worry. You’ll be able to do it. It’ll be scary, might sting a little, but in the end, it’s totally worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. Editors are worth their weight in gold.

~~~~

I’ve got an e-book copy of Wasteland here for one lucky person. So, leave a comment and you’re entered.

I’ll choose a winner tomorrow and contact you, so be sure to leave your email addy in your comment. If you’re not wanting to do that, just send me (lynnrush@cox.net) your email addy and I’ll set it aside in case your name is drawn.

Thanks for having me here today, Brooklyn!

Write on, my friends!

Lynn Rush began her writing career in 2008. She has both an undergraduate and graduate degree in the mental health field and has enjoyed applying that unique knowledge to developing unique characters.

A former inline speed skater and mountain biker, Lynn has been known to test the limits of her athletic endurance. So, when she's not writing, she spends time enjoying the Arizona sunshine by road biking nearly 100 miles per week with her husband of fifteen years and going on jogs with her loveable Shetland Sheep dogs.

Catch the Rush: www.lynnrush.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LynnRushWrites

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LynnRush

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/k6NAZa  

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/pavzwE

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/pbigOg

All Romance Ebooks: http://bit.ly/nujjjp

You Tube Trailer:  http://youtu.be/k-KRE1yMiNk 

Book Blurb:

Bound by the blood contract his human mother signed four centuries ago, half-demon, David Sadler, must obey his demonic Master’s order to capture fifteen-year-old Jessica Hanks. But as he learns more about her, he realizes she may be the key to freedom from his demonic enslavement.

The only obstacle—Jessica’s distractingly beautiful Guardian, Rebeka Abbott. He must not give in to their steamy chemistry, or he will lose his humanity. But fresh off a quarter millennia of sensory deprivation as punishment for not retrieving his last target, he may not be able to resist temptation long enough to save what’s left of his human soul.

Those "in-between" times.

Argh, my internet was down all day yesterday and though it was kinda nice to have a break, it felt really weird. Then again, I've been feeling weird all week. I'm now stuck in the "in between."

As you can see by my progress bars all those projects are complete. I can't start on the 2nd draft of HIS SOLO PROJECT until I hear back from my crit buddies, same deal with the 3rd draft of WRENCHING FATE only for that one I need to find people to crit it.

So now I have nothing to work on. I have 3 stories floating in my head but I'm struggling to decide whether I should start on one, or wait until summer vacation's over. The kids have been making even blogging difficult...and I am behind on my fishing.

Yet, without the writing or revising, I've felt out of touch with everything and have had trouble sleeping. I always do during the "in-between."

I know I waxed big about not agonizing over these things in my Summer Resolutions post. But I've already totally bombed #1 and # 5. :)

What do you do during the "In Between" times? Do they drive you crazy too.

Revise, Revise, Repeat.

I'm one of those strange people who actually enjoys editing and revising...for the first few rounds anyway. I don't edit much during the rough draft, except for correcting typos because they drive me crazy.

At first I follow Stephen King's advice and put it away for a month or so and work on something else. I think everyone should do this since it REALLY helps a ton. Problems become glaringly obvious, yet easy to fix. This revision is the most fun. However, the project is still a "darling" so lots of things get missed.

I then send the revised-but-still-has-problems draft to at least 4 crit buddies and let them rip it to shreds. I get the most valuable help at this stage and have the most fun. If all four say something doesn't work, out it goes. If two out of four say so, then I need to make some adjustments to tone down the issue, or at least clarify it. Quite often I will make a change based on one suggestion because it feels right.

This is when I feel most optimistic about the book and this is when I used to start querying. Not anymore. Someone once referred to revising as moving furniture. They leave scuff marks on the rug. She was right. From roughened transitions to typos, there can be problems. Not only that, but sometimes the right changes weren't made.

So I send it to more crit partners to see how the changes worked. Often they'll point out things the others missed. This is when I begin to be unsure of my story because the feedback is more subjective. Should I really change this scene or character arc when it didn't bother my first batch of readers? And oh, I just got an idea for a new scene, but will it help or harm the story? But...what if the whole story is crap? Should I just give up?

Eventually, I get through the doubts and end up with a polished manuscript that is stronger than ever. Hopefully then it is ready to query.

How do you go about revisions? At what point do they have you tearing at your hair and cursing yourself for ever daring to write the book? 

Author Bonnie R. Paulson's Awesome Editing Trick!

During one of our critique sessions, Carina Press author, Bonnie R. Paulson showed us the coolest trick! I'm pleased to have her here today to share it.

First I’d like to thank Brook for inviting me to her site today.  I look forward to having her on mine in the future.  Hugs, girl!

Without wasting any more of your time, let’s get started!

I’m a writer. At least, I like to think I am. Why is this important? Because writers write. Duh, right? But I’m a writer who writes once then rewrites, revises and edits 90 more times. Editing isn’t an inherent ability. Most of us have read books, taken courses, studied other writer’s work, all in all obsessed over the placement of that comma, the use of big words and the flow and tug of dialogue. (The last paragraph needs the following lesson!)

I am such a writer. Maybe I should call myself a “reworker”.

The most useful self-editing course I have taken comes from Angela James of Carina Press with Harlequin. She offers this workshop called “Before You Hit Send” A self-editing course. It is PHENOM-enal! Kid you not, if you get the chance search it out and attend. Well worth it.

Before I took the course I would print out my manuscript (MS) over 3 times. The first time to do search-and-destroy (coined the term from Rebecca Zanetti), the next to do developmental edits and the last for line edits.  Three times is a heckuva lot of wasted paper.

I wasn’t doing my work justice. The MS needed lots of work, but I was often blinded and didn’t see the weak words – my eyes would gloss over them in the never ending sea of black and white. Try searching for 300 words in an ocean of 80,000 and you will feel my pain.

Ms. James taught a cool trick. Highlight. I know, right? Not highlight with a marker – highlight with your comp. Thus cutting 2 printouts of the MS, saving trees and time. Ahh. Time = gold.

Dying to know how to highlight with your word processor? I’m going to tell you using Microsoft Word 2007 (2003 is VERY similar but I make no guarantees). I do not use Mac or any other type of computer, but the idea is comparable.

First, open your doc filled to the brim with your hard work.

In the right hand corner under the X to close the document you will see Find, Replace and Select. Click on Replace. A box titled Find and Replace opens. Mine is green.

The questions is Find what: and Replace with:

**Do you know what you’re doing?

Here is my tip. Look over the first few pages of your MS. What words jump out at you as weak or repetitive? To help get you started, here’s my initial list I used for Breathe Again.

·         -ly

·         that

·         so

·         there

·         this

·         it

·         like

·         as

·         was

·         were

·         have been

·         walk

·         look

·         glance

·         stood

·         nod

·         shook

·         up

·         down

·         said

·         laughed

These are my words. You’ll have your own.

Start with the first one “-ly”. In the Find what: box type ly without the hyphen. In the Replace with: box type the same thing BUT then click on the More>> button. This will bring up a bunch more options. Go to Format and select Highlight from the Drop Down menu. Then click Replace All.

A box will pop up telling you how many ly’s were replaced and this tells you how many words

you had in your MS. My friend had a TON, but then remembered her character’s name was Lily and we both breathed a sigh of relief. 

Before proceeding to the next word to find and replace, decide if you want all your words to be highlighted the same color or not. If you want to change the color, go to the highlight button in the font box of the Home tab. Click the box and a menu of sorts will drop down. Click on the next color – bright is best or you won’t be able to read the black letters inside the dark highlighter.

            

    What about for words like it, up, was that can be inside of other words? You don’t want those to highlight as well. It’s extra work, right? Work smarter, not harder.

    

            Let’s do “it”, an ambiguous word, if ever there was one. Do the same steps above that we used on ly but do not select Replace All. We have to add one more step. Do you see above the Format box? There’s a list of 5 options: Match Case, Find Whole Words Only, Use Wildcards, Sounds Like (English) and Find All Words Forms (English). For the word It (or any other word that may show up inside another word you don’t want to find) check the box in front of Find While Words Only. Okay, now hit Replace All.

                And you go through this for your entire list of words.

What do you do once you’ve highlighted your trouble darlings? Kill them. Plain and simple. Go through each and every page. Come upon a highlight? Rework the sentence so the color disappears. If you absolutely MUST keep that one, it’s not such a big deal to leave a couple on each page, but it sure tightens your MS if you get rid of as many as you can without forcing the words.

I love doing this. It makes my life so much easier as a writer. And let’s face it – writers have it tough!

I wish you tons of luck in this endeavor and if you have any suggestions for of your own on how to self-edit, please share! I’m always looking for more tips to add to my arsenal in this war of writing.

-Bonnie

Inland Northwest bred, Bonnie R. Paulson has a degree in radiology technology as well as multiple experiences in the medical industry. Four children and a terrific husband ground her as they rev around the countryside on their dirt bikes. Faith, food, reading/writing romances and family make up just a small percentage of her favorite things.