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.  

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.

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? 

Brooklyn Ann's triumphs, trials, and tribulations of 2010

2010 was a pretty exciting year for me. Nearly every month was a new accomplishment.

January: After surviving my first Christmas without my mother and celebrated my 6-year dating anniversary with my fiance, I submitted my first batch of queries for my regency paranormal romance, BITE ME, YOUR GRACE. Then I went on a road trip to Salt Lake City for a conference with the financial advising company I was working for. During the trip I decided that finance was not for me, but I came away with an awesome cookie recipe. When I got back home I had received a few partial requests for my manuscript.

February: I received a rejection on my first partial request and a few query rejections, but I garnered a few more requests as well. I also came to realize that my word count was still too low. After some more work with my awesome betas I was able to get more words and fix some insidious errors. I also began working 2 jobs. One at The Bookworm, my favorite store ever, and the other doing the 2010 census. Fun Stuff!

March: In the midst of the chaos working 2 jobs, I realized that my wedding date was looming near...then I discovered that my wedding gown no longer fit. YIKES! Somehow, between work, family, my manuscript submissions, and arranging my reproductive surgery, I somehow needed to lose 2 inches from my waistline.
Slim-Fast shakes taste like crap.

April: Thankfully, the census work came to an end. Although I missed the pay, I was getting a little tired of hiking through the woods and facing attack dogs. It was good exercise. I also did regular ab exercises at the bookstore when there were no customers around, which unfortunately for my wallet, was a little too often. After my tubal ligation, my boss sadly informed me that she could no longer afford to keep me. Unemployed, foggy on pain meds and raging hormones from my surgery, the month was a little difficult.

May: The wedding was fast approaching. Nearly every day was consumed with preparations. And I was still in query/ submission hell. My diet was also really getting tedious. Somehow everything worked out by the 30th. My dress fit, my bachelor party kicked ass, and I had the most awesome wedding ever.

June: Everything went wrong at first and we were almost unable to go on our honeymoon. But again, it worked out and we spent a a delightful week in Seattle. It was my first away-vacation ever and I had a blast. My best friend since 3rd grade lived there and it was a wonderful reunion despite the sad news that she'd soon be moving to New Zealand. And the best news of all was that I received 2 more full requests from some awesome agents.

July: Best month ever! I received 2 offers of representation from said awesome agents. In my excitement, I didn't handle it as well as I should have but everything worked out and I accepted representation from Cari Foulk at Tribe Lit just before I attended my 10 year High School reunion. Bragging rights rule. I also got a job as a janitor. It was perfect for my writing schedule. I began working on another project.

August: I signed my contract with my lovely agent and celebrated my birthday. Between the kids and the constant barbecues it was a struggle to get in some writing time.

September: I'd never been more relieved that summer vacation was over. As the kids set off for their 1st day of school, my husband and I danced in the street with noisemakers- literally. I began revisions on BITE ME, YOUR GRACE with my agent and also worked my tail off on my WIP. My best friend visited one last time before her move to New Zealand. A miracle occurred and I was able to attend the Idaho Writer's League conference where I won two awards.

October: I worked my tail off on my WIP, took myself and the kids to many dentist appointments, and got into the Halloween spirit. I also discovered Netflix and an endless selection of B-Horror movies.

November: I completed my first draft of AN IRONIC SACRIFICE and jumped into a major overhaul of a previously trunked "baby." It went well until I tore my rotator cuff. The pain meds made my head so foggy that it was hard to write. Between the pills for my shoulder and the nitris from my dental appointments, I wondered if I'd ever be sober again. Sometime here BITE ME, YOUR GRACE went on submission.

December: For some reason the prospect of facing Christmas without my mother was worse this year. I spent a few evenings crying in my car from missing her so badly. And then a problem with my marriage came up. Thankfully we caught it before it became worse and I think we're better because of it. Christmas ended up being very pleasant, albeit hectic, and I just might finish the first round of revisions on WRENCHING FATE before the new year.

Whew! So, how was 2010 for you? Triumphs, regrets? Do tell!

Overhauling a Manuscript

Back in 2008 when I decided to take my writing seriously, I completed a manuscript titled BLOOD PROPHECY. It was to be the first in a series involving vampires, psychics, sorcerers, and other awesome supernatural beings of my own creation that would culminate in a bitchin' War of The Worlds type awesomeness. And each book would have its own love story.

BLOOD PROPHECY garnered a few requests from agents and even a publisher, but ultimately failed. By the time I was resigned to that, however, I had finally become internet savvy and made some priceless writerly friends. I shelved it and wrote BITE ME, YOUR GRACE and had success. But my previous story kept haunting me. Thanks to my awesome writer buddies, who were willing to endure the disjointed and full of suckiness BLOOD PROPHECY, I have discovered what is broken and what is missing.

One main issue was that there was too much prophecy and not enough blood. But what was worse was that the romance took the backseat and let the subplots take over.
The problems were so intensive that I couldn't see the story for the book.

So here's what I did:

I opened up a blank document and I keep it open next to the original draft. I have then pasted in the scenes I will keep.

Then I am writing new improved scenes to fill in the gaps and keep the story going where it's supposed to. When I have no inspiration for a scene I work on other issues with the existing text. These issues are:

1.) Pronouns: I have abused them excessively in this manuscript for some reason.

2.) Dialogue tags: The talking heads are at it again!

3.) Setting/ descriptions: These characters are in a white room too many times.

4.) Chemistry/ romance: I need to turn the heat up big time.

With these improvements my new novel, WRENCHING FATE is being built.

How about you, dear readers and writers? Have you ever had a broken manuscript that you longed to resurrect? What did you do to fix it? Any tips for me in this scary journey?