The Joys of Manuscript Revision, or, All Good Writing was Written More Than Once

I swore I would never be that 'type' of writer. And I say that like there are 'types' of writers, which really their aren't - everyone is an individual.

But when I read that a favorite author of mine writes with a process along the lines of, Write it once, keep half of it, write it again, keep 2/3 of it, write it again, keep 3/4 of it, I laughed.

That's waaaaay too inefficient, said Gwen. I'll just write my books once, and do it right the first time. I'll use an outline, and be way more organized....

*cough*

Yeah. Maybe there is something to being a professional at what you do, after all.

I wrote my book once. I even had an outline. And it took me 45K words more than I thought I needed to tell the story. Now I need dig for the gold, and re-write the rest.

But it should be an adventure . . . . And result in a much better finished product. So, I've called in some help - bought some books, and I'll be using those as I sort of experiment with this whole 'rewrite' thing, to see how it works for me.

Because all of us writers are individuals -- even if some laws are universal, like this one:

All good writing was written more than once.

Consider this post a warning for the forthcoming whining.

New Review Schedule

Since this isn't a revew site, per se, and I could easily spend a great bit of time picking at books from my reading list that hit a nerve, or otherwise leave all nerves undisturbed (equally as bad), I've decided I'm only going to post reviews here of ones I really love. Or really expect to love.

This limits the number, and spreads them out. All my other reviews can be found on Goodreads, though usually in the form of a simple star rating, unless there was something I particularly detested.

So, on the blog, you can look forward to reviews of the following star-studded titles this spring/summer (sidebar forthcoming):

April 15th - Angel's Blood, Nalini Singh
May 5th- Curse the Dawn*, Karen Chance
May 20th - Lover Avenged*, J.R. Ward
May 30th - Dead and Gone*, Charlaine Harris
June 15th - Magic in the Blood*, Devon Monk
June 30th - Magic Strikes*, Ilona Andrews
July 15th - Bone Crossed*, Patricia Briggs
July 30th - City of Souls, Vicki Pettersson
August 15th - Darkness Calls, Marjorie M. Liu
August 30th - Hunting Ground*, Patricia Briggs

Hopefully between now and then I'll get some release dates on some of my other highly-anticipated series, or, if need be, I can fill-in with old favorites. ;-)

*Review will cover series titles up to most current release, unless previously reviewed.

The Sun Found Seattle!

This weekend was glorious! Blue skies, warm temperatures, and the trees started budding overnight. It made me feel sorta like this.

Despite the arrival of spring (Finally! Did I mention we got snow on April 1st?), what did I do all weekend? Pretty much spent the whole thing locked away in the writing cave, as I closed in on the end of my first draft of my second novel, Inner Eye.

My husband has taken to calling me his vampire. And when he did manage to drag me out of the house (baited only by a promise to visit B&N), I realized that's not too far off base. I'm so pale I glow. =P

The good news - 1st draft is DONE!
The bad news - I'm 45K words over budget, so the work is just beginning.

Over the past few weeks, in preparation for the 're-write' phase forthcoming, I have read several great books on the craft. I plan to do a blog post on each of them. And to tie myself down to a new reviewing schedule that I think is much more doable. I also plan to get some more free reads posted, and to start to chronicle my journey through my WIP. Perhaps my experience of what works/what doesn't will be useful to someone.

I'll let this post stand for now as a placeholder: changes are coming. In fact, now that I have a drafted story to work with, the pressure is off of writing for a bit and I'll be putting some effort into a total website/blog re-design and possible move to Wordpress.

Hope the sun is shining down on you too!

Forward Thinking

I decided, instead of waiting for the sun to show its face, I would do a post on some of the books I'm really looking forward to this spring and summer.

As far as reading goes, this year is gonna rock!

Here's my *squee* TBR line-up:

Angel's Blood (Guild Hunter #1) - Available Now

This one is burning a whole in my backpack as I type this. But, I haven't gotten to it yet. I really enjoyed what I've read of Ms. Singh's Psy-Changeling series, and how could I resist something with angels and vampires?

Lover Avenged (BDB #7) - April 28th

I'm super-excited to learn more about the Sympath sub-culture in J.R. Ward's newest BDB release. Rhev has been begging for his story to be told for a couple of books, now. (Also, I have to wait the least amount of time for this one. I'm little on patience, so that counts for a lot. ;)

Dead and Gone (Sookie #8) - May

Okay, so this has technically been out for a while, but I've been waiting for the paperback, so I'm totally stoked! I started reading the Sooky books when I saw the first ads for True Blood. They've become one of my favorite series, now and I have even resisted spoilers for this one on whether there is any hope for my #1 beau in those books (guess who).

City of Souls (Zodiac Series #4 - Cover not available) - June 30th

I really enjoy this series and have been long-awaiting the next release. I was loaned this by a friend (who had borrowed someone else's) and immediately went out and bought myself a copy. Then went back and bought another to give away. These books are that good. I've posted reviews of the first two in the series, The Scent of Shadows and The Taste of Night, here.

Darkness Calls (Hunter Kiss #2) - July 30th

My review of the first book pretty much says it all. All I can add is, if she was just getting warmed up with the series, I can't wait to see what she has in store for us!

Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega #2) - August

I'll be reviewing the first book in the series soon, but I can say without a doubt that Ms. Briggs has another winner on her hands. I think I might like this one even better than Mercy . . .

Demon Forged (Guardians #8) - TBA

Meljean is on fire. I don't know why the stupid people at Barnes and Noble keep refusing to stock enough of her books. It infuriates me. But as soon as this one is up on google, you can betcha a$$ I'll be pre-ordering.

Hiding . . .

It's been a bit since I posted anything.

My thoughts, worthy enough to share, have been rather dark lately. I didn't want to drag you down with me. It must be this dismal winter weather. Or maybe it's just that rewrites = ugh.

This just about sums up my viewpoint of late.



o.o

When real life fails . . .

Put yourself in a Harlequin romance!

He was a poor, simple boy. She was a wealthy, fiery young lady. Though they were worlds apart, their innocent friendship bloomed into a mutual admiration. Then suddenly Matthais was wrenched from Gwen's life.

Now, years later, he has returned to the Australian Outback society as an influential wealthy tycoon, determined to seek revenge on Gwen's father—and Gwen herself. But she is no longer the spoiled schoolgirl Matthais remembers. She is a brainy young super successful businesswoman of conviction and faith, raising a son on her own. Now Matthais must look deep into his heart. For only in abandoning his thirst for revenge can he finally become the man most worthy of her love.

*happysigh*

Review: Underworld - Rise of the Lycans

Overall: Not a total waste of $20

Good: The casting. Bill Nighy as always superb, and Michael Sheen holds up well. The girl cast as Sonja also did a great job. Effects, costumes, makeup were well executed.

Okay: The music was ho-hum, and didn't hold any big drama. The acting was mid-range. Mostly, I was disappointed in the scale of the movie. It was supposed to be the beginning of an ancient war, and it really only barely touched on that. The scene in the movie that should have held the most drama (well, 2 of them) fell rather flat.

Not so good: There were no elements added to the story that we didn't already know about. Nothing really revealed, other than the origins of Lucien, which didn't even really make sense. The big war I was holding out for? Never happened.

I think this is the last one of these we'll be seeing, and I'm okay with that. I love the first two enough that I don't want to watch the franchise flounder.

Srsly #2

This one is for my upstairs neighbor, who for some reason works the oddest hours . . .

I'm thinking you must be a bartender, or a pimp. That would explain the clackety-clack of the hoochie-mama shoes going up the cement stairs outside my bedroom at 2am on weeknights. As well as the weekly perpetual toilet-flushing and barfathon (yeah, that one's fun to wake up to).

Oh, and let's not forget the Sunday morning sex. I don't know how you manage it, but every frickin' weekend you're at it. Do you *have* to bang your flavor of the week BEFORE people (okay, not me, but other people) get up to go to church? You can't wait until the afternoon like the rest of us? I mean, some of us only get to sleep in one day a week, and guess what - it's SUNDAY.

At the very least, show some neighborly consideration and tighten the bolts on your headboard.

And dude - they're faking it. You have no rhythm.

Srsly.