When a book disappoints.

Yes, I have personal experience with this. I am so aware that my book needs a WHOLE lot of work, but that is ok. When I have a little downtime, I edit. I have edited a small amount (truth, not much), I have jotted down several ideas to begin writing new manuscripts, I have vamped up a few short stories, and I made time to read. I always make time to read, as I am a firm believer that if you want to be a writer, then you need to continue learning and experiencing your craft.

I was at the beach this past weekend with my younger son (pictured above, what a handsome young man), and finally finished James Patterson's Witch and Wizard. Ughhhh! I made myself finish it, and it was extremely difficult. When I first picked it up, I didn't realize it was written for young adult, not that it should have mattered. I love the Twilight series. This one was also written with Gabrielle Charbonnet. I hoped that they would finish the story with Whit and Wisty explaining how they escaped the execution, if they did, but it was left open for you to continue reading the series. Which, I won't.

The constant change in point of views drove me insane. One chapter from Wisty, one from Whit, 2 from Wisty, 3 from Whit, 2 from Misty, etc. etc. There was no method to this madness. I kept thinking I was reading from the other one's perspective. Not only was this confusing to me, it must have been confusing to the writers, as I know for certain in one chapter from Misty's point of view, it ended with "said Misty." Alrighty then, I thought these were her words, yet you have to state it.

The storyline was so-so. I thought the characters were cheesy and didn't stay in character. I suppose I will just keep writing my own masterpiece and never receive a bad review (in a perfect world).

Following my own advice is harder to swallow than dishing it out.

I haven't been posting for quite some time now. I know, huge disappointment (actually, I am disappointed in myself). I didn't quit writing, but I haven't finished anything I have started in the last few months either. I have read a few good books, which is always helpful in improving my writing, but life has been throwing me some real hard knocks lately and I've had to focus and prioritize to maintain a good, healthy balance.

If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all. I live and teach my kids this, but with writing, you want anything at all from a potential agent, publisher, reader - you can learn from this type of negativity, if you can get it. Over the past summer, one agent who was patient with me after requesting my manuscript (I hadn't read or worked on it in quite some time and it needed fresh eyes and a lot of work), passed on my book. Happens all the time, I know, and it won't be my first rejection or the last. After that, I sent a query letter out to several agents and received several form rejection letters. I decided I needed to write a better query letter and really work on polishing up my book. What I really wanted was someone, anyone in the business to give me some advice, feedback anything - good or bad.

There was one agent that had also waited patiently for my book. I knew this agent was swamped, and when I did hear back that they wanted us to work on my book together, clean up some parts, basically improve it, but it had good flow, there were some major hiccups in my life. I got consumed in my day-to-day activities and writing got put on the back burner. After no further communication with this agent and no response to my email, I believed the agent wasn't really interested. WRONG! This agent contacted me, asked what happened and said we need to plan to work together every week on this project.

Now I am super-motivated and it isn't that I didn't believe in myself and/or my writing, but I have to remember to make time for myself and the things I love, reading and writing, even amidst life's turmoil, hence, follow my own advice (if you know me, this will make complete sense to you as you get tired of hearing it from me everyday).

Finished my Novel!

Today was the day. I finally felt comfortable enough to send my novel to the agents that requested it, or I just had to stop myself from editing and rewriting. I loved writing it so much that I think I would never finish trying to make it perfect. I feel great about it! I love the characters and the story and have received great feedback so far. Keep your fingers crossed! Already have ideas for a sister novel.

Looking forward to the upcoming three day weekend, downtime and some breathing room. Think I may get some reading in.