Editland. And a Deadline.

I'm editing my sequel. I'm giving myself a deadline of two weeks. That will put me almost mid-november--and I'll be able to take a break from it and work on the feedback edits from my readers. THEN I'll ship my EMMA story out to the five top dream agents on my list, and see what the feedback is. One of them I'm sure won't get back to me for MONTHS. But who cares. It's not like I'm in some major hurry. I've been doing this for a while. I get the whole "you gotta have patience" thing. The only "teensy" problem is, once my baby goes out there, I'm just not very patient. :-)

Currently on page 20 of 208. Two weeks. You think I can do it?

And Now, the Sequel...

Okay. EMMA book is finished!! Woo hoo! Finished and shipped off to Crit Partner and Beta Reader. I have another dear friend who I'd love to be a Beta reader, but her life is sort of chaotic and I feel like I can't ask her. So, two will have to do.

I did print a copy out for my daughter, who read past her bedtime and this morning before school, and told me she really couldn't put it down, which gives me GREAT hope because she's 13, which is smack dab in the middle of my target age of 13-16. Woo!

So, now, I have to edit the Sequel. I might as well work on it, just in case. I've devoted many hours to these characters, might as well keep plugging along. It's also written in 3rd Person, so I need to make the conversion to First. It just seems funnier and more relatable, when my 14-year old heroine is narrating.

I just hope my daughter likes it. Because, frankly, she's the one I want to impress the most. :-)

I DID IT!!! (Update)

I finished my edits on my EMMA novel! Done! Finito! Well, this round, anyway. I'm thisclose to submissions! I am getting there! Eeek!

Time Machine Question

So, the question was posed to me yesterday: "If you could go back in time ten years, and take only one thing with you, what would it be?"

Good question. I mean, I could do what Biff did in Back To The Future, and get a sports almanac, and get wealthy betting on sports I already know the outcome on...or I could get a printout of the biggest lottery payout numbers...

I mean, there's a lot of endless possibilities. Then I finally decided (and clearly, taking something back with me involves less than integrity-driven motives) I would take the Twilight series back with me. And I'd put it out before Stephenie Meyer ever had her dream (heh heh!). You have to admit, the girl had good timing. There wasn't a whole lot of vampire "stuff" out there, and now, that's ALL you can find at the local bookstores.

Isn't it all about timing? I wrote a fairy story last year, and I was excited to submit it, and suddenly, all the books on the shelves were about Fairies! (I guess vampires had their run, and agents were actually saying "no vampire books please" on their websites!). So, naturally, no one wanted to read my Fairy story.

So, now, I'm working on something different. It doesn't have Vampires in it. It doesn't have Fairies. It has a regular girl, no mystical creatures whatsoever, but it does have a fantasy element--Time Travel. I'm not seeing a whole lot of those types of books out right now.

So, maybe by the time I finish these edits, and start submitting, someone will have come out with a GREAT story where a Fairy and a Vampire Fall in love whilst TIME TRAVELING together. And everyone will be freaking out and getting inspired to write about Time Travel.

I sound jaded, don't I?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree...

"Hey Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"What's that thing called, you know-- that they wore on their backs and put arrows in before they shot them?"

"A quiver?"

"Yeah, that's it! Thanks, Mom!"

My son is writing a story. He's finished keyboarding at school, and got an "A" in the class, so, clearly he learned something. And now he's motivated to write more, because he doesn't have to "hunt and peck," and can actually type as he thinks. I love that about computers. I've loaned him my Alphasmart Neo so he can be mobile, and we just download his work onto his computer at the end of the day. I love it! My daughter loves to write. My 11-year old son loves to write. My nine-year old loves to write. Three down, one to go! I think it's such a great outlet for creativity. Even if the stories aren't read by anyone but family.

My three-year old still prefers books to toys. There is hope, yet! Plus, he's my son, right? He HAS to love reading and writing! ;-)