Time: 2:22am (I know - I'm insane, but I also have a cold and can't sleep - it's so early this post says "Sunday" but I consider it "Monday", so there)
Breakfast: maple and brown sugar oatmeal and a few chocolate chip cookies (it's never too early for breakfast - or breakfast dessert)
Tonight’s exciting moment: hunter’s moon shining over the trees in the backyard.
_____
A few months back I sold my first manuscript to a small New York epublisher, The Wild Rose Press, under my pen name, Judith Graves. At TWRP, all titles of a certain word count are also published in print (that'd be my book, too.) I was leery of going the epub route, but a vamp / werewolf tale is a hard sell to bigger publishers – the market is saturated with the little beasties. Also, I think I lucked out. TWRP is extremely professional.
TWRP is keen to develop their YA line, Climbing Rose. Climbing Rose is a relatively new venture for TWRP and they are in the process of generating more teen-friendly marketing – there’s talk of an author blog and other fun stuff – and they are actively seeking submissions. If you write YA or adult romance, check them out:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/My editor, Susan Yates, is fantastic. I’m hoping to interview her for YAedge about this exciting time at TWRP. She's supportive and yet tough enough to have me sweating silver bullets over edits.
Which brings me to my actual topic for today’s post.
Edits. The word deserves to be blood red.
Edits are freaking brutal. You see your writing without soft lights and the blissful haze of someone-wants-to-buy-my-book afterglow. It isn’t pretty. It is, however, an invaluable learning experience.
"Under My Skin" is in the first round of edits with Susan and the result is a clearer story, richer imagery, deeper POVs and an overflowing paper recycle box under my desk. I changed the plot – tweaking each chapter just enough to cause a ripple effect – in both directions. Basically this edit is another draft of the story.
And I’m still not sure the plot has enough meat to keep the reader satisfied but wanting more (there are two other books in the series).
Sigh.
The point of today’s rant? The plot is always
greener on the other side of the delete key.
---end of rant---
ASIDE: The sheep photo was a dream shot, an actual cliché come to life. My husband and I were visiting the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia where history, farm animals and fog abound.
http://fortress.uccb.ns.ca/homeeng/
