Seasons of change

First, the good news. I've finished what I consider a reasonable version of Epitaph 4! Now the fine-tuning begins, unless I find a critical break in the story. The plan for release is January. Stay tuned.

I've had a great deal of fun writing this series, and I'm winding down to the last couple of brothers. I have some good ideas for Thad and for Liam (had Liam pegged at the start of the series - he's going to take a different sort of direction), but I'm not convinced Bryan merits his own story. That means two more Epitaph books in the wings (unless I change my mind about Bryan).

With the completion of this latest book, I'm looking back over this past year, at the things that went well and the things I can still improve upon. Looking ahead, I have those two books begging to be written, along with a couple of life changes. Relocations. Weddings. Time marches on, and with it come new challenges. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Bragging rights

I was *this* close.

Recently, In'D Tale Magazine announced their RONE awards, and I'm proud to say COOKIE THERAPY was nominated by virtue of a 5 star review (you can read the review here). The winners were announced this past weekend, and while I didn't win, my book was the first runner up in its category. Disappointed? Well, maybe a little, but when I step back and consider the number of books I was up against, all the elimination rounds and different sets of eyes reading it, coming in second doesn't look so bad.

Typing or Writing Longhand

As an author, there are times I have a difficult time working through a plot point. Most of my writing process is done at the keyboard, letting stream of consciousness flow, but there are moments when I end up staring at my computer, waiting for that flash of brilliance. Those are the moments I pick up a pen and a pad of paper.

The first time I did that, it was to outline. I had a book that was going nowhere. No plot, just meandering aimlessly along, so I wanted to give it some direction. I sat down to write down the why and what and wherefore.

Another time, I was on my commute into the Big City on the train and I didn't want to pull out my computer. As silly as it sounds, putting my ideas to paper felt less permanent (in a world where you can delete on your computer without any muss or fuss).

As I've been working through the missing plot points on my current work, I realized something. For my part, when I sit down with pen and paper, it forces me to focus. What do I want to happen? What has to occur to get me to that point? What are the impacts? Like an outline, it gives me a direction to go. Generally, I write random thoughts (although I've been known to do that at my computer, as well, to give myself a road map). Too often when I'm at my computer, I can be distracted by other things. A message notification or that ebook I want to finish reading or all the other things that can take you out of the moment.

There's just something about writing something by hand, a deliberate action, that takes you out of the "what next" and lets you set ideas down to sort through. At least for me. It also helps to organize your thoughts, much like when you need to make a presentation and you can't decide which point to address first. The "spoke" method helps resolve that issue, write all the points on spokes of a wheel, and once you get them all down, it's much easier to sort through what comes first.

As a reminder - for those of you who live in Illinois, I'm going to be at the Schaumburg library on Saturday. I hope you'll stop in and say hello!

After the First Draft

Stephen King will tell you to get that first draft done and then step away. Give it time to marinate. To gel. To set. And then go back and edit ruthlessly.

I was so proud of myself! I finished my first draft of EPITAPH 4, and I thought I'd done pretty well for myself! Sure, there were some areas that needed polishing, but this book came so fast, it was going to be easy-peasy. HAH!

I set it aside, waiting to hear back from my fact checker and going on about my daily life, except as an author, you're always writing in your head. Funny, I should have been forewarned when my subconscious wasn't ready to start in on the next project. That's normally what happens when I finish a book, I can't wait to start on the next one. Oh, I have ideas. I have two, maybe three more brothers whose stories need to be written in this series, and I have general ideas, but no characters speaking to me. Maybe that's because THIS story isn't done.

As I lay awake in bed the other day, reviewing what I'd written mentally, I realized I'd left some VERY IMPORTANT STUFF out of my story. Stuff that was going to change that "perfect" first draft dramatically. But that's why we have to let the first draft marinate, so we can go back at it with fresh eyes to see what we missed the first time around. Daunting? You betcha!

As written, I have 30 pretty good chapters. Unfortunately, the fixes start at about chapter 12, which means revamping more than half the story. The good news: this story came to life very quickly, so I have a path to follow and lots of time to play with before I have to send it to my editor. The bad news: there's a whole lot of work to be done. Just a reminder that first drafts aren't meant to be perfect, but they do give you an excellent starting point for your journey. Now is when the real work begins.