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Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Round 2
The second round revisions arrived. My computer wasn't a happy camper when I started accepting deletions and insertions.
It went into recovery mode three times on Sunday.
Last night and today, I tried to contain my enthusiasm and give the poor devil time to catch up with me. I also
saved every 2 or 3 pages, so I made sure I didn't lose all the changes I had accepted.
I have definitely decided I love working with an editor. What looked fine to me before I submitted the manuscript
now reads so much smoother with the changes I made.
As with any manuscript, no matter how many times it gets revised, there always seem to be other places that could be
improved. I guess that's why multipublished writers tend not to read their earlier works. They'd probably get
out the red pen and start slashing.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
The revisions have been emailed
After two horrendous weeks (see Blog Trek for all the gory details,) I decided to wait until last Sunday, and the start
of a new week, to send my revisions back to my editor. As soon as the day started for me, I hit "send."
Now I wait. This is probably the worst part of the whole process. I'd rather be fighting my way through the
track changes than wondering if I'm closer to what Kate wants than I was on the first draft I sent her.
I worked on the dialogue, the motivations, the actions and reactions, and the continuity. It's amazing how a VW
Bug can suddenly become a Ford Taurus halfway through a manuscript. It makes me wonder where I left my brain, but it's
now fixed.
I can only hope that's the worst faux pas I have committed.
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Hobbies:
Travel. Anywhere, at any time. Two years ago I spent New Year in New York with a friend who
lives in Lower Manhattan; took a trip with my son to Death Valley, Bishop and the Alabama Hills in the Spring; spent a
long weekend with friends in a cabin in Mammoth late summer and 5 days in November visiting friends in Houston.
Last year, I returned to Houston unexpectedly in February due to a very dear friend's illness, visited more close friends in
Spokane, Washington in April and took a research trip up to Maine for the 3rd book in the "Rose Tattoo" trilogy, "Maine Issues"
(working title,) and then Salem and Boston for pleasure/business in September. This year, my son came with me up to
Portland Oregon as we both have wanted to check it out for the last couple of years. EPICon made it a business trip
with 2 days of pleasure on either side. We drove the Columbia Gorge and hiked to a waterfall. We had dinner in
Chinatown. It was too early in the year to go hiking up to Mt. St. Helen's or visit some of the other attractions.
The only day we had to drive to the coast, rain was forecast. We may just have to go back...
Other hobbies: Hiking and camping with friends in the Sierras. I've even learned to fish.
Reading (of course!)
Researching (why do people think research has to be boring?)
While growing up in England, I read everything I could get my hands on. The bookshelf my parents
gave me became overloaded with everything from the classics through mysteries, romances, science fiction and even horror. I
not only read, but began writing and won a novel contest while in high school.
My other time-consuming interest became travel. After trips to Italy and the South of France during childhood,
I took a cruise around the Mediterranean with my godparents, visiting Malta, Portugal, Egypt (I saw the Pyramids and
the spectacular Cairo Museum,) Turkey, and Venice, Italy.
After that, I decided to immerse myself in the French language by living in Paris. There I met two friends
who even today remain among my closest. We traveled from Paris to spend the summer in Florence, Italy, and
then with one of them, I went on to visit Portugal and Morocco extensively, then on to Spain, where after touring from one
end to the other and spending a summer on the coast in Marbella, I met my future husband in Madrid and stayed four years
before coming to the U.S.
I've continued my globe-trotting ways by crossing the continental United States twice and living in six States.
Now the divorced mother of two grown children, I currently live in Monrovia with Taffy, the Canine Escape Artist.
Throughout these years, I not only benefitted from enriching, colorful experiences I've since woven into my
novels but also learned how to communicate effectively in three languages and how to be flexible and productive, whatever
the challenges.
My writing started with a 500 page historical (that resided somewhere in the bottom of a closet until my last move,
when it finally went into the shredder,) and then progressed through romances to mystery and suspense. I've also
published short fiction and non-fiction articles and completed the first draft of a screenplay for "tweens" (ages 11-13.)
Always looking for new challenges, while living in Boston, Massachusetts, I produced, wrote, directed
and edited two documentaries that aired on cable access (NewTV13.)
My e-published short contemporary romance and romantic-suspense novels are hopefully only the beginning.
I have many other stories to tell, and I'm a prolific writer, so expect more from me in the near future.
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