I set ambitious writing goals for this year. Goal 1: Finish the first draft of BENEATH A SUNDERED SKY (150,000 words) Goal 2: Finish the first draft of WHAT’S BEHIND THE CROOKED DOOR? (15,000 words) Goal 3: Finish the third (first final) draft of PRINCE OF CATS (50,000 words) Goal 4: Rewrite BLACK MAGIC AND…
A combination of bad advice and bad writing as a result of that advice has kind of got me stuck on PRINCE OF CATS. I have two other projects I’m working on right now, but in a few months, I’ll be back to it, and I’ll have to fix it, which is a daunting prospect.…
I have finished the second draft of my middle grade fantasy, PRINCE OF CATS. To make sure I’m reaching my target readership appropriately, I have enlisted many of my nieces and nephews (and a few friends who are of the appropriate age) to read the draft and give me feedback. Now, since most of them…
I’ve participated in a couple of Writer’s Digest online seminars, one featuring Kristin Nelson and one feature Sara Megibow both from the Nelson Agency. During Kristin’s presentation, she mentioned that the main plot of your book, that first serious hook, should occur within the first 30-50 manuscript pages. Now this took me back. Having come…
If you were lucky enough to be Liz Poole, a hotel night auditor named LurkerWithout, or an agent with incredible literary sense, you would have had the opportunity to read my manuscript JEHOVAH’S HITLIST. This is a manuscript where I explain why just because the protagonist is 15 years old doesn’t make it a young…
I finished my rewrite, began PRINCE OF CATS (which is going awesomely–beyond awesomely really, I’m flying), and the summer crush is over. Obviously you can tell that because I’m blogging, thus my hours are not filled with making content to educate the next generation of politicians who will hopefully ben an improvement over our current…