Well, since Molly Weasley asked (and I could never refuse anything she asked of me) here’s where I’ve been. First I was working, wrapping up the end of a school year. The end of a school year is EXHAUSTING. It’s a race to the finish line…and you have to stay focused to end strong. Then the school year was over, so I was taking a fantastic 4-day weekend/anniversary trip with my husband. It was the PERFECT weekend; time in my favorite town, took the kids to a movie, trip to the zoo (for free…yay membership), board game time as a family, and relaxation. Then, because I’m a teacher and that’s how we roll, I promptly went back to work attending trainings. In fact, I have to be at a training in like an hour…so I have to make this quick.
But you don’t care about all that, do you? Nope. You are here to keep me honest on my writing, be my support group. So here’s that update.
- The same 4 books you already knew of as done are…done. (What a shocker, right?) I’ll break them down a little more.
- The romance hasn’t been touched since I last updated you. It’s good. I’ve drafted a query letter and put that on the back burner for awhile. I’ll pick up the query soon and read it again to make sure it’s good. Then it’s out to the agents with it.
- The YA sci-fi has undergone an edit after the beta reader had a go at it. There are added scenes, which flush out the character and the action a bit more. There are details that answer new questions. That query is out in the hands of the wonderful agents. Cross your fingers for me.
- The YA fantasy (and sequel) have undergone major edits and changes. I already told you about the point of view change, which was massive, but they have already been to a beta reader and been edited there as well. It’s been a whirlwind with those two books, but they are so much stronger now. The first is being queried now. Cross your toes too, just in case.
- I have the outline of another YA fantasy and have written the first (probably) 1/3 of the book. Then I stalled out. I picked it up again a few weeks ago, read the outline and read everything I’d written and got fired up again. Wrote like two more pages and stalled out. I can’t figure out what is stalling that idea, but I will. Last night I decided it’s probably a middle grade more than a YA, maybe that’s the problem. I will play around with that.
- I have the outline of a mystery/suspense novel. Not my usual genre to write in, but one of the genres I read. So why haven’t I written in that genre before? Um, hello fear, how are you? Can I weave suspense with my words? Anyway the outline is done but I haven’t typed a single word of the novel. Not a word.
So if I’m being honest, Mrs. Weasley, I haven’t done enough writing. Someone should really hold my feet to the fire and make me sit and write actual words on these manuscripts. I write for me, right? It shouldn’t matter that 4 finished works are going unnoticed by agents and publishers. It shouldn’t matter that right now I’m a nobody in the publishing world. I’m all these characters have and their stories should be told!