Parable of the Talents

The past few weeks have been a beast of emotions. I felt it was time to just put my book out there. Honestly, I have not tried very hard to publish the traditional way.  Almost all the books I read now are independent authors or from smaller publishers. I think the world is changing the way it does things.

I am publishing my book independently.

This is kind of scary.

Feels like Scream is chasing me

and there's a tree root in the way.

Hopeful Release in Mid AprilBut still...I have tried.  A few years ago, before a major rework of the material, I sent it out to many, many agents and did not get a single bite. I finished another book since then and started dozens more, testing my feel for different genres, but still Awakened: Legend of the Dagger wouldn't leave me. So now, five years after it's initial inception and countless drafts later, I have decided to release my baby.  It is precious to me. I love the characters as if they were real. In fact, sometimes I have conversations with them as I do the dishes. And Gavin, oh Gavin, he is swoon worthy.  He's my tattooed Gilbert Blythe who kills people.

Then there is that nagging feeling in the forefront of my mind that people won't like Gavin, that Eislen won't be as hardcore as I think she is, that the words will fall flat and people won't cry, or laugh, or scream, or feel anything at all.

I know not everybody is going to like my book.  I don't expect them to, but I want someone to. I want someone to feel stronger because they met Eislen. I want them to fight hard for what they want because of Gavin. I want them to want to be nicer because they met Toby and they don't want to be like him.

My manuscript

Have you ever wondered what a 400 page manuscript looks like printed?  

Now you don't have to wonder!  It's awesome, isn't it?  And it weighs ten-thousand pounds.

I just finished my third, and almost final, draft of my new novel.  It feels good.

Samurai Time

"The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction.  By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say."  Mark Twain

For me, editing is the most exciting part of writing.  This is when a decent manuscript becomes good.  The characters become dimensional and theme emerges.

I have read through Awakened (my working title) at least ten times not including the dozens of times I have read through each individual section.  I did a final read through.  I called it done...for now.  I set it aside, there was a wedding and then a cruise.  I needed to finish Hayden's quilt.  Weeks went by and I was content with my second draft.

Cruise finished and quilt bound, I found some time to edit. I pulled out my (proverbially) dusty manuscript for some minor editing and fact checking.  After two hours I had only managed twenty-six pages.  The next morning was spent on the same twenty-six pages.  I moved forward but meandered back to the beginning again.  And heaven help me, those are the best twenty-six pages in the whole novel and I fully expect to go back to them to make them even better.

Editing tip #1

If it bores you, it's going to bore the readers.  Don't be afraid to cut.  Cut. Cut. Cut.  Use that little scissor icon to your heart's content.

If you are so deeply attached to a bit of writing that you don't want to get rid of it, open a new file and paste it in there.  You can delete that file later when you realize it really was that boring.