The Joys and Hardships of Rewrites, and Survey Results So Far…
When does a draft become a rewrite? Is anything after the rough draft a “rewrite,” or does your story have to be farther along (i.e., less crappy)? Sorry—that’s probably a little too esoteric for a Friday morning. Maybe I’ll look it up when I’m not so busy second drafting/rewriting. Overall, I’d have to say I’ve enjoyed my first week of Book Five rewrites (gotta call it something), but it’s a contradictory process. There are entirely new scenes to be added (two in particular are going to be so much fun!), descriptions to flesh out and motivations to clarify. But I’ve Read more…
Egg Windfalls and Dysfunctions, and an Update on the Upcoming Book
I’ve mentioned before that eggs are liquid gold in Hawaii. My husband and I have never been big egg eaters, but several months ago when they hit $7 a dozen in the health food store (I’m not even sure they were organic) I put my foot down, or at least put my credit card away. No more! Earlier this month we were on the verge of breaking our boycott when one of our neighbors saw us on the street and gave us a dozen eggs fresh from her chickens. (We were having friends over and wanted to make ebelskivers; see the final Read more…
Nothing Drops our IQs Like a Plane Ticket
You ever wonder if all of our technology (or maybe artificial sweeteners or gamma rays from another galaxy) is making us stupid? Do you wonder what’s happened to our basic common sense? Don’t worry—this isn’t one of those back in my day we knew our times-tables rants. It actually dovetails with some research I’ve been doing, but I’ll start with a recent personal experience. Earlier this week, I drove to town to run some errands and stopped for a snorkel. The lifeguards had put out the High Surf and Strong Current signs. It was sloppy, and the sets rolling in Read more…
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Choose a Sydney Brennan Short Story: Reader Survey
Finally, the survey I promised! It’s time to vote for something that really matters and won’t cause arguments with your spouse, neighbor, bus driver, or television… 😉 But first, a little context. The fifth Sydney Brennan book, Braving the Boneyard, is in the edits stage, and I’ve decided to write a Sydney Brennan short story before tackling the next book. But what to write? The possibilities are endless. Some of the ideas I’d like to explore aren’t ripe yet. In other words, there are things that have to happen in Sydney’s world (apologies for annoying foreshadowing) before I can write Read more…
Mai Tais or Marketing? Tough Choice
So, now that I’ve sent a draft of the latest Sydney Brennan novel, Braving the Boneyard, off to my editor, what have I been up to over the past week? All Mai Tais and pool boys? Not exactly. (Although I did track down the Mad TV Pool Boy Dance for your viewing pleasure.) I mentioned in the last post (Resolve to be Resolute, Not to Aspire) that I’m working on my writing space, and I have to say: chair mats are beyond me. The sizing seems completely arbitrary. And how does having chunks cut of the corners mean a chair Read more…
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