I've been on something of a reading binge the past week or so, and am just starting to pull out of it now (I finished a piece of mind candy last night, and starting a new book doesn't really appeal) Whenever I get on these kicks, I begin to wonder what it is exactly that I'm trying to escape from. Because, make no mistake, I read to escape, to be ( Read more... )

I submitted a hook to Miss Snark's most recent Crapometer, and now I'm waiting to be torn to shreds. I keep obsessively refreshing the page, and really need to find something else to do with myself. I also can't help but feel a little sorry for her. She's reviewed about 50 last I checked and has over 700 entries in total. She's going to have a ( Read more... )

Life has been chugging along at a remarkable clip. Living with olstad is lots of fun, but it also means we have a social life, something we didn't have much of in Maine, and generally have something going on every weekend. Being busy takes some getting used to, and we probably won't settle into a real routine until Stacey goes back to school ( Read more... )

When not avoiding writing queries, lately I've been avoiding working on my next novel ( Read more... )

Trying to condense 95,768 words into a couple of paragraphs is difficult. Trying to make those paragraphs fresh and interesting is frustrating. Further reducing those paragraphs into a single sentence "hook" just makes me want to cry. Sometimes I think my entire vocabulary consists only of cliches.

It took me a lot longer than I had hoped it would, but I've finally made all the edits and changes to my novel that were needed post beta-readers. For the past week or so I've been pounding away at it telling myself, "Almost there. Keep on target." It is a great relief to be able to finally consider it done with a clear conscience ( Read more... )