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Knowledge of our past is our inheritance. What we do with that knowledge will shape our destinies...

Sunday, July 8, 2012

This and That


This weekend I attended a luncheon for all Jolly Fish Press authors. It was great! We got to meet some of our fellow publishees and put faces to, well...faces that we've only seen on Facebook profiles before now. It was so fun to talk with everyone and chat about all our soon-to-be out there work. I've got a few pictures (which I shamelessly pilfered from Facebook) below.

As I drove home, I thought about where I am and where I'll be going (writing-wise) in the near future.

I'm right at a point where many projects are intercepting and I feel like I'm doing a little bit of everything. Over the weekend, I finished the first draft of the second installment of Interchron. (It's okay if you need to read that again; it was a complicated sentence! :D) Of course it's by no means done. I have to go back through and put things in that I left out the first time through, simply because I was preoccupied with the action or other parts of the narrative. After that, I'll give it to my alpha readers and let it rest (for me, I mean) for 4-6 weeks. Then I'll go back through and do more serious editing once I have some space from it.

While my alpha readers rip that apart, I have another book--totally different genre of crime thriller--called The Botanist. My published for Kremlins said he'd take a look at it. There are no promises of publication, of course, but I thought I'd give him dibs. I want to do another editorial cycle on it, though. I haven't looked at that manuscript in months, so it's time I did. I'll probably send that to him (fingers crossed) sometime in September.

After that, I'll start getting the second installment of Kremlins ready. It's actually all written but I GUARANTEE it needs a lot of editorial love. Once I learned to edit myself, I went over book 1 with a fine-toothed comb, but I haven't touched book 2 yet, which means it's pretty raw.

I'm also trying to get more reading done. I'm a firm believer that anyone who wishes to be a successful writer should be devouring books on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I've been a bit of a hypocrite lately, so I'm trying to remedy that and chisel away at my To Be Read list a bit.

So, in short, I have plenty to keep me busy until the end of the calender year. A lot of it is editing, but that's okay with me. Sometimes it's nice to know that something is mostly written and you just have to fine tune it, rather that be uber-creative and come up with completely new stuff.

Anyway, just some this and that updates on my life. Everyone have a fabulous week! :D



8 comments:

  1. Liesel, it sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you! That luncheon sounds lke it was very thought-provoking.
    - Maurice Mitchell

    The Geek Twins | Film Sketchr
    @thegeektwins

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    1. I do and it was! Thanks for stopping by, Maurice! Have a great week! :D

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  2. Wow, what an exciting weekend, and holy cow that's a lot of projects! I know what it feels like though, as I've been busy trying to get things ready to send out too. Good luck with everything!

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    1. Thanx Elana! Right back at ya. Hope to see ya at Roundup! :D

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  3. What's the difference between Alpha and Beta readers? How do you distance yourself enough to not get offended or defensive when someone offers tons of criticism - even if it's valid?

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    1. I'm not sure what the difference is. I know there is one but I think it varies from person to person. Some people have alpha readers read for content and beta for grammatical. Others give to alpha readers as they write it, and beta when it's completely finished. Like I said, it varies. I have a critique group that goes through it with me chapter by chapter as I write. I still give it to them when finished so they can read it start to finish, but I also give it to others who haven't seen it until it's done. I collectively call all of them my alpha readers. They go through the finished product before I send it out to anyone. After getting their comments, I do one more final comb through and then start sending to agents/editors/etc.

      As for distance, it's partly a choice. Don't let yourself get offended. Think seriously about what they've said and if/how it makes sense for your writing. Whether you agree or not, thank them for their input. It will put both you and the critiquer in a more open, giving, sharing mood.

      The other thing to do is just find people you trust. I've been with my group for something like 3 years, now. I met them in a college program, so we all had similar experiences to beam and/or gripe about. These people know me and know my writing. They keep me honest and give me good feedback. If you try to critique with someone who doesn't like you or your writing, you're never going to get anything positive out of that experience, so find a new group.

      Sorry for long reply! Hope this answers your question. Feel free to email if not. Thanks Alison! :D See you tomorrow for #FF! (And TGIF!) :D

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  4. Sounds like you've been busy! Hope you are enjoying whatever books on your TBR list that you are reading. :)

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