Hurricane Sandy

Best wishes and fervent prayers for all of you affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Congratulations to Andrea Vlahakis

Andrea Vlahakis, author of Christmas Eve Blizzard, just received some exciting news. Click on over to read about her huge surprise at Up the Attic Stairs.


           Congratulations, Andrea!

October is cooling  south central Texas a little bit. The blue plumbago in my neighbor's yard is in full bloom. After suffering from drought and holding back, it has taken advantage of the recent rains to put on quite a show. I can only imagine what it will do next spring!

 

Rough Draft Finished!

It's October and I finally finished my summer novel. It feels like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I know the work is only beginning, but for right now I'm thrilled to bits. My characters, setting, plot, subplots, and the solution has all been worked out.

More relief when I print every last page, put it in a folder, and file it away until at least two months have passed. I can do what I want, I can laze around, or start something new. Since the next few months are filled with holiday plans and activities, I know it will sit and collect dust until the end of January.

When that time comes I think the most interesting part of writing begins. I  sit back with a pencil in hand and grade it like a teacher. If I have spent enough time away from it, I see and understand things from a new point of view. Usually, this is where I find errors, and more importantly, plot point holes that I could have sworn were in the manuscript but resided only in my head.

Once that is finished, back to the computer to make the changes. I always hope that I did such a good job that it's now perfect, but I've never had that kind of luck. There always seems to be a whole new crop of annoying little problems with each reading, until I think I can't find anymore. Then a critique partner or group finds the rest and helps make it even better.

What do you do when your rough draft is finally finished?