Writing, Writing, and More Writing

I sat on the editing comments for a while and now feel that I can agree with a few more of them. Apparently it's hard to take criticism for something you feel passionately about. Go figure. But as the editor pointed out in the beginning, these are suggestions. I don't have to take them. However, many of the points made are valid and so, I will most likely incorporate several of them. It's been a good learning experience.

I've joined some writing groups, entered a couple of writing contests, and followed a few writer's blogs, at my editor's suggestion. One I particularly like is Mike Wells' Blog. He has some great tips on writing, and I plan to follow his formula for writing a synopsis for my book. I'll try it out here.

Mike says the basic formula is this:
"Hero finds herself stuck in situation from which she wants to free herself.  Can she achieve goal, or will  villain stop her and cause her to experience disaster?"

Then you insert the appropriate characters and situations from your own book to make it work. I'll do that now:
"Hailey Ames finds herself hunted by an evil that shadows her. Can she and her new friends from the unusual circus run fast and far enough for fate to lose her trail? Will Hailey be able to make choices that will ultimately save her and her friends, or doom them all?"

Hey I think that works! It's only a few sentences but it summarizes the book pretty well. I'm going to use it for my publication synopsis. Thanks to Mike for the advice!

For now, Hailey and her friends are currently on the back burner, simmering under the weight of their edits and cooking a bit longer before I decide if they are done. Then I will continue on the second in the series, which takes place a few years later, as does the third after it. However, a new story idea came to me last night when I was trying to go to bed, and I woke up itching to get it written down. So I started that this morning and suddenly have written 5,000 words already. I'm really happy with it though.

So that's it. Once I publish Sideshow I'll post a link here, on my Facebook, Twitter, and etc. Hope everyone is doing great!

Edit, Revise, Repeat

I sent my book, Sideshow, to an editor that my stepmom knows, and received feedback yesterday. I really appreciate having a critically trained eye comb through it; there were several things I completely missed because I was too close to the story. I have a few friends that have read my *very* rough first draft and they also had brilliant suggestions that I have incorporated into this second draft.

At the same time, I think one has to take a few of the suggestions with a grain of salt. Damn. A cliche. That keeps happening...

But no really; a few suggestions for changes would have a negative effect on the story that has lived in my head for so long and is now set free. So I will leave those areas alone, and let my readers judge. 

I have spent all night editing, revising, and editing some more. I'm super exhausted but very happy with the results. And while the book is still not quite as lengthy as I would like, it's perfect for ebook format and so that is likely the route I will take. 

A couple of critiques I can't change but am extremely worried about is that A) my book is too graphic, and B)my protagonist is only nine years old, and it seems such a young heroine is undesired by adult readers. In addition, my writing of her character seems too "old" for a child of nine. But my eight year old is extremely sophisticated, and as she is my model for some of my main character's personality traits, I'm going to leave her the way she is too. You readers can decide for yourselves.

What it comes down to is this: I'm happy with the edits. I'm going to sit on it a while, and when the time is right, I will pursue publication. Until then, the circus is calling...

Sockin It Up

I've been on a sock making binge lately. I learned to make toe up socks, using a short row increase method and a similar method for the heel. Next I tackle two at a time and a complicated thing called entrelac. 

Here are pics:  

 Watermelon socks

 Dr. Who Tardis socks

Arachne

I haven't spun yarn in a while; no, not story telling, but actual yarn creating for knitting or crocheting. I had a batch of wool from last winter that I had dyed blue but not spun yet, so I finished it today. I just did a pretty simple, small twist art yarn since i don't plan to ply it, but will leave it as a single ply. Now I need to get some more wool!