Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Now that I've lived like a rock star for five days, it's time to clean up, pack up, and get back home.  I've got a lot on my plate the next few weeks and I'm not sure where to start.  I know a trip to either the consignment store or Goodwill is in order as I've come to the realization that my closet is way too full of clothes I haven't worn in way too long.  I'm also going to make Thing One and Thing Two go through their things.

My muse as of late has been working overtime and I cannot get her to slow down. So now I've got two ms's I'm actively working on, and still probably need to do another round of edits on Cheesy before sending it to my agent toward the end of summer.  Have I mentioned that I hate edits?  I try to fool myself into thinking it's fun, but in reality, it's not.  If someone likes edits please tell me why.  Sway me into liking them.

I'm also house hunting.  I've found the perfect place, but unfortunately, it's a short sale, which my realtor tells me is a pain in the butt.  Figures.  I fell in love with it and of course now nothing will live up to it in my eyes.  It's big, it's colorful, it's full of light.  It's perfect for me.

Other than that, I'll need to lose the 20 pounds I gained this weekend, get myself a pedicure, and patiently await my advance check which should be coming within the next few weeks.  Woot!

Have a great Tuesday all.

Ciao,

Megan

The Sell

Getting a late start today. I debated hijacking my own blog after some debate on Facebook, but decided to stick with the subject of the week. At the end maybe I'll touch on the Facebook debate.

So, you have an agent, and OH MY GOD, they've found a house that wants your book!! You have an editorial meeting with the publisher and guess what? They love your book, but want to see some changes done.

You make the changes, then comes line edits.

You edit, then comes more changes.

Then more, and more and more.

And they've given you a release date two years from now. Two years that will seem a lifetime.

It's all worth it though, from conception to publication, the hours, the frustration, the tedium, just to see your book in print. I can't wait for that day.

But you know what? That's when the hard work starts. Publicizing, market, making sure your book sells so you can sell another...your job as a writer is never done.

Good luck to ya.

Kisses,

:*

Megan

non sequitur: It's hard enough making it as a first time writer, especially for writer's of YA, give me your thoughts on competing with the celebrity writers out there, Madonna, Brittany Spears, Jamie Lee Curtis, and now Hilary Duff, etc etc. Let me hear your thoughts on this. This was the subject of debate on Facebook yesterday and today.

The Recreation

Yesterday I talked about the Creation of a story, today I will talk about the Recreation of a story.

When you've gone from start to finish, it's time to start over again...and again...and again...and again. And when you think it's perfect, go through it again. And then you let others read it, and you go through their comments, and change what you think needs changing.

and then, guess what? You do it again.

The book I've worked the most on to perfect, Mending Fences, I've done twelve rewrites/edits. And you know what? I'm starting another. And every time you go through it, you'll find mistakes, and things that need changing.

I've added characters, cut characters, added and cut scenes, made it more literary, less literary, added more action, changed the ending, changed the beginning, etc. etc.

A tip I have when you revise, is I change the name as if it's a new version of software. So right now I'm on Mending Fences 13.0. I have Dena Powers 3.0, What Gets You In 2.o, and Lockdown 2.0. It makes it less confusing when trying to find the right version of what you're working on.

Writing/revising is a never ending process. Eventually you have to stop of course, otherwise you'll make yourself crazy. It's hard though, to reach the point when you say, "okay, I think it's finally done."