A New Year and A New Re-write

[Jeannie Holmes]

First of all...Happy New Year to everyone! May you have peace, prosperity, happiness, and a best seller in the new year.

I'm knee-deep in yet another re-write/round of edits on CRIMSON SWAN. After six months of "I love it but it's not right for our list right now"-rejections, a senior editor with one of the top publishing houses in NY gave my agent detailed feedback on what she liked and what she thought needed improving. She also said she'd be willing to give the manuscript a second read if I wanted to make a "few changes." *sigh* Merry freakin' Christmas to me. Guess what I've been doing for the past month? Yep...working my tail off to "improve" the manuscript.

Don't misunderstand. After re-reading the manuscript (after six months of not so much as looking at it), I agreed with a lot of what the editor said. Most of her comments were positive (Yay!) but the not-so-positives have turned into a month long pain in the tukus. I'm grateful for the opportunity to make corrections and send it back to the same editor for a second read (a feat I've subsequently been informed is a bit of a rarity in the publishing industry) and yet I'm ready to slam my head against the nearest wall to end the pain. Most of the pain comes from not knowing exactly how I'm going to correct one particular issue without scraping the whole second half of the novel. I think I've found a solution that will require only the addition of a few pages, some creative scene editing, the shuffling of a few characters within those scenes, and the reordering of another two or three scenes. I'm hoping that's all I'll need to do to solve the issue.

That and a lot of coffee.

Did I mention I'm doing all this on a deadline? Yeah...I am. Graduate classes start Jan. 7 and I need to have the re-write/edits finished and back to my agent before next Monday 'cause I'm scheduled to start my creative thesis this spring. CRIMSON SWAN isn't my thesis...neither is its sequel, A WICKED TURN. Nope, I'm writing a new novel to count as my thesis. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm considering enrollment in either an MFA or PhD track creative writing program after I graduate with my MA in English in December 2008. Apparently I need either an MFA or PhD in creative writing to teach creative writing at the university level. An MA in English with a concentration in creative writing simply won't cut it.

Yes, I do believe myself to be insane...off the deep end...gone 'round the bend...flown the cuckoo's nest...more than a few fries short of a Happy Meal...

*sigh* Where's that wall? I think I feel another headache coming.

TTFN JKH

[Loretta Wheeler]

...I know you just luv it, but I'm laughing, and trust me, it's been a helluva mornin' so to get a roaring laugh out of me is amazing:)

Thank God I have found out I'm normal- within the writing group anyway;) I do a lot of head banging, but more often hair pulling (we have a pic of me doing that;)...I also descend into the mad desire to grab the manuscript and run to the porch and strike a match and yell, burn baby burn!:):) Don't you know the neighbors would be so thrilled to watch this display??!...

As for you....write on!...you know if that NY person said what they did that you have what they want, just follow your instincts and give it to them:)...you'll write it the way they want it....you just needed to know what it was that was missing or not quite right ...:) (write?;) smirk..sick humor, I suffer from that malady too...

I'm looking forward to seeing a message saying you're "in!":)
Lo

[Jana Oliver]

The nice thing about hitting your head against a wall is that it feels SO good when you stop. Good luck with the rewrite. Let's hope it rocks the editor off his/her chair and a contract appeareth forthwith.