Cleaning House

I had a relative move out this week after living here for six months. Another will be moving into the revolving door my house has become soon, so I have a lot of cleaning and laundry to get done in a short amount of time. In the past few days I've been doing mounds of laundry and bedding, and, since a lot of clothing got left behind, I had to decide what to take to Goodwill and what to take to the trash. Sorting through what's good enough to keep and what to toss.

And, after the laundry gets done, I can start getting down to details. Vacuuming, scrubbing, picking up empty peanut butter cups, etc. All those details that happened during his tenure here need to be assessed and a decision made as to whether it's worth hanging onto.

And, of course, this all reminded me of editing a manuscript once you type "The End." First, you clean up the glaring errors, or fill in the gaping holes in your story line. Then, you get down to the details. You can vacuum up a lot of them quickly, such as changing out straight quotes with curly ones. But then there are those details that have become so ingrained in the story that it's really hard to scrub the story clean. Lots of elbow grease is going to be needed to have the end product be clean as a whistle.

So, in between loads of laundry and vacuuming this weekend, I'll be cleaning off my laptop in preparation for getting serious writing time in next week on my new story. I've got the story line planned, just like I have a plan for cleaning the upstairs. But, as is always the case, the story has a tendency to go its own way, regardless of the amount of planning I have done. I only hope there are no surprises when it comes to cleaning the second floor.

Hurry Up And Wait

If I needed any reminder of what this publishing business is all about, I got it in the past few weeks. You Hurry Up and finish your WIP, only to set it aside for a few weeks to simmer before you polish it up and send it off into the world, in whatever avenue of publishing you choose. That's the first Hurry Up And Wait moment. If you enter it into a contest you Hurry Up and submit before the deadline and then Wait impatiently until the finalists are announced.

I recently attended an event at my local library on self-publishing. The main gripe about traditional publishing is the lag time between when you sign a contract and when the book is released. With the advent of small press publishers, the lag time isn't nearly so great as it used to be–my first book was contracted for in March and released in May, giving me barely enough time to set up my website and this blog. So that argument against using a traditional publisher doesn't hold much water anymore. There are still pluses and drawbacks and it's a very personal choice. But at least now, in this day and age, we authors have many paths to publication.

But say you do want to go the self-publishing route. There's still a Hurry Up And Wait aspect to it. You want to spend time, and unless you have a Fine Arts background, money, on a decent cover and a good editor–preferably two editors. These people, if they're good (and good's what you want) have many other authors as clients, so you need to be worked into their rotations. There can be months of lag time between when a manuscript is submitted to an editor and when the final product goes live on Amazon and other outlets.

If you go the traditional route with a small press, the lag time can be quick or tedious. I mentioned my first book only took two months. My most recent one has taken me since January, when I turned it in, and still there's no release date in sight. I keep telling myself it will happen, I didn't have to find and pay for an editor, a cover, or a formatter, so I'm good with it, but it's been a struggle.

And a Big 5 publisher? One of my favorite small press publishers got bought up by a Big 5 last year, and they've done a fabulous job of promoting my backlist. I want to work with this publishing house again, now since they're part of a Big 5, so I submitted a manuscript to them. It's Book One of a new series, and I've had my fingers crossed for months now. I guess I should spend the Wait time working on the second book in the series, but I find it hard to work with my fingers crossed and holding my breath. Maybe I'll hear something this week...

How about you? Would you like to work with a Big 5 or do you want complete control? Or both? In any scenario, there will be many Hurry Up And Wait moments.

Becoming a Big 5 Author

Okay, I am well aware I snuck in the back door of Simon & Schuster. But I can still lay claim to the fact I'm part of a Big 5 publisher.

Last week, the changeover was finally completed and the Crimson Romance line became a part of the offerings at S&S. So my Cotillion books appear on the S&S website for the first time. Please take a moment and go to my author page and become a fan. Here's the link: http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Becky-Lower/2137651463

I'm honored and apprehensive about being the first of the Crimson authors to be promoted by S&S in the form of a BookBub ad. On February 6, the bundle of all nine of the Cotillion books plus the novella about how the parents, Charlotte and George, met and fell in love, will be featured on BookBub. For only 99 cents, this collection can be yours. So if you've been tempted before to buy one of these books, but didn't want to commit to the entire series, here's your chance to scoop them all up for one low price. How can you beat 99 pennies?

As if that's not enough, all the Crimson titles are going on sale for the month of February, our Valentine's gift to you. For only $1.99 you can load up on all those tempting Crimson titles. All e-books are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_price-desc-rank?fst=as:off&rh=n:283155,p_30:Crimson+Romance,p_n_feature_browse-bin:618073011&unfiltered=1&qid=1485374096&bbn=283155&sort=price-desc-rank

In addition to the changeover happening, I've been going through the first round of edits for my second Lobster Cove book through Wild Rose Press. This romance is called Sweet Caroline, and I'm in love with Grant, my hero. Caroline is a cousin of Abbey and Penny, who appeared in the first Lobster Cove book, "Love's In The Cards"and she returns to the Cove after sixteen years away to participate in Penny's wedding to Del.

My editor hates the word ït" and has challenged me to banish it (see what I mean?), rather, banish the word from my manuscript. I never gave much thought to how often the word shows up in my work before now. I'll add it to my naughty word list and will decide whether to put it in the "Don't Use At Any Cost" list or the "Use No More Than Five Times In A Scene" list. I climbed out of the editing cave today in order to work on my Regency, and to begin thinking about my next American historical. However, regardless of what I'm working on, there will be no "It" in the book. I'm proof you can teach an old dog new tricks!

First Drafts

It's late January, and in Ohio, that usually means snow is covering the ground and black ice is waiting to trip you up at every turn. But it's been an unusual winter so far and I'm loving still having a green front yard. Not a pretty green yard, but one with good bones. Kind of reminds me of a flash first draft.

Allow me to explain my logic. A first draft, at least my first drafts, are a loosey-goosey compilation of scenes that may or may not fit together. It's definitely not pretty, just bare bones. Kind of like my  yard in winter. Where are the flowers? The nice stone edging marking the beds where the crocuses will rise out of the snow in March? The yard art that shows my personality, my style?

All that happens later. After I finish the first draft, and see that I actually do have a story to tell and that there's a happy ever after ending to it, I go back to the beginning and start adding in the flowers,  the roses with their musky smell, the heady strong scent of the lilies and the sweet-smelling hyacinths.

I'm working through the second draft of my new historical, which is very dear to my heart, since it's based on family lore. My uncle and I have had many conversations about what could have happened and how, and his ideas are very much in play with this story. I'm adding in the color, the details, to the story now, making room for those scenes I was in too much of a hurry to write during the first draft and smoothing out some of my transitions. Once I finish the slightly more polished second draft, I'll go back to the beginning and start again, adding in the little details that elevate a manuscript to a published work. 

I expect to be working on this story, tentatively called Dance With Destiny, until March or so. I expect, at some time during the long days of February, to have my yard covered with snow, and black ice will make walking hazardous. I hope to not get buried in it, like my friend in the DC area last week, but this is Ohio and this lovely weather can't last.

At least I know I have lots to do, many revisions to make before this manuscript will be ready for publication. I will load up my house with food, and laugh at the weather. I will work hard, and maybe, just maybe, by the time the crocuses poke their heads through the snow, I will have a polished manuscript that both my uncle and I can be proud of.

Paring Down

Every author has his or her own writing habits that they fall into. Repetition, overuse of the same body language, tired, worn out cliches, that type of thing. These habits are okay for a first draft, but when you're in editing mode, as I've been these last few weeks, it's time to take the scissors to the manuscript, and cut all these bad habits from your work. Word count goes out the window in favor of producing an end product that's lean, where every scene advances the story line, where every word and every paragraph is essential to the story.

The same scenario is playing out in my life as well as in my manuscripts. My home was placed on the market last week, with the end goal of downsizing to a single story home that's more easily navigable for those of us with joint problems, and easier to take care of. So, I've started paring down my possessions and decluttering the house. I've almost got a handle on the clutter, but the paring down of what's accumulated over the years will take awhile. My rule of thumb is if I haven't looked at the box or item, or worn the article of clothing in the six years I've lived here, it's time to toss it. I'm cutting out all the repetition, all the worn out cliches, all the paperwork from years ago, etc. It's time to get mean and lean, since I'm hoping to decrease my floor space by about half. I will brutally edit all extraneous material from my life, just as I do with my manuscripts.

Big changes are coming in my life. My edits went back yesterday to the publisher. Book 8 in my series–A Widow's Salvation–was the most difficult book for me to write in the series, but I think the end product is one of my best.

Now I can only hope the move to a smaller house, which will be the most difficult move of my life,
will end up being one of my best decisions ever.

The Big Jigsaw Puzzle

I'm eyebrow-deep in editing the eighth book in my Cotillion Ball Series. You'd think, with each successive book I write, that the edits would become fewer, and, to some degree, that is true. Punctuation, typos, proper use of words has become easier, and this manuscript is relatively clean from that standpoint. But content? That's a different kettle of fish.

My editor suggested that I take a pivotal scene from the back of the book and move it forward. Easy-peasy, I thought to begin with. Then I read what happened before and after the scene as it's currently written, and it's not easy at all to move it. Every scene in a novel is part of a big jigsaw puzzle, with each piece fitting seamlessly, if you're lucky, into the next so the story will flow. By pulling a piece out of the middle and repositioning it, you must also reposition all the surrounding pieces so they still fit together.

I've been thinking about how to accomplish this for several days now, since I think the editor is right, and the scene would be better if it were moved forward. I've been looking at the picture on the outside of the puzzle box for awhile, and think I've got it figured out. Now I just need to implement it.  I'll go back to the beginning of the manuscript starting on Monday, add in a few paragraphs to set up the pivotal scene, move it up, shore up my timeline and make sure Charlotte and George's opinions on the matter remain consistent, since they are Pepper's sounding boards during her process from war widow to satisfied bride.

After I finish tinkering, I'll go back and read the manuscript through one more time–the ad nauseum phase of any edit–and, once I'm sure it's polished to a spit shine, I'll send it back to the publisher. And I must accomplish this by July 13.

No pressure.

Mary's Alter Ego

Most of you by now know that I have a puppy-mill rescue dog named Mary. She’s been very slow to reveal herself to me—she has trust issues, as you can well imagine. But sometime around the anniversary of the day she came into my life, something clicked between us, and she’s been allowing me to see more and more of what makes her tick.

A few months ago, I made the transition from writer to author when I signed with Crimson Romance. The following weeks were intense and hectic, between setting up a website and other social media, plus all the rounds of edits. Oh yeah, and then there was that pesky day job. I’d find myself sitting in front of my computer for hours on end. Mary often had to use her outside voice to break through the writer’s fog and make me realize it had been four hours since I’d let her outside.

The other day, I was working on my WIP. Finally able to be creative again, I was eager to work, but a bit rusty, since I’d been doing everything but writing for a couple weeks. I’d write a chapter and print it out, curious to see if it became any less sucky when I looked at it in print rather than on the screen. I read through the work out loud, with Mary as my audience. No, if anything, it sucked even more. I balled up the pages one at a time, and tossed them in the direction of the wastebasket. Finally, I got back in the groove, and the next few hours were blissfully spent with my heroine, whom I love dearly, in 1856 St. Louis.

When I finally came back to the present and went looking for Mary, I found a trail of paper in the living room. While I wasn’t looking, she came into my study and grabbed the sheets of my dismal chapter one by one, and shredded them on my rug. I smiled as I realized Mary had torn my work apart, just like an editor would have done. I decided to experiment with something.

I have pens all over my house, since you never know when inspiration will strike. On an almost daily basis, one or more pens will crash to the floor from an overloaded table. If I’m not quick to pick them up, Mary will grab them and start chewing. This time, I intentionally laid three pens on the floor—two with blue ink and one with red. Without hesitation, Mary picked up the red one triumphantly and returned to her blanket with her prize. Which was all the proof I needed. In a former life, Mary was an editor with a publishing house!