Sunday, November 8, 2009

WindKeeper Exclusive

Working on: New vampire Bites
Last Kindle download: Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh (clearly I've been on a Nalini Singh binge - I love all her stuff!)


I was excited to see that The WindKeepers are this month's exclusives for Nocturne ebooks at Mills and Boon UK. And ebooks are coming soon to the Australian Mills and Boon site!


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Word (or few) on Revisions

Working on: My revised manuscript is away! Now working on a Bites.
Last Kindle download: Must Love Hellhounds by Nalini Singh and others


My revised manuscript is 100% finished. What a great feeling! Especially knowing I made the story so much better than it had been. Now the revising is over, I’ve started to forget some of the pain (like childbirth, I’m told). I thought I’d make a few notes on how I tackled my revisions and ask how other people do their revisions. And now I have time to blog again and I'm indulging in a long entry (-:

First off, I found it hard to get my revisions started. Why? Well, it was a manuscript I’d written some time ago (my first!) and I’d moved on from it. But once I started revising (with some wonderful guidance from my editor and two years’ worth of extra writing experience), something happened…excitement trickled into my veins. I started to see my story improving and suddenly I had a hunger to see this be the best I could make it!

So, for anyone interested, here’s how I tackled my revisions:

1) Structural Revisions
These are the big picture revisions. Ripping out scenes that slow the pacing or don’t add anything to the story, noting where I needed to add scenes, changing, adding or removing characters, fixing pacing.

I started with the suggestions from my editor but it might be suggestions from CPs or maybe a read through you’ve done after some time away from the manuscript.

During this time I also kept a Word document called “Edits” open and noted down any small things I come across that I needed to deal with later. Especially noting down any echo words (overused words or phrases) that I needed to check for and remove!

2) Rewrites
This is where I add new scenes and/or expand on existing scenes that need more emotion or conflict. I also look for any clichéd ideas and try and twist them into something fresh.

I’ve heard it said that the first few ideas that pop into your head are the same ones that’ll pop into most people’s heads when thinking on the same topic. You need to follow the Rule of 6 - push through to the sixth idea – to get something unique.

3) Computer Read Through
Once I think all the structural revisions and rewrites are done, I’ll start from the beginning and read through on the computer. And I’ll do more of Step 1 and 2 if required, but mostly I’m smoothing in the new stuff. During this read through, I do probably read each chapter more than once as I’m smoothing, checking facts from other chapters etc.

I also cut anything that’s long winded or doesn’t move the story forward gets pruned. Here I’m usually cutting and trimming paragraphs.

4) “Edits” Document
Around here, I’ll start to tackle the Word document I’ve kept with bullet points of smaller things I need to fix. They’re usually simple – overused phrases or a factual problem to fix. Sometimes they’re longer as I might need to layer something into the story from start to finish.

5) Send to CPs
Usually at this point the manuscript is in pretty good form. It hasn’t been polished, but it’s decent enough to send to my CPs. I’m thankful I stumbled onto Rach and Emily on the boards at eHarlequin.com because I’m not sure what I did without them (-:

6) Polishing
While the girls are reading, I get to work polishing. Now I’m down to the finer details. I check for word overuse, adverb overuse, check my chapter starts/ends are good, that I don’t start paragraphs with the same word too many times, antecedents are correct, grammar, missed words, spelling etc.

And of course, there’s more of the cutting. If I can find a way to say the same thing with fewer words, I do it. Cut, cut, cut. Here I’m down to cutting and trimming sentences.

7) Tweaks from CP suggestions
Once the girls get back to me, I go through their critiques. First off, I may not agree with everything they suggest. As a writer, we know our stories better than anyone else and we need to make changes we think make our story better. That said, I find I get the biggest gut reactions to things I subconsciously knew weren’t working anyway and after a pout/eye roll/cuss, I get to work on fixing the problem.

Another thing to do is look beyond the statement to the actual cause. If I get a general comment that my CP can’t quite connect with my heroine, I look beyond that and think: have I made her too perfect or maybe she doesn’t have enough conflict/emotion or she’s not sympathetic enough?

My CP comments generally fall into a few categories:

Polishing items – missed words, bumpy sentences, grammar, spelling etc. These are easy to fix and a second set of eyes picks up many of the ones I’ve missed.
Things they like – particular scenes, emotion, conflict, characters etc. These comments are helpful as I know I’m on the right track here.
Things they don’t like – things that are off, don’t feel right, lack of or unclear motivation, things that don’t make sense. These might be harder to fix, but if your CPs trip up at these things, it’s likely a reader/agent/editor will as well.

8) Kindle Read Through
Once I’ve done all of the above, it’s time for the final read through. I find it best to change the reading method, because I’ve been staring at the computer for some time now and I’ve gone blind to many of the tiny errors hiding in my manuscript.

I send my story through to my Kindle (love my Kindle!!) But printing it out or using the Reading Layout feature in Word are good options too. On this read through, I’m down to the fine, fine detail. I’m usually still cutting bits here and there, but its words. I’m also spotting missed words, spelling and grammar.

9) Finished!
Finally, all done. Now I make sure my one page cover letter (including awesome blurb on my story) and synopsis (about 4 pages double spaced) are ready to go. Then I print it all out, put it in a Tyvek envelope (strong and durable) and ship that baby to NY.

I know the question I’d ask if I read the above – how long do the revisions take? I think it’s different for each book. If you have to do a lot of structural revisions or rewrites, it’s going to take longer.

Okay, I’m eager to hear how revisions work for other people. Anyone have any awesome tips that make revisions just that little bit easier?

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

And the WINNER is…Portia Da Costa

Working on: Printing out my revised manuscript! Woo hoo!
Last Kindle download: Angel’s Pawn by Nalini Singh

The winner of the LIKE THE WIND Contest is Portia! Portia wins her choice of a $30 gift card from Amazon or Fictionwise. And if anyone likes their short stories steamy hot, check out Portia’s Spice Briefs.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about Taken by the South Wind!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

New Cover for Savage Dragon

Working on: Final polishing on revisions
Last Kindle download: Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh


Savage Dragon has a new cover! There was an issue with the original cover (which saddens me a little, because it was my first and I’d grown to love it).


The new guy looks nothing like my hero (too young), but I don’t know, I think it might grow on me. What do you think?


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Thinking Write

Working on: Revisions…so close I can smell it.
Last Kindle download: been revising, not reading

My good friend Margie Lawson interviewed Kelly Stone, author of Thinking Write and Time to Write on her blog recently. It’s a great interview and writers who have trouble finding the time to write or whose muse can be less than cooperative should check it out.

Kelly talks about the Anti-Writer ™ - a part of your mind that tries to sabotage your writing goals and she mentions some ways to combat it.

There are also some tips from successful published authors on ways to boost your creativity.

It got me thinking. I'm fairly disciplined about my writing, but there are times when I sabotage myself. I'm going to follow one of Kelly's tips and write down all the ways I sabotage my writing time or think negative thoughts about my writing. Once I understand my bad habits, I'm going to break them!
Anyone else have an Anti-Writer ™ and how does it sabotage your writing time?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Happy Release Day Erica Hayes!

Working on: Almost finished my revisions!
Last Kindle download: Pleasure and Purpose by Megan Hart

Congratulations to Aussie urban fantasy/paranormal romance author, Erica Hayes on the release of her debut book, Shadowfae. It’s the first story in Erica’s Shadowfae Chronicles. Book 2, Shadowglass is due out early next year. If you like dark and sexy, check it out.

Here’s the blurb:

Steal souls.
Live in hell.
Never die.

In a city infested with psychotic fairies and run by sadistic vampire mafiosi, life as a soul-sucking succubus rarely involves lacy lingerie, hot guys or great sex.
Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade must spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell's minions.
Then, she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she's ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

For more info, check out her website: http://www.ericahayes.net/

Saturday, October 10, 2009

At Eleni-fest today

I'm blogging at Eleni-fest today about the best of big and small: writing organisations, conferences and stories. Drop by and say hi. I'm giving away a download of Taken by the South Wind.