So Things Have Slowed...Just For Now
Crazy. I looked at my last post and saw how manic I was about getting my book done. Crankin' it out, crankin' it out...never looking back, getting that rough n' rugged first draft down. I get my character to a big turning point in the book and...
Skiiiiiiid....
I slam on the brakes. Why? Well, it's pretty simple, actually. We bought a house!
We've been living in a townhouse (wife, little man and me) for almost 3.5 years and we've outgrown it by leaps and bounds. That's leaving out how 'sour' our once nice neighborhood has turned in that time.
Amazingly enough, Forbes put out an article talking about the zip code in the United States where property values are dropping at an alarming rate. Guess who lives (currently) in that zip code?
Yours truly.
So, my head has been mired in the idea of moving, uprooting all of our stuff, figuring out how to get the new house (and it's a house-house) to work with all of our possessions, and how in the heck we're going to have everything packed and ready to go by 5.19.06. It's just around the corner.
In WRITING news, I brought a chunk of Book 3 to my writer's group last week. I hadn't seen those folks for a while, so I thought it'd be good to share some a raw, unedited, fresh off the brain sample of the book. I'm pleased to report that they really liked it. They especially liked a new character that makes his debut in Book 3. The intended effect for his character worked perfectly.
Now, I know what y'all are thinking. Great, so your little critique group liked it. What about agents and stuff?
Well, I'll say this about my group. We're brutally honest with each other. So much so that we're kind of a sink or swim band of writers. There's a woman (who will remain nameless) who hasn't written much in the past year and thus, has nothing new to bring to the table. It's getting to the point where it's hard to take any kind of feedback or criticism from her. She'll suggest something and in the back of my head, I'm like:
Are you just talking to hear the sound of your own voice? What do YOU know about writing? You haven't written jack and/or squat in a year and Jack just left town.
As for 'agents and stuff' I've got a handful of things out there, just waiting to hear the good (or bad) word. I don't want to blanket the literary world. I want to be a little more careful about who and most importantly, why, I'm sending my stuff to this person or that publishing company.
Anyway...I've got much to do and I do still think I'll be able to get my book done by early summer. That's still the goal. To be up at the cabin for my 'big' vacation, sitting by the lake with a printed copy of my manuscript in hand, editing like a crazed lunatic.
It'll happen.
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