Well, I think I’m at the point where I’ve edited all I can edit. After a while, everything looks like gibberish on the page from staring at it so much. I read it through again this week, changing a few small things here and there, and I am as happy as I’m going to be with it. For now.

I finally had someone besides Jake read it (his Mom) and her exact words were, “If you don’t publish this book … I will personally kick your butt!!” Guess I better do what my mother-in-law tells me to do, huh? 😉

And she gave me one of the best compliments I could possibly get when she said,
“God certainly guided you and your keystrokes.”

What does the photo above have to do with my book, you ask? Mt. Baldy is a scenic lookout in the Yankee Springs/Barry County State Game Area. I believe it’s the highest point in the county. It lies up the hill and across the road from where I grew up. Although, it’s not much of a scenic lookout anymore since the pines have grown so tall, but when I was little, you could stand on the top and see Gun Lake. It’s not a big tourist spot or anything. If you try to Google it (as I did), all you’ll find is the map of the Yankee Springs Recreation Area and several other Mt. Baldys across the country. But my Mt. Baldy, the one I grew up climbing, is the inspiration for one of the locations in my book. Write what you know, right?

I’ve been working backwards on my book edit. Starting at the end and going back chapter by chapter.

That was hard at first since the final chapters are the most emotional ones and I can never get through them without crying. I thought maybe going backwards would help me to focus more on the sentence structure, grammar, dialog and flow, but once I start reading, I just can’t help it. I am attached to my characters and, when I write, I see the story as a movie playing out in my head. If I was at the theater watching it, I would cry. So that’s me. Sitting at my keyboard with tears running down my face. It probably doesn’t help that I always play instrumental movie scores while I write. The music gets me every time.

Backwards worked well for me once I got through about four chapters. And I’m happy to say that I’m finished with this edit and soon I’ll be ready to have some family and friends read it. Yikes! I just got a little nervous knot in my stomach thinking about that. My little story has been all mine for so long. Now I have to get over my fears and insecurities and just put it out there.

Jake will be reading it first for me. I trust his opinion. He’s been an avid reader all his life, so I know he’ll be honest and tell me what he likes/doesn’t like about it and what might need a little more work.

The deadline I set to have all the editing done was November 1st. It feels good to be ahead of that deadline with time to make some final edits while I explore my options for publishing. I’m still leaning toward self-publishing. I will keep you all informed so you can get your hands on a copy (or download an ebook perhaps) once it’s ready!

Happy Tuesday!

November 1st! That’s my self-imposed deadline. I have set a goal to finish editing my book. I thought that was fitting since the month of November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and that’s when I initially wrote this book back in 2009.

Why has it taken me this long to do anything with it? Life. Excuses. Laziness. Editing takes time and dedication, and the busyness of every day gets in the way unless I set a time each day to work on it. That can be a challenge, but it’s one that I think is worth it. I think this story is worthy of my time. Jake agrees. He read it on an airplane on the way home from a business trip a couple years ago and had to hide a few tears from the person sitting next to him. 😉

What is my book about? It’s young adult fiction, at least that’s the age of the main characters (high schoolers). It’s very much about finding faith in God through the influence of those around you. I don’t have a “synopsis” fit for the book jacket written yet, but when I do, when it’s closer to putting the book out there for the world, I will share it here.

I did it again! This is my second year taking part in NaNoWriMo. I really didn’t think I was going to do it this year. I wrote a book I really love last year and it still needs so much work before I let people read it. I really thought I didn’t want to tackle another tale before the first one was complete. But when I got this idea for a YA novel on the day NaNo started, I felt like God had given me the idea. So I went with it. And tonight, only a few minutes ago, I reached the goal of 50,000 words. I’m really proud of this book and I hope someday, when I get this one all edited, some of you will be able to read it and enjoy it, too.

I was really pushing this one until almost the last minute. Tonight is the deadline at 11:59 pm. The past few days I’ve been a writing machine. I have to thank Mom O. for the delicious meal she made last night. We went out there to hang out and I basically sat in Dad O’s chair the whole time, laptop in front of me, headphones on, and wrote and wrote and wrote. As of last night, I still had about 9,000 words left to go. Jake let me write all last night when we got home. He got the kids all ready for bed and even did laundry and folded it for me. I have a wonderful husband.

(P.S. He secretly hates me because I keep finishing my NaNo novel every year and he doesn’t. hehehe!)

Submitted my novel to NaNoWriMo tonight. At 51,489 words, I am officially a winner! In a little less than three weeks, I cranked out this sweet little tale of love. Whether or not it’s any good, it makes me very happy and that’s what really matters. 🙂 When I finish up all my wedding editing, I will start work on editing this sucker. Then, I may be asking a few of you to give it a read and throw some constructive criticism my way. I can take it! I think. 😉

Happy Thanksgiving all!

So, I finished my novel this week! Sort of. It’s my very rough first draft. But I made it past the NaNoWriMo goal, which is 50,000 words. I’m at 50,299 and I actually have a little more I might add to the ending. Not sure on that yet. It’s at a good spot, but I feel like there’s a little more to tell. We shall see!

P.S. In response to Kelley’s comment the other day on who would play the female lead. I have no idea, but if Hugh Jackman’s the male lead then I wanna play opposite him! LOL!

Don’t tell my hubby, but I’m at 37,225 words in my novel. 😉 He’s mad at me ’cause he’s behind his goal. It’s not my fault. I am a woman on a mission to get these characters together in the end!

By the way, I decided the other day that if my book was ever made into a movie, Hugh Jackman would most definitely need to play the love interest.

Mornin’ all!

Took these pics the last week of October when I was working on documenting my week, but this is exactly what my morning looks like today.

My weekend was very quiet and pretty productive. Still sick, I spent the entire time in pajamas recuperating (almost back to normal, still fighting the nasty cough), got lots of pictures edited and passed the 25,000 word mark on my NaNo novel. I’m way ahead on that, but I can’t stop writing because I have to see what my characters are going to do next. Like I said, it’s taken on a life of its own. Even made me cry the other night as something someone said revealed something unexpected and unplanned. Way cool! It’s so funny how the brain works and just keeps tying stuff together when really it just seems like a whole lot of gibberish in the beginning.

National Novel Writing Month is something Jake has done for a couple years. Last year, while we were away on our fall getaway at the lake, he spent lots of time working on his novel. The goal is to write 50,000 words, a complete novel, in 30 days beginning on November 1st (midnight October 31st). This year, I signed up, too. So on top of editing weddings and photo sessions and trying to fight off this nasty cold, I have to write 1,667 words a day in order to stay on track. So far, no problem. I’ve got a fun idea for a little chick lit novel and I’m running with it. It’s fun creating a new little world and the characters that move through it. And it’s interesting how you start out writing one thing and the story kind of takes on a life of its own with new characters popping up throughout your tale that you hadn’t planned on. I love that. So, wish me and Jake luck finishing our novels by November 30th.