I’ve decided to start tracking some numbers on my search for a home for Renegade. They’ll be pretty depressing, but maybe they’ll help some other aspiring authors know what to expect when they start shopping around manuscripts. Here are the numbers I’ve decided to track: queries sent out, partial manuscripts requested, full manuscripts requested, offers, [...]
Now that I’ve got beta readers working on The Guardian’s Hand, it’s time to get back to work finding a home for The Renegade’s Door. I wrote a post about finding a literary agent a few months ago. I’m hip deep in that process right now. My first challenge was putting together a compelling query [...]
Well, it took much longer than I’d hoped. But I’m finally finished with the red-lines on my manuscript. I’ve also settled on a working title! The second novel in the Renegade’s Legacy series is called – (drum roll please) – The Guardian’s Hand! I’ve even thought of a working title for the concluding volume of [...]
Well, you’ve put it off long enough. You’ve set your manuscript aside, let it collect some dust, forgotten most of the details, and read it with fresh and critical eyes. You’ve scratched down your themes, plot summaries, and character arcs in your little notebook. Now it’s time to wade through your draft manuscript. It’s never [...]
Hey folks. I’m migrating to my own dedicated server today. There may be a glitch or two in the process, so bear with me! But fear not! I’m still revising Eliza’s story (though more slowly than I should be). I’ve even got a working title now! Or rather, two working titles: The Healer’s Touch, and [...]
I finished the critical reading step of my revisions a few days ago. Now it’s time to move on to step 2. Author Holly Lisle calls this step Discovery, in her one pass process, and I think that’s as good a name as any. In a nutshell, this is where you remind yourself why you [...]
Revision: the word that makes aspiring authors cringe almost as much as synopsis. No doubt about it, revision is both painful and challenging, but a critical process to master for anyone who dreams of getting published. In previous posts, I’ve already mentioned that I’m a fan of Holly Lisle’s One Pass Revision Process. Renegade’s Door [...]
I love the Alum Rock Farmers’ Market. The produce is fresh, local, and some of the best stuff you can find in San Jose. This time of year is a special favorite for Margot and I. Why? Peaches. I’m not talking about your canned-in-heavy-syrup peaches, or your shipped-to-grocery-store-year-round-in-refrigerated-freight-trucks peaches. I’m talking about peaches so sweet [...]
A few weeks ago, while taking a lunch break from writing on our back patio, I discovered that our poor persimmon tree had suffered massive limb trauma. I’m not sure what caused the damage, but as you can see in the picture to the left, it was severe. More than half the crown of the [...]
Somewhere in the middle of writing chapter 20 out of 30, I realized that my outline just didn’t have enough material to reach my personal 90,000 word goal. My motivation dropped visibly once I hit that snag, but I did finish the story before August 1st. The final word of the ending brought the count [...]
