Dribs & Drabs ...

It has been months - Months! - since I last did a Blog Post. And what have I been doing since Sept 16th you ask? Oh, this and that. As you may know, I have two novels that are past the hurdle of First Draft doneness. Both have been sent off to my main Beta Readers - my family, although only my husband read both. My daughters only read the one. That was two years ago. Both of stories have also have had their first editing passdone with ProWriting Aid, completed this year. Not too sure if the program is worth it or not - there are definitely some technical issues that make it a bit annoying to use (in my opinion).

The exciting news is that the first one - Best Laid Plots - Book the First - has had some sample chapters sent off to a professional editor for evaluation. A pricey service to be sure, but hopefully will result in a tighter, cleaner story. I've read her preliminary assessment - which was quite positive (naturally!), and will be diving into the more indepth analysis she did tomorrow. To assess her skills and to determine if I will send her the full MS for editing.

I also have approved the concept sketch for the cover - which was hugely exciting! Not quite what I was envisioning, but better I think. Can't wait to see the finished design!

Now, I need to get more Beta reads of the second book - A Winter's Tale. Husband said it was fine - though he much preferred BLP-Bkthe2nd. They are very different books, with WT more what I usually write.

Sorry to those who've dropped by to see if I've posted any of my When Words Collide 2021 sessions - I will try to get that done soon. I have no idea if anyone ever actually DOES drop by here for any reason ... no one has ever left a message or done anything to indicate they are something more substantial than a mere bot randomly combing the internet for who knows what ...

My current "new" writing project is limping along. I'm about 28,000 words in, and have done a bit of plotting for the next 40,000 words. No, I'm not doing NanoWrimo. With my sporadic writing schedule that would be insane of me to try. But I finally named the horse, so that's progress, of sorts.

All in all, it does feel like I'm just spinning my wheels, getting nowhere slowly. Which is nuts, because other things have been happening in my life, as it tends to do! I spent ten days visiting one of my daughters on the other side of the country. I participated in several Guiding Trainings, as well as When Words Collide. I've been editing two books and thinking about several others. Even read severl novesl - including Project Hail Mary (which was excellent). Got through our busy season at work, and now am "enjoying" a bit of a quiet period (which is supposed to be when I get more writing done). I got to visit with my half-sister, whom I've only met in person once before. I got another furgrandbaby - a dog this time. Spent a week in the mountains with my hubby and have started planning a brand new dnd campaign - which is kind of a big deal, because I haven't dm'd for a very long time! And today hubby and I cleaned out the freezer in the garage. A task that has been long overdue! And sadly, with much food needing to be disposed of. Uggg. But at least it's done. And although am supposed to enjoying a Staycation, got called in to work. Where I've had two customers. And spent some time writing, and of course, doing a Blog Post.

Until next time, whenever that might be ....