A Year with the Potters

~Changes and Check-in

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My book rewrite is coming along well. My tentative deadline was June 15th, but the LORD didn’t see a need for it to be done so fast. Instead, I got sick and produced very little writing of any kind for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, I’m still about halfway through. My sister says the rewrite is a vast improvement, so that’s good. I have cut scenes, improved descriptions, changed sentences and toyed with nicknames for my characters. The result, I must confess, painful as it is, really is better. Passive sentences are probably what I’m fixing the most. That and extraneous material. I never knew how much better it would be if I changed those two. Especially passive sentences. LORD willing, I’ll have  this stage of writing done by the end of June. All of this leaves me in a state excitement and expectation, as well as fighting a bit of apprehension. :)

As to the changes mentioned in the title. I’m planning to start posting again. I have quite a few book reviews coming up, if the LORD wills, a poem or two and I don’t know what else. The Phantom of the Opera and Red Rain are two books I hope to review in the coming weeks. I also plan to be putting up a few pages at the top of the site soon. The biggest change would be, however, that I am planning to redesign the blog. It might take some experimentation, but I hope to do it soon. As much as I love the way it looks now, it really is a bit out of place with Summer almost here. I don’t plan to make it seasonal this time. I think I’m ready for a “steady look”. We’ll see what I come up with! I suppose I better get brainstorming…

To the KING be all the glory!

~I’m Still Here…

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Though I wouldn’t blame anyone if they had been speculating otherwise. One minute I say that I’m done with an editing project and back to blogging. The next, I seem to disappear. I suppose an explanation might be in order.

My excitement about the completion of A Year with the Potters was short lived. During my final read-through with my sisters, I wouldn’t help noticing that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the finished product. There were a few things that kept nagging at me. After time spent praying and thinking about it, I’ve realized that I’m not finished like I thought I was. A Year with the Potters needs more work.

I originally wrote this book when I was about seventeen or eighteen. Since then, though I’ve edited, my writing style was still developing and was heavily influenced by the old books I was reading. While I still read those old books, I have a better idea now, how to write with a “modern flavor”. (Though I’m probably still a little old-fashioned too. No reason to get rid of that entirely!) I also used a passive voice rather too often.

In short, my book needs an update and I’m swimming through a whirlpool trying to accomplish it. It’s much more difficult than I imaged. I’ve had to cute, trim, and modify more than I ever thought possible. I am, however, making progress with much prayer, a good pen and plenty of new paper.

So if I seem a bit scarce over the next few weeks, you’ll know where I’ll be at in my free time. I’ll do my best to keep posting, but we’ll see how I do. At least once a week is my goal…

To the KING be all the glory!

~I’ve Been Missing…

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I’ve been sort of missing for the last week. I had posts planned and everything, but not written, when my editor unexpectedly handed over the last of her notes on one of my books. Instead of posting, I spent nearly all of my computer time last week, editing… constantly editing. Now, I’m basically done! I have a final draft sitting in my computer, on the laptop and backed up for safety. I am in the process of a final read through, but it’s only pages away from being complete.

For those of you who keep track of word counts, this is one of my shorter books. It’s a children’s book titled A Year with the Potters. It’s about 27,000 words. I’ve been working on it for several years now, and much of it comes from real life occurrences. My goal with this story is to have a good book for children, that also teaches them as they read. The book follows a Christ-following, homeschool family as they explore nature, learn lessons of character and study history (such as learning about Martin Luther), always bringing everything back to the word of God. It’s pretty light-hearted, more so than my other books. I’m so excited to have it completed, that I can’t seem to stop telling how excited I am! It’s my first book to come this far!

On a random note, I’m reading The Phantom of the Opera right now. Trying to see why I’ve seen so many people say how much they like it. I’m about an eighth of the way through it, and I’m reserving judgment until I’ve read more.

I plan to begin posting again. My review for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde should be up by the end of the week, LORD willing, and I’m already planning some posts for next week. It will be nice to get my blog going again… until the next project claims my attention.

To the KING be all the glory!