June! I heard back from Inkshares. This time the Director of Marketing and the CEO read my draft and...THEY DON’T HATE IT. Haha, Yay! They like a lot of it and had loads of nice things to say. They don’t want me to change the story or structure, which is huge. They do want me to focus on character now, especially my main character, Cassidy, and continue to hone my prose, so I’m working my way through a reading list of craft books and comparable titles. Be on the lookout for a title change coming soon. A few days ago, I went through my whole outline and added notes about what to add and change, so as soon as I finish this next book annd have a check in call with the publisher, I’ll jump into the writing. We’re getting closer!
Maybe my most exciting news is that for Mother’s Day, my husband gifted me a writing getaway, which I plan to take this summer!
Also exciting, my short story, "Rachel Rose, Semite" was accepted for publication in the new Writing Bloc Anthology.
The gist is this: A misunderstanding in kindergarten led everyone to believe Rachel Rose was Jewish. Now she’s been pretending for twelve years and is up for a college scholarship-- if she can pull off a school-wide Passover Seder. Can she fool her classmates, and the scholarship committee, one more time? Look for it in Fall 2019!
Thank you, as always, for your support!
Happy November!
I’m on to the next draft of Rock of Ages, and it’s more big changes, including a switch from first to third person. This will help me add more descriptive detail without worrying if it’s detail my narrator would have noticed or not.
I’ve sent a couple versions of the prologue back and forth with the editor, and it’s improving each time. When he’s happy with it, I’ll move on to the rest of the book. It’s important with this draft that I slooooow down and work carefully, so don’t expect the "I wrote a million words in three weeks" updates with this one. Instead, you can look forward to quality, quality writing that goes deep. I’ve posted the current version of the prologue for you all to read! I hope you like it.
https://www.inkshares.com/books/rock-of-ages/book_segments/prologue-molly-1769
Thank you so much for your support as I create what I hope will be something really magical.
Becca
It’s July! We’re moved into our new house and just in time. I received my developmental edit letter from my editor on Friday! If you haven’t heard of a developmental edit letter, you aren’t alone. I hadn’t either until I started this process. It’s basically a giant letter explaining eveything that needs to be changed in your book.
I’ve been super nervous to receive mine since I’ve heard the editor is very thorough. Some of my Inkshares author friends have gone through 9 or 10 drafts! Sure enough, the letter suggests I restructure my whole story, take out some characters and plots, make some changes to focus on a different audience (young adult!), and work a lot on my descriptive prose and character arcs.
The extent of the suggestions wasn’t a surprise, but my reaction was! I really expected to be very defensive and sad and overwhelmed. Instead I feel incredibly honored that someone as skilled as my editor gave such thoughtful and helpful comments and incredibly grateful that you all gave me the chance to work with him. This book is going to be so much better because of it.
I just submitted a revised (4000 word!) outline based on his suggestions and we’ll work on that until we agree it’s time to move forward to a rewrite. I’ll keep you all updated!
Thank you for following along with this journey and for giving me the opportunity to experience this process! It’s so exciting!
