Wednesday, July 2, 2014

IWSG: Staying Positive

Come join me in the IWSG group created by Alex Cavanaugh. We post the first Wednesday of each month! http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html



First, I have some really good news:
 FREE RUNNER was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2014 Purple Dragonfly 
Children's Book Awards!!!



I should've named my post "Staying Alive." My agenda this summer includes surviving a family vacation with my teenage sons, tearing apart my house and cleaning it from limb to limb, and submitting my middle-grade mystery to agents.

"Clean it up and make it interesting. This involves rewriting until you feel like you need a bone marrow transplant." -Brian Beker

If you are in need of a sharp editing tool, I encourage you to try Noah Lukeman's book, The First Five Pages. If you are in need of someone to clean your house, please don't call me. With ten people in my house this past week, I'm trying to stay positive. I may need to call Servpro--"like it never happened."

I'm on vacation this week with my hubby, two teenage sons and one little princess. Yes, there will be stories to share.
  
Are you in the process of editing? Are you taking a break and enjoying a vacation this summer? What's your favorite book on writing? Do you agree with the quote by Beker?!

28 comments:

  1. Ten people? Whoa.
    Congratulations on the honorable mention!!!
    I just finished editing my latest. And I admit, I enjoyed it. No bone marrow transplant for me.

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    1. Thanks! My publisher just told me the Free Runner books get the cool monster label added to the cover:) I think I need a brain transplant after my endless rounds editing my mystery!

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  2. Hi Jennifer and happy Wednesday! I hope you have a super duper vacation!! :)

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    1. Thanks! Our vaca is going well. Only lost one kid yesterday;-) He's a teenager, so maybe that doesn't count.

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  3. I'm editing one story and first drafting another, whichever my muse demands at the time.
    By the time your vacation is over you'll probably need to rest and start writing again.

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    1. I tried not to write on this vaca, but I got invaluable feedback from an agent!! and spent all morning (before everyone woke up) re-writing a few scenes. :)

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  4. I still need to read that book. Yeah, it's on the list.

    I feel for you. We had one year (living this close to Disney World) where we had at least one family member or friend visiting every month for an entire year. (And one of the months we had two.) It was crazy and by the end I NEVER wanted to clean my house again. I say hire a couple people to come in and make it nice.

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    1. Yes, I'm about ready to give up on cleaning this summer! I'm so excited for your move (eventually) into your new house.

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    2. I know, because then you'll have a free hotel near Disney World, eh? Kidding, kidding. ;)

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  5. Have fun on your vacation. Looking forward to your stories.

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    1. Thank you! So far, everyone is safe and sound. Three more days to go, then we'll return home for another extra five people at our house:-)

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  6. Vacation? What's that?

    I hope you're enjoying yours, though.

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    1. Yes! It's been tooo long since our last vacation.

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  7. Replies
    1. I wish I could go on vacation all summer long:)

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  8. I've heard of this book and would like to read it.

    Congrats on the honorable mention.

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    1. Thanks!! Noah Lukeman also wrote, As the Plot Thickens.Great editing tools!

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  9. I've read The First Five Pages. Some good info in there about grabbing an agents attention. In fact, I should probably give that another glance before I revise my opening again. Enjoy the vacation. :)

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    1. I just read it again before sending out my MG mystery. And thanks! Hopefully this vaca will give me some fuel for my new book.

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  10. Oh, you poor thing. You sound really swamped. That's exciting news about the MG you'll be querying. Try to start writing (or outlining) a new project then to take you mind off the waiting game. Good luck!

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    1. I'm only a fourth of the way into writing my new novel, a YA thriller set in Chicago. It does help keep my mind occupied while playing the waiting game:) Thx!

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  11. Hope your vacation is going well!
    And congrats on the honorable mention!!

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  12. I'm on vacation and I'm editing too! Thankfully I don't have 10 people to deal with though.

    Congrats on the honorable mention! Hope you survive your family.

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  13. Congratulations on your award! That's great news! Revising and editing is so much work! If you have the time, start writing something new. It's satisfying to create something fresh.

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  14. Congrats! On the award, not on surviving teenagers. I made it, barely, so good luck!
    BTW, I had a terrible time getting here from your comment on my blog. You might need to fix your ID's link. I had to bing you to get here. Next time, I'll know. No I won't, I'll forget again.

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  15. Aw, does that mean you won't clean my house? LOL. Congrats on making it through summer so far.

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  16. you packed a lot in a short post - i love that!
    congrats on the award!
    enjoy your vacay - you know it's a good one when you bring back stories to remember it by.
    and yes, there is editing, there's always editing, which takes priority over house cleaning =) woot!

    and thanks for commenting on my broken branch falls blog tour!

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  17. LOL, I love that quote! It DOES feel like that sometimes :) And big congratulations to you!

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February #IWSG: Just Do It

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