The Now

Editing a full-length manuscript is like having a bolt of hemmed fabric unwound around the block. At some point you realize you should tweak the hem at a certain point, but that point is, like, on the other side of the block. And it's by that house with the barky dog and you're just so fed up with that dog that you'd rather not walk all the way over there to change that little bit.

I'm kind of overwhelmed at the moment. I don't remember being this overwhelmed with Divine Discontent, but that may be because 1.) DD didn't have a deadline, and 2.) I procrastinated for quite a while before digging into DD.

There's an outstanding family conversation about who's genetically responsible for the procrastination tendencies, and so far no one's been willing to incriminate, whoops, I mean, "suggest," a parent. But I digress.

I had these really pretty ideas about how I would painstakingly go through the manuscript and make all sorts of changes. But you know what? I've been staring at this thing for nine months straight. I can't help but think of the character of E from The Incredibles - "I never look back, darling, it distracts from the now."

While I certainly wouldn't ignore the things to be tweaked, the Now is calling, and it looks like fun. Inspired by my friend Michelle, I'm planning on spending May challenging myself to shake things up and do things differently. For me, that will translate into trying new restaurants, new recipes, new routines, new crafts AND a new book.

Looking forward to that, and some new blogging material. According to the powers that be, true bloggers aren't supposed to post less than twice a week. Twice a week? Unless you want my laundry stats, I don't necessarily have much to say twice a week. Makes me think of this:




And you know, I'm going to be the one to say no. Excessive blogging distracts from the Now.

Glad Tidings

I've started this blog a few times and not gotten past the title. I finished Plain Jayne last Tuesday, after a marathon writing day that involved almost 3,000 words written in a single day.
Wednesday and Thursday I took my agent's advice and spent a couple days away from the book. Read Girls in Trucks, which made my brain melt a little. Friday I formatted the book into a single document (which is more time-consuming than it sounds) and learned that the official title for the next book is............

Simply Sara! Which I predicted, and is why when I requested information on the Art Institute of Portland, I listed Sara's name. At the time, I listed that I only wished to be reached by mail or email. So imagine my surprise when I get a call asking if I'm Sara Burke.

I had an entire conversation as Sara, and asked lots of questions that will prove useful in the next book.

Looking forward to doing the research for Simply Sara. After researching Plain Jayne, I made the decision as a writer that I wanted to learn something new for every book. For Plain Jayne, that meant learning to ride a motorcycle. For Simply Sara, I want to learn to sew. I tried last spring, with mixed results. Mixed, largely because I tend to get ambitious when it comes to textiles. When I knit, I can rip things out when they don't work. Sewing - it's a bit more complicated.

So - for the rest of the month, I have a LOT of editing to do! So far I'm on Chapter 4 of 38. Oh - I also have my first interview scheduled. In November I'll be interviewed over the phone by Christian Book Distributors, so that should be exciting.

Enough procrastinating - need to get back to the manuscript. Will update more later!