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| Photo by Tina Phillips |
Today I'm sitting on the floor of an empty home with my laptop. All of our stuff is boxed and ready to be loaded on the truck tomorrow morning. It gets to go to Colorado before we do. Luck sofa and dining room set. Hmph!
The fish and frogs are coming with me, though. They'll be in their respective tanks, tucked into a glamorous styrofoam cooler padded with old towels.
Hubby still has some standard Army procedures to sort through before we leave in a few days, but this gives us time to breathe and provides a writing window for me. Charisma House has given me deadlines for each of the three Brides of Assurance books. The final revision for the first novel is due by January. The other two follow in roughly six-month intervals.
I like the pace that the Charisma editors are setting. I haven't met the complete staff yet, but my agent and I are working with Debbie Marie. Every step of the way, she's been great in guiding me through the process.
While the manuscripts are being completed, Charisma House has also requested a summary of the series as well as chapter descriptions for all three books. Since the first is complete and the second's under revision, I didn't think it would be too difficult, but it's really rather tricky narrowing the descriptions down to two or three sentences per chapter.
While the manuscripts are being completed, Charisma House has also requested a summary of the series as well as chapter descriptions for all three books. Since the first is complete and the second's under revision, I didn't think it would be too difficult, but it's really rather tricky narrowing the descriptions down to two or three sentences per chapter.
It's teaching me about economy of words, though. And advance plotting. I'm sort of a plot-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer. Making a chapter outline of the third novel, which I've only just started, is a challenge. On the bright side, those chapter descriptions will give me structure to flesh out more plot details later.
Oh, by the way, these outlines are due in less than two weeks.
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| Photo by africa |
I'm halfway done. That means Sonny Boy (our Chevy Aveo) and various hotel rooms will serve as workspace.
So many good things are happening in our lives. Trying to move and meet writing deadlines at the same time is mad hectic, but I'm blessed to have this form of stress. A year ago, I wasn't in this position. I was trapped, stagnant, and always feeling like I had to justify my writing dreams to people who were either unsupportive or who simply didn't understand why I couldn't just be happy with a "normal" job. I believe that this current experience is God's encouragement to never give up pursuing those dreams He spoke into my heart.
Do you plot your story first or make it up as you go?