So I promised one of my publishers that I would edit/rewrite my very first book before March 31st. It’s 367 pages. Now I love this story, and I know it’s going to be damn good when it’s done. But this book was written six years ago…six! Back when I thought showing and telling was just something that had to do with elementary school. Now, I read a paragraph like this… Lena was feeling an overwhelming sense of romance, so much so that she had that floating sensation she’d always heard about; but she knew at the same time that it was just a sad little illusion. … And I throw up a little in my mouth.
I’ve been going through this manuscript, ripping out scenes like a dentist going wild with extractions in a bad mouth. But, as I work through it (and I’ve done 144 pages in 3 days!), I honestly think this is some of my best work. I really used my humor in this book. (It got nearly perfect scores from 2 judges in the Love and Laughter contest a couple years ago) And every day I edit this, I’m amazed at how far I have come. That all my mistakes might as well be highlighted in yellow, I have no trouble spotting them. Have you ever done this? Revisited your first manuscript?
Anyway, so if you don’t see me around much this week, that’s what I’m doing. On another note, I got a fabulous review on Love for Sale from Joyfully Reviewed. Wanted to share…
“I was so enamored with this Love for Sale that I read it in one sitting, refusing to put it down until I’d finished it. Jessie’s character was remarkable and it was wonderful to see her confidence and her self-image blossom. Josh is just the right mix of bad and good to be absolutely delicious and the love scenes between he and Jessie are as spicy as one could ever hope for. Delicious is the only word that describes this story. Wonderful read!” Tera, Joyfully Reviewed
And finally… since I may not blog the next couple of days, I wanted to share this hilarious clip. Now I must have been off in la la land, but when did SNL (Saturday Night Live) get to be so funny again? The last two weeks I’ve caught parts of the show, and I was literally laughing out loud. :) Here’s a great one from last week with Julia Louis-Dreyfus…. it’s a short clip, and pretty dang funny. Check it out!
Yay on the review! Glad to hear your edits/rewrites are going well and LOL on the SNL clip! They have been pretty funny lately huh?
As much as I hear you groaning, I think it’s great that you can see how far you’ve come!
That was really funny! Thanks for sharing, I loved her in Seinfeld. She was so darn funny.
Anyway, I’m really glad that your edit/rewrite is going well. Yeah, I know what you mean about the cringe factor. Yikes! But it’s fantastic to realize that you’ve grown so much as a writer, isn’t it?
And congrats on another great review too!
:)
And I throw up a little in my mouth.
Bwa!!!
Yay on your fab review!
I don’t think I could bear looking at my first ever MS now.
Jeez, it’s really bad. Not even worth working over. Good on you for doing that with yours!
:o)
LOL! You’re a hoot, Shelli! Good luck with the rewrite! My very first book is stashed under my book case where it will remain.
Congrats on the review and have fun with the edits!!
I saw that review the other night, good for you, Shelli! :)
I’m working on one of my older ms at the moment too and it’s really hard because if I just wrote it from scratch now, it’d be soooo much better, at the same time, this is one of the best stories I’ve ever told. lol
Good luck with yours and a belated happy birthday. I’ve been so out of it this past week. :(
Isn’t that the best feeling? Finally growing enough as a writer to be able to spot all the mistakes! I’ve been doing that same ripping and snipping routine with my first few EC releases which were acquired in 2005. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to grow as a writer BEFORE those edits began, lol.
Congrats on the review!
Anna J. Evans
Congrats on the ’seeing’ the mistakes and on the awesome floating feeling of loving your work! I know what you mean — being able to finally look back at something and ’see’ what’s wrong is incredible! Just as incredible as going… wow, I wrote that?!!?! YAY!
Have fun with the rest of the edits!
Cole
Congrats on the review and the progress. I love being able to see the mistakes I made before. But then I think… What am I going to see in my current work later on down the line? Yikes!