A.W.O.L.

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while. Between vacation and revisions, I’ve been really busy. Vacations are the great kind of busy, but you know, so are revisions. There’s something extremely satisfying in taking on the challenge of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g oneself creatively to try to find a better way to tell parts of a story. And it’s also extremely satisfying to delete large chunks of “phew-eee stuff” (saving it, of course, in case I need to rescue a bit of it later) and replacing it with new and better stuff. Okay, new and hopefully better. Anyways…back to it, got a ways to go still. What’s been your experience with the revision process? Any good stories or advice out there?

Revisions. Sigh.

I was really excited to hear my editor say she was compiling some editing notes on Unity, the second book in the Dark Light Dance Trilogy. I missed thinking about Gabe and Laney and couldn’t wait to zip through it, making the changes here or there and reliving the story. Then, yesterday I actually got said notes. Can I just say there was a LOT of red? There was a LOT of RED. I went over the notes and had several different reactions. The first was…WHAT? Did she even read that part? Why doesn’t she get it? Oh. I guess if she doesn’t get it, other readers won’t either. Fine, I’ll fix that. The second was…Darn. I thought I changed that. I was sure I changed that. I meant to change that. Okay, I’ll fix it. The third was…extreme humiliation. Did I really use that word or phrase four times in the same paragraph? And I did what? Okay. Right, it needs a little work. Okay, (sigh), it needs a lot of work. Wouldn't it be fun to get this glowing letter—“WOW, this is GREAT!!!!!!” Notice the six exclamation points. “It hardly needs ANY thing. Just a comma here or there!” Of course, I knew I wouldn’t. Down deep. Right. Anywho. I’m going on vacation tomorrow, but I’m taking my laptop. I probably won’t actually work on it, just start jotting down some ideas. I’ll have beautiful mountain scenery and children and grandchildren galore who will provide excellent distraction that I will wholeheartedly embrace. I'll recharge the creative battery. I really did miss Gabe and Laney. I really do want to tell their story the very BEST way I can. Thank you, dear editor. And I really mean that.

Vacations

Summer is the time for vacations. Next week, we'll take off for Cherokee, North Carolina with the kids and grandkids for five days of camping (in a cabin--my days of sleeping on the ground are long gone!). Even though I've been there before, it's been a long time and I'll see things anew through the eyes of my grandchildren. I can't wait! Vacations--any journeys away from home--are good for the soul. Not only do they give us a chance to rest and relax, they renew our creative energy. I always seem to be hit with inspiration when I go on vacation, whether it's a day or a week. My very first book idea was conceived while gazing at the ocean with the happy shouts of grandchildren in the background. Something about that vast ocean and what might be on the other side stirs excitement within me and my imagination seems to take wing. As Anne Shirley would say, "There is such scope for the imagination!" Speaking of journeys, Ursula LeGuin said, "It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." I find that to be very true. It's wonderful to have a book being published and, don't get me wrong, I am enjoying every single minute of the process, but the writing itself is where the real joy lies. I haven't been bothered with serious writing block yet. (I hope I'm not jinxing myself!) But having come to writing later in life, I feel a great urgency to give my ideas shape and form and my characters voices; to get their hopes and dreams, trials and triumphs down on the page. Their journey becomes my journey and we all learn from it. Back to vacations. Alas, we come to the end. We pack up and say goodbye to the sweet time together with hearts fuller and minds richer. And then, what is better than driving through our own home town and pulling up to our dear little home? We say, meaning it, "No place like home." So many memories flood in and our hearts get even fuller. This is where we bumped and rubbed against each other for years until we wore off the rough spots, until we became a comfortable fit. A Family. The vacation was wonderful but the journey of life is even better.