I was going to write about my latest adventures in diy for you today—don’t fret, I promise I will next week! Instead I am going to share a quick update about my next novel, about which I am extremely excited!
But first take a walk down memory lane with me, will you?
12 years ago, I started to write my very first novel. The Mosquito Hours is my first published novel, but it’s not the first I wrote. 12 years ago I was in grad school in Colorado doing a summer writing program and feeling very homesick for the beach (there ain’t no beaches in CO) and especially for my sister, who for me is inextricably entwined with the beach. (And my life in general. She is super-wonderful. There’s a whole other long-winded blog post about just how super-wonderful but I’ll stick to the current topic.) So, being homesick, I started writing about two little girls and a beach they loved and I work-shopped it around and received a lot of positive feedback. It turned into part of my master’s thesis and then into a full novel. I called it Talking Underwater. I asked a lot of people to read it and received even more good feedback. An agent read it and liked it a lot but said it needed more outside plot events. So I started to think about it very seriously and then promptly started having babies. One by himself and then by accident two at once. Guess how many outside plot events I came up with during those years when they were all still babies? Yes, exactly that many.
When I blearily emerged from the baby cocoon, I revisited Talking Underwater but was honestly SO SICK of it. Just SO SICK of it. I started writing other novels. Somewhere all in there, my publisher read Talking Underwater and loved it and after The Mosquito Hours was published, we talked about publishing that good old first novel.
Next, I thought up a great additional plot-line, then totally questioned it, tossed it and came up with one that I thought was better and more relevant and “deep.” I feverishly wrote it in but didn’t love it. I knew it needed a lot more work. Fast-forward (didn’t I say this would be a quick post? I totally suck at that ... ) to today and I received feedback from my editor and she thinks that plot-line is unnecessary and I was SO RELIEVED not because I don’t think the novel needs another little something in terms of the plot, but because I was totally forcing that other one.
I had a long talk with my publisher this morning (another super-wonderful woman who requires a whole long-winded blog post about just how super-wonderful she is but I’ll stick to the current topic) and told her about my original idea and we agreed it is perfect! I am feeling so energized to go write this thing! Before I was feeling like chucking the damn thing altogether but now I am so excited to get back to work on it.
Okay, update finished. Gotta go do homeschool for the day and then get to writing! Hope you all have a terrific, inspiring and energizing day!
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