Happy mother’s day to all those mothers out there!  Thank you for choosing life and dedicating your own to your children!

Besides working on my current novel, I’m also starting to put more time into the sequel, just because I can.  I really just want to, but the sequel will really reveal more of my favorite character, important stuff to know about him, so I’m excited to do that.  It’s going to be a challenge.  More than that, it’s going to require something totally new, something I’ve never tried before.  And I’m also nervous that since it doesn’t have much action or peril, it won’t be compelling enough.  But we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it, I suppose.

And I’m going to take this opportunity to rant.  Not only do I have to take the SAT tomorrow, but I’ll be missing my fencing lesson to do it!  It’s really annoying.

Well, I just finished reading my whole book for the forth time!  Or is it the fifth?  I keep losing track.  Anyway, point is, I’m closing to being done!  (If that’s possible; I’m still not sure.)  I made a lot of changes, but mostly little ones.  Nothing changed majorly; other times I’ve had to rewrite whole chapters and change events, but fortunately things seem to be in their proper order now.  Now I’m having my dad read it, and together I’m sure we’ll make good progress.  I don’t see the end coming soon, but we’ll get there.  Eventually.  By myself I’m catching a lot of problems, but there’s always things you just can’t see that really stand out to other people.  Most of all I’m glad to have someone else to discuss things with, because sometimes you’re not sure if the reader will see what you see.  There are some parts I’m just not sure on.  This time around I made some great revisions, but there’s still more to be done to get it just right.

Oh dear.  It’s April Fool’s Day.  Fortunately for me, my sister, the prankster of the family, is feeling ill so she won’t be pulling anything on me today.  Or, at least I hope not.  She’s a crafty one.

Well, anyway, I finally made it through Part One and am now in Part Two, which, as we all know, is so much more awesome.  Part One is necessary and has its good moments, but when I start to read Part Two, I’m like ‘oh, yeah, this is where it’s at.’  I think that maybe Part One is finally strong.  Of course it’s going to need more work (it always will) but I think now it’s solid and won’t need any more major renovations.  There is a weak section that my dad and I will have to consider carefully, but other than that I think (fingers crossed) it only needs minor work.  I really really want it all to be over and done, but I don’t see that happening soon.  I just gotta keep working at it.

So, as it stands now there are 77 chapters, 700 pages, and over 200,000 words.

Well, I’ve long since finished my new prologue and though it still needs some work, it’s a much better way to start the book.  So I’ve moved on to editing the rest.  It was difficult at first, but I wrestled through the slow, tiresome editing to get to the easier, more fun stuff.  Part One really isn’t as fun and engaging as Part Two, so it’s harder to get through, but that’s why I’m excited to work at it and make it better.  Editing can be a drag sometimes, but on the other hand it is a joy for a writer to see her work improve.  It can be embarrassing to see just how bad your writing was, but to fix them is a wonderful experience.

Monday my dad and I finally talked about the prologue of my book, something I’ve been anxious to discuss for a long time.  I wasn’t satisfied with it at all, but I wasn’t sure what to do about it or even what it was missing.  We finally agreed that instead of trying to fix up the version I have now, I should just completely start afresh from a totally different approach.  Don’t tell him, but I took my brother’s advice and started the story from the bounty hunter’s point of view, which, once it occurred to me, really makes a lot of literal sense, since it’s very important to understand this character; starting with him just makes sense since the story’s about him anyway.

So I enthusiastically started writing the prologue, only to find, to my dismay, that I couldn’t get passed the first word- that word being ‘Prologue’.  Since then I’ve gotten down five paragraphs or so, but it’s just not coming to me.  It doesn’t feel right, or maybe I just have so much to say I don’t know how to say it.  I’ll get it right eventually, but for now it’s painfully slow.

Yesterday I finally got to the end of my story!  I must of read a dozen chapters and over a hundred pages, but it was easy because I had finally gotten to the fun part!  Everything was more natural and the words flowed easier.  Most of the chapters were already pretty well structured and didn’t need much editing at all, so it all flew by.  Right before then I was tackling the hard, emotional stuff and then I was finally in the clear where it was just action and dialogue.  Things were much simpler.  But now I have to go back to the beginning and read it all again.  That’s okay, but it was a bit of a shock to go all the way back there again.  Things were quite different; characters changed more than I remember they had.  It feels like even my writing style is different.  I’ll have to consult my dad about that.  I shudder at the prospect of rewriting that, but I may have to.  We’ll see.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking about what would be the eleventh book in the series if I manage to continue the story after this yet unnamed masterpiece of mine.  I know, I haven’t even been able to finish off the first one, and I’m thinking about the eleventh?!?!??  But that’s the way my mind works.  Besides, it just really interests me and I keep thinking up new things that will happen in it!  In addition to that mad endeavor, I’m also planning out my western novel.  It’s not really a western, since it doesn’t even happen on earth, but it’ll remind you of one if I ever write it.  Hmm, come to think of it, I’m actually writing the sequel of that one… Oh well, it’s been too long since I’ve written in a notebook anyway.  And it was a good excuse to write in the language I made up.  It’s really just different symbols for our own letters, but it’s got slightly different grammar rules; for instance, the sound a vowel makes will determine where it goes.  It’s been really fun doing that.

Can you believe Lent starts tomorrow?  That sneaked up fast, didn’t it?  I’m giving up music for Lent, primarily, and it’s not going to be easy, 1 because I listen to music all the time, no exaggeration, and 2 because I just got an awesome new CD from my favorite band.  But, of course, if it was easy, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice, would it?  The harder the better, right?  I’ll keep telling myself that.

I’m currently in Washington D.C. marching for life!  Respect life from conception to natural death.

January 15, 2013 (Tuesday)

Well, as you know, I was turned down by Tuscany, and I asked why.  The editor finally got back to me and replied that they required the protagonist to be between the ages of 12-17.  They said teen readers want to read about someone who is close in age to them so the story can be applicable, realistic, and relevant.  They said my opening chapters are interesting and do a good job establishing setting, but the fact that my heroine is twenty-six disqualifies it.  To be honest, at first I was rather miffed; all this time I thought I had made a big, embarrassing mistake with characters or plot, and in the end it was just the age of my precious protagonist!  It all seemed rather silly.  Do they have a valid point?  Yes, of course.  However, I don’t think it really makes a difference for catching and holding the attention of the reader.  This is not a story of self-doubt and struggling with identity.  Her being twenty-six does not take away from the total awesomeness of this story (sorry, but it’s true).  In fact, even if I remotely wanted to, I could not change her age without completely demolishing the story.  Trust me, it is impossible.  Her choices and the plot itself would be so different, there wouldn’t be the faintest resemblance.  She could not be the brilliant person she is if she were ten years younger.  A sixteen-year-old should not be running around in a war, commanding over twenty men, and falling in love (twice!).  A teenager couldn’t and shouldn’t tackle the problems she runs into.  She would be a completely different person.  She’s not sheltering under her parents anymore; she’s on her own, very self-confident, and has a successful career.  She faces doubt and deep grief, but she’s steady and pushes bravely ahead.  Personally I think her ready wit and steady personality will capture the heart and respect of anyone who someday reads my book.  She’ll be a beacon of hope to any teenager, someone to look up to.  I’ve always been drawn toward the steady, older characters myself.  So while Tuscany has a point, I think it’s beside it.  But I want to know what you think!

Anyway, on a random note, the other day I heard someone reading Twilight out-loud, chapter sixteen I think.  I was shocked by how juvenile the writing was.  Meyer used many amateur ways of presenting information and her dialogue sounded like it was two eight-year-olds talking instead of teenagers.  Her handling of the heroine’s attraction to what’s-his-face was so cliched.  Her main character doesn’t sound very impressive, unlike my totally awesome heroine (sorry, couldn’t resist).  Not only that, but her main characters are pathetic and messed up.  So, sorry if a Twilight fan is reading this, but I just say it like it is.

I’m reading Part Two of my novel (finally got there!) and I got to Chapter Thirty-One and I suddenly realized… ‘hang on; this makes no sense!’  The whole plan was flawed, and it would make more sense a different way.  Besides, I didn’t really like the whole sequence.  So I’m doing it over!  Hopefully what I have in mind will work out.