May 30, 2011

Slow and steady does it

As I'm working on chapter twenty-seven(and wondering how long it's going to take to get it finished so I can move on to chapter 28), I keep hitting these snags. I've probably rewritten the fourth page half a million times already, and it's still not quite right. Part of it is the piece of me that clings to the original words because they've been there so long and they're comfortable. The rest is me just wanting it to be perfect as possible and refusing to settle for less then the best I can do.

After working on the same page for nearly a week, I feel like it's nearly there. Like it just needs the right words, the right push, and it'll all fall into place for me. So while I probably have at least another week's worth of work to put into it until I can call it close to ready...I'm making progress.

It's hard not to rush ahead, though. Because while I'm making progress, it's taking me longer then I thought it would. Plus I keep thinking about the fact I'm just three chapters away from being done with edits. I keep getting all excited....and then I start screwing up and it's back to square one.

I have to admit though, I've peeked ahead a few times. Mostly to reassure myself the last three chapters won't need work quite on the scale this one does. So far, so good, but I've said that before and been wrong, so we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, there's a new scene to fit into chapter twenty-five, cover art for "New Beginnings" to finish, and my apartment could do with a good cleaning. I took a break from edits today, but tomorrow its back to work on chapter twenty-seven. Hopefully I'll be able to leave page four behind at last and move on to something new.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok? I'm off to get some sleep. Goodnight, folks.


~Sun and Moon

May 22, 2011

Penny for your thoughts

Getting opinions for my work can be an all day thing. Fortunately, most of my beta readers work at the same store as me. This was especially good yesterday when I found myself stuck waiting for my husband to finish his shift so we could go home. 

Instead of pouting when I couldn't find someone else to take me home, I tracked down two of my beta readers and asked them to have a look at a scene change I was thinking of doing in chapter twenty-five(yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on chapter twenty-seven, but this scene had been bugging me for a while).

While I was doing that, another person I work with saw the papers and asked what it was. My reply was a little garbled as I was(and still am) sick and had run out of cold medicine halfway through the day, but I must've managed to make some kind of sense, because she decided to read it too.


So I now have several opinions on that scene. Mostly they're positive, but seeing as the original scene was VERY polished and I threw the alternate one together in an hour's time late at night after I'd had some nyquil....it wasn't whole hearted. 

Beta reader One(no names, sorry) thought the alternate was better. Or, it would be once I fixed two mistakes that she pointed out. 

Beta reader Two said it would be very good if I blended the changes in better. A lot better. As in take the new bits and transfer them into the polished chapter seamlessly.


Coworker who took time to read pointed out an unrelated error(I had forgotten to add "the" at the right spot...on BOTH copies. How embarrassing!), and then said she liked them both. I didn't get a chance to clarify things for my fuzzy sick person brain before my husband was ready to go, but that's ok. I got what I wanted.


So today I'll be getting back to work on chapter 27 as well as giving that new scene a good polish. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to show for it. In the meantime, it's time for lunch and the leftover chicken lo mein in my fridge is calling my name.


Now where did I leave that little bottle of hot sauce...hm...




~Sun and Moon



May 16, 2011

Is this thing on?

First of all, I would like to apologize for the late blog post. It wasn't until I got back from work this afternoon that I realized I had forgotten to post yesterday. 

Vacation can do that to a girl.

Yes siree, for the past week I've just been relaxing with my husband and being an all around bum. And it was awesome.

Unfortunately, it's time to go back to work and I don't just mean for that lovely thing known as a paycheck. Chapter twenty-seven is still waiting for those edits and will need a major rewrite. I also have a million little things to do around the apartment as well as a couple of new drawings waiting to be finished. Of course logic tells me I should've done all this while I was lounging around the house during my week long vacation. 


Then again, where's the fun in that? 


So it's back to trying to find enough hours in the day for all the little things while I do my best to whip my book into shape. The good news is that I'm almost done with this last all around edit for this book. Soon I'll be able to set it aside and move on to Book Two. 


I hope.


Anyway, it's waaaay past my bedtime, so I'm off to bed before my husband wakes up and realizes I'm still typing away over here. 

Goodnight all :)





~Sun and Moon


May 9, 2011

A day on the farm

Well, it's been a rough few weeks, but the edits for chapter 26 are finally done. Today I'll be getting to work on chapter 27 after I get my sore butt out of this comfy computer chair and get some cleaning done.

Why am I so sore? Well, my husband managed to get his dirt bike fixed a couple weeks ago and yesterday we loaded it into the bronco and took it out to the farm for a test drive. It was an awesome day of hot sun and fresh air. While he rode around one of the far pastures, I spent my day chatting with one of the boarders in the barn as she cleaned stalls and scrubbed out water buckets. We topped it off with hotdogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill along with chips, salsa, salad, and greens. It was wonderful. 

But after helping my husband take the top off his bronco and haul a dirt bike into the back with no ramps....I hurt. 

All that walking around I did probably didn't help either. Thus I feel pretty beat up, but hopefully that won't keep me from cleaning the kitchen and maybe getting some artwork finished. If so, well....there's always tomorrow.

Right?


~Sun and Moon 

May 3, 2011

And it all hits the fan

At about 7:30am, my husband's phone went off. It was his mom. I could tell something was wrong by the tone of her voice, but I thought it was something minor.

It wasn't.


Our beautiful, funny, independent german shepherd, Bretta, had passed away during the night.


I spent my morning digging a grave for Bretta with Paul. My clothes are covered in mud and my eyes burn from crying so much. We're not done yet, either. Because the ground here is super saturated from all the rain, the hole we were digging kept filling up with muddy water. Tomorrow my husband will be going back to the farm to finish the job and bury our dog. In the meantime I'll be working on a tattoo for him of her paw print.

So if you see me at work, or run into me outside of walmart, please don't ask how I'm feeling. Or if you must, then bring some tissues. If I'm going to start bawling in public again, I would appreciate not having my nose run everywhere. Prayers are welcome, and if you have a dog or know one....go give them a hug for me. You never realize just how much they mean to you until they're gone.

Rest in peace, Bretta. You will be missed.







~Sun and Moon