Not My Preciousssssss!

Since I’ve been busy submitting book queries lately, I’ve been more into the revision process of writing instead of creating new stuff. So, when I heard Tessa McDermid (author published by Avalon and Harlequin) was going to give a talk about writing revisions at a somewhat local writer’s group, I HAD to go. And listening to her was indeed a smart thing for me to do.

I have to say the most helpful piece of advice I came away with was, “you are not married to your words.” They can always be changed. Nothing in your story has to be permanent. Taking them out might be the hardest thing to do, but sometimes giving up a darling word, phrase, or chapter MUST be done... for the greater good.

There have been times, I've turned all Gollum where I'll clutch my manuscript to my chest, stroking the lovely words with a tender caress and cooing, "My precioussss." But, honestly, they're just words. Who's to say the next one you come up with won't be even better, stronger, more meaningful. So, you gotta be open to change. Yes, you must.

This is easier said than done though. So, I've learned a nifty little trick, which I'll share now. My secret is: Delete nothing. Deleting that precious word or phrase or chapter means it's gone forever. You'll never get it back. But... cutting it out of your current document and pasting it into a new one, then saving it to a file labeled "Outtakes" or some such name, means it's still out there, easy to be retrieved and stroked and caressed again! This way, you know you can always go back to your precious... if you need to. Sometimes, I have gone back and slotted an "outtake" somewhere else in my story, but a majority of the time, I never go back. And the story is honestly better without it.

So, don't be afraid to "test" the story without a line or phrase or chapter that really needs to go. You might just be surprised how good it improves the book.

Now, I gotta know... am I the only one out there that gets attached to words and phrases and has a hard time letting them go? What are some of your tricks to saying goodbye to a precious piece of your writing?

Bad Boys Don't Play Hero - CH 2

OK, it's up. I've uploaded chapter two of my short free-read YA romance, Bad Boys Don't Play Hero. You can click HERE to check it out or start at chapter one by going to My Bookshelf at http://www.lindakage.com/books.

At a chapter a month, you should be able to finish reading the story in January, so you'll be all prepared to check out The Stillburrow Crush when it's released in February. Come back again next month to read chapter three. I hope you enjoy.

In other blog news, Laura's Reviews is having a contest giveaway for the book "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison. Leave a comment on her blog before midnight of September 25th if you want to enter.

Also... Claire Ashgrove is about to release her FIRST novel at The Wild Rose Press. So, I'm sure she'd like all the support she can get right now. You can check out her blog "From the Muse" here. She might be willing to interview on your blog if you're interested... she did mine!! But you gotta wait till October to read it (hee hee)!

And in the TWEET world... yes, I've gone Twitter. So, if you're a twitter-pated follower, you can follow me by clicking the "FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER" button on this very blog, located on the left hand side, way down, right under my Fav Blogs List.

Monthly Baby Report

I had another doctor's appointment and got to hear my baby's heartbeat again. Yay. My hubby showed me how to use the voice recorder on my cell phone (he couldn't attend the appointment this trip), so I was able to record the sound of the heartbeat for him. It recorded very quietly but was still amazing to hear. I just want to pull out my phone every few hours and listen to it... reassure myself there's really someone alive in there.

Everything was good though... normal. I can't complain. I gained a whopping three pounds this month--that's four overall for my entire pregnancy. I'd like to say I'm feeling "quickening" as they call baby movements. There's all sorts of bumps and thumps down there. I have no idea what they are. I haven't gotten a fluttery, bubbling, crawling sensation they say you're supposed to feel, just quick little jabs here and there. So, it might or might not be baby.

Next month is the biggie appointment. I get to find out if it's a boy or a girl. It doesn't matter to me either way. I just want one or the other, and I'm uber curious to know which. I have a feeling I'll be a lot excited and little disappointed whatever answer turns up. Excited because I'll finally know and, wow, it'll be a ----, yet slightly bummed because it won't be the other gender. Can't have both... well, unless it was twins and that would totally freak me out.

The only issue that concerns me is my thyroid. About... well, exactly a year ago, I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease (hypERthyroid--or in other words, I had an overactive thyroid). So, I swallowed this radioactive iodine pill to kill off my thyroid, or most of it anyway, which in effect made me hypOthyroid--under active--and now I have to take a pill every morning to control my thyroid levels (the pill doesn't hurt the baby, by the way. I made sure of that).

BUT... being pregnant, my thyroid has been thrown all out of whack and has to be monitored more regularly so that I'm taking the correct dosage. This would be all good and well, except for the fact that my thyroid specialist and my OB-GYN had differing opinions about how to treat me--opinions that contradicted each other. It turned into one big mess with me caught in the middle and having no idea which doctor to believe (because I've had so much medical training and could tell which guy was right. Not).

This being a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, I decided to let just one of them check my thyroid. I feel a lot less stressed out after making my mind up. And life is once again good.

So, that's all the news I have on the pregnancy front today. It's probably more than you needed or wanted to know, ergo I'll try to hush up about my little boxer until next month... and then there'll be no way to keep me quiet because I'm gonna have to share what gender it'll be.

Until my next blog...