Have You Ever?

Laid awake until two in the morning turning over plot points in your head?

Found yourself telling little white lies to people you love? For example, "I'm sorry I can't go to your party/open house/dinner/sporting event/concert because I'm busy" except busy really means you just want to work on your manuscript instead?

Spent upwards of three hundred dollars on ink cartridges and printer paper so you can edit on a hard copy?

Given up newspapers, magazines, and most television shows (except DVR'd episodes of Glee and Modern Family) so you can work on your manuscript?

Sat in a chair with your laptop muttering lines of dialogue out loud so it looks like you're talking to yourself?

I answered yes to all of these questions which is why I haven't posted anything for two months.

Revising the manuscript is the hardest writing I've ever done. I've been revising 50-60 pages at a time and then e-mailing them to my super awesome author-beta. Revising includes adding, deleting, moving things around, making sure each sentence flows, and that every single scene moves the story forward. It's amazing how much my novel has changed during the revision process.

I have about 40 pages left to revise. My progress is slow because I can only work on the manuscript for 1.5-2 hours a day (usually from 5:30 AM until 7 or 7:30). Then I go to my real job. I'm very lucky, though, because I usually have at least one long writing day on the weekend where I can get in 6-8 hours. Sometimes I have to lock the door so Dave and the offspring will leave me alone but generally, they're pretty good about staying out of my hair.

My word count is 80,000, give or take. I don't expect that to change much, even with final editing and polishing. That's the number I was shooting for so I'm happy it worked out.

In February, I'll start final edits which will incorporate feedback from my beta and Trish. Trish has been a wonderful (and totally unexpected) early reader. She paid me a nice compliment when she said she couldn't wait for the next batch of pages. "I want to keep reading and I don't even read books," she said.

Once the manuscript is polished, I'll send it out to 5-6 more betas. I plan on taking a month away from the manuscript to get some distance so while they're reading it, I thought I'd make some changes to this blog.

I am planning on splitting it three ways:

One blog will be funny in the 'hood. Remember when I used to write amusing things on the Internet? I'd like to do that again but because I sometimes use the f-word, I thought it would be a good idea to have a separate blog with posts about my sometimes alcohol-fueled dipshittery personal life.

The second blog will be written anonymously and not linked to this one as I do not wish to be sued by the *jackholes I'll be writing about.

And the third will be my www.traceygarvisgraves.com address. It will focus on fiction writing.

Making these changes will keep me busy during the nail-biting querying process which I'll start in March or April.

So. That's what I've been up to. I've really missed this blog and I appreciate anyone who is still stopping by to check for new posts. Thank you.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and happy new year. I am off work today and tomorrow and three days next week. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and getting in a little extra writing.

I hope Santa is good to you all. I heard he's bringing me a Kindle (okay, it's not really Santa, it's Dave) and I can't wait to start loading it with books.

Cheers,

Tracey

* My neighbor Julie came up with jackhole. It's my new favorite word.

Fiction Thursday (or just insert whatever the hell day you want)

One of these days, it would be nice not to have to start my blog posts by apologizing.

But, sorry.

I know I've been really MIA lately, but after working forty hours a week, and making sure Dave and the offspring have food and clean underwear, I only have a little bit of time to write, and I'm concentrating on manuscript revisions. I am almost to the halfway point, and I am so ready to be done. It's not that I don't like revisions, because I love this part, but revising a novel is much harder than writing a first or second draft, and one of these days, I'd like to get the rest of my life back.

This is just my opinion, and I'm not sure if other writers feel this way, but revising means you have to fix everything that isn't working. You can't say to yourself, "I'm not thrilled with this section, but I'll clean it up during revisions because, um, that would be now.

The wonderful thing, however, is that after the revision stage, you're one step closer to final editing and polishing, and I'm really looking forward to that.

For those of you who will be beta reading for me, expect the manuscript sometime in February or March. I'd like to start querying in April, if possible. I started writing this book last April so if I meet all my deadlines, it will have taken about a year from start to finish. Not too bad considering I worked full time for much of it.

Also, I can't say enough about my wonderful author-beta reader. I am absolutely indebted to her, with no idea how to repay. I am getting ready to send her my next batch of pages soon (on Halloween), and her feedback on the previous installments has been nothing short of spectacular. She is that good.

She paid me the highest compliment by writing this on the last page I sent her "Now I want the next 50 pages right away because I'm definitely hooked. Take your time, of course, but just a kudos, this is where you want the reader."

Feedback like that is why I never hit snooze when the alarm goes off at 5:00 AM. I get out of bed, fire up the laptop, and get one page closer.

Thanks for still stopping by. I really appreciate it!

Tracey

Fiction Friday

Good Morning and happy Friday everyone!

Once again, I apologize for blowing off this blog but I have a good excuse.

I got a new job and I started last week.

As some of you already know, I went back to work last year at the offspring's school. I have a degree in business, not education, but there wasn't anything available in my field of HR recruiting (which is what I used to do before having kids). I worked as a teacher's associate in the 8th and 9th grade building and met a lot of nice people and got really attached to the students (and I just went out to dinner with some of my fellow teacher co-workers Tuesday night - we had a great time - I miss them).

Anyway, I decided not to return to the school because I wanted to see if there might be something that, you know, utilized my prior experience, and I was extremely fortunate to find a contract recruiting position at a local West Des Moines company. It happened a little faster than I had anticipated (I'm certainly not going to complain about that), but I still had a relaxing two weeks after the offspring started school to sit down and write (which is how I was able to finish the second draft of my book).

The contract is expected to last anywhere from 6-18 months and that's perfect for me. I am really liking it so far and I can't believe I'm saying this but it's been nice to return to corporate America (but maybe that's because I'm just, shhh, visiting.)

The only drawback to this whole OMG-I-got-a-job-thing, is that it cuts into my writing. I'm getting up around 5:00 and as soon as I'm out of the shower I power up the laptop and try to write for an hour-and-a-half or so. I also print pages and make some edits on my lunch hour.

As I've already mentioned, I finished the second draft and I'm now working on revisions. I also decided to work on my query letter (I've blogged about it before, I think) which is a business letter you send out to agents hoping to entice them into requesting a partial (usually the first fifty pages) or a full (the whole manuscript). If the agent likes it (and, almost as important, thinks they can sell it), they will offer representation and you are one step closer to seeing your book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. They still have to sell it to the publisher, but once they do, it's time to pop open the champagne.

I posted my query letter in Absolute Write's Query Letter Hell section. In a query, you have to boil down your whole 350 page book into 250-300 words. Think of a query as a pitch, almost like the back jacket copy of a book. It tells the reader (and in this case, agent) what it's about but also makes them want to read the book.

I do not ♥ query letters. I would rather write another damn book then finish this query letter.

The problem I encountered in QLH, is that everyone has a different opinion: Some love the title, some didn't. Some think the second paragraph should have more detail, some didn't. Some thought the query should focus more on the characters, and their motivation, and some thought it should focus on plot.

Seriously, fifty responses later my eyes were bleeding and my brain hurt trying to absorb it all. I decided to pull back, work on revising the book, and return to the query when it's closer to the time I'll need it. But it's really important and it has to be good.

Now, the really cool thing that happened in QLH, was that I got an offer of a beta read from a published author. She provided great feedback on the query and then shot me a private message saying she liked my premise and would I be interested in letting her read it.

Uh, that'd be yes.

And here's the thing about Absolute Write. Published writers, some of them NYT bestselling authors, hang out there. Some of them are anonymous and some aren't. For a huge fangirl like me, this is like the coolest thing ever. . Agents hang out there too but I haven't posted any of my current book online for a number of reasons, namely that after QLH, I know I would receive feedback that may conflict and do nothing more than confuse me. It's a great resource, and I have posted in the share your work forum, but not for this book.

Anyway, I am in the process of revising the book and I am breaking it down into fifty page increments. I just sent her the first fifty pages and she sent me a very nice message this morning that did not say:

OMG, I am putting this in my shredder because you suck!

She liked the dual narrative and thought that the first person POV worked perfectly for two characters. She also said the main characters were likeable which is very important and something I tried hard to achieve. I want everyone to really, really, like these two because I want you to root for them later on and you can't do that if one of them is a total putz.

Anyway, she just started reading and she will be sending the pages back with her feedback and notes. I am still blown away that she would be willing to do this for me and I have no idea how to thank her. I did ask if there might be something of hers she would like me to read (which is kind of like asking a pro basketball player if they want your advice on how to shoot free throws) but she said okay and shot me her latest manuscript.

Hers WILL be on the shelf at Barnes and Noble and when I walk by I'll be all, "Yeah, I totally already read that - it's awesome). Her writing is so, so, good so I know I'm in really good hands.

Wow, this post is getting really long: does anyone want to take a break to pee or get something to drink? Sorry.....

Once revisions are complete, I will be sending the MS to my readers: Taylor, Penne, Gillian, Beth, Amy, and my hairdresser's sister. Oh, and Trish (because she'll be brutally honest).

I know that this blog isn't very funny right now, and that a lot of you have read it because it gave you a chuckle or two, but stick with me. I'm getting closer every day to this whole I-want-to-write-and-query-a-book goal. I've been working toward it for almost six months and realistically, probably have 3-4 more to go but eventually I will return to blogging about my neighbors and my 'hood and all the other things I used to blog about.

And I want everyone to know that I appreciate it when you ask me why the hell I haven't posted because I know that just means you'd like to read something I've written and that's all a writer (published or otherwise) can hope for.

So thanks, and happy Friday dudes!

Peace out,

Tracey