Updates

Such a busy past week that I forgot to sign up for the Tuesday Blog Hop via Romance Writer's Weekly. I've included a link to the first hop-stop at the bottom of this post for your reading pleasure.

I've decided on a title for my second novel (Love Over Time) and have purchased a cover as well. Both should be featured here soon. After five rounds of edits, proofreading, and changes to this, my second manuscript, I feel relatively confident about uploading the file (soon).

If interested, I've included the first three chapters in my Excerpts category above. I hope you find the time to check it out and maybe offer some constructive feedback.

I also found the time to go through my Writing Articles folder and thinned out the content. Aside from a few helpful posts about show versus tell, description, and killer plot twists, that folder is now at a much more manageable level.

I could recall my reasons for saving those posts in the first place, but then after a second read, it became more obvious about their worth (or lack thereof) and were either saved or deleted.

My mind is changed about some aspects of writing while it hasn't changed at all for others: namely show versus tell and being more descriptive - which are both by and large the same thing.

I'm still in the process of having to re-learn this aspect while also coming to a few conclusions of my own, and this is always a good thing. It means I'm growing as a writer while also maintaining the sense of style that is common to me and no one else.

I still don't believe that showing is the only way to tell a story, but I do understand, now, why show in certain instances is much better than tell. He was sad isn't nearly as evocative as Try as he might to hide what he felt, the pain now gripping his broken heart showed in his glistening indigo eyes.

And, you'll excuse me for not being even more precise in my analogy since I've grown out of that habit after years of being told not to write that way and now to be told it is the ONLY way to write.

Which is where I come into conflict with the entire show versus tell manifesto. Sometimes: yes, All the time: not necessarily, Depends on the situation: definitely, and Is it the only way to write: definitely not.

Also still tending to vacillate between 3rd Person and Deep POV.

While going through the completed manuscript several times now, it is becoming a bit easier to find these issues, but not entirely. Which might make for another 'difficult' read. Not that anyone who read my first publication came right out and said that, but it was while working on the above-mentioned issues that the problem was pointed out because of those issues.

*Sigh* Onward ho!

With the season finale of Ripper Street having concluded last week, and with the next season of The Musketeers not starting up again until JANUARY, this summer may prove to be a long, dry one entertainment-wise.

At least I have plenty of novels to read!

Right now, I am enjoying Ava Miles' Country Heaven (which you can find out more about if you click on the READING tab above).

Part of the reason for that enjoyment stems from its being practically flawless grammar, spelling, and story-wise. There is a noticeable difference in punctuation usage, however, but not something that is often or bad enough to keep throwing me off and taking me out of the story about two opposites slowly making their way toward a romance.

At least I finally found the time to post a few reviews at both Amazon and Goodreads for the novels that I've already read. Strange, but as a fellow author, I worry about doing this while also knowing how invaluable the service is to us writers. Unless the work is riddled with grammar, punctuation, and usage issues, I'll post a positive review for the story line, its ability to grab me, and the feeling I derived while reading them.

And now on to this week's Blog Hop.

A.S. Fenichel (Andrea) asks: Which person living, dead, a relative, or a stranger has had the biggest influence on your life/writing career? Tell us what he/she was like or how they shaped you.

Fiona Riplee is first up this week, so hop on over and read her response.

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Progress: 100%
Title: Love Over Time
Word Count: 100,379
Cover: Purchased
Release Date: Tentative