Writing Experiment

For those of you who are writers, have you ever typed blind? Closed your eyes and told the story without looking at the computer screen? With my recent eye problem, I gave it a whirl. I used a pretty Egyptian scarf for a blindfold so I wouldn't be tempted to peek, and I started the third book in the Swan's Nest trilogy. This is Mary's story and I'm loving it.

The blindfold was a bit annoying, but at the end of the week I have the VERY rough draft of chapter one. It's not at all well written, but the ideas are there and I got to know the hero. Now that I can see a bit better, I'm editing and rewriting. Since I couldn't read or write for a week because of my eyes, I spent that time thinking about the story. It's paying off . . . The story is going to be good!

Blogging Today . . .

I'm at http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com today. It's about little girls, purple crayons and giant elephants. If you're in the mood for a giggle, come and saw hi!

Talk about a scare!

I'm fine now, but I had an upclose and too personal encounter with bleach or Lime Away or something I was using to clean the bathroom. The result has been five days of eye drops and some scary stuff.

I had no idea what was going on . . . I didn't get the chemicals in my eyes. I could barely smell the bleach. The Lime Away went straight into the toilet bowl to remove a troublesome ring. The next day I had noticed a slight loss of vision. Later my eyes were noticeably red. I thought, "Uh oh. Pink eye." Then they started to hurt when I changed focus from far to near.

Things went from bad to worse. Having worked for an ophthalmologist for several years, I knew I had trouble. Sure enough, the diagnosis was anterior uveitis and corneal burns. Yep. It's as scary as it sounds. This happened five days ago. Things aren't quite normal yet, but they will be in another week. I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief and thanking God for the miracles of ophthalmic steroids, antibiotics and dilating drops.

I'm taking things slow, but that's where I've been. Just before this happened, though, I put the ms in the mail. I just made the June 15th deadline. Hooray! I'm beyond grateful that my eye mishap occurred on June 17th and not June 10th. More later . . . I'm taking things slow and easy!

The End is in Sight

The ms isn't quite in the box, but today I wrote the last chapter of the book that's been giving fits. Best of all, I know it's good. You know that feeling when you've worked extra hard for something and it happens? That's how this ending feels. It was a big "At last!" moment. The ending is so obvious I can't believe I didn't see it sooner.

Another week or so for a final edit and proofreading, and I'll be able to take a break and do some reading. I can't wait! I've got about 20 books that all look delicious : )

Progress Report

The end's in sight . . . again. In the past week I've done a major rewrite. I'm where I thought I was when the book tanked. The last chapter is underway. This time when I asked my husband what he thought of the ending, he liked it.

Whew! I'm going to make that June 15th deadline. Then I'll get to read!

Uh oh!

I've been cruising along on the new ms for about three months. I thought it was going well. I expected to be done today, Memorial Day, and to be mailing it tomorrow. Major goof on my part!

A week ago I was polishing the last chapter. I was stuck so I decided to chat with my husband who's good with gunfights, etc.. I told him the scenario and my plan for a big bang ending. He said, "I don't get it. Why are the bad guys doing that?"

I told him.

"Honey," he said. "That just doesn't make sense. They wouldn't do that."

Gulp. Panic. Oops. Gut churning doubt. Total Fear. But-but-but I have a June 15th deadline! It has to work.

Well, it didn't. I've gone into hibernation mode and am rewriting the ms big time. The romance here is rock solid, some of my favorite stuff. The plot, it seems, was the worst thing I've ever concocted. After much moaning and brainstorming, I can see the problem and am fixing it now.
Last Monday I started at Page One and am drastically rewriting everything to do with the bad guys.

So what happened? Where did I go wrong. Three words: Goal. Motivation. Conflict. I gave the bad guys a reasonable goal, but I missed the boat on their motivation. They had no good reason to do what I wanted them to do. That meant going back and upping the ante throughout the entire ms. It meant giving them a violent backstory and putting more bad deeds on the page. It meant writing about 1/3 of the book.

That in turn led to big changes for the hero. Oh. My. I expect to make that June 15th deadline, but it's gonna be a squeeze.

Never again will I write a book without writing down the GMC for every single character!

Living with Guys

I'm in the living room right now, trying to sort out the end of the current ms while my husband is watching "Outbreak." It's the movie about an Ebola-like virus with Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo. My husband likes the action parts. I like the romance.

A few minutes ago, my youngest son called. He had drill with the National Guard and drove a Humvee, or maybe a tank. All I know is that something had wheels and something else had "tracks." They're talking a mile a minute in a language that's almost completely foreign to me, and it's running the gamut from tanks to jets. I know what an F-16 is, but I've never heard of a J-1. I know the difference between a 747 and a 777, but what's a Super Hornet? The thing with tracks is an APC, and the whole talk ended with much excitement over a KZ 750.

And guys think women are hard to understand!