After an arduous two weeks of editing other people’s work, I’m finally able to work on my own novels again. Many of my fellow writers are doing NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). NaNo is a challenge to write 50,000 words (a complete novel) between November 1 and November 30.  I would’ve loved to have given it a try, but because I have several editing gigs scheduled for November, I opted out of NaNo this year. However I’m intrigued with the idea. Maybe next year, I’ll see if I can make my paying gigs work out so that I can have more time in November. It’s a good goal. Writers fall…

Sandy is my critique partner and my inspiration. Her “Damaged Heroes” series and rom-com novel Turning Thirty-Twelve are published by BookStrand. The newest Damaged Heroes book,  Twist of Fate, a time-travel romance, debuted October 25.   Her novel, Rules of the Game, is coming from Carina Press in April 2012. Find Sandy online at www.sandy-james.com.  Today, she talks about the importance of having someone else read your work. Take it away, Partner… I always remember what agony it was as a child to have my father tell me his “stories.” You know the ones I’m talking about… They usually began with In my day or When I was a kid.…

Today, I spent the afternoon writing the synopsis for the third novel, which I finished this week. It’s out to the beta readers, and I already got back one good report. YAY! Now, logically, you’d think that if one has completed three novels and has a rip-roaring start on the fourth, then one could certainly produce a five to seven page synopsis. After all, you wrote the damn books, you’d say, surely it’s not that hard to sit down and tell what they’re about. Well, you’d be wrong. Synopsis writing is really, truly hard! I sweat bullets over writing a decent synopsis. How much of the story do I include?…

Okay, so yeah, I’ve visited this topic before and I probably will again, but it’s my forum, so just deal. Got another rejection yesterday–this one of the second novel, which I will admit is not as strong as the first one or the third one or the fourth, for that matter. Editor said, “…the first chapter, especially, was built on a number of coincidences that made the plot difficult to buy into.” Hello? It’s romance–all the plots are difficult to buy into. That’s why we read them! We’re writing escapism here, not gritty reality. If I were going to veer off-course and write what really happens, our heroine would be…

…to Chick Lit Writers today! My fabulous critique partner Sandy James is talking about writing older female characters–women with more experience that bring vibrancy and attitude to a story. She’d love to hear your viewpoint and so would I. One of the novels  my agent is currently submitting for me is about a 37-year-old woman who rediscovers a lost love. Do you like reading about heroines who are over forty? Do you believe romance still blooms even if you aren’t twenty-one and starry-eyed? Come on by and talk to Sandy about being as old as you feel. You could win a copy of her newest novel, TWIST OF FATE, due…

…maybe. So here’s the weird part about being a writer, well one of the weird parts. I’m never done. I buttoned up the revisions on the first novel last night, dealt with my crit partner’s comments and edits and worked out the parts that still needed tweaking. When I was done, I put all the chapters together into a manuscript file and saved it. Then I sent it to my Kindle so I could read it again in book form. Six pages into Chapter 1, I found a POV (Point of View) glitch that neither of us caught. Um…probably a safe bet that my heroine is not going to think…