by jphilo | Sep 21, 2015 | Mystery Update
In what may be a first at Down the Gravel Road, this mystery novel update comes less than a month after the previous one. Hard to believe, isn’t it? How can a writer, especially one who’s been hacking away at this manuscript for 2 1/2 years, make enough progress in one short month to warrant another update?
All I can say is that motivation makes a difference.
In this case, the motivation was a visit from my daughter over Labor Day. The same daughter who gave the marvelous feedback mentioned in the previous update. The daughter who I hoped would have time to reread the manuscript with the revisions she suggested. While I watched her baby.
Getting my hands on him was extra motivation.
Motivation worked. The rewrite was ready for her, she got it read, offered a little more feedback and then said, “You got it. It’s done. You should send it to your agent. And let Dad read it, too.”
I sent it my agent last week.
And am waiting on pins and needles to hear what she has to say. Since she’s mother to 3 young daughters, I’m doing my best to cultivate self-restraint and resist the hourly urge to email her and ask, “Are you done yet? Whaddya think? Did you like it? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
The Man of Steel loaded a copy onto his iPad, too.
He finished it in a week. Not an easy feat for someone who doesn’t like to read very much. Because he tends to fall asleep when he reads. But this book kept him awake. He really liked it and gave some good feedback.
To celebrate, I printed out a hard copy and am proofreading all 315 pages.
And making minor changes based on the Man of Steel’s suggestions. Partly out of desire to make my manuscript the best it can be. Partly because burying myself in the novel keeps me from emailing my agent and asking,
“Are you done yet? Whatddya think? Do you like it? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
by jphilo | Aug 24, 2015 | Mystery Update
Progress has continued on my mystery novel set in the wilds of northwest South Dakota since the last Gravel Road update about Jane and her excellent adventures. Of course, every good mystery novel is replete with twists and turns, and this one is no exception. What are the latest twists and turns?
The first is this.
My agent, a wonderful woman and mom to 3 lovely little girls, had planned to read it on vacation. But because that vacation included entertaining 3 lovely little girls, so she didn’t have time to read anything. Which turned out to be a good thing.
Because of the second twist.
My daughter did read the book and returned it with the most marvelous feedback. Feedback that, if implemented, will improve the novel immensely. Feedback that shows she could be a professional editor…and as a literature major she has the credentials. So if you’re looking to hire someone to shape up your manuscript, just let me know. But I digress.
Back to the second twist.
The feedback was so good, I emailed my agent and said, “If you haven’t read the book yet, don’t. Wait for the next draft which will incorporate the feedback from my daughter.”
On to the third twist.
My daughter’s feedback is as unique as she is, consisting as it does of items like the following:
- Beef up the scene at the dump
- Start the butterfly thing earlier
- Get out of Jane’s head and into dialogue more often
- Make the bad guy seem gooder (yes, I know that’s not a word) early on
And so on. My goal is to have this revision done by the last week of August when my daughter and her family come for a visit. So I can entertain the baby while she reads through it. Obviously a doubly self-serving goal, but worthwhile none the less.
Which leads to the fourth and final twist.
When I am deep into revision zone, my little inner voice pipes up every now and then with its favorite public service announcement:
Stop playing around and get back to work.
I stop and feel guilty for a moment until the realization dawns on me.
This is my work.
And I keep writing.
by jphilo | Jun 29, 2015 | Mystery Update
For years now, you’ve heard progress reports about my wannabe mystery novel featuring Jane was moving at a slow crawl, not progressing at all, or temporarily shelved because of other book commitments.
But today–and this really should be accompanied by young men in Henry the Eighth era costumes that include tights standing on either side of the castle door blowing trumpets–the news is quite different. I am happy to announce…
cue the trumpets
..that the first draft of Run, Jane, Run is done, and…
cue the trumpets again
…so is the first revision, and…
cue the trumpets yet again
…so is the second revision, as well as proofreading…
cue the trumpets one last time
Therefore, I am about to send both my agent and my daughter the manuscript for their feedback.
That, dear readers, is a terrifying thought. As I told some former teaching colleagues who are also parents, sending off a novel is like going to parent-teacher conferences, at which you know you will be told that the child you have poured your life and soul into is not perfect.
Hearing those words is like a knife wound to the heart.
Even though you know your child–or your novel–is not perfect. Even thought the weaknesses of your child–or novel–are glaringly obvious to you. Even though the only way to rectify those weaknesses is by asking for help.
Even so, hearing those words is still like a knife wound to the heart.
So if I seem extra needy in a few weeks, you can assume that feedback has been received, that it was not all good, that I am dealing with it, and am spending the few hours of each day I’m not in therapy furiously reworking the novel and/or writing a book proposal.
Just in case my agent believes a publisher might just want to publish it.
In other words, stay tuned. Because as so many of us learned in elementary school, the fun with Dick and Jane just never ends!
by jphilo | Jun 4, 2015 | Mystery Update, Three Thoughts for Thursday
- When writing a mystery novel set in northwest South Dakota, determine the color, make, and model of every character’s dusty pick up truck before writing the story so the information doesn’t have to be painstakingly added later.
- Keep in mind that readers can’t picture what’s in an author’s head until the author describes it.
- Writing and editing are hard work. But they’re also incredibly fun. So authors should get over the guilt of having the best job in the world and simply enjoy it.
What are your thoughts about writing and editing? Leave them in the comment box below.
by jphilo | May 11, 2015 | Mystery Update
Yes, you read the title right. No more pity parties for poor, poor Jane. After months of languishing while her creator dealt with silly things like greeting beautiful new grandchildren into the world and meeting non-fiction book contract deadlines, Jane is once again up and running.
More than running.
Actually, Jane is galloping toward the finish line. Only the final scene remains to be written before THE END will conclude the first draft. Of course, when an author strings out the writing of a novel over more than 2 years, substantial time needs to be spent on rewrites and edits. Because the author did the writing when she was in her late 50s. Which means her memory’s not so good any more, and her chances of remembering what she wrote more than 2 years ago are about the same as blizzard on Mother’s Day in western South Dakota where dear Jane lives. Which really, truly happened yesterday.
As it has happened before.
The author knows this because she experienced a Mother’s Day blizzard in Jane’s stomping grounds in either May of 1984 or 1985. 18 inches of snow. Wind and drifting. 3 day blizzard. School cancelled. Water pipes frozen. Dead lambs and calves everywhere.
The kind of thing even authors in their late 50s can’t forget.
The kind of juicy real life event that could become a bang up scene in a mystery novel. Except that this mystery is set in the fall of Jane’s first year teaching country school, ending just after first quarter parent-teacher conferences and just before the Halloween party. And Jane’s former school teacher creator can’t imagine a final resolution scene encompassing more than 6 months, 3 more grading periods, and enough art projects to placate the imaginary students in Jane’s class until school’s out in May. Just thinking about that much tempera paint, glitter, and construction paper is exhausting.
So Jane’s creator will stick to the ending already planned.
But, she will tuck the Mother’s Day blizzard idea into her idea file. Just in case the first book in the Dick and Jane series gets published. Just in case it does well enough to warrant a second book. And just in case a writer in her late 50s with memory issues can remember where the idea file is, find the idea in the file, and recall why in the world she scribbled “Mother’s Day blizzard” on a piece of paper and stuck it in the file. The chances of all those things happening are about the same as the chance of a Mother’s Day blizzard in western South Dakota.
You know, it just could happen!
by jphilo | Jul 14, 2014 | Mystery Update
This mystery novel update contains some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the good news. This update comes only a little over a month after the last one. Since they previously came every two months, the pace has picked up considerably.
Too bad the same can’t be said for the progress of the novel itself.
Which is, as you may have guessed, the bad news. If only the lack of progress could be blamed on the June 19 EF–3 tornado that hit southeastern Montana, just a few miles west of the fictional setting of the novel. But since the novel is set in 1977 and the tornado hit just a few weeks ago, that excuse doesn’t quite work. In reality, the lack of progress is due to a great deal of summer fun: visits to and from family members, family weddings, class reunions, and the like. Activities of which Jane heartily approves.
You remember Jane?
She’s the elementary school teacher protagonist of our story. In the last update, she’d been too busy mastering the arts of cow milking, chicken feeding, aiding and abetting criminals across state lines, and outrunning bulls to complete report cards or prepare for parent–teacher conferences.
Since then, she’s straightened out her priorities.
The report cards are done, though the “deportment” section led to a great deal of head-scratching and the realization that her own marks in that department have been and continue to be less than stellar.
Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane.
The sad state of affairs between Jane and her fellow teacher, Liv, have been resolved. The sad state of Jane’s relationship with the grumpy school janitor have come to a head. And the sad state of Jane’s love life, due to the consequences of some choices she’s made and her inability to light the pilot light on her stove, lead to a couple realization. First, elementary safety scissors don’t lend themselves to self-defense.
Second, glitter can be a woman’s best friend.
Jane’s way too busy to explain the glitter thing. She and the whole town are gearing up for the Methodist Church Bazaar. The church’ll be filled to bursting with a huge crowd, good food, a country store, a big auction, and Jane working the fishing booth.
A perfect recipe for disaster.
And a recipe that may have to wait a few weeks to be tested. Because the priority for July and August is writing the rough draft of a contracted book about PTSD in Children. Unless I meet those weekly goals before noon on Fridays. In which case, Jane will become my Friday afternoon priority, and we will ride off together into a glittery western sunset.
With absolutely no tornadoes allowed.
