Category Archives: How I Write

Finished Book 2!

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My messy desk after Book 2 was done!

Well, overall, after 8 months, 2 drafts, 99,000 words, 320 gallons of iced tea, a new computer, and some crazy holiday weekends, I think I can say “I DID IT” about my Jan 1 deadline to complete Book 2!

On Jan 1, I was at 99,960 words (perfect word count for me), and had written an ending!

However, the ending is … well … “soft” (not very dramatic). The black moment is seriously lame, and there are a couple of loose ends that didn’t get exactly tied up.
Sooooooo …. I still have some work to do!
But I gave myself this whole month to edit for that very purpose, which will be just perfect. (It’s due to Berkley on Feb. 1.)
My next steps are:
  • Cut 2,000 from the first half.
  • Write another 2,000 in the second half to bolster the black moment and make it more dramatic.
  • Then do the fun “editing on the word level” stuff, like deleting words I use too often, changing up sentence rhythms where I got lazy, deleting all of my adverbs, tightening up dialogue, that kind of thing. That’s really my favorite part of editing.
Whew!
Overall, I’m really happy about this story, though. I love these characters — Lia and Evan. The story has some fun whale-watching tales, a sweet “Cinderella” theme overlaid on top, and some serious sizzle. I can’t wait to share it with everyone!

 

Book Update

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Whew! Busy days …

I’ve been keeping up with my 4,000 words per weekend on Book 2! I joined a fun “30-Day Writing Challenge” on Facebook with my fellow Firebirds — in which we all write for a minimum of 30 minutes a day (you can dash off about 200-400 good words in 30 mins) — and it’s going great. (Perfect timing for me, with my looming deadlines.)

Anyway, I’m now 70,000 words in of a 100,000-word book. Lookin’ good for my deadline.

And meanwhile I’m going through all the copy edits for Book 1. (I’ve been doing Book 2 on weekends and Book 1 on weeknights.)

My agent, editor and I also came up with a series name for my community! It’s “Sandy Cove.” I quite like it for a variety of reasons, mainly because it has the same initials as the place it’ll be based on (San Clemente), maintains that “San” sound at the beginning, and it’s simple and evocative of place.

And guess what? I got my cover! My editor sent it via email while we were on vacation in NYC — and I was looking at it and responding to her and my agent while on the streets of New York City, with my scarf and coat and bustling about, and feeling very writerly, indeed! Totally surreal. …  Continue reading →

Beta Reads!

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So I’ve just sent out the new book for beta reads!

But, er … only half the book.

I have the best beta readers. Many have been with me since the very first manuscript, and they’ve meant the world to me with their support and encouragement. They give such thoughtful feedback, and make great corrections and suggestions.

And now they’re rising to the occasion again and indulging my newest request: to please read the book at only the halfway point!

Eeek. I hate giving anyone a manuscript that has no ending, but I realized I wasn’t going to have time to respond to beta suggestions if I wait until the book is done. If I’m lucky, I’ll have three weeks between finishing the book and turning it in to my publisher, so obviously I can’t send it out for five to ten beta reads and give them enough time to read it, then have time to respond to their comments or suggestions.

So they’re being kind enough to read at the halfway point and help me make sure I’m on the right track.

(And, of course, I’ll be thanking them all profusely in the acknowledgements!)

I love my beta readers!

10,000 Words!!!!

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Yep, that’s a new record for me. I wrote more than 10,000 words last weekend!

I had a nice, long 4-day weekend, and I made the best use of it I could — writing like a maniac. It’s really a lot easier to write when you have several full days in a row, because you can get into a groove and maintain a certain tone and pacing. (Stops and starts, like I do on my lunch hours and after work, make writing a lot more difficult.) So when I get the luxury of four days in a row, I seize them!

I barely left the house for four entire days (except to pick Nathan and his friend up from McDonalds one afternoon, buy iced tea another afternoon, and go to my parents’ for dinner where we met their friend from Scotland). But other than that I was writing, man!

But it was lovely. The light comes through my den window in such a beautiful way in October, and I love being in my little writing alcove. Plus Chris brought me a pumpkin spice latte one afternoon AND a pumpkin pie for me and Nate another afternoon, so I was in October bliss!

It was a great weekend. And 10,000 words! I still can’t believe it. I’m heading into the second half of the book now and hoping for the best for my Feb 1 deadline. This is my first experience writing a whole book on deadline, so I’m learning as I go.

(This week’s lesson is to take more four-day weekends in October with PSLs and lovely light, I guess…)

 

What Book 3 Is About

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So I’m having fun writing Book 3 now. It started out a little rocky, because I was panicking that I was so far behind, and the panic was giving me a little writer’s block. But once I got the “hmmm” of approval from my agent (which became a “This is great” after she read the first chapter), I’m ready to roll.

I’m on Chapter 6 now, and it’s getting to the fun point. This is where I scoot downstairs in my bathrobe really early to write in the quiet of the morning. I race home to work on the ms during my lunch hour. On Saturdays, I tell the family to go have fun and spend hours at my computer instead, creating new lives.

It’s the awakening, revealing first draft, where the characters still surprise me every day. Honestly, I never know what they’re going to say or do, so every day is like cracking the book open myself and reading anew.

This one’s about the youngest McCabe sister, Lia, who’s a fast-talking marketing exec who tends to like the finer things in life. But when she comes across a scruffy, bearded, long-haired ex-Coast Guard — and talks him into running a whale-watching boat for her — things get pretty interesting.

These two are a lot of fun. …

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