Category Archives: critique

Geeking Out

Posted on June 23, 2011 | 1 comment

I had a wonderful phone discussion with fellow author Kerry Freeman last night. I’d critiqued a manuscript for her from the Help Write Now auction, and it came with a 10–15 minute phone or Skype chat to discuss it. We spent about that long on the manuscript… and then talked for another hour and fifteen minutes, mostly about writing. (And publishers, and Dragon*Con, and living in the South… LOL)

I love talking to other authors about what we write. I have two very close friends I talk to via online chat nearly every day, and a large portion of our discussions cover what we’re writing (heavier on fanfic, since that’s how we all met). I love it all: hashing out possible plot points, discussing how characters can change the course of a plot, complaining about the overwhelming number of plotbunnies in our “to be written” folders (all of which were covered extensively last night). I love talking about other authors’ stories, what we like and don’t like about them. 

In short, I am a total writing geek, and I am not ashamed to admit it! 

I’ll take just about any chance I can get to talk writing. I love that my mom is a writer, so I can talk about it with her. (To a point: she doesn’t want to talk about sex scenes, and I wouldn’t want to talk about that with my mother anyway!) I’m thrilled that some writerly friends will be here for Dragon*Con, and I know darn good and well we’ll be talking writing a lot. And one of the main reasons I decided to go to GayRomLit is to have a chance to just talk writing with some of the awesome authors who’ll be there. 

So, if you ever run into me somewhere, or if you just want to sit around and talk writing for a while, hit me up!

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Posted in critique, kerry freeman, writing

Help Write Now: Come Over and Bid!

Posted on May 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Help Write Now: Come Over and Bid!

I’m participating in the Help Write Now auction to benefit the victims of last week’s killer tornado outbreak in the Southeast. I’m offering a full manuscript beta/critique, with an optional phone or Skype chat to discuss. Come on over and get in your bids! 🙂

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Posted in charity, critique, editing, real life

Inching Closer

Posted on March 13, 2011 | 1 comment

One final beta on the novel received, and comments incorporated. I also made a few more passes to fix some formatting and wording issues and get it generally in better shape. The synopsis is written, and my other beta has said Wednesday for her comments, so there’s a chance I might get this thing submitted by next weekend!

That assumes I survive another move first, of course. 🙂

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Posted in critique, editing, fiction, m/m, novel, romance, sand & water, writing

>Submitting

Posted on May 22, 2010 | Comments Off on >Submitting

>I’ve just send in my second-ever fiction submission (not counting a handful of drabbles published in a long-defunct webzine). The first submission came many years ago, when I knew much less about writing and publishing than I do now. I chose an inappropriate market and didn’t put enough effort into editing, so naturally, it was rejected.

Everyone knows that rejection is difficult. Unfortunately, it’s a fact of life for an author, especially one who’s just testing the waters. It’s easy enough to find suggestions and recommendations for ways to improve the odds of success, but much harder to implement them. Writing workshops, critique groups, “beta” readers, professional editing; at what point does it become too much? When do you reach a point of diminishing returns?

The story I’ve just submitted was originally written as fanfiction, which means that it’s been edited and read in a different form already. For that reason, I chose not to go through the workshop/critique whirlwind this time, ready to accept a rejection if it comes. Call it impatience, but at this point, I’d rather expend the energy on stories that aren’t yet completed. If this submission is rejected, then I’ll decide whether to put in the additional effort to try again.

Eventually, I’ll probably also return to that first story and give it more polish than it had on the first try. It’s a learning process, and I’m fully willing to admit that I’m still a rank beginner.

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Posted in critique, editing, fiction, rejection, submissions, writing