Happy Labor Day

I hope all of you have had a wonderful 3-day weekend. We took off for a state park this morning and spent some time with a few family members.

I opened my email when we got home (I've been ignoring it all weekend) and discovered that I won a free e-book from Lynette Bonner~Rocky Mountain Oasis! Now I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks Lynnette!

Beautiful Sunday

My manuscript is completely revised, minus the last few lines. Those always give me trouble. It's like I want it to end perfectly and just can't think of how to word it. But it will be finished by tomorrow morning, as that is when I have set my goal to send it in. I'm excited about this venture and more than a little nervous!

Are any of you ready to send anything out?

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Keep Laughing

Writing can be a sometimes fun, exciting, lonely, or frustrating activity. Some days nothing seems to go right no matter what we try. So, it should make all of us feel better to know that the most famous beagle in the world, also a struggling writer, can identify with all of our emotions:).I've had this book for a few days and have enjoyed it very much. I also love the fact that so many famous authors took the time to write a few pages addressing some of Snoopy's problems and share their own solutions to them.

Happy reading!

August

It's so hard to believe that August is here. Summer is passing by so fast. It seems that it was just June a week or so ago.

My rose campions (pictured above) are still blooming! They are only supposed to bloom in early summer, but the grouping of them I have in a shady area are still giving me pretty flowers.

I've almost finished with my book revisions and the partial to be sent in is complete. I'll be sending it next week.

I also have another project ready to send in to a contest. It will be mailed later this week. I'm hoping for a couple of good critiques from this contest.

I hope all of you are enjoying these warm days.

Tuesday

Do you ever feel like you're not making much progress when you do revisions? Several times these past couple of days, I've felt like our kitten~that maybe things would be better if I'd just crawl under the table:)

Maybe it is because this is an older project and I'm not really involved with the story like I was when I was writing it. Also, my writing style has changed some since I wrote this book.

Fortunately, by the end of the day, I started getting more 'in the groove' of the story and things are going a little faster.

Sometimes, we just have to make ourselves sit down and start working on a writing task--even if we don't feel like it. Otherwise, it gets easier and easier to leave it undone. I've been guilty of this at times.

Is there anything special you do to get yourself started working on a project that you've set aside?

Another Contest

Spacecoast Authors of Romance is sponsoring a writing contest. You don't have to send in your entry (snail mail) until September, so you have plenty of time to get your entry in order if you want to participate. All the details are at SpacecoasT Authors of Romance.

Revisions

I had good news and bad news from an editor that recently reviewed a romance I wrote several years ago. The bad news. . .too passive, too many uses of 'had'.

The good news. . .if I revise, she will look at it again. So, that is what I'm busy doing~a little at a time. I find that if I take it in small increments, it is easier to spot all the past tense areas.

Part of me is a little confused at the current words that we must avoid using. Some of my favorite novels and favorite authors seem to use the words 'had', 'said', and 'was'.

I'm not sure I can write without using these words some of the time. Yet, someone pointed out that one rather famous Christian author avoids the word 'said' at all costs.

For years, I have read that the use of a lot of dialogue tags instead of just 'said', is the mark of an amateur writer. Have the rules changed? Or are the rules just different for the Christian writing market?

Do you believe that this is just a trend~or is it here to stay?