Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Green space


This is one of the many small parks near our house.  It's only about 3 blocks away, and sometimes I walk down there just to sit on the wall and read, and listen to the water.

On the town map, it's listed as "undeveloped," I guess other than the pipe that contains the creek which would otherwise run across the intersection.  The town comes in and cuts the grass and checks on the trees periodically, but otherwise it's left alone for the neighbors, their dogs, and an overabundance of squirrels to enjoy.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

My little corner

In addition to my work room upstairs, this is my other special place in the house. I've never had a dedicated office for my desk, but this is the next best thing - it's in what was the dining room, which now has the bookshelves and a loveseat - and it's partly open to the living room. Because of the layout, I am blocked from a lot of the TV noise, so I can work downstairs while Mario is watching TV, and still feel like we're in the same place.

The desk is getting its own post because it's become a lot more important lately. Several years ago, I talked on the blog about the novel I was writing and the process of submitting it to agent. Well, I did submit, and I did get an agent, but it didn't work out the way I would have liked. While I do have some afterthoughts about the agent and the submission process, I also know now that the project she was submitting was not as good as it should have been, and that certainly didn't help matters.

It's been about 2 years since I got the book back, and during that time I haven't written much. I've done a lot of sewing, picked up a permanent part-time job, and bought and sold various pieces of real estate, plus the untold joys of moving house.

Now that we're settled, I've started hearing voices again. (These are the good kind, don't worry). Part of me would like to play with a shiny new project, but the bigger part of me isn't ready to let go of a book that I think is really good. So, for the last three weeks, I've been going through it chapter by chapter, doing a much more thorough edit than I did last time. I thought I did a good edit last time, but there's always more to learn. The book as it stands now is much tighter, and the pacing is much better. Or at least I think so.

I have about 4 more chapters to go, and then I think I will put myself through the submission process one more time. Because, hey, why not? If it doesn't work this time, I'm considering self-publishing. Because, also, why not?

What are your thoughts? Has anybody done this? Do you have any opinions on traditional publishing vs. self-publishing? Inquiring writers want to know.