Well, they postponed the on-line Desire pitch to either later this week or next. So, I guess I'll have another few nights of not sleeping well and a few more days to polish the manuscript.
I spent the weekend with my daughter at our camping retreat in Northern Minnesota. I hadn't been up since Memorial weekend because of the trip to Greece and the cost of gas (it's a 3 hour drive each way). I made my parents stay home so I didn't have to worry about cooking, cleaning or being social. I wanted to weed the garden, relax, read and write.
It was time well spent. I wrote some new scenes for the book I'm pitching tomorrow that allowed me to "show" some important background information, pivotal to the plot, but that I was struggling to incorporate without "telling."
And on the drive home, I walked through the last chapter and decided to make some changes to the conflict resolution that made the ending flow so much better.
I'm excited about this book as I haven't been since I began the second draft. What felt forced now unfolds the way it should. I know there's a lot more that needs to be done, but with climax reworked, I think the story is smoother and packed with more punch.
When I add up the endless hours of thinking I've done on this story in an attempt to have it all make sense, I wonder how I'm ever going to be able to write a story in a few months and submit it. Or maybe it's just where I'm at in my learning curve that I need to rework so much in the 2nd/3rd/4th drafts.
I came up with a new idea today for the next book I'm going to work on. I had intended to return to Bound By Duty after the pitch, but I'm not sure it's going in the right direction so I'm going to mull it over and dive into something really fun. For the Instant Seduction contest, I came up with this story about a girl and her boss. I love the story and thought it would be fun to do a series about 3 blond girls, best friends since college, who are young, hip and taking on Chicago's elusive bachelors. The first story involves a pregnancy so I thought, why not have all three books about hip, career oriented young women who meet men uninterested in commitment and toss in a baby surprise. Add 3 meddling older gentleman who want their younger counterparts to settle down and it should make for a fun series. I now have 2 books figured out and need to noodle the third (I already have the character).
Too many ideas, too little time. Hopefully that will change sometime soon!
Today's goal: See the Sex in the City movie
Yesterday's achievement: Reworked the last few scenes in Meddling
What I'm grateful for: It's summer in Minnesota--need I say more?
Quote: "Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius." -Comte de Buffon (1707 - 1788)
