Springing into Action

Spring in the Houston area is a fleeting experience. Don't blink! Summer will be upon us shortly and we'll wonder where these lovely spring days went. Of course, we have a pollen count in the zillions and everyone is sneezing their watery-eyed heads off. Fear not! The long hot summer will dry those eyes and everything else.

Springtime does bring about an appreciation for rebirth and renewal. I've put away winter clothing and done a spring cleaning (well, sort of). I'm eating more salads and I joined a gym where I can be found cycling my fanny off several times a week. All this activity may mean very little in the overall scheme of things, but in my little world, it means I'm getting lean, mean and green.

I'm also giving the same treatment to my novels. I'm slowly, one by one, revisiting the manuscripts in my store and revising them to their leanest, meanest and greenest version and I'm getting them out there.

The first one is Bad Habit. I spent a couple of months slashing and rebuilding it and now it's in the hands of my wonderful beta reader, Candace Fitzpatrick.

Another romantic suspense, Kill Shot, is getting a chapter by chapter makeover with my long-time, face-to-face critique group in our weekly meetings. I'm trying to clean up my act and get the novels polished to an acceptable state of vibrancy so they will be print worthy.

I've also been working on writing at least 100 new words daily. With my job, I was unable to do much writing, since I work 4-10 hour days and have a long drive to and from Houston. I tried writing on the 3 days off, but found that by Friday I couldn't really get a feel for the story. I made a public commitment to write at least 100 words daily, no matter how exhausted I might be. It's only about a half page. Thankfully, several hearty writers have joined me on FaceBook and I'm now over 200 days (and nights) with this challenge. Just this little effort has meant that I can stay in the story during the work week and by Friday, I am super productive. Join in if you want. Everyone is welcome.

I'm wondering what you are working on. Do you have a method for revision? Do you share it with others or keep it to yourself? Wishing you gleaming manuscripts worthy of readers everywhere.