Off to Orlando

Drum roll please! My revisions are done and hopefully my editor will now love the book.

I now have to pack. My daughter has been going over outfits with me and vetoing things. *rolls eyes heavenwards!*

I am tremendously excited about the RWA. Updates will be on the Pink Heart Society as News Flashes. I will also do something for the Harlequin Historical Author blog. And then will do a full round up of all my doings when I get return!!! I do know what it feels like to be left behind.

Wish me luck.

Revisions and Orlando

The revisions are getting done. They will be done before I go to Orlando on Tuesday!
Less than a hundred pages to go as it were.
Am I packed for Orlando? No
Am I mentally ready? NO my mind is in 1848.
Will I be ready? Probably. I have not bothered to colour coordinate my shoes or plan each outfit. I am doing revisions. I have not gone shoe shopping. I am doing revisions. I do however have business cards.
Have I planned which workshops I want to attend? Sort of. I know I am definitely going to several including Carrie Lofty's take on Unusual Historical.
Do I want to stand in line for the book signings? My daughter has made noises. I think I will be too busy.

Will I be exhausted when I get back? Yes.
Am I over-excited? Yes.

Heathcliff, the editorial cat

Heathcliff has decided that it is his job in life to supervise my writing. Whenever I'm on the computer, he jumps up and lays across my arms purring, so I have to pay attention to him as he regards the computer screen with a look of utter disdain. If he dislikes what he sees, he quickly walks across the keyboard...causing me to rewrite.
If I'm working off the computer, he will bat my pen away and chase it across the floor.
Yesterday he and Mr Darcy both used my print out version as a scratching post. Were they trying to tell me to cut for pace?

Most people get normal cats. I get ones who have the soul of an editor...

Themes with revisions

The theme for this revision set is basically the same as the last one.
1. Make the sensual tension obvious, particularly in the first few chapters. They might be fighting the attraction but the reader has to know about the attraction. They have to be AWARE of each other. In this story, it applies to the hero.

2. Clarify the backstory and make it simple. My editor has some good suggestions on this.

3. Clarify secondary character reactions. Namely I went too far in changing certain characters. (Undones don't have this problem because they are intensely focused on the hero and heroine.)

In other words, my usual problems. Thankfully my editor told me that she thought the story was going to be great.

Revisions hit!

Can I say that I love my new editor? Her thoughts are going to help make this story so much better! It is great to feel energised and really wanting to do the revisions, rather feeling steely determined to do the revisions.

Anyway, I want to get them done before I go off to Orlando and I know it can be done.
They are the sort of revisions that consume me and make me want to work! It is good to get back to those sorts of revisions.

Undone sold!

My very lovely editor telephoned to say that they were accepting the Roman Undone! This is the first time I have attempted to write short and I wasn't sure I could do it. In the end, after some sterling direction, I did.
She will let me know when it is going to be in the schedule and what the title will be.

It features Piso, a secondary character from Sold & Seduced and mentions Valens (the hero of The Gladiator's Honour) back when he was just starting out.

Anyway, I am totally thrilled!!!

The lowest of the low

According to the Times magazine yesterday, twenty years ago I made a career mistake and became one of the lowest of the low -- aka a mother who decided to look after her children herself, particularly as I had a good degree.
*cough cough* I must say that I never twigged my status.
I knew there were rumblings about careers etc but I was always determined to look after my children first. Luckily my husband agreed with me. His mother for economic reasons had to work when he was little and he hated it. It worked for me and my situation.
Thanks to my mother's example, I also knew that women who returned to work after their children were nearly grown were able in some cases to leapfrog women who had stayed in work while they had children. The trouble with the Mommy track is that no one has ever been able to reconcile the needs of ill children to the demands of work. My mother benefited from a now discontinued program which was aimed at women who were returning after a career break. I wish those types of programmes had flourished. Personally I know I can focus on my career much easier now than if I had tried to write when my children were little. I always salute women who can...
The other aspect that the whole work or not debate often forgets is that many women have always had to work or were involved in their husband's business. Family run business normally means the whole family is involved somehow. Also people forget the whole government campaign in the late 40s to have women go from fighting Germans to germs in the house.
Anyway, the one thing I feel strongly about is that no one should put people down. People make choices about what is best for them. Each situation has unique challenges.
And I still consider myself a wife and mother first, an author second. Although when a deadline looms, perhaps my family would disagree...

And off again

I did the revisions. They were very straight forward and in a way I could understand. I think I have done everything right, but that is up to my editor.
It has been a long time since I have felt this energised about revisions.

There again, world cup semi finals are very good for zoning out and just thinking. But the revisions basically consumed me for 2 days. I wanted to work on them. Sometimes lately the revisions have been such that I was far from motivated or I didn't understand what my editor wanted but knew that asking was not going yield the results I wanted. This time none of that fog happened.

So it is back to the waiting game. And to starting the Sinai project.

Several people have commented on the new look on my actual blog. I like it and I suppose that is what counts.

My jaw drops

My totally lovely and goregous new editor came back to me with her thoughts on the Undone today! I think I can understand what she wants and how it is going to make the story better.

But I am in a state of shock! In a very good way!

My new editor rocks!

Over to my Editor

Both my full and my Roman Undone are sitting in my editor's inbox, waiting for her to get to them. I also waved goodbye to Breaking the Governess's Rules as the AAs are done. Next stop - publication in Jan 2011 in Hardback.

My next project is the Sinai one which I researched back in March. Bedouins. Adventure. Slaves. It should be fun. And at church on Sunday, I figured out the ending. Always a happy sign. And right now I think I deserve an easy book!

The Fourth of July Weekend

I am over at the Pink Heart Society blogging about one of my all time favourite movies and musicals -- 1776.
30 years ago it helped me ace AP US History and I still love the film. This clip shows how you can seamlessly add little historical details! Plus John and Abigail Adams' words were taken directly from their letters.


I am busy with my revisions (nearly done). the AAs are done. I had tears running down my eyes at the end but I am close to the characters. I just hope others like Breaking the Governess's Rules. My weekend is going to be spent polishing!

After I turn in my revisions, it will be starting the Sinai one. I have decided that I am more excited about that and will save Dagmar and Thrand for that inbetween period when I am waiting to hear about this one.

I'm also terribly excited about the RWA Nationals which are at the end of this month.