A YEAR OF REVISIONS
It's been a busy year for revisions. I think a manuscript is perfect, and then after reading it for the umpteenth time, I start changing lines, tweaking a word or phrase. I don't believe I will ever be completely happy with any of my work as I know there is always room for improvement and different interpretations.
One of my favorite works is A River's Song. I've shared it with my critique group and received amazing suggestions which I took to heart. Recently, I shared again with the members of my group, and they loved it, but there were still a couple of lines that needed work.
One of my critique friends wasn't at the meeting, but Suzy critiqued it online and she offered lovely word choices, much better than the ones I had used. I'm 99% satisfied that this piece is ready to send out into the world. The 1% is my worry gene. Like I said, I am never completely happy with my work.
I entered the Rate Your Story (RYS) writing contest this year. Although I didn't win or place, as a participant I won a free RYS speed pass. This is where one sends a manuscript to them for a critique with a rating from 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest. I sent A Magical Day with Grandma. I had shared this story with my critique group, and felt it ready, but wanted another expert opinion. It rated a 4 - "A decent story. Merits some reworking and/or revisioning." The critiquer offered a full page of ways to improve my story, so it's back to revisions.
It's not Thanksgiving yet, but I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I am thankful I now have an agent. Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency is amazing. She edits my work and corresponds with me about my submissions. If I have a question, she gets back with me immediately. Once a month, she hosts a happy hour on zoom where I connect with her and her other clients, and we share ideas.
My agent signs contracts book by book. I have contracts with her for two picture books and two middle grade novels. She is already submitting all but one of the middle grade novels. That one she is editing, so it will be a few months before it will be ready for submission.
I'm thankful for my wonderful SCBWI-IL writers' group. They have helped me tremendously and my writing is greatly improved because of them. Yesterday, my group celebrated their 20th anniversary. I wasn't around since the beginning. I joined in 2012, but Louann has been a Springfield Scribe since Kim Hutmacher started the Springfield chapter in 2002. Louann's daughter, Juli, said she joined two years after her mom, so she's been a member for 18 years.
We celebrated this milestone anniversary with a luncheon at the Sangamo Brewing Company in Chatham, Illinois. Kim came, as well as many past members. Of the ten in our luncheon group, seven were, or are, SCBWI-IL network representatives. To quote Kim about our day, "We laughed. We reminiscenced. We ate cake." (Louann and Juli brought a beautiful and tasty cake to finish off our meal.) (Attendees shown in photo below. Front row: Juli Caveny, founder Kim Hutmacher, Debra Daugherty, Nancy Barrett, Pam Miller. Back row: Jerry Barrett, Toni Leahy, Anastasia Ely, Ronda Gray and Louann Brown. Of the ten people in this photo, seven have been or now are SCBWI-IL network representatives.)
A week ago, the SCBWI-IL representatives were honored with a picnic lunch at Allerton Park. I'm so glad to have hitched a ride with Juli and Louann, as I don't think I would have found this place. This park is beautiful, and I wished I had the energy to walk the grounds. I did walk a bit with Juli to see the Allerton mansion. The weather was warm, but we had a wonderful breeze under the trees. Ten must be a magical number, as there were ten at this luncheon, the same number who attended our anniversary celebration. It was nice being able to connect with other representatives from Illinois and to share ideas.
As the SCBWI-IL representative for the Central Illinois area, I am always trying to find ways to help my members with their writing and illustrating careers. We critique our stories at meetings, we have guest speakers/authors present writing programs on zoom, but after Covid, I found many members losing interest or just not inspired to write. I felt the same way.
My thought was we all need to be challenged to do more, to put ourselves out there. So, each month I post a challenge to my group. I challenge them to submit to certain publishing houses that are open for submissions, and I provide the link for these publishers. I challenge my group to query agents, and I provide the names of agents looking for submissions from authors who write children's stories. Other challenges are to post a blog - that's why I'm posting this today. My main goal is to have everyone submit, submit, submit.
The response to these challenges touches my heart. My group loves them, and they are accepting these challenges and putting themselves out there as I had hoped. My challenges are the push they needed. Imagine how pleased I'll be when they all find agents or a publisher because of one of my challenges.
The release date for my picture book, The Memory Jar, is drawing nearer. My editor at Young Dragons Press, Amy Cowan, said she expects it will be ready in the Spring of 2023. I've already set up two blog interviews for next March.
September is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. I posted on twitter about my book and mentioned that I dedicated it to my Aunt Luella, who had Alzheimer's. A teacher from Montanna tweeted that she's put my book on her wish list, and a beauty pageant winner from Georgia, who advocates Alzheimer's Awareness, also tweeted that she can't wait for my book to come out. Isn't that amazing? I feel the need to pinch myself to make sure I haven't dreamed all this.
Victoria Marble is illustrating our book. I have two books she has illustrated on my bookshelf, so when I found out she was chosen by my editor for my story, I was thrilled. Victoria has shared a few of her drawings with me. Seeing how she turned my words into pages of art gives me goosebumps. Victoria stated she's halfway done, so I guess we're on schedule for the Spring, 2023 release date.
So, this is what I've been busy doing this year, my year of revisions and challenges. I've also written a few PB manuscripts, but they need a lot of work before they are ready to send out. I mainly want to concentrate on the manuscripts that I want to send my agent, and that means revise, revise, revise.
I intend to work on a middle grade novel in November for NaNoWriMo, (national novel writing month). I had one chapter done, about twelve typed pages, but they were lost when my computer crashed. I hadn't saved them on a disc. Now I save everything.
I love writing and I'm excited to see what next year brings.
Happy writing! Happy revisions!
