Self-Editing

Deek and I send our thoughts and well-wishes to everyone affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and to all who are dealing with the fires, especially our friends and family out that way. It's been crazy watching the Pacific Northwest burn, Houston drown, and the East Coast brace for Irma. I'm ready for the weather to settle down a bit. Better yet, can we just have summer back??

I can't believe how cold it's gotten in the last few days. I'm freezing, and it's only September!! Ugh, hurry up and be Christmas and then go back to summer. ;)

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So, I finished the rough draft of my Molly and Ryder story!!! YAY! I worked and reworked the first chapter and then sent it to my hubby and critique partners to see if they thought I'd created a gripping enough opening. If you don't get the beginning right, the rest doesn't matter because no one will get that far.

Like always, my brilliant hubs and Dream Team offered valuable feedback. I've worked in their suggestions, and now I'm trickling that down to the rest of the story. As I do that, I'm making notes to myself along the way. Some of them are very brilliant like "Do better" and "Be more clever here." LOL!

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*Don't worry. If you hire me to edit your work, I'll be much more specific in my instructions. Haha! But I know what I mean when I say that to myself. ;) 

Self-editing is very important. I've heard this crazy notion of people finishing their rough drafts and sending those directly to critique partners and editors, or worse...to publishers and agents. Whenever anyone asks me for my biggest piece of advice to writers, I always say edit, edit, edit, and when you think you're done, edit some more. NEVER turn your rough draft over to anyone. You should edit that thing until you've exhausted yourself. And when you've completed that, let your beta readers and critique partners have a look. Then, edit it again. And when you're like, "Yes, it's as good as it can get," edit it one more time. I'm not even kidding.

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At BookFish and Tenacious, we can always tell when someone hasn't put in the editing effort. You don't want an agent or publisher to think you don't value your work enough to put in the time to make it great. Don't shoot yourself in the foot right out of the starting gate.

Even though Deek and I are both knee-deep in editing (he's working on a sci-fi called The eXtractor), we've taken some time out for a little fun and exploration to keep our minds fresh. Take your own little mental break and join us...

I love this man so hard, I might cheesy grin my lips right off my face!

Editing in the coffee shop all author like

Taking a walk/hike through some beautiful woods!

Amazing corridor!

I feel like this is some weird rock-paper-scissors thing...

Post-run in the pre-Irma wind and rain.

Gawd, I love him!

Every day, I think I have reached the pinnacle of love for this man because it's at an epic high, but every single day, I love him more. It's like the universe, ever-expanding.

This is representative of my life--full of happiness, laughter, and love.

Enjoying a little culture.

Oh yeah! Summer/beach girl in heaven!

The future becomes the present!

Until next time, Trinna has a PSA...

Edit, edit, edit.

Writerly Rhews

In the crazy hubbub of life, sometimes writing time gets wonky. Deek and I have been going, going, going of late, and our writing has suffered. I've been working on Molly and Ryder...well...for a long time. But for this iteration of their story, I started a year ago. WUT? Apparently. Eep!

And I'd only gotten to about 25,000 words. To be fair, I opened my freelance editing and design business, started working for another small press, and maintained all my BookFish duties. So, as much as my characters have been clawing to get out of my brain, they've been rather stuck.

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But I got a little free time this week after I wrapped up a bunch of big projects, and guess what? 

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I DOUBLED by word count in just a few days. The ideas, which had been start/stop and piecemeal, just started flowing. And flowing. And flowing. I'm almost done with the rough draft of this story that's dogged me for a long time. AND, it's *finally* right. I've written and rewritten it, and it's never been quite there. But now it is. How did that happen?!?

Anyway, this is how I feel about all that...

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Meanwhile, Deek is working through the first round of I-finished-my-rough-draft edits on The Extractor. We pitched the idea to some folks at Cape Fear Comic Con, and he got a *huge* amount of interest. So, he's pushing hard to get his first round of self-editing done quickly so he can do his second round of self-edits, get it me, then send it to Anya, and then start submitting to agents!!

I am SO proud of my hubby! This story is unique, and his writer voice is unlike any I've ever read. That's a pretty stellar combination!

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For those waiting to hear news on Restore To Me, my historical fiction, you can wait impatiently with me. LOL! Nothing moves quickly in the writing world, but I've got some agent and publisher interest. So...we wait.

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In non-writer related news, please keep my MeMa in your thoughts and prayers. Today would have been her 63rd wedding anniversary with PaPa. It's also the first PaPa-less first, one of many we'll experience as we navigate the first year of this strange world without him.

As much as I miss him, I know she misses him exponentially more. Smile down bright on your lovely bride today, PaPa. We miss you and love you always!

Their 50th Wedding Anniversary

In world news, Deek and I got to witness the eclipse. I know I've seen one before in my lifetime (I've had to, right?). I even remember making one of the pinhole boxes in school, but I can't remember actually seeing the eclipse. So, this time Deek and I made sure we did! It was AMAZING!

I played Juliet in high school and performed her again in college--AND I voluntarily took a ridonk amount of Shakespeare classes in college--so naturally some lines from the great bard's Romeo and Juliet popped into my head...

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, 

Who is already sick and pale with grief, 

That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. 

Be not her maid, since she is envious; 

Her vestal livery is but sick and green 

And none but fools do wear it; cast it off."

There is a Shakespeare line for almost any moment. ;) 

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Until next time, read, write, and live out loud!!

New Place, New Adventures!

So, I think I mentioned how Deek and I had been spending a lot of time chillaxing after our move across the country. When you travel across the nation at break-neck speed, live in a hotel for a month, interview like crazy, and search for a place to live, you get a bit worn out. And that's the state we've been in for about two months. But we're finally starting to get that familiar "let's adventure" itch. Naturally, it started with ziplining!

Did you say ziplining? Why, yes, I did. When we decided to get back into the adventuring saddle, we didn't start off small. LOL! In fact, we chose to go ziplining over a waterfall!

Here's a pictorial view of our amazing weekend!

Friday, I picked Deek up from work for a dinner date.

And we immediately started laughing. We LOVE our time together and cherish each precious second.

The next day, we lounged in bed talking, laughing, and writing until it was time to go ziplining. Rules: Close-toes shoes, comfy clothes, all long hair pulled back

 I don't know why we decided to do this pose, but it's adorbs. LOL! 

Deek is ready to rumble.

Half excited, half scared.

On the practice line

Me on the practice line with a photobomber...

We're ready to go. Geared up, we know how to zip, and now it's time to do this thing!

Deek was brave enough to let go.

I wasn't. LOL! 

But I did make sure to hold a tight plank while going through the air to get an additional ab workout. That counts, right? Haha!

And we climbed bridges. This ziplining wasn't just fun in the trees; it required a quite a bit of strength and cardio too!

Case in point--look at how steep that bridge is!

High up in the sky and about to climb higher!

Our guides were awesome! They took good care of us, made sure we were safe at all times, told us interesting stories, and made us laugh!

The waterfall. It was so gorgeous! First, we walked on a suspended bridge to get a good view, and then we ziplined back across that baby!

Stopping for a moment to enjoy the view!

And to sneak a kiss!

We had a total blast with our awesome guides and with each other!

A little celebration and mediation on the way back to our car. LOL!

And now that we're back in my home state, we have opportunities to meet up with old and new friends as well as participate in more author events. Recently, we traveled a little farther east and attended a Q&A session and book signing with our buddy, Chrissy Lessey! Deek will be writing a blog on that, so stay tuned for more Deek and Erin Adventures!

I am beyond thankful to have a partner who chooses to be involved in all aspects of my life. We chill out, adventure, write, attend writing events, and just "do" life...together. Together. That's the key word. I've lived a life of loneliness before, where I did all things by myself, and I'm just tickled pink to have a partner to do them with now. And more over, I'm blessed that partner is Deek. :)

Be sure to check out Deek's upcoming post about Chrissy and our book adventures!

Until next time, live out loud!

Getting Into The Swing of Things Again

So, we moved, and we're working on establishing our "new normal." But I've struggled to find my creative inspiration. See, it's funny because I'm a total pantser when it comes to writing but a planner when it comes to life. Hence, I've been organizing our budget and our house, scheduling visits with friends and family, etc. All that spinning on non-creative things pushed my creativity back into a little box where it sat patiently waiting.

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But...over the last week, I've been having snippets of storyline push through the scheduling. My characters--Molly and Ryder, whose story I've written and re-written a few times now--have become insistent that their story be told. There were always kinks in the tale that didn't quite work for me (hence the writing and re-writing), so Deek and I went on a long walk to discuss it. And, of course, we had queso, the mind-blowing cheese dip we could never get in the Pacific Northwest. Lo and behold, as the cheese imbibed our tastebuds, our minds came alive, and we create solutions to the plot holes. So my creativity has gone from Alice in the pic above to this...

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With a little bit of coffee...

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I'm ready to rock and roll. Prepare to see Molly and Ryder and join them in their epic futuristic thriller adventure soon! My critique partners are doing a happy dance, I think, because most of them have a little crush on Ryder. LOL!

Ok, let's talk Olympics. Man, have those been amazing or what? And PS, the commercials during it are better than the ones for the Superbowl. How did that happen? 

I love sitting on the couch with Deek every night and cheering on Team USA in the competitions. I may get a little...

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when exciting things happen, like Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak tying for the gold medal. I love the passion, excitement, dedication, and determination of the Olympic athletes!

In Deek and Erin news: We're still in chill mode after so much time on the road and in hotels. We haven't been bitten by the adventure bug quite yet, but I'm sure it's coming. 

And can I just say...I really LOVE our new place. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about living in an apartment after so many years in homes and townhomes, but I truly love it! Whenever I walk through the door, I get all giddy and happy feeling on the inside.

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I'm also very thankful to get to spend a lot of time with my family and friends. I missed them all so much when we lived in the Pacific Northwest, and I think it's made me even that much more grateful to have the time with them now. 

My friend Kathie and I may have been goofing off at the mall...

And we're meeting new friends too. Last night, Deek and I hung out with some of his work buddies after work and had a great time! I really love hanging out with other people with my husband. He's so friendly, funny, and charming, and it makes me incredibly proud to be there with him. 

Deek and I -- being silly while watching the Olympics, after a fun night out with friends

All in all, things are really coming together--creativity, the house, friends, family, life. It was a long journey from the Pacific Northwest to the South, but we're really starting to settle in now. I am excited to see what the future holds for Deek and me, and I'm stoked to tell Molly and Ryder's story. 

I thank my lucky stars each and every day that I have such a wonderful partner to enjoy this ride with! I love you, my Deek! #Always