And Where Have YOU Been Young Lady?

Okay, so you're probably wondering if something had happened to me, possibly something like that I fell off the face of the earth, right? No, sorry, just got stuck in limbo.

Between all kinds of general 'life' chaos, I hadn't done much in the way of writing. Partially because 1) my vampire series was still in limbo. No offers. And you certainly don't want to waste your time writing book two if the first in the series hasn't been purchased.
2) because I didn't know where I wanted to go from here - what was I going to write next?

There was also a niggling feeling that my work was flat, it was missing something. And it wasn't easy to qualify that statement so I could find a solution to the problem. I agonized over it, which of course didn't help matters. I wanted desperately to go back into Eideann's War and rewrite it, fix the staleness, but how?

Over the summer I read a few books, at the suggestion of my husband (thanks, love!). I wasn't looking to dissect the books, but rather to just plain out read for enjoyment. But that's when the 'Ah-ha!' moment struck. It was my voice, or lack thereof that caused me to feel my work was flat. Funny thing is that I was told in a rejection that while the storyline, and writing were good, it lacked any distinct voice. Voice. I never really understood what the meant, until now. Sure, I'd heard the term often enough in writing seminars, and among fellow authors, but it never clicked.

The hardest thing about learning to trust my voice was that damn internal editor. You know the one, with the huge red pen, dark, brooding eyes, that pops up way too often commenting, "No, no. You can't do that." or "No, that's not correct. You can't say it that way. And you certainly don't need that information." I had learned some pretty hard lessons over the years, but my first eye opening critique group is the one that had beat me into shape - or truly over-beat me.

I'd taken my my bruised and shredded manuscript, and worked hard to eliminate all the unnecessary information, but to a fault. 'Throat clearing' was the term used - what a writer does before they actually get to the story. Unfortunately they called the first four chapters of my novel, throat clearing, or extraneous. I cut, cut and cut some more. Every time I went to write descriptive, that horrid editor would jump out, "Is that really necessary to the over all story?" Most of the time my answer was no, and then I'd delete it, or simply not write it.

But something has to be said for overall descriptive prose. Certainly we don't want, or need chapters upon chapters of basic information, but in a way, we do. This is where I find myself today. Now I know there is more to world-building than just knowing everything about the world in which your characters live - your reader needs to see it as well. And it will all come out in the form of my voice - how I wish it to read, how I want the story to be told.

That internal editor - well, she's bound, gagged, and told that if she even makes a peep, I'm callin' in the 'Guys' from Jersey to make her a custom set of cement shoes. I can't have her dead, after all, I'll need her eyes later, way later, after I'm ready to edit.

So - with a new found voice I revamped my vampire novel (yeah, pun-ny huh?). I inserted things that I wanted my reader to see, places, people, all how I want the story to be told.

Speaking of limbo - I'd stopped querying for around a year on this novel. It was honestly one day away from becoming a trunk novel (one that will lay in a drawer for years, untouched). But after my work on it, I've decided to try again. It has been year, and I've also noticed a trend. Several agents are now actively looking for horror, literary horror, or upscale horror. Ask anyone in the publishing industry and they'll tell you what may sell today, won't tomorrow, or next year - and visa-versa.

I'm a firm believer in 'things happen for a reason', so maybe I'll find out what the grand plan is.

But incase we still don't have any nibbles on Eideann's, I have been working on a new series - sort of a YA with lots of psychic abilities, ghosts, and outerworldly trouble.

So, to answer that original question - I've been busy!