Three Weeks

It seems hard to believe that it's been three weeks since I had shoulder surgery. The procedure turned out to be much more than the surgeon anticipated, which means a slower recovery. I slowly am getting my strength back, but still tire out easily.

Physical therapy three times a week leaves me pretty weary and sore. My pain level remains fairly high. I look forward to being able to do things again....hopefully soon. Right now the pain, limits me of the amount of time I'm able to type on the computer.

I praise God that in the midst of pain, He gives me strength for each day. I'm so thankful for the cards and meals friends have provided. It's been a real blessing.

Brief Hiatus

I leave for shoulder surgery in a couple hours. I'll be taking a brief hiatus from blogging while I recover. I hope to be back in time for Easter. Blessing to each of you.

Life

Sometimes life gets in the way of our well laid out plans. I had hoped to be in the midst of edits/rewrites of my novel, but some things have happened to change that. It's been a week of not much rest, lots of pain, falling and bruising my body, and learning I need shoulder surgery to fix several problems. The combination doesn't go so well when one is trying to think coherently to work on a manuscript. Most days I'm lucky if I remember the few things that need to get accomplished that day. But I remind myself that God is not surprised by my situation and the things going on in my life. I'm thankful I can trust Him.

Getting Back on the Horse

It's been over three weeks since I completed my WIP (work in progress). I took the time off to rest and try to catch up with things around the house, but now it's soon time to get back up on the horse and start investing time into revising and editing. Due to various appointments and company coming this weekend, I plan to actually get started on Monday.

In the mean time, I've had fun learning about some books that are helpful to have on hand as a historical writer. Books on cliches, phrases, idioms, etc. Then I learned about several historical books I'm anxious to get my hands on at some point. Two of them I was able to download, and the other I hope to order. What were they? Houtaling's Hand-Book of Useful Information (1884); Manners for Men (1897) and A Guide to the Manners, Etiquette, and Deportment of the Most Refined Society (1879). Probably boring to the vast majority, but I find the topic fascinating because the more research I do, the better able to write historical fiction novels.

Getting Into My Character's Skin

I've been reading this past week on how to revise/edit your novel. One book suggested taking a break from it for three weeks, so that's what I'm trying to do. You aren't supposed to even think about it, which I'm finding hard to do. I find myself taking notes of the things that I need to focus on, change, or improve once I get back to it again.

In between my reading of how to edit, I also have picked up a couple fiction books to read - partly for pleasure, and also for research. I find it hard to read a book without trying to analyze how the author successfully draws the reader's attention. My most recent area of concentration is how the writer gets inside their character's skin, making each one different from each other. I ask myself whether or not I've been successful pulling this off as well.

At least I find myself with a lot of food for thought before I start rewriting, editing, tweaking, etc. I think it will take a while to work through the process, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

It's Finished!!!

After seven months of writing, the rough draft of my Christian historical romance is completed. A total of 88,000 words, 33 chapters, 339 pages. I pushed myself hard to finish it yesterday. Taking a few days off to rest my shoulder before starting on edits next week. Looking forward to a little time off, before back to work again.

I was blessed this morning to have the spark of another idea for the next book in the series....

The End's In Sight

It's been a busy few days with writing projects and looming deadlines. I managed to get all my assignments submitted on time - book review, writing assignment and magazine article. In between I've even been able to squeeze in time for my novel writing too. It was a good writing day with almost a whole chapter accomplished. Which means I'm down to my last chapter and a half to complete. I can hardly believe the end is in sight. There's a good chance I'll be able to finish it tomorrow or Thursday.

A year ago today I started on a spiritual journey. It was the beginning of a new path and direction for my life. It's been such a joy to walk in the calling God has given me. I'm excited about where He has me and where I'm going. I've had so much fun working on this novel.