Revisions and Amy's chocolate

You want to know why I haven't been blogging lately? Okay, maybe you don't care but I'll tell you anyway: Because I've been revising like mad. I took a manuscript that was around 70,000 words and added all kinds of good stuff to it. Now it's at 85,000 words and I'm much, much happier with it.

I'm not done yet. I still have to go through, chapter by chapter, and make sure I'm adding all the little details that I made notes about, and keeping my "facts" straight--yes, it's fiction, but there are still plenty of facts to worry about--and making sure I know why, exactly, I included each scene, because a scene without a good reason for existence shouldn't exist. (I also have to check for run-on sentences like that one.)

It feels very, very good to be at this stage. Another week or two, and I should be done with the thing and moving on. And maybe taking a little time to blog more often. By the way, whether you're a reader or a writer or you just plain like chocolate, check out Amy Wallace's website at www.amywallace.com. She's a friend of mine who just sold some novels to Multnomah, so you'll see her name soon at your friendly neighborhood bookstore and on Amazon. Meanwhile, get to know her online. She's a lot of fun. Her pictures of chocolate are nice, too, except they make me hungry.