April 2022

 April is the cruelest month is the only line I have in my brain from TS Elliot's poem - The Wasteland. And I am reminded of it every April by my brain. Seeing how that line is posted all over the internet when we hit April, that line sticks in other people's brains as well. 

April was not cruel to me this year and hardly has ever been, but I'm sure if I dig deep enough, I can find a time where it was. I'm not going to do that, though. 


I finished breaking my novel chapters out into scenes. This involved rereading the story chapter by chapter, looking for natural breaks, and making notes. At the same time, I made notes on what else should be cut and where I wanted to do a little rewriting. 


The purpose of this is to take an 80k word story down to 1-2k word sections because I can get my head around rewriting 1-2K words, but I can't get my head around rewriting 80k words. 


The next step is to start rewriting the scenes that need it. Following that and another grammar edit, I will begin formatting this to publish. Jen will be doing some illustrations and the cover art. The goal is to have it ready for readers sometime in the fall of 2022. 


In other writing news, I began notes on a new story with novel size potential. I need to see where it goes. I want to start writing it now, but the editing project I just mentioned takes precedence. 


I received word that my short story I submitted to a magazine was rejected, and I immediately submitted it to another magazine. It's a good story, so I'll keep pushing it out there and see if it catches anyone's attention. There is a lot of competition for magazine real estate.


I finished reading the Murderbot Diaries and loved it. It's a great series of novellas. However, my problem with it is now I am used to having small, easy-to-hold books to read in bed. If you drop them on your face while you fall asleep reading, nice light-weight books don't hurt you badly. I may be looking at an ebook reader again soon. 



Lastly, here's a picture of the local writer section at my local book store, Quiet City Books new location. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Gammon)



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