Early 2002

June 12, 2002

It's gone... Again. I sent RED SHOES & A DIARY back to Harlequin today. Fed Ex will get in to Brenda by Friday. Then the waiting begins again. It's such a relief to be finished. This is the second revision for Blaze and the seventh version of the story. I really hope it's the last version <G>

June 7, 2002

I have great news. Brenda called me yesterday to ask how the revisions are going. She said she has to buy a certain number of new authors and she's counting on me. I told her I'd get the manuscript back to her next week. Then she asked if I was going to the RWA conference in Denver and invited me to the Harlequin party Friday night! How cool is that? I get to hang out with the published authors! Maybe I'll even get to be one of them <g>

May 5, 2002

Not much to tell this time. My return to work has seriously cut into my writing time so the revisions are still coming along, but slowly. Even though I'm struggling with a scene in Chapter 14, 15 and 16 are done. So that just leaves Chapter 17 and I'll be finished with the second round of revisions Brenda asked for. Good thing, because I'm really bloody sick of this story. Time to wrap up and move on.

April 28, 2002

I got my scores back from the Golden Heart contest. The judges gave RED SHOES & A DIARY 7; 7; 7; 6 and 4 [?!?]. I'm not sure I would ever enter this contest again - the scores are really meaningless without feedback. Oh, well. I'll just console myself with the knowledge that someone up in Canada likes my writing <VBG>

April 13, 2002

Well, the Revision Madness has begun. I've spent the week going through the RED SHOES manuscript and making notes, trying to apply each of Brenda's points. Sigh. There are at least two changes on every single page. I'll be going back to work May 1st for the first time in three years. I'm a little nervous about it and a bit depressed as well. Now that my son is in preschool, I thought this would be my chance to concentrate on writing. Oh well.

March 30, 2002

The second revision letter for RED SHOES is only two and a half pages instead of four like the first one. I consider that progress! The last line of the letter reads, "Just think- after doing these, you'll be able to do anything! Don't work too hard." I'm glad one of us has a sense of humor <G>

March 27, 2002

What a difference two days makes! Brenda Chin called today and said she read RED SHOES and thinks it's 100% better than the original. She wants some more changes, but she said they are "piddly". She said the first set of revisions were to make the book better; these revisions are so she can buy it. [Insert my silent screams of happiness here] I told her I could do that and anything else she asks for LOL. The GH doesn't seem as important now.

March 25, 2002

The phone didn't ring today. I really, really wanted RED SHOES to make the final round of the Golden Heart contest. What happened? Why didn't the judges think it was good enough? I'll never know since the GH scoresheet is just a bunch of numbers. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to console myself with the knowledge that a lot of GH winners never sell and many best selling authors have never won the Golden Heart. Big fat hairy deal.

February 10, 2002

It's been two months exactly since I mailed RED SHOES back to Brenda, and one month since I emailed the proposal for PRIVATE DANCER. To quote Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

January 23, 2002

I finally found some critique partners in my area. I think Deanna, Kelly and I will work well together since we're all targeting Harlequin Toronto. Hopefully being involved with other writers on a regular basis will give me the support and incentive to get on with PRIVATE DANCER. I want to have at least three chapters written and polished in case Brenda expresses an interest in seeing a partial of the story.

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