Book Editing in Progress

Well, the book went online for editing this weekend. I have a crew of a dozen friends who volunteered which is probably 2X more than what I need. Ah well.

So far the first chapter has been universally panned. My gut reaction was to be let down, as I think most people's would, but I remembered that when I was doing the editing on the first draft even I hated the first chapter. So much so that I brought five romances to bed one night and just read their first chapters to compare quality to mine.

Problem is, while I agree it's not very strong, I'm not sure how to fix it.... UGH.

The other thing that's getting to me is that not everyone who offered to read has. I know i just mentioned that i probably have too many editors and don't need this much feedback but since they volunteered i'm waiting anxiously for their missing reviews.

I know, I know, it's day 3, people do have real jobs, etc....

:)

I have high hopes about the day.

Sunday Repunzel!

Had to do this the long way.... geesh!

Pictures

Some pics from the end of December.

Christmas party treat for Chris's class.

Christmas Eve. One of the three dresses in the princess box has been on practically daily since my aunt and uncle gave it to her.

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Christmas Night. yes, she's wearing her new ballet clothes.

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My budding artist.

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The artist's little brother who insisted on wearing a paint shirt too but doesn't quite understand the best use of crayons....

That &^%! video still won't post.

Here we are- 2011!

I tried for *&%^ hours to get this adorable movie to post. Our new camera takes them in some non-blogger friendly format though. Any suggestions? LAURA (who always gets them up!?)??

Christmas was a lot of fun like they all are. Presents and presents abounded. It was probably too much but the kids' excitement never makes it feel that way at the time. I don't have any pics with me now to post but i will shortly!

GOOD NEWS: Last night i finished the book. Tonight I'm going to put it all together into one long document so i can evaluate length and then I'm going to start doing the first draft editing. When that's done I'll send the second draft out to my dear friends and family who are willing to edit.

SPECIAL THANKS: To Sarah who's been reading the novel all along and has given me a lot of encouragement to keep up with it. I was always going to finish it but she has been so supportive of the effort that she pushes me to be consistent and creative. THANKS SARAH.

THINGS I"M LOOKING FORWARD TO:

1. My girls coming for the weekend in 11 days
2. My little brother's baby shower - I'm making the cake!
3. The nervous feeling of having my manuscript sent out for critique
4. Plotting out how I'm going to paint/decorate my master bathroom- the last room in the house to be done (other than the living room that has no furniture but does have a play kitchen and tent). I still need to post before and after pictures of powder room pictures. It's pretty drastic....

Some quick updates on the fam because it's been like three weeks:

Jim: New job is coming along and he's getting into the flow of things. He's still battling the window people (we had to tap into our warranty and they can't seem to send us the right size window to replace the one we have. We now have two half circle windows in the office)

Chris: Says more words than ever and always seems to stress the last letter. I heard "doggggg" for the first time at Lisa's on Saturday (and then heard it over and over and over). Now he's very into "bookkkkk"s. Most helpful: "all done" and "one more". He had chocolate milk for the first time over break. It went up the straw and into his mouth. He promptly spit it out.

Nicole: Got dress-up clothes for Christmas and feels the need to become a princess daily. Is too cute when painting on her new easel. Is driving me nuts by not wanting to go to bed/sleeping in our room.