In which I attempt to define my “busy-ness” as opposed to my “business” …and ultimately fail in epic fashion to actually say anything at all of importance?

Just noticed I haven’t shared anything here for a while. I have been a busy beaver-bee, I suppose. In case you’re wondering, I just made that up. Both bees and beavers are stereotyped as busy creatures. So why not combine them to form the ultimate busy monster? Dun dun DUN!

Or perhaps I’m simply negligent when it comes to posting. Or I second-guess everything and end up in analysis paralysis so I don’t post anything. Ha! Only the good Lord knows.

What have I been up to, one asks? Among other things, I’ve been revising the bane of my existence and labor of love, Wyldling Snare. I have actually allowed other people to look at it and help me figure out how to make it marketable. Which is a nice segue into a large part of what I’ve been doing in tandem with revisions–critiquing.

Critiquing has also been a part of my busy business. Three very nice ladies in an online critique group I met through SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators) have been helping me shape Wyldling Snare into a real YA tale with their comments and suggestions. It’s pretty laid-back because we all have jobs and families. They’re great writers with interesting ideas. One of them is even getting traditionally published soon!

I’m also in a critique group made up of friends from Facebook. We all provide constructive comments and suggestions to improve one another’s work. We’re a pretty eclectic group of fantasy writers, each with our own set of strengths and weaknesses. Strangely enough, our combined strengths and weaknesses seem to balance out and complement one another. And when all else fails, we encourage one another to keep writing. By God’s grace, it all seems to work.

I’ve also come up with an idea for an adult romance fantasy that is not at all connected to Cycle of Tehara (at least, thus far). Not a paranormal romance with werewolves and/or vampires, either. There are already too many of those and I don’t feel I’m capable of expanding on the theme. So, I decided to go in an entirely different direction with interspecies relationships.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Here’s my nickel of advice for the day: don’t let anyone tell you that your work sucks and you shouldn’t be writing. Because it isn’t true. If you really want to write and excel at writing, then arm yourself with the weapons you need–er, oops. Sorry. Wrong metaphor.

All writers need to improve their craft. I know I do. Ultimately, this means asking other writers for help. Get other eyes on your work. Find those plot-holes and fill them. Reduce those rambly, overly-descriptive sections to the bare minimum necessary to convey your point. I needed help with both of those, by the way. If I can do it, then so can you!

Happy writing!