An End of Season

In a couple days fall will be here.  I have two weeks left in my personal deadline to get the edits back to agent X.  Things are coming to a close.  As I am busy finishing up the final polish on the newest version of my manuscript, this week's post is going to be a sweet ode to the summer which has almost completely passed us by.  This picture I took on a very short trip to a local lake this summer.  I love how the sun reflects on the water.  I love how just looking at the water makes me feel the amber warmth of the sun on my skin.  It was a beautiful evening.

What was your favorite part of summer 2012?

The Power of Water

One of the main elements of my novel is water.  Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch would be nothing if water didn't exist.  But also, the main character wouldn't have her powers.  Sometime after I began writing this book, I realized that I was writing about something that absolutely terrifies me.  That's right, I'm afraid of water.  Maybe it's because my parents put me in swimming lessons when I was too young.  Maybe it's because of that one time my aunt took me down a water-slide and I swallowed a lungful of water. Whatever it was, it stuck.  To this day I hate swimming.

But I do love water.

My favorite thing about water is how it quenches thirst.  My second favourite thing is a cascading waterfall and how awesomely mesmerizing it is to watch gallon after gallon of fresh, clear glacier water come pounding over a cliff.  Whenever I travel, I try to visit a waterfall.  The picture below is from one of the road trips I took this summer.  This waterfall is Takakkaw, in Yoho National Park in British Columbia.  This is one of the most beautiful and accessible waterfalls I've ever been too.  Even though you can drive right up to it, it's still in the middle of nature (unlike certain other falls on the opposite end of the continent).  You could walk right up to the base of Takakkaw, and feel the cold, chilly spray on your skin.  I loved it.

My third favourite element of water is the rain.  I find it clean, refreshing, and rejuvenating no matter how cold it is, or how small and prickly.  Whenever I feel absolutely, completely horrible, I want it to rain.  Because I feel like the rain can be that emotion.  But in the spring, when everything is dusty and grey and my spirits are picking up after a long winter, I want it to rain too because I want everything to be green and bright.  

Water can be many things, and it can mean many different things to many different people.  There is one overall truth that exists for everyone though: we cannot live without water.  It gives us life.  Without it we'd be dust.  

What does water mean to you?

A Priceless Original

Writing Weekend 2012 was an amazing success!  I got through the rest of the rewrites for Tales!  It's been a long hard road, and hopefully I'm approaching the end.  At the very least, I'm approaching a nice, wooden, two-story, solidly built inn with soft, feather beds, and serving delicious bowls of hot lamb stew.  I think I will rest here for a while.  Well, after I do another read-through and edit and send the umpteenth draft of my novel to agent X.

The big milestone had me remembering back to when I finished the first draft in 2009.  WOW.  That was a long time ago.  After I finished, I did a rewrite, then I did another, and another, and...you get the drift.  I took a picture of the first draft I printed out.  There it is sitting pretty in the binder, waiting for my red pen to mark up all the pages.  This last edit I did completely on my computer, which really got me thinking about how I best like to edit, rewrite, read, and write.  I'm pretty sure I like a combination of both paper and plasma....hmmmm....not sure if computer screens are plasma....but either way, I'm sure you get my drift.

What's your favourite way to do each writerly activity?

Oh lookie, here she is all shiny and RED!

Writing Weekend 2012

So this weekend I would normally participate in the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest, which is a great source of inspiration for writers aspiring or otherwise.  If you've never heard of it you can check it out here:  http://www.3daynovel.com/

But this year I'm not writing a novel, I'm re-writing one. Specifically for Agent X who requested some changes and a re-submittal.  My goal this weekend is to keep my but in the chair until are the changes are made.  Currently, I'm on chapter 15.  I think there are 27 chapters, so this put me a teeny bit more than halfway through.  I want to get finished today, which is going to make for a very long day.  Realistically, I won't be done until the end of the long weekend - hence why I'm naming this writing weekend 2012.

In order to keep myself motivated, I've brought home the following treats as rewards:  Kernels popcorn, chocolates, and this wonderful breakfast that I just went for a morning walk to retrieve.  It's a whole wheat scone with dates and nuts from my local bakery (which I have deliciously coated in butter, a handfull of raspberries (which I picked up at the grocery store), and a cup of Lady Jane Grey tea (which was a gift from a friend - whom I'm very grateful for).  I've attached a picture so you can drool too:

One thing I noticed on my walk to the bakery this morning, was how eerily quiet the streets are on a Saturday.  But maybe that's a blog for another time.  Today I need to get re-writing.