Tuesday Toss Up

An update: Editing is mostly done. Formatting is mostly done.  Need to double check everything. Once's it's uploaded to Amazon, no more changes or corrections. A terrifying thought knowing I'm imperfect. God have mercy.

The Right to Choose

As I continue and grow closer to finishing the revisions for "A Promise of Possibilities," I question why the story focused on some things. Gradually, I remember why.

In 2007, a stranger emailed. She'd been reading the fanfiction I was writing with a friend, a romance for Frodo, from "Lord of the Rings." She suggested I try writing a historical romance for popular publisher's new inspirational historical romance line. My first thought was that I couldn't possibly. It was one thing to write a story with established characters and setting. It was something else again to write all new material. It didn't take long for the thought to niggle in: Why not?

I gave it a try and was rejected, outright, a form letter. I'd tried not to get my hopes up, but I had and was crushed. I entered the story in a contest and received feedback from three judges. Some of the feedback was useless, i.e., criticizing words that were too old. Clearly, the judge didn't read Regency romance as I used words with which I was familiar from the numerous Regency romances I'd read. However, one judge was incredibly helpful, pointing out my bad habit of head hopping, jumping from one point of view to another without any transition. Now, I've read this in other multi-book authors, without difficulty, but I re-read my manuscript and could see how it might be a problem. So, I re-wrote the story.

At the time, I still wanted to publish with the same company, even though it had been sold to a new publishing house, so I changed the title and revised the character names, hoping no one would notice it was the same book because it wasn't. It was better. I sent the first three chapters. They asked for the full manuscript.

I kept reading books from the publisher but noticed the basic premise of their stories was changing. Instead of smart men and women struggling with life and relationships, many of the stories portrayed the women as "I can do anything" shrews and the men as eye candy but stupid. Suddenly, my story was with a publisher I no longer admired. Now what?

What if they wanted my manuscript? What would I say? Would I be willing to compromise?

I'd spent my whole life compromising to please abusers. I'd been through two rounds of counseling already. I prayed they would reject my manuscript so I wouldn't be faced with the temptation of saying yes. The next day, I received a polite email stating my manuscript didn't quite fit their company. I had too many characters - one of my favorite books was "Lord of the Rings" with nine heroes, of course, I valued a lot of characters. My story was also too political - wait, what? Maybe it was that tried to remain true to the values of the time, i.e., instead of dropping a 21th century protagonist into an early 1800s setting without benefit of time travel. Something I dislike. Women didn't have a lot of options at the time and pretending otherwise is grossly dishonest. Besides, I was addressing my abuse victim mentality; abuse victims don't have a lot of options either.

Which brings me to what my story was really all about. I embraced the opportunity to explore the right to choose, within the Regency time frame. In the 21st century, anything goes, no boundaries. It isn't healthy. I wanted the structure of learning to choose with boundaries, but I wanted to explore healthy boundaries, especially within a relationship that is closer than any other but one's relationship with God.

From time to time, I've lost sight of that goal. I'm back on track, exploring the wonder and joy and sometimes painful journey of learning to choose, to growing from abuse victim to abuse survivor to thrivor.

Monday Quote

Coming soon:

Thanks to Donna Keevers Driver for creating this for me.

Monday Quote

"The sun may rise, but not everyone wakes. A degree of faith is needed to face each new day. A belief the day is worth enduring, no matter how difficult the journey promises to be, requires a measure of faith."

~ Reverend Whitley

"A Promise of Possibilities"

by Laurel Hawkes

Monday Quote

Without effort, she stripped away his carefully constructed mask of indifference, without even noticing what she'd done. 

~ Jonathan Silverton "A Promise of Possibilities"

Monday Quote

"One doesn't walk back into the lion's den after God went to all the trouble to deliver one out of it." 

~ Elizabeth Thorn

"A Promise of Possibilities"

By Laurel Hawkes

Coming Soon

Tuesday Tidbit

Work on the last chapter continues. I think it's done. I re-read it, and something is jarring, so I try again, re-write, shuffle. Frustrating.

Tuesday Tidbit

Still working on the last chapter.

Tuesday Tidbit

I've 2 chapters to go, but I'm stuck. It's the second to last chapter, and I'm struggling with why it doesn't read quite right. This is the last time it'll be published, and I want it as right as possible.

Tuesday Tidbit

I can count on one hand the number of chapters left to edit. However, I'm tripping over the start of a chapter, and it's taking me longer than I'd hoped to figure out how it needs to be straightened out. I want the story to glorify God, not detract from the message.

Tuesday Tidbit

More than half way through. Eleven chapters done, and over 35K words cut.

Less than 80 pages of 348 to go.

 

Tuesday Tidbit

Seven chapters edited and over 3,000 words cut.

Tuesday Tidbit

The new and improved "A Promise of Possibilities" is turned into a publisher, with a 2-7 month review. Diving into re-writing the next book in the series "Hidden Possibilities" (2221 words so far).

Tuesday Tidbit

Two more chapters done and over 600 words cut.

Tuesday Tidbit

Two more chapters done, and over 900 words cut.

I may really be able to make this work.

Tuesday Tidbit

Two more chapters done and almost 500 words cut.

Tuesday Tidbit

Another chapter done and another 300 words cut. Little by little.

Tuesday Tidbit

More than 2 chapters edited and almost 300 words. I'm gradually rebuilding my routines.

Tuesday Tidbit

This week, I will create a new working schedule. I look forward to writing on a regular basis again.

Tuesday Tidbit

Other priorities have taken precedence, but I have completed 2 chapters of 37.