Turned in

With Trevor's help, proofreading, I got the final draft of the novel plus all the other submission materials turned in to Covenant today. They require us to also submit a worksheet summarizing key scenes, themes, etc, along with an outline. Those extra materials are always the hardest for me, because I've read a ton of outlines of books that just aren't the book. I don't know if it's because authors don't know their own work - in which case mine will have the same problems - or because they can't turn off their creative writing impulse, even when they're just supposed to summarizing.

Anyway, my editor is supposed to be back in the office on Monday, unless she's snowed in somewhere (in the which case, hope you're warm and safe, Eliza!) It'll be three months before I hear back whether or not they'll go forward with publishing the manuscript.

In the meantime I've got a short story to rewrite and an agent to follow up with on my YA SF novel. First, though, I'm going to take a bit of a break. I'll still write, but I'm not going to push for a deadline for a little while. I've done three novels in the past year, and need to really watch for burnout.

Passed the test

The good news is that I don't have gestational diabetes. The bad news was that I had to do the three hour version of the test this morning, during a snowstorm. That was not fun. Trevor's work was closed for the day, so he was able to drive me and stay with me. For anyone who doesn't know, the test for diabetes is to do something to your body no diabetic should do. First, fast for eight hours, then drink a glucose solution and have just that in your system for another three hours. It made for much uckiness, and the testers kept telling me that if I threw up, the test was void.

The reason I did this during a snowstorm was because I couldn't get a straight answer out of my midwife about what I should do if I had gestational diabetes, and this was the only way I could get access to a dietitian, if I needed one. That was irritating, as I want to stay on top of any health issues that crop up. Given that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, had I waited, I would have had to wait several days to get the answers I wanted.

But, that's all done, and I passed. Yesterday I talked to Char on the phone regarding last tweaks to my novel, and I also got a nice long email of feedback from an agent who had looked at the partial of my SF novel. That I consider quite flattering, given agents don't have time to do that with every random person who wants representation. It'll mean rewriting the novel, but potentially landing an agent who's shown he's willing to work with me and take the time to help my writing develop. Definitely a plus!

Done.

I am exhausted, but at least I finally finished the rewrite of the novel. It'll still need tweaks, but most of the work is finished! Finally.

Halfway there

Got just over the first half of the novel read and edited today. There are some more edits I need to do, but I'm out of energy. I hope to have this done soon so that I can send the re-edit to Char, who is devoted enough to my writing career to read whole books multiple times. I don't know what I'd do without her!

I'd like to get this to her soon because she's due to drive to Utah, and the entire northern half of New Mexico is covered with a snowstorm at the moment. It's snowed continuously all day, and is set to get even worse tonight. Trevor was out to shovel the walk, and now there's no evidence that he even did that.

But these are good days to stay in and write.

Ready for this week to be over

Right now I'm alternating good and bad days. One day I'll get stuff done and feel all right, the next is an utter train wreck. The problem is that I'm building up a massive sleep deficit this week and am trying very hard to break the cycle. One day I force myself to rest, even though I can't sleep, the next I get fed up with everything that isn't done and just work. The problem is, I need to not do the "on" days, but that's annoying.

Yesterday I got the rough draft of my YA SF story done and sent out to Critical Mass. Today I worked on the outline of my YA fantasy novel. My next task is to put the final editing magic into my LDS novel and get it all tightened up and properly balanced. For this I need "on" days, and I need to figure out if I should force myself to rest a couple of days in the hopes of breaking the cycle of insomnia, or just go manic for a week, get this project done, and then take the consequences. Of course "manic" means six hours or so of work a day. Man am I tired of this disorder, whatever it is! I envy anyone who can stay up and do stuff for a full day. Nothing's more frustrating than being awake, unable to sleep, and yet too out of it to actually do anything but lie still and hope that adds up to some rest. Anyhow, I'll make my self-imposed deadline on this book; it's coming together pretty well. The miracle I needed is taking shape and the plot is patching together organically. It'll be mellower than my first LDS novel, in how it ends. This one is definitely a downer of a plot in most ways. Looking at the state of my health, I just can't imagine why ;-)

Dang heart problems!

I didn't get as much writing as I wanted to done today, thanks to several annoying factors. One was that the school district ought to have called a snow delay this morning, but didn't so I went to teach Seminary in the driving snow. The bus was sliding all over the place and running very late. I had six students - less than half the class - but I don't take attendance on days like this.

Then my heart started acting up. My heart's another of my mysterious health issues, that I've had investigated by doctors, but gotten no answers for. My heartrate is always high, and some days it races so bad that I feel faint and tired. When I worked full time, I'd have to work through these attacks, or try to. It often wasn't all that possible. I'd lock my door and put my head down on my desk until they passed, which could take an hour or more. Today's took two. I have no idea if this is related to my sleep issues, but I will go through long panic attacks in connection with those. They're annoying. All I can do is wait them out - if I try to get on with my life, they dig in even worse.

There's little that's more frustrating than not being able to do anything useful while I wait for my body to restabilize. I got some work on my YA SF short story done, but very little. I'm hoping tomorrow goes better....

Denver trip

Haven't blogged because I've been in Denver, something I figured I'd wait until my return to advertise, because letting people know my house would be empty seemed like a dumb idea. The trip itself wasn't vacation, but I did get to see some good friends. A major bright spot was the chance to have lunch with Mike Bateman, who told me about a novella he'd just submitted to a pro market. On the car drive home I got a text message letting me know it sold! So congratulations, Mike.

I got part of my next YA novel outline done and Trevor's been diligently reading the LDS novel. Char, in her usual insane efficiency has already finished and given me some great feedback. She managed to finish even though she got called in at the last minute to defend her PhD proposal. I think I know how to fix the 3rd act of this book, but I'll see if Trevor concurs.

Out to proofreaders

I got my novel out to proofreaders last night and both said they've received it as of today. I'm extremely grateful for them, taking the time to read my rough draft prose so that they can explain to me everything that's wrong with the novel. I don't know what I'd do without them.

Meanwhile, I've started work on a short story I want done for this month's Critical Mass meeting. I'm 2,000 words in, and I may have figured out what was wrong with my Asus. We're using a different flash card, one that's been carefully reformatted. I'll see if that makes a difference.