Work in Progress Wednesday

In addition to my Silly Saturday blogs, I’m going to use this blog to try to keep my handful of readers updated on what I’m working on with my own writing. So, welcome to work in progress Wednesday.

Right now I’m working on edits for the fourth book in my Remembrance series. With this being the fourth book I’ve edited, I should not still be surprised by how long this process takes. Still, here I am, wondering if I’ll ever finish with the edits. I’m about 1/4 of the way through right now. The writing comes easy for me but the edits take a good amount of time. This book is the first one I submitted to a critique group. It’s been an interesting (and mostly enjoyable) experience. I’ve gotten some great feedback and met a few new friends who are part of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). I’m really looking forward to the conference in Dallas in September and maybe meeting a few of these people.

While most comments about my book were helpful, there were times I found it amusing to get some differing opinions on sections. I’ll give you an example:

He rounded the corner into the small café the youth group ran. Emily stood near the front alone, eyeing a group of guys who were sitting at one of the tables. When he drew a little closer, he noticed a young woman with them. Her light brown, chin-length hair had a lot of texture. What did his mom call that? Layers? Man, she would be disappointed if she found out he hadn’t paid that much attention to her stories about her salon clients.

The above paragraph is from the second chapter in Beauty from Ashes. One critiquer commented “This doesn’t sound like something a guy would think.” Another commented “Nice male thought.” I kept it in and tried to clear it up by showing his mother is a hair dresser.

So the editing continues. Hopefully by next Wednesday I’ll make some good progress on it and be further along. And next week I’ll give everyone a sneak peak at the cover. Until then, I am editing.