An Update

Into July 2010 and the weeks have flown by without a post to my blog. Life puts incredible demands on ones time and efforts. One must work to survive and to live one must survive. At this point I am stuck in the survival mode. Days pass by in a blur with only an occasional respite to reflect on the living part. I have not backed off from the RABBIT SLAYER - in fact I've been surging forward.

I currently have several queries floating out in cyberspace and have two agents currently reviewing part of my manuscript. Patience is once again a lesson I am having to learn. The two agents looking at the story have indicated it may be up to 10 weeks before I get a response. Ouch. Until then I'll continue to chug away and polishing the book. From past readers I have learned that I did not eliminate all of my crutch words. I use the pronoun "she" extensively - so I am rewriting many sentences to remove excess. Many of the critiques I received commented that I also rely too much on the passive "was". I've found it difficult not to use the word entirely, but I have learned how to use it sparingly. As for the "that" and "had" words, I've also learned that if the sentence sounds correct without the word - delete them.

I'm currently reviewing chapter 16 and seem to be able to do at least two chapters a day if I can remain focused on the task. I've gotten little response from the 25 or so Beta readers I gave the story to, but I think the work is at a point where the readers will not provide additional benefit. I know the story line is sound, the imagery is decent, and my character development is unique for each. Sub-plots and cliff hangers move the story forward and drive the reader to continue.

I think my trouble with getting responses from beta readers stem from reading online. Sitting at a computer for hours at a time reading a book isn't appealing to most people. I know that the eBook thing is kicking off and has a strong following, but unfortunately Kindle doesn't load pdf files - and even if it did none of my beta readers own one. I have promised a teenage boy in PA that I would send the book to him. Other than him and my wife I'll keep the story to myself and agents until it is published. (Notice I am trying to be positive in saying that it WILL be published.)

Oh and if anyone knows how to center the picture in the header - PLEASE tell me.