Letting go...

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Its so hard to let go of something you wrote and loved a while back, even though you know now that it doesn't hold up.  I am learning - the hard way - that when I am struggling to "re-write" something I crafted a long time ago, the best course of action is the just to start over.  The idea is still in my head, but now I can write it utilizing everything I have learned since. Still hard to let go, but I know it will be better if I do.

All new writers...

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This is one of our greatest offenses...showing and not telling.  Even when we think we have it seared into our brains, its easy (and lazy) to slip into old habits.  Check out this great article my editor shared with me.

http://www.wright.edu/~david.wilson/eng3830/creativewriting101.pdf

Here we go....

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I have been writing for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I wrote stories of fantasy and adventure to escape from the constant anxiety of growing up as a gay kid in the deep South.  In high school I wrote articles for the school newspaper and a sexy-soapy serial to entertain my friends.

As an adult it was always a dream of mine to write (and complete) a novel.  I started and stopped several times over the years, but after the encouragement and inspiration of another writer friend, I finally sat down and wrote the damn thing. It has been a long journey down a wonderfully dark and twisted road. Now there are only traces of the book I originally started two years ago. And it will likely change even more before I am finished.

I am in the home stretch now. I am pretty sure that I would never have even started this book if not for my awesome critique partner (and writing wife), Melissa Chambers (www.melissachambers.com), the friend who pushed me to get off my ass and do it.

Over the next 3-4 months, I will be fine tuning and editing this frustrating labor of love with the guidance of my new editor, Charissa Weaks (www.charissaweaks.com). I am excited and scared to have her on board.  But its good to be scared sometimes.  So here we go!