And that, my friends, is what we call compromise

Nature and I are not close friends. We’re more the pause and wave as we pass by and maybe say “hey, how are ya?” before going our separate ways type. But when I told M there was a YA author event in Asheville–and that Nova Ren Suma (who I just finished taking an online class from!) was going to be there so I HAD to go meet her–he barely even flinched.

His only stipulation: he wanted to go hiking.

This meant dealing with bugs and mud and heat and (gasp!) exercise. But I said “Sure. why not. I mean, I am making you go listen to three kick ass writers talk about their similarly kick ass YA books. It’s only fair.” So we drove across the state, had some amazing food and beer (thanks for the mind-blowingly awesome peach habanero saison, Wicked Weed Brewery! <3), and set off into the wilderness of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Despite the dark clouds that threatened to dump on us at any moment, the views from the Parkway were phenomenal. And when we left the car for the trails, the scenery got even better. We found waterfalls and flowers and gurgling brooks that crisscrossed the muddy trails. Our calves burned. We were stinky and muddy. I was winded and horrifically out of shape while M could’ve run the trails for days. We had a blast.

And then it was my turn. We met fellow #NovaMediaBistro student Karen, who drove up from Atlanta and is even more adorable in person. After beers and good ole Southern bar food, we walked to the bookstore, found two of the last seats available and started fangirling all over the place when Nova came out. I stupidly didn’t take any pictures while the writers talked (and joked and shared their knowledge and crazy-ass stories about their roads to publication) or when they all signed my books. But because Nova is so damn cool (and funny and nice and enthusiastic about others’ writing and the list goes on), she came out with us for a drink and to chat, and I forced M to take one of the three of us. Not the best shot, but it’s the only one I’ve got. Next time I’ll be better prepared.

Motivation

In case I needed any more motivation to finish the last scene in my overhaul of Love & Cupcakes, this came in the mail today from my amazing, longtime friend Suzanne. She was already the coolest chick in the world. This is just icing on the cupcake.

The Art of Revising

I’m one of those writers who gets so excited about a manuscript that once I’m done and I’ve been through one or two revisions, I think it’s done. Ready for the world to see. Well, maybe not the world, but a trusted group of friends who pretty much demand to read it as soon as I’ve typed the last word, and I politely put them off for a few months until I feel a little better about it. These friends are not writers. They are just brilliant girls who read the same things I do. And they get me, which always helps when asking someone to read an early draft (‘casue they won’t laugh at me when I tell them I’ve written a book about a girl who can smell people’s desires, or an imaginary friend who falls in love with a human boy, or—after this year’s NaNoWriMo—a grim reaper who is tasked with taking the life of the boy she’s crushing on).

But I realized something this spring while taking a YA master writing class with the talented and kickass YA magical realism author, Nova Ren Suma. I miss working with other writers. Reading their work. Having them read mine. You just get a different level of read from a fellow writer. Especially a fellow writer who also writes YA that is a little, shall we say, different. And let me tell you, some of these books are so f’ing brilliant I want shove a handful of bills at them and yell “Shut up and take my money!”

Since class ended, I’ve made some much-needed revisions to my YA paranormal romance The Art of Breaking (the imaginary friends novel) to really build the world and make the relationships between the main characters stronger. And the novel is so much the better for it.

But what I’ve found most fascinating is that during those revisions, I also fell back in love with my magical realism novel Love & Cupcakes (the girl who can smell desires novel). It’s been through three or four serious revisions (mostly based on comments from agents who liked it but didn’t love it enough to represent it). As it turns out though, my revisions had all been superficial. I wasn’t open to changing it, not really. And it wasn’t until I’d been away from it for a few months that I was finally able to see what these agents saw. It needed a serious overhaul. Like deleting almost 30,000 words. Like rewriting or reworking half of the book. Like writing a new 30,000 words to fill in the gaps from what I’d trashed. I had a revised outline. I knew what needed to happen. But I just couldn’t get motivated for it. Until this class.

Something about being around writers—talking with them, reading their blogs, commiserating with them about writers block and how scary it is to try and find an agent—changed me. Reinvigorated me. Made me a better writer. Somewhere along the way, I managed to refine my voice and take chances with my descriptions that have bled into my revisions for Love & Cupcakes. And I couldn’t be more grateful. I still have a ways to go before it’s polished and ready to re-query, but I know it’s much closer to publishable now than ever before. And when it is finally in a bookstore near you, I’ll have one hell of an acknowledgements section.