Editing

    I figured I'd give a quick update.  I've been working at my computer like crazy the past few days sorting through ideas for edits on Rose.  Between my followers on Scribophile and Husband of Mine who finally decided to read it, I've made quite a few changes. Nothing major to the story line, but I've seriously altered how information is delivered.
    Let me tell you, editing is psychotic.  It's so ridiculously confusing.  Your mind is everywhere because you've thought up so many different ways to write things and you don't remember what you wrote and where you wrote it and you're piecing together all these ideas, unsure if you've repeated yourself a hundred times or if that information got cut.

    A friend told me, "Editing is like putting together a puzzle that somehow has both extra and missing pieces".  Never have I heard a truer statement.  Wow.  I'd probably add that you're also putting together this puzzle upside-down and with one eye closed.

Rose Ch. 14

    This is officially the last time I will post a chapter of Rose here.  I have hit the halfway point in the plot.  This chapter is a huge turning point for both characters.  Phillippe has already admitted to himself that he is in love with Rose, but she refuses to let herself have feelings for him.  In this chapter she has to make a decision about whether to put herself or her family first.  
    In other random news, it has officially been three months since I started this blog.  So far, I have written 24,332 words of Rose.  A novel is typically 50,000-100,000 words.  If this chapter is the halfway point, then I am right where I want to be for my novel.  But 24,332 words in just three months?  That is insane.
    I can't wait to continue with this book.  It has been so fun to share my writing with you.  I'll keep you readers updated on how my writing is going, and where I am with the book.  
    I also thought you might enjoy seeing how I worked on my descriptions for Rose and Phillippe's trip this chapter.  Now, for this chapter I had previously written a rough draft to get some help with some legality questions I had, and when everything got unofficially approved, I knew this chapter would need much more to give it the effect I wanted.  Then, I found this in my wonderful book 642 Things to Write About.

    Seriously, this book is amazing.  It has so many creativity boosting prompts.  If I can find the first draft of this chapter, I'll post it on here so you can spot the differences and understand why description is so vital to writing.  It made such a huge difference.  Anyway, here's the chapter.

Rose Ch. 13

    I am so excited to post this chapter because it means I can write the next one.  The next one is going to be AWESOME and it'll be the last chapter I post on here.  I hope my readers enjoy it because I am SO excited to write it.  I have been waiting for this chapter since I started the book almost three months ago.  I can't wait.  Although, I do feel bad that it will be the last chapter I post.  Anyway, you can all look forward to this chapter and the next.  Enjoy!

Forgot the translations link again!  Here it is!
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U-bO61ZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 13

     As the wineries eased their way into a brisk December, temperaments dropped with the temperature.  Attempting to relieve some tension, Phillippe had called up his fencing instructor so he finally had a reason to stay out of the house.  He was sweaty and exhausted.  Everything was becoming too much.  How had it all escalated so quickly?  Oh yeah, apparently it was his fault. 

     Then he got jabbed in the chest.

“Phillippe, are you even trying anymore?  I know you’re tired, but you need to focus!”

“I’m trying, Gilles.”

Scribophile

    So this week as I was writing and realizing that I don't get to share much more of Rose with you guys, I started to feel lonely.  I need a writer buddy who I can share all my stuff with and who will share their writing with me too.  
    I started Hypergraphia as a way to do that, but with no one really sharing their writing back, it's not working the same way it would if I had an actual group of writers, or even just a friend here in Provo to share with.  
    In an effort to fight off the loneliness, I started google searching to find writers in the area.  I didn't really find anything, but I did find this website called Scribophile.

    http://www.scribophile.com is a resource for writers everywhere to connect and share their writing for the purpose of getting feedback.  It works based on Karma points, where you earn Karma by critiquing writing, and you spend it by posting your own writing for feedback.  

Free Write #3

    As I said yesterday, I have been searching through prompt after prompt from my new book, 642 Things to Write About.  Some of the prompts are more specific while others are incredibly vague.  Here's one of the prompts I found and at first didn't think anything of it, but later as I was trying to find prompts specifically for Rose it jumped out at me.

    How completely vague.  But it got the wheels turning and I started planning a scene.  A scene I knew I needed to include somewhere, but I had no idea how I wanted to do it until I read that one word.  I thought I'd give you guys a look into my convoluted writing process by showing you the notes I took before I wrote the scene.  I had so many ideas to sort through as to how the scene would play out, but I hope it turns out just right to help the storyline progress.

Reading and Writing

    I spent the past couple of days working on a fun project.  I was asked to Beta read an upcoming book and offer feedback before it gets published next month.  Now, I haven't read any other books written by this author, but I was really excited for this opportunity and how it would help me with my writing.
    The author is Andrea Pearson (http://www.andreapearsonbooks.com) and she has self-published one series (The Kilenya Series) that consists of six books, one bestiary, and one additional story that takes place in the same world.  She has started work on her new series, Katon University, which consists of three novelettes and the  first book in the series that I was able to Beta read.  It is set to be published in early September.

    Now, this is an experience that I really appreciated and I would recommend to other aspiring authors to search for opportunities like this.  I learned so much about my own writing from reading what someone else is going to publish.  How I reacted to the reading not only showed how I read something, but how I write as well.  The advice I gave is something that I need to feed into my own writing.  I search for detail a lot more when I read, but I don't write it as well as I'd like.  I can't wait until Rose is to the point that I get to sort through feedback from my own Beta readers.

Rose Ch. 12

    It has been quite a while since I've written a chapter for Rose.  I don't know why this chapter was so difficult to write, but I finally finished and I am very happy with how it turned out.  I hope you guys enjoy it too.  The next two chapters will be the last I post until the book is finished.  That is where I'm assuming the halfway point is, but I won't know that until the book is finished. I will post updates about the book as it gets written, but hopefully it will get finished and published soon for those who want to know what happens to Phillippe and Rose.  For now, here's the next chapter.

Here's the link to the translations!
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U97yAVZcMpA

Rose

Chapter 12

After an uneventful Wednesday, Rose was laying in bed reading Le Collier de la Reine when her cell phone rang.  Because she rarely used it, she had to dig it out of her purse.  When she found it, she didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway.  “Allô?”

“Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, but can you tell me what happened on 6 Juin, 1944?”

“Phillippe?”

“Just answer the question.”

She couldn’t hold back a laugh.  “Je suis désolée.  C’est le jour J.  Pourquoi?”