When You Can't See The Trees for The Forest

I've been working on The Clover Key forever. At least, it feels like forever. Yeah, maybe it is forever.

I began writing TCK back in 2008. Can you imagine working on a novel for that long? I lived with those characters for eight years. Eight years! Fleshing out their emotions and actions, pulling the story out of them. At one point, I even started to hate them.

I lost count on how many rewrites this novel went through. When I thought it was ready, I sent it out to beta readers and then took their thoughts into consideration. And then rewrote it again. I also lost count on how many rounds of agent queries it went through. I never received any requests. None of the agents gave me feedback. The only thing I could think was that the novel was horrible.

And so, I shelved it. I figured TCK was going to be one of those first novels that never get published, and I started to believe that maybe it shouldn't be published.

But then last year, I opened that file again. I read through the manuscript and found I just couldn't give up on it. Not yet. I did another read through, tweaked it a little more, and began the query process all over again.

This time, I got feedback from agents. They liked the story, but couldn't get excited about it. So, I stopped querying and decided to bite the bullet and hire an editor.

What better editor than Kelly Hashway? Not only is she a fellow graduate of ICL, but she also has several published YA and NA books, AND she's my daughter's former Middle School English teacher. Small world, huh? Buy her books. She's an awesome writer.

In two weeks, she returned my manuscript with valuable input. I'd been doing stupid things that I KNEW I shouldn't have done. So many of her suggestions were obvious, but I never caught them. Why?

I was so involved in the story, but I couldn't see the WORDS. I couldn't see the individual sentences. I couldn't see the problems.

Now, my eyes can SEE the problems. Kelly was nice enough to point them out (in bright red print.)

I'm excited to get back to work on this novel. Will it ever get published? Maybe. Maybe not. But I won't rest until I know that I've done all I can.

Thanks, Kelly!

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Let's Play Catch-Up

I'm back! Is anyone still here? 

Photo Credit

Yes, I know, it's been awhile. I'm sorry for the absence, and I'm so grateful for all of you who stuck around.

Since my last post--has it really been almost 7 months??--my mother has had a shoulder replacement, a heart attack, internal bleeding, an induced coma, a triple bypass, and a heart valve replacement. We finally got her body all squared away, but she developed severe vertigo. When she finally got home after 7 months of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, she took a tumble in the bathroom. She broke her arm (the same arm that she had the shoulder replacement.) When my family does something, we go all out. Needless to say, our lives and emotions have been on a roller-coaster ride from hell. If you've ever been a caregiver, you'll know what I mean. 

Mom is now doing physical therapy to get stronger, move that shoulder and arm, and to keep her balance. Life is slowly getting back into some sort of rhythm. It's one of those crazy rhythms that constantly changes and it's kind of hard to dance to, but we keep moving.

I've been writing, though! And have been actively seeking an agent for my first book, THE CLOVER KEY. Yes, I know I said I said I was putting it away, but I dusted it off and re-read it and realized I love the story too much to keep it in a virtual drawer. 

I've written a New Adult novel, and in between constantly revising it, I entered it into #pg70pit and #pitchwars. I'm a glutton for punishment, but I did get some feedback on my pg 70 and am still stalking mentors waiting for the results on my pitch. So, yeah, I've been spending way too much time on Twitter.

I recently joined Tumblr because my daughter told me I should, but I honestly have no idea what to do on there. So far, I have one follower--my daughter. You can also follow me if you'd like, and I'll follow you, but it may take me awhile to figure it all out and do anything interesting. I'm naturally a late bloomer.

I wanted to tell you all about my adventures during the past 7 months in this one post, but I've decided to break it up a little. That way, I can amuse you with many more tales.  

So tell me, what have you been up to?

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The Next Big Thing WIP Blog Hop

Thanks to Elizabeth over at Elizabeth Lawrence, Author & Professional Oddity for tagging me in The Next Big Thing WIP Blog Hop. If you have a moment, please go over and say Hello!

So, let's get started:

What is the working title of your book?

The Clover Key

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea came from two places--a quote I read in an interview and photos of an abandoned castle.

What genre does your book fall under?

YA Historical

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Mika Boorem as Kate Finch
Adam Wagner as Andrew Buchanan
Olivia Holt as Skye Ross
Angus McLaren as Ryan

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Kate and Skye live centuries apart, but a book and a curse bring them together to save an entire clan.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm in the process of querying for agent representation.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first draft was done in about 4 months, but the entire novel was rewritten with different points of view and tense. That second draft took almost a year!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Clover Key has dual points of view, and alternated between past and present. I'm not sure if there any YA Historical books that do the same thing.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My BWFF Courtney Rene.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

There's magic and evil and a really old book. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Next up...

Beth Consugar

Angelia Almos

Clarice Williams

Felicia Tatum

Mariah Deitrick

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The Clover Key--Settings

When I write, I need to create the people, places and things that I'm writing about. I thought I would share the visions I had in my head while I created the world for The Clover Key.

Present Day:

Another Chance

The Buchanan Home

The Garden 

17th Century:

Buchanan Castle

Inchtalear

Elspeth's Tower

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The Clover Key--The Inspiration

(Source)

When I started writing in 2008, my intent was to write children's short stories. I eventually branched out into adult short stories, and I've dabbled in poetry. I had no desire to write a novel.

Then, I cyber-met Courtney Rene and she became one of my critique partners. I was privileged to read      A Howl in the Night during its infancy. Chapter by chapter, I watched her novel grow and I was intrigued. I thought that if I could write a chapter at a time, maybe a novel wouldn't feel like such a tremendous task. But what would I write about?

One day, while reading an interview in O magazine by Jonathan Lethem, I read a sentence that resonated with me.

I want books to be old and to have this weird talismanic property where they've had different owners, and they convey a sense of history. 

I read it over and over. I wrote the sentence and taped it to my wall (eventually pinning it to my cork board.) It was the kind of sentence that sang to me, flashed at me, made me forget everything else and play with the feeling it evoked. The kind of sentence that says, "There's a story here somewhere..."

I stared at that slip of paper every time I sat down to write, but still, there was no clear story in my head.

Then, one day a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go to London. Ummm...YEAH! Hubby said I could go, as long as I didn't go to Scotland without him. My friend and I made a date far enough in advance to save up the money. She told me to surf the web and find all the tourist attractions I wanted to visit. While lost in the UK on the internet, my ADD kicked in, and I researched my mother-in-law's maiden name. I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if there was an actual castle?"

Well, there is a Buchanan Castle, but it's in total ruin. Check out this link for the site record. There are some grand photos of the place before it fell to disrepair.

Check out this site for some wonderful photos of the ruined castle.

I looked past the total devastation and pictured myself walking through those halls, trying to imagine the grandeur. And then, I read the history of the castle:

The last Laird of Buchanan died in 1681 and the house and estate were bought by the 3rd Duke of Montrose (of the Graham family). The original castle on the site was the ancestral seat of the Clan Buchanan, and burned down in 1852. The current building was built by the 4th Duke of Montrose in 1854. This new house replaced Mugdock Castle as the official seat of the Clan Graham - no Buchanans have ever lived in this building.  

And there it was. It all came together for me. All I had to do was ask myself, "What if?"

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