Just returned from spending the night at our cottage. I put in 10 solid hours on Saturday and another 5 hours on Sunday, after receiving 7 pages of editing suggestions from my mentor, Gary Blackwood. The weird part is, I was never bored or tired of reading, re-reading, and revising during that whole time! The weather was beautiful, 10 degrees and sunny, so I did take a few outdoor breaks. The manuscript now stands at close to 65,000 words – it started at 21,000 last July when I submitted it to Peter Carver and Kathy Stinson for their Port Joli writing retreat. WOW! Never thought I had that many words in me, but there are just so many details that need to be included to make the story authentic, and interesting! I recently bought a couple of books over the internet about the Dinka people and folktales, and they’ve been very helpful. If you’ve never attempted writing a novel, I can only say be prepared to surprise yourself – it’s a ton of work, but lots of fun, too – provided you enjoy working with words, that is…Still lots more revising to do, but I’m getting there. TTYL
life as a kids' writer
