BookingIt

I finally sent it off! I ran into a word count snafu and that's why I had to disappear from the blogosphere. Even with devoting as much free time as I could to writing, I think I only topped 3k a day once. How many words are you able to get in per day? What's the most you've ever written in one day? With the holidays looming, how has your word count been going? Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your fingers be nimble, your stories be fruitful and your tummies filled. :-)

I put a ton on my plate so I'll post next week. Hopefully will visit you all before then, though. What's on your plate? Have a wonderful week!

Editing a manuscript reminds me of pruning. Sometimes you have to cut off perfectly good branches, perfectly good characters, perfectly good scenes, so that the story can flourish. Proper pruning enhances the beauty of almost any landscape tree and shrub, while improper pruning can ruin or greatly reduce its landscape potential. In most cases, it is better not to prune than to do it incorrectly. In nature, plants go years with little or no pruning, but man can ruin what nature has created. By using improper pruning methods healthy plants are often weakened or deformed. So while it's important to cut our work, it's also imperative we know what we're doing. How do you prune without ruining your work? Have you ever overedited? Took advice when you shouldn't have?

I've been meaning to do this review for a long time. I had to wait to buy Tender Graces , but I figured from reading Kathryn Magendie's blog that when I did buy it, I'd love it. I wasn't disappointed. The prose in Tender Graces captured me. The plot was interesting and the characters were unique, but the writing itself, the way Magendie uses words, elevated the story to something gorgeous. The way Magendie writes Virginia Kate's point of view is so endearing and vulnerable. Although Tender Graces is completely different than To Kill a Mockingbird, the whole time I read it I kept thinking of Scout. That wasn't the only famous book Tender Graces reminded me of. Magendie's mastery with words, how she plays with them and uses them in unique, new ways, totally reminded me of The Book Thief. I loved reading Tender Graces because it had both a compelling plot and words that felt a little like Godiva on every page. I'll definitely be reading more of her, but as ...