So how goes the great Canadian children's novel--this century's answer to Anne of Green Gables, where, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret meets CSI Edmonton?
Uh...Let's just say, we're on a break--the good kind.
Breaks are essential to the creative process. Just because I whipped off two drafts of my novel in the space of four months, doesn't mean such a pace is required, nor remotely effective. By the end of Draft 4 I'd lost both my concentration and objectivity. I didn't like the way the last third of the manuscript read, but I hadn't the mental energy to figure out why. That was my signal to give it a rest. I've continued to read it chapter-by-chapter with the Birkenstocks, but I'm otherwise letting it be, keeping their comments for the big day when I print it in full and read it, cover to cover. And when will that be? Tuesday, June 3rd. I've ordered my coffee already.
So what am I doing with all this free time? I'm submitting queries and stories to children's magazines, researching biogas and crime scene investigation, proof-reading a friend's novel, critiquing another's, and teaching Madelaine to read. I'm also filing health claims and, if I stop blogging now, I might even clean my desk. Thank goodness June 3rd is just around the corner!
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