Hey Katey --

I have been neglecting this site lately - been crazy busy at work (the day job) and we have a new rescued cat thanks to my in-laws who has a ton of health issues so I have been hanging out a lot at the vet's.

You asked about my revision process - that sounds like I actually have some sort of plan! :)  The first rewrite takes forever for me because I go through and make massive changes wherever I think they are needed.  I am careful to never actually delete anything though as you never know when you may want to change something back or use it differently in a different place.  I just save it to another document.  Then I usually read through a couple more times for spelling, grammer, punctuation, flow, pacing and so on. Once I get it to where I feel it is ready to show, I have a small group of family and friends read and respond to five chapters at a time.  That feedback was very helpful and pointed out one area in particular where there was confusion.  That is pretty much it - nothing very scientific. :)  It's the first time I ever did the revision process start to finish with the idea of submitting something.  I worked on the novel that was closest to being finished after the first draft.  I have three other novels that will need tons more work in that first rewrite -- like major reconstruction! :)

How are you handling the revisions?  Also, have you contemplated the query letter and synopsis?  I have only done the one query and it seemed harder to write than the whole book!  Haven't even started the synopsis which I hope to focus on this weekend.  I guess if a miracle happens, and an agent wants to see more, I should have everything ready...

Love love love Jodi Picoult!! Kristin Hannah too. Either have read all they have written or have the books on my shelves waiting for me to get to them.  I have a few Wally Lamb books, but haven't actually read them yet. (Can you tell I am a complete book-o-holic?) :)  I have a lot of the classics like Jane Eyre on my kindle -- they were free so I grabbed them.  I have read a lot of them, but not nearly as many as I would like to.  When it comes to reading I have a wide range of tastes!

For writing though, fantasy (YA) has always pulled me.  I think it is the possibility of it.  Anything can happen and often does!  If I write myself into a corner, I can toss in a dragon or an invisibility spell and see if that helps. :)  I lean more towards YA fantasy because in the bit of fantasy written for adults that I have read it seems that they are always throwing in major battle scenes and gratuitous interspecies sex.  Plus there is usually at least one rape scene which has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot as a whole.  In YA, I can avoid those things that I hate reading, and focus on the magic.  I mean sex and battles can have their place in a story but it seems most of the adult sci fi/fantasy genre just throws them in becasue the authors think that will sell to the geeky, startreky, male adults that buy most of their books! :)

How bout you? What genre's have you written or aspire to try?

Forgot to answer your questions...

I wrote a lot of journals filled with the typical teenage angst in high school and college.  Some poetry that never saw the light of day.  I have always collected childrens' books and writing books and wanted to write but somehow stopped myself short of putting pen to paper.  Then NaNoWriMo 2007 came along and I signed up on a whim.  It was the kick I needed.  Now I have written 4 books - the bulk of the plotting takes place in November, and then I tweak and add and subtract til it turns into something more coherent in the months following.  I work full time so the time to write is a luxury that I rarely give to myself.  THis year I am learning to take my writing more seriously. :)

Authors I like... Where to start? Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, Mary Kay Andrews, Jennifer Crusie for "chick" lit, though I hate that term!  But any fiction with a plot that catches my eye is fair game.  Love Charles de Lint - urban fantasy, the children's fantasy authors listed below, Stephen King - though some of it drags - but It, and the Stand were great.

I also read a lot of writing books, spirituality books, stuff on zen and yoga and finding myself... I usually have a number of books going at one time. :)  How about you?

Sorry it took a week to get back to you!  I was actually off work last week and had some grand plans for writing that fell by the wayside when our youngest cat had an emergency and wound up in the hospital -- he is fine now but what a week! :)

I submitted my first query to an agent and got my first rejection - so I at least have that under my belt and can move on from there.  It was nice to know that I could get a rejection and not feel my passion for writing waiver at all.

I don't know if I would put VC Andrews in the fantasy category -- at least not the Flowers in the Attic series (which I loved).  Some of her ther books seemed to be more eerie than fantasy if I remember correctly.  I would say think more Harry Potter or Eva Ibbotson, Diana Wynn Jones, Tamore Pierce.

Your premise sounds interesting -- coming of age, rock and roll!  Keep working at it.  I let mine languish in a drawer for four years before I got the courage to take it seriously.  I expect there will be many rejections, but hopefully each will bring me closer to a "yes".  :)

I saw on your blog something about "google+" and had seen that on a few blogs.  I am thinking I need to sign up for that to get regular postings of your blog.  If so, I will do that!

Keep writing and stay in touch!

Cheryl

Nice getting to know you, Katie.

Katie, Delighted to have you in the novelist group! You might introduce yourself by telling us what you’re working on in the “Show Me Your Novel and I’ll Show You Mine” discussion if you're not too uncomfortable talking about what you're working on. We save the wall for discussion, so please refrain from linking to blog posts there, but do add them in the “Links to Helpful Blog Posts for Writers” discussion thread. And we do a live chat every Wednesday at 1EST; instructions on how to participate are in the "Our Water Cooler Wednesdays" box near the top of the group page. Hope you can join us for that.

Meg Waite Clayton
Novelist Group Moderator
Bestselling Author of The Four Ms. Bradwells, The Wednesday Sisters, and The Language of Light, a finalist for Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize