Revising... Editing... Aching back...

Each night for the past week, my back aches when I crawl into bed.  I pulled up the soft sheet and blanket, get warm, and drift off to Neverland.   Often exhausted from the revising and editing I have been doing on the first half of my book.   The changes, in my opinion, has added more flavor, a deeper sense of Sam's life, and better direction of what he needs to learn.  After all, he is the protagonist of the story.  However, I was shocked at who turned out to be the antagonist. 

Reviews, Changes, and Edits

To date, two of the five readers of my book have given their reviews.   One loved it, one didn't like it.   Personally, I thought the first half of my book was too long and too little action with shallow characters.   Both said very similar comments equally my thoughts.

These comments sparked my imagination and wondered what if Sam...   Well, I'll leave it at that.  

This project seems to be taking forever. I am not disciplined enough to make myself sit and write on a regular basis.  Oh well, it took Margaret Mitchell three year to write Gone with the Wind!   But, she had more time and maybe not as much housework.

A Hard Road to Travel -- Part 6

The writing has come to a stand still.   I am holding my breathe as I prepare to hear the first round of comments from my five readers on my book.   I've already been reworking the first chapter.   It's interesting to look at it again.   It's been about 4 or 5 weeks since last I read it.

In the meantime, here's another the newest part of A Hard Road to Travel: The Letters of Two Sisters.

 

March 20

 

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Dear Marianne

 

Hope all is well.   We are doing fine.  It's actually been warm the past few days -- highs in the low 50s.   Snow's starting to melt.   And the tulips are starting to come up.  Our utility bill runs about $60 a month -- that's for the electric, water, and wood delivery.   We were told about 2 months ago that the gas lines would be back up and running.   Now that everything is controlled by the city, it seems to be cheaper.   It used to be about $140 for two different services -- electric and wood -- but now the council ordered they be combined which lead to lots of issues.   We're lucky in a way that we are moving forward into a more communal situation especially after last year when the riots hit.  About 120 people were killed. We stayed inside and kept watch at night.  What a mess that was.   Finally, the mayor and governor called in the national guard.  That's when the "the fences" went up and ids were required.  Lots of scammers "disappeared" -- or at least that's what we heard.

 

Gotta go.  Write soon.  Love to all.

 

Sally

 

*****

 

March 25

 

Keene, New Hampshire

 

Dear Sal

 Good to hear all is well.  Snow is melting here.   The temps have gotten up into the 50s and plenty of sunshine.   Great news -- we heard about our applications.  They have been approved for us to move there.   It will not be until May.   We broke the news to Mama and she is very excited.   She will be glad to be back in Indy.   Let us know about the apartment situation there.  Our next hoop will be applying for gas.  I wished we would have bought one of the electric cars when we had the chance.  Oh well.

 

Anyway, gotta go. 

Love Marianne