The Verdict is In

More than one verdict in fact.

A couple of weeks ago I submitted a non-fiction proposal to my publisher. Today, the managing editor wrote back and said the committee loved the idea and looked forward to seeing the manuscript. Of course, this isn't an official acceptance, but it's a green light as to whether the book will be viable. My non-fiction book that I proposed is based on the research that I've done for my two Book of Mormon series--and is tentatively titled Women in the Book of Mormon. I do presentations all over the state of Utah on this topic, and I'm always asked for more information.

I heard back from the agent who is considering QUEEN. She said she is doing a thorough read of my rewrite and will have any further comments to me by next month. Her goal is to start shopping it in September. Sounds good to me.

Also, this morning I hit the 10,000 word mark on my WIP (Alma the Elder). Roughly translated, that's 35 pages.

Things are moving along. I started writing my first book in 2001, and the journey had been long, but well worth the hard work and patience.

I'm Writing a New Book

Officially, yes. That means that at 4:30 this morning, after the cat woke me up, I couldn't get back to sleep. I said to myself--what are you waiting for? You've made up excuses all summer. It's time to sit down and write.

Then my alter-ego said--You're crazy. Go back to sleep. You're going to be dead tired.

So at 5:00 am I found myself with the computer on, creating a new folder and typing the title of my next book. A boring title, but there's nothing I can do about it: ALMA THE ELDER.

This will be book two in the series, Prophets of the Promised Land. I wrote for a couple of hours and by 7:30 I had written 2,000 words (about 7 pages). I figured that if I can write 1,000 words a day, 5 times a week, I'll be done before Halloween. Then, with edits I can turn it in before Thanksgiving!

But I don't plan on getting up at 4:30 every morning.

New book?

Yes, I have a book coming out in a few months, and another one that I should start writing very soon so it can come out next year . . . yet today, I sent a book proposal to my publisher for a completely different book. It wasn't out of the blue, but something that I've been thinking about for a couple of years. I guess since I'm not currently writing a book, I thought writing a book proposal was less daunting.

So I'll let you know the nitty-gritty details when I hear back!

Wish me luck ;)

Turned in the final edit

Yeah, I finished the last 250 pages today and turned in the final edit by 5:00, just in time to write up a super fast proposal for a new book idea and print it off for my critique group. Lucky them!

Every time I meet with my critique group, I always come away more motivated . . . it's great to meet with people who are just as passionate as you about writing.

Reading Abinadi AGAIN

Last week I received the copyedit back from my publisher for my newest book (release date November, 2008). Basically it's a line edit, meaning that the little things have been cleaned up, like commas, etc. But there are a few comments to work on. No big deal. Except I got it in my head that it's my LAST CHANCE to change anything. And it is. Not that I'm really changing much, but if I want a word changed or a sentence deleted, it really is the last chance.

The next stage is the typesetting, which basically makes it look like a book. And you can't change much after that because it messes up the whole alignment of the book.

I have to go out of town again on Thursday, so I have about 250 more pages to read by then. Wish me luck!