Sandi Layne's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"

Greetings!

I have a new novel coming out this spring, all things being equal and the world continuing to rotate on its present course.

It's titled MAKING A DIAMOND and is a contemporary inspirational romance. I paged it out to 232 pages, with the cover art being done by Californian graphic artist, Megan Dooley.

This story was originally written many years ago, completed and critiqued all the way to the final page of the epilogue, but it was not making me happy. I was left terribly unsatisfied with it. I put it aside and worked on other projects, moved, etc. When I was ready again, last year, I unearthed it and read it over.

Basically, the story was good but my heroine needed a kick in the pants, so that is what I gave her. I hope you will think I did a good job. :)

Once I straightened her out, I reworked some things in the manuscript, sent it out to two beta-readers and they were kind enough to mark up MaD beautifully, with many wonderful corrections and remarks.

Now that it has been rewritten and finalized, I will be self-publishing once again through CreateSpace. This book is a little longer than most of my other romances, but I hope you will enjoy it. :)

Thanks for reading! More updates on this and other projects as I have them!

~Sandi

Being a writer means taking an honest look at yourself, your words, and the way you communicate in all aspects of your craft. It can be cool, but also a bit humbling. Okay, quite humbling.

I am editing the first third of In the Name of Duty over the next week or so. Now, I began this story years ago but set it on hiatus as other aspects of my life took over the "writing" part of my brain. (I don't get it either, entirely, but I can't argue with my cortex. Okay, I can, but I don't.) I was really pleased with how the dialogue ran and so on, and felt it would just be a matter of refreshing my memory on the times and seasons involved in the novel to pick it up and continue typing.

I was in error.

It's not that I wasn't a good writer before – I believe I was. It's just that my sense of structure has (I hope) improved and matured over the time this story has been waiting for me. I find myself editing instead of just reading. I printed out the entire first third of this novel, hole-punched it and tucked it into a brand-new binder complete with a "cover" to keep me focused. Once I am finished inking up this draft, I plan on continuing this. I believe it will be novel number twenty-five. I think.

All of which is to say that I am really relieved that this story will be getting the SandiLayne 4.2 upgrade. It will be a better story because of the delay I had between beginning and ending. If you are feeling discouraged by a delay of game in your writing (or other artistic endeavor) try to shake it off. The delay could be the best thing to have happened.

I, erm, forget sometimes this is here and I do apologize profusely.

Here is what is going on in the Life o'Layne on the writing/publishing fronts!

* My novel Captive Irish Moon has been retired from printing via CreateSpace because it's been picked up by THE WRITER'S COFFEE SHOP Publishing House! It will be re-released early in 2013 with a new prologue and having gone through a thorough editing process. It is now titled Éire's Captive Moon and will be book one of the Éire's Viking trilogy. If you read the original, you'll appreciate the small tweaks and, I hope, will enjoy this updated version of Charis's story.

* I am currently writing book two of that trilogy, titled Éire's Viking.

* My novel An Unexpected Woman has also been picked up by TWCS and we're looking for a 2013 release there, too! I'm so excited!!

Right now, I'm writing Éire's Viking and plotting the third book in that trilogy (Currently tentatively titled Éire's Viking King) while prepping AUW for the editing rounds.

In other news...

My elder son started college and is studying graphic design. My younger son is in fifth grade and finishing up elementary school as we prep for middle school. The temperatures are finally cooling here in Maryland and I'm looking forward to a delicious Autumn.

More strange information can often be found on my Facebook page (including the new cover for Éire's Captive Moon) or my website.

As I sit here, watching the predicted storm path for Hurricane Sandy, I am finishing a preliminary reworking of my Christian Romance, An Unexpected Woman which has, as you may know, been picked up by The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House .

My editorial team sent me fantastic notes and suggestions and I spent this week working on them. Since the novel takes place in Southwest Florida during the spring and summer, it may not surprise you to hear that tropical storms do play a role in the story.

Which is why I was smiling a little as I finished my work today. Hurricanes seem to follow me around, you know? And this one has my name on it. Sort of.

I hope that if you are in my quasi-namesake's path, that you are safe and sheltered in the coming days.

Until next time,
~Sandi

I'm in the process of plotting out book three of the Éire's Viking trilogy. This is both easier and more difficult than plotting book two was, for me.

On the one hand, I am operating rather more with a calendar. The things that happen with Tuirgeis, Éire's Devil King, happened in reality, providing a frame and timeline for many events in the story. Some accounts differ as to years, but years are iffy in the 9th Century, anyway.

On the other hand, I have to have a destination. A place beyond the climax of the book. A goal that will end this trilogy on a note that suits me. A place that is beyond the historical accounts.

And I have to have this place set in my mind before I can begin writing. It is always this way, for me. There are many ways to approach the craft of writing a novel, but for me, I have to have an end before I can properly get to my beginning. I need that finished product in my imagination so that every chapter and every scene and even pieces of dialogue will work the reader to that point.

It's a delight to plan, let me tell you.

I approached the Spousal Unit last night with my current dilemma and he let me talk it out to him. I think he's read the first book, but I'm not sure - still these are characters he's been hearing about for about ten years, lol, so they're old friends. He listened and nodded and when I had finished, he gave me some thoughts.

I liked them.

Will I use them? I am not entirely certain, but his ideas gave me a place to think on, as I peruse more historical notes. I will have that destination soon, though.

I can practically see it.

This wasn't initially something I thought I'd get into doing, to be honest. Pinning. Spending way too much time on Pinterest. That kind of thing.

However, I have somehow managed to accumulate pins. Not that many, but more than I had considered feasible.

I have a Pot Pourri album. This is not for fragrances, but for random pins that don't fit elsewhere.

Additionally, I have a Top Ten Forever album. Board. Something. It's a work in progress. It is where I put things that will always be in my Top Ten List for...whatever. Books, Doughnuts, that kind of thing.

Lastly, I have a board for some of my novels. That is, the novels each have their own board. The link to my Pinterest board is HERE and you can see what's there, if you've a mind to do so. One purpose to these boards is for me to have a visual reference point for a particular item. Sometimes, the board is there for interested readers who might wonder what I was thinking when I wrote...whatever it was I wrote. Or to find out what kind of car a character has or what a building or place might look like.

I don't pin as often as I might, but it can be addicting once I get going.

So what about you? Do you pin? Want to share links? Family friendly, please. ;-)

Thanks for reading. :)

This is kind of a Typical Day in the Life.

I had to fill out a Manuscript Information form on Éire's Viking this morning, which includes scrolling through the manuscript itself and pulling out short excerpts that can be used in promotional stuff. Also involved is figuring out tag lines for the book. That is ALWAYS hard for me in my own work.

Anyway, I got that done and then it was time to send the latest version of EV in after I tinkered with a couple of chapters so that when my editor dives back in, she's doing it with the latest version.

AND I've got the final book of the series to work on as well. Today.

...While I am preparing for the release of An Unexpected Woman which happens NEXT MONTH.

Mondays are pretty awesome. :)