Andrea Hurst's Blog - Posts Tagged "editing"

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it."-Truman Capote

Do you feel writing is an emotional experience?
With Always with You, it was an extremely emotional experience. The idea came to me in a dream—a very powerful dream. It must have resonated with me deeply because I had to write that story. The story flowed out of me in just a matter of months. I sat down and started writing in first person, present tense, which I’ve never done before. I could basically hear Cathy’s voice telling me the story. And I really reacted to it as if I was hearing it, because I found myself very sad in parts of the book. Just thinking about the book today, it’s still a very emotional experience.

But Always With You is written in third person. Why the switch?
My beta readers, on the first edition, did not like Cathy when it was written in first person. And there was no point of view for Jamie so they couldn’t tell how he was feeling. I had to put it in third person and add Jamie’s point of view—it was a complete rewrite.

But it was very hard to finish that book because the characters still have not left me. I had people tell me they would like to have a sequel and right away the ideas just started spinning and I could really see them, and feel where the book would go next. I didn’t want to leave those characters because I was just so invested in them. And I would like to go back.

Does that mean readers can expect a sequel to Always With You?
I am considering it. Maybe.

What was it like finishing The Guestbook?
Finishing The Guestbook was a whole different deal. It was my first novel and I wrote it in spurts over years. It never seemed like I would finish and what spurred me on was finally making writing—my own writing—a priority and giving myself a goal.

How did you decide to make it a priority?
I thought about my goals in writing and the one thing I wanted to do before I die and it was clear to me that the answer was: finish The Guestbook. And once I saw that, I thought, why not put it as the top priority in my life. But it was very hard to finish that book.

Is it difficult to let go when you finish a novel?
Part of finishing a book is knowing when to let go. What I learned with The Guestbook is: It’s never, ever going to be perfect and you just have to know when to let go.

Thank goodness for my beta readers and editors because each edit polished both books and helped guide me toward a marketable product.

Questions for the Readers:
As a reader how do you feel about sequels to books you enjoy?