Getting critiqued

For the past almost-eighteen years now, I have worked with a writing critique partner on every book. That crit partner has become one of my dearest friends and is none other than IBLF’s own Tamera Alexander. Tammy and I met in October 2002 at the very first ACFW Conference in Kansas City. She wasn’t yet published at the time but offered to critique a novella I was struggling with. (It’s no coincidence that novella, Playing by Heart, went on to final for a Christy Award…one of three finals for me, but Tammy has gone on to win four Christys, including this year!)

I think this is our first photo together, taken in October 2003 at the ACFW Conference.

You might notice that I’m writing on Tammy’s usual day to post. That’s because she is on the tail end of a super tight deadline and I just happened to turn in a manuscript Monday morning, so I was freer than she was and we traded days. There was a time when we worried about our deadlines colliding, but we’ve both discovered that when we are on deadline, it’s actually inspiring to take a break and critique each other. It’s only happened a few times, but these recent books we each finished were probably the closest our deadlines have been to each other.

Oh, we were so young back then! This was at a writers group retreat before an ICRS trade show (probably back when it was called CBA).

I can’t express how helpful I find it to have Tammy’s eyes on my work before I send it off to my editor. Not only does she have an eagle eye for basic typos and grammar issues, but she is the queen of great plotting and substantive editing.

The way our process works is that we each try to get our book about three-fourths finished before we send it off to the other for critique. That way, we’re pretty much on the same schedule and the critiquer can keep up with the critiquee to the bitter end. We use Track Changes just as our professional editors, and we do try to comment on the things we like, even if it’s just a smiley face or a “Love it!” And there’s a mutual professional respect for each other that permeates our comments. But most of the time, we don’t have time for a ton of niceties, and we’re pretty tough on each other because we’d rather have the “wounds of a friend” than hear the same criticism from our professional editors!

All dressed up for the Christy Awards in 2006.

The weeks when we are critiquing almost daily for each other are full of laughter and joking and deep appreciation for the gift of our friendship. Tammy always opens her critiques with a written prayer for my book, and that her words would encourage rather than discourage. God has blessed those prayers immensely. I can’t count the number of times Tammy has stayed up with me on the other end of the Internet till three a.m. critiquing scene by scene until my manuscript is finally winging its way to my editor. I admit I haven’t done the same for her because I turn into a pumpkin around nine p.m. But I have gotten up early to read for her. Oh, how we cheer for each other when we finally write “the end.”

We co-taught a workshop at an ACFW conference in 2011. Let’s just say that Tammy has the gift of snark, so that’s an expression you’ll see on my face often when we’re together. But oh, what fun!

Tammy’s favorite line for me is “Don’t make me come over there…” which she types beside any place I broke a writing rule that I know better than. I always tell her I would LOVE for her to “come over here” but so far she hasn’t made good on her threat nearly often enough. (I am delighted that we live less than four hours apart now, and already we’ve been able to get together along with our hubbies because of that shorter distance.)

Ken and I were blessed to get to stay with Joe and Tammy this past May on our way to teach at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in North Carolina. Here, we’re walking on the grounds of Carnton Plantation, the setting for Tammy’s current series. She’s holding on to her doggy for dear life, and I’m clutching a pinecone for unknown reasons. Haha!

My most-used line for Tammy is probably “Are you sure this word was in use in 1848?” It has been to our advantage that Tammy writes historical while I write contemporary. I also love that our life experiences have given us such different perspectives. I’m a farmer’s daughter. Tammy grew up in the big city. I’m a Midwesterner, Tammy’s a Southern gal. (We mean different things when we say, “Bless her heart.”