critiquing, editing

Edits and Quilts

My week off is done! I started editing yesterday, in between watching the Olympics and grumbling over NBC’s terrible coverage. I keep telling myself to be thankful we can watch any of the events at all, but somehow I keep finding myself on Twitter, complaining again. Then I virtuously tell myself that if enough of us complain publicly, NBC will have to take note and make changes before Sochi, and therefore I am doing America in general a service.

As Jane Austen says, “how quick come the reasons for approving what we like.”

I’m actually quite pleased with the way the edits are coming along. One story in particular needs a lot of work, but the other two are fairly smooth sailing. Which is good, because as soon as these three are ready to send to my copy-editor, I’ll have two more ready for critiquing and then editing.

I’m still trying to figure out the cover design. Do I hire someone to do that for me, or do I handle it myself? I’m not too shabby of a photographer, and I actually have a very clear idea of what I want for the cover, but the problem is in finding a model, and then handling all the editing aspect of it. I don’t have Photoshop, and iPhoto (and even PicMonkey) is very limited! Any advice, already-published writers out there?

Even with the shoddy coverage from NBC, the Olympics are definitely inspiring me. If these athletes can do everything that they can, do that huge push to fulfill a lifelong dream … then I can figure out all these nit-picky details to take that first step on the road of my lifelong dream.

And, as is usual with me, my brain is already teeming with ideas for new projects. Three connected novellas! Two similar-themed but not-really-connected novelettes! A collection of fantasy stories and artwork from other unpublished/new writers/artists organized by me! And, oh yeah, my novels. Can’t forget those.

I don’t really mind having so many creative plots at my fingertips. Even if I only accomplish half of them, that’s still pretty major.

In the meantime, I am holding myself sternly on the task at hand before I let myself get carried away with new projects.

(Grace’s sunshine quilt is coming along nicely, by the way. I sit down to watch the Olympics and just start tying, and before I know it, I’ve got several blocks done. I might actually have it finished by the end of the Olympics at this rate! Here’s a picture of it in its pinned state – the lighting doesn’t do it justice at all, but you still can get an idea of how cute it is.)

You can see why we call it the sunshine quilt!

0 thoughts on “Edits and Quilts”

  1. Good luck with the cover! I'm so digitally challenged myself that I would definitely hire someone to do it with me, but if you're good with a camera, that would be really cool to do it yourself! I'm also loving the sound of that collection of fantasy stories. Your sunshine quilt is beautiful!

  2. The camera part I'm comfortable with, just not sure about editing and formatting and making sure it has all the right colors and everything – but it still might be a fun challenge to try! We do have a college campus nearby, so it probably wouldn't be that hard to find some students willing to model for me, either.

  3. Thank you! I'm doing less of it these days as I'm getting more into sewing clothing for the littles (Joy loves to wear dresses ALL THE TIME, and they are so expensive to buy just for play, so I'm reduced to making them for her), but I still love it.

  4. NEVER GIVE UP. You can do anything and have faith in yourself. You will get there there and I have faith in you. I agree – the Olympics is uplifting and inspiring.

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