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An Update

Hello, friends!

     I thought I would pop in to give you a quick update.  I hope you don't mind.

     First of all, Broken Clouds is back in full swing.  This story is a bit of a learning curve for me, full of new things that I haven't tried before.  And I've added yet another new thing: I am now writing it with two POV characters.  So far, so good.  I am now on Chapter 19, more or less, but some of my chapters are really short and may need to be fleshed out later.  Also, I sent the first 5 chapters to a reader to get her initial reactions and received positive feedback.  So I am happy with the way things are coming -- at least for a first draft.

     In reading lately, I devoured Jill Williamson's Safe Lands trilogy.  It had pros and cons to it, but I did learn some useful things for writing.  And her multiple POVs gave me the courage to write with two POVs in Broken Clouds.

     It is only 5 weeks and a day until the Rooglewood Contest winners are announced.  It's hard to not think of things you wish you had done better before submitting your story.  I have purposefully not read my story since I submitted it because I didn't want to fret over new "errors" I found nor did I want to continue editing until my copy looked vastly different from the copy that the judges were reading.  But the story still lives in my head, and I occasionally think of something I could have done differently.

     I read several posts on http://ahalfbakedplot.blogspot.com/ today. She's taking a break from posting now, but she had several posts in her archives that I found quite helpful.  Her instructionals usually leave me teeming with excitement and inspiration.  I also caught up on posts by K.M. Weiland at http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ which were equally fascinating.

     That's pretty much it, as far as writing goes, except that I am living a full life.  One day, parts of it will end up in book form.  :)  How are you doing in your reading and writing?

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  1. Emily Ann PutzkeJanuary 24, 2015 at 3:54 PM

    I just saw that Rooglewood Press is now announcing the winners on February 1st!! I follow them on Facebook, plus I have a friend who entered the contest so I've been keeping on eye on it. =) Oh, I love the blog "Helping Writers Become Authors" too! It sounds like you're having a good reading and writing month so far! I've been working on a novel about Hans and Sophie Scholl, resistance leaders in Nazi Germany. Also, my friend and I are writing a story together which we're alternating on our blogs. As far as reading, I'm currently enjoying, "Unbroken". =)

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  2. Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)January 29, 2015 at 4:34 PM

    What?!?!?!?
    Oh, wow, Emily! Thanks for telling me! I had no idea that they moved the date to February 1st. That's only 3 days away now!!!
    Yes, I like KM Weiland's blog. :)
    Your resistance leaders sound amazing. I love those types of stories and am inspired by their courage. I have been watching your research posts as you are working on the Scholls.
    I have been reading your Ain't We Got Fun stories. They are quite engaging. I love the way that you and your friend are doing them together -- that's absolute genius.
    Thanks for commenting!

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