...I began writing. I'm feeling a little nostalgic right now, which I usually do this time of year. I know many of you do, as well. It's doubly so for me since its birthday time again. *yay, I'm older...blah!* I am glad to know more things, and that is the only advantage to age, perhaps? I don't know yet. Let me know if you've figured it all out. ;) However, I am very grateful for the new year because it is a time of deep reflection, and I do have much to be grateful for. And, of course, this brings me to my topic today. This deep reflection is what got me into this whole writing experience, to begin with. I had never planned to be a writer. But I do have to admit that I had tried my writing skills out once before when my children were little tots, and my last little one wasn't even born yet, but I quickly laughed at myself and deleted what I had written (...a rarely shared moment in my life...). Turn the clock forward several years, add a bunch more trials to my life, and voila! I had the makings of some very deep moments. I was considering the fact that I had just come through a difficult year. My hair was finally growing again and it was just starting to look normal. I was very self-conscious, but I was grateful to have made it through that difficult time. I wanted this new year to be different--better. Really better! But what could I do? What could I possibly do to make things better? I felt like I had made things worse--not intentionally, of course. I mean, really--who asks for cancer, or any trial, for that matter? But I could hardly get myself out of bed in the morning, let alone feel excited about getting up. My only purpose was taking care of my little family, and my husband had stepped right into that role quite well. I didn't even feel needed anymore. But I knew that the medical bills were only mounting--and little did I know that they would grow exponentially over the following years to include much, much more--even my sweet husband's new heart surgery bills. Life has just been crazy. It felt so completely overwhelming to me. And that is why that one single prayer has had such an impact upon my life ever since. That prayer that asked, "What can I possibly do to help?" My sweet little family and my hard-working husband were especially on my mind during this prayer because I had asked a scary question a lot--What if I don't make it? What if I die? After paying all these bills, then they'd have to come up with funeral costs? That was the big fear. And then what? The more I thought about their future, the more I tossed and turned. I needed the help and peace that only a loving Father in heaven could provide. And He did. All the occupations I thought of doing could not even be approached. They were simply out of the question. I had to do something from home and in my weakened station. It sucked, but there you have it. It has been sucky ever since, as far as my fight with my health and stupid medical bills. But the answer to that prayer was--You can do something, Ellise. You can! The thoughts of writing that came to my mind were so exciting that I got up the very next morning raring to go. And I have been writing ever since January 2, 2008. I have learned so much since that special prayer was answered. I have found so many new friends and have reacquainted myself with many more. Family and friends have been so supportive, as embarrassing as it is to step out in front of everyone and ask, "Here. Read this." Totally not me! This is so completely out of my comfort zone. But my little family is so worth any sacrifice I can make--embarrassment and all. And it is still paying off. I'm ever so grateful.
I've just come up with an amazing idea (or so I think), but it's mostly come to me out of desperation. You see, after formatting my book, it comes to almost 700 pages. Yikes! The binding alone is going to be huge. At first, I didn't care because I've read tons of thick books over the years. However, I think it'll be costly that way. So, my wonderful new idea is (that so many of you have told me to do all along) to break The Governess into volumes. I don't know yet if it'll be two or three volumes. I have to find places to divide first.
So...I'm thinking that part of it can be published before much longer! :) I hope, I hope, I hope! I'm so thrilled, can't hardly stand it! Woohoo! I've gotta get back to work! Ellise So, I've been formatting The Governess for CreateSpace, which is a new experience and a half. Tedious, and yet fun to see what my book is becoming. It looks like a real book now. I've really got to reduce page numbers, but it won't be a significant drop. Oh well. I've read thick books before. Never stopped me. :) Well, here we go, onward and upward folks!
Have a great week everyone! Hugs, Ellise After talking with my amazing sister tonight, I've decided to just get my book out there. I'm so excited! It's finally here! This is the month! I'm determined...
So, with still more fine tuning to do, but not the huge amount that I'm going to have to eventually do, I'm going to finish this project up and get it out there for people to decide if it's worth it or not. Scary! But exciting still the same. :) Yay!! Ellise Okay. So I really did. I've just completed a run through on all 76 chapters of The Governess--some of them newly created. Whew!
So what's the prognosis? I have more work to do. :( I really can't put it out there yet. It still needs a ton of fine tuning, but honestly, I don't think I have the patience to do all the fine tuning it needs right now. I still think I'm going to get it out there this month if I can. I think maybe that a Second Edition would be a worthy effort after getting feedback out there in the real world. It might be crippling, but I've got a choice to make here. I'm not sure yet what it'll be. Publishing very soon--or waiting as I rewrite into one POV at a time. Sucks! But there you have it. :) Signing off for the day... Ellise P.S. By editing it, I never did chop it (which was one of the reasons I was supposedly doing the edit). At the time, the manuscript was around 184,000 words. Now it's 194,000. How did I do that? Yes, I guess it was the new chapters added in. ;D I've decided to add two more chapters of The Governess to this website for reading. Two of the better ones, I think.
Click here to read. Enjoy! Ellise Between school, appointments, and daily lists, I've been feverishly working away on a new project this week: my author press kit. I didn't even know I needed one. But thanks to an awesome blog, TheCreativePenn.com, I'm learning all kinds of new things.
Joanna Penn is amazing! She's been through much of what writers go through to see our work become successful. And now she is as well. But what's better, I think, in addition to her success is that she's so willing to share what she's learned along the way. There are truly wonderful people in this world who do think of the other guy. I'm grateful. Thanks, Joanna! For those who've never heard of an Author Press Kit, click here to see mine. Joanna has more examples on her website, here. Have a great weekend everyone! Ellise I would like to announce the Winner of The Governess Contest!
Nicki D.! Nicki had a splendid, simple, and complete way of bringing Creighton to Miss Amelia Hansen’s home, which he could not refuse. Or so he thought. Nicki will get to pick from two offered prizes: 1) To rename Miss Amelia Hansen’s character, or; 2) To receive a signed copy of The Governess when it is published in May/June 2013. Read these chapters soon to find out what Nicki suggested and how I incorporated her ideas. Thanks, Nicki D, for your contribution and for reading The Governess! I'd also like to thank all those who participated in the contest! Your support means everything to me! :) Have a great day everyone! Ellise I've decided to have a contest! Yippee!! What this entails: I have a small snippet from The Governess that I will share below; but in it, I don't have a good enough reason, yet, (and this is where you come in!) for the male hero to be at a certain person's home for tea. I would love to have you come up with a great reason for me. The prize? Well...I might be open for suggestions on this, but so far, I've come up with an idea that YOU might be able to rename this lady character for me. Is that a good prize? I don't know. I'm open. I thought about a signed copy of The Governess, but it's not out yet. If that is better, let me know. Whoever's suggestion I implement, we'll talk okay. :) Here's the snippet I need reworked with a 'reason' for Creighton to be at Amelia Hansen's house: Creighton could not believe how Miss Amelia had wiggled her way into getting him over for tea. She was a conniver, just as Janese had been. Maybe that was why they had been best friends. All that he knew was, at that moment, if she touched him once more, he would leave. What do you think? Is it fine, or should we do something special, more interesting? This is the end of Chapter 46.
Good luck! Ellise So...I've created a new 'Goals' page on my website here. I'm quite happy about these challenges to myself. It can be a driving force, I've found. More importantly, it helps to be encouraged each day to do something amazing. Not that anything here is amazing...I'm just saying, for ME, it is. ;)
I encourage YOU to set a goal today. Take your first step today! Ellise It's here again! So quickly too! Another week gone by. We've had a busy, busy day too. Homeschooling and work, errands afterwards, and very lucky to get to pick up a Papa Murphy's tonight--in other words--I don't have to make dinner tonight. Yay! Except for the salad. Gotta have a salad with my pizza. Yum!
One of the kids is off to a slumber party, the other had an orchestra concert that we just got home from, and now the pizza is in the oven, the salad is ready, and the house smells great! We've picked a movie called Arthur's Christmas, which we haven't seen before, but we love to laugh, so there you have it. Don't usually do Christmas outside the season, but we're okay with it. ;) Busy day of school and writing fit in between recesses and helping. I'm on halfway done with Chapter 44--Escape. Just finished their confrontation in the gallery where...well, you'll just have to wait for the book. :P Well, gotta go check on the pizza and pop the bubbles. Hopefully my hubby will make it through the movie without falling to sleep, snoring away. Of course, we get a great giggle out of it, and so does he. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Happy reading and writing folks! Ellise Well, the last few days have been sick days for me and my son. And, BOY, were we sick. Hacking, coughing, sneezing, runny noses--but the worst was the sick tummies. My poor little guy was getting to the point of dehydration. I was worried. But he came out of it with renewed strength and a very hungry tummy. He made up for it yesterday catching up on what he wanted to eat.
As for my writing, I did make some time for it. The problem with being sick is that I might not have been very clear thinking, so those chapters should be gone over again...but not today. Onward! is what I say for now. So, I'll be moving forward onto Chapter 38 today. Yes, I did get pretty far, but the chapters I've just gone through have some POV difficulties. To me, it's natural to head hop from one character to another, as long as it's clear which head you're in. To others, I've heard, it's a pain to read more than one head at a time. Do you have an opinion? I'd love to hear from my readers what they think on this subject. Getting it right is best, but getting it done is where I'm at right now. :) Ellise Even thought I'm pretty darn sick today, and my little guy is sick too, I'm grateful to have some time to work on my book. I'm on Chapter 30, currently. Reworking the story has given me time to ponder the main character's relationship. I think it will show stronger than before and will explain better some of the holes in the story that existed. For instance, why was Creighton so obsessed with her not being like his late wife? Also, why Carly was so convinced that Lord Huntington could never love her. I'm hoping these changes will make the story more believable and thoroughly enjoyable. I can't wait to share it with the world! I'm hoping that day is coming much sooner than I had previously thought. May? Definitely!
Happy reading and writing, folks! Ellise~ It's a Monday. So we're all back at it. Good luck to you and your day and week, folks.
I'll be starting with Chapter 25 today--Invitation. We'll see how it goes and what changes. I'm actually saving quite a bit of what I chop out of The Governess to keep for possible use later; that is, if it does well, I'll have more background for readers who want more. :) I'm hoping there are a few out there. Anyway, onward and upward peoples. Make this week incredible! Ellise~ Isn't that a great title? I love it. And I love the way I've used it in Chapter 24, which, I might add, I just completed. Whoopee!
Between classes, phone calls, and assignments, I've struggled to put together a cohesive story. I hope its working. I like it so far. I guess that's all that matters in the end. If I like the story, and I think others might like it too, then I've done the job. If all else fails, by the end of this novel, I will have at least completed a novel. Not an easy task. But enjoyable all the same. I have to say that I hope these sequels will be easier. After learning some important no-nos with The Governess, it'll be easier to write the following stories. Keeping my fingers crossed! So, here it is for now! Tonight is finished! Off to enjoy my family and our weekly pizza and a movie night--although we're up for a change. It's hoagies tonight. :) Have a good one everyone! Ellise Hello Readers,
I'm just a little curious about having an accessible Blog here on my website. I'm wondering if people will ask questions and make comments about my work. Curiosity killed the cat, but I'm hoping it will only enliven my writing experience with my readers. :) Please join in on the discussion. Do you have any questions? Happy reading and writing to us all! ~Ellise |
Ellise C. WeaverWife, mother of three, author of The Huntington Saga Series Novels. Archives
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