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Although I'm a bit late in doing this, I'd like to take a moment to promote a wonderful new anthology of short stories, novel excerpts, poems, and other enticing writings. Published by the folks at The Literary Lab and dubbed the Notes from Underground Anthology, this intriguing collection presents a wide array of stories, one of which is written by my online pal (and helpful beta reader), J.B. Chicoine. Having purchased the book through Kindle for my new iPhone, I've already read several of the entries, including Bridget's heartbreaking story (an excerpt from an unpublished novel that I badly want to read), so I can say without a doubt that I highly recommend this collection – which captivated and entertained me immensely during the long drive between Los Angeles, where my husband and I recently ran our sixth annual Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, and our home in New Orleans.
Not only is the anthology worth reading, but I also relish the fact that, by purchasing it, I'm supporting my fellow writers – both those whose works are included within the anthology as well as those who will ultimately benefit from the Writer's Emergency Assistance Fund, the charity that will receive all proceeds from this anthology. Every little bit helps after all – especially in these challenging times.
I’m obviously a day behind with my blogging schedule, but I simply can’t skip this week’s “Whimsical Wednesday.” This is usually the day that I muse about my non-food/travel/movie interests, so I thought I’d chat briefly about beta-reading – a newly adopted interest in recent months.
Over the summer and after much soul-searching, I realized that my first novel, Hollow Souls, was far from ready to be seen by agents, editors, and other publishing professionals. Although my husband was confident that I could revamp the book on my own, I felt that it was necessary to have a few fellow writers look at it first. Not only does that seem to be standard operating procedure for writers these days, but I had also reached a point where I could no longer see my story clearly. In other words, I knew it needed to change, but I didn’t know how to change it – and I thought other writers might be able to see what I no longer could.
Thus, I embarked on the beta-reading process, and so far, five amazing people – Weronika, Bridget, Kristi, Elaine, and Chazley – have read my novel. While their comments have made it clear that I have a long road ahead, I’ll be forever grateful to each of them for their perspective and insight.
My only regret in this is that I have yet to return the favor to all but one (Bridget), and I feel incredibly guilty about it. To be fair, two of my betas – Weronika and Kristi – aren’t ready for me yet, but I definitely owe the other two a critique, not to mention others (like Bane and Mary Jo) whose work I’ve promised to read. I’m not, as a rule, such a slow reader – nor are these extremely varied manuscripts a chore to read (‘cause they’re not!) – I just never expected to have so much to do this fall. Between moving from Michigan, maintaining four blogs, hosting a film festival in New Orleans, and working on my latest travel-writing gig, I’ve literally been “meeting myself coming and going,” as Maw-Maw Deanne would say (yes, that’s right, we call our grandfolks “maw-maws” and “paw-paws” down here).
But I plan to spend the next week attempting to finish my beta-reading duties, and I’m really excited about it. For one thing, it’ll delay my own revision a bit longer, and for another thing, while I know that I’ll learn a lot from my beta readers’ suggestions, I find that I’m learning even more from reading their stories, which range from literary fiction to middle-grade fantasy. Though I have no doubt that they’re all miffed with me for taking so long, I hope they know that it’s my busy life that’s gotten in the way – not their talents – and that I’m really enjoying (and grateful for) this peek into their worlds. I’ve learned so much already – about plot, dialogue, showing versus telling, etc. – and I only hope that my own insights will be worth the wait.
Although I'm a bit late in doing this, I'd like to take a moment to promote a wonderful new anthology of short stories, novel excerpts, poems, and other enticing writings. Published by the folks at The Literary Lab and dubbed the Notes from Underground Anthology, this intriguing collection presents a wide array of stories, one of which is written by my online pal (and helpful beta reader), J.B. Chicoine. Having purchased the book through Kindle for my new iPhone, I've already read several of the entries, including Bridget's heartbreaking story (an excerpt from an unpublished novel that I badly want to read), so I can say without a doubt that I highly recommend this collection – which captivated and entertained me immensely during the long drive between Los Angeles, where my husband and I recently ran our sixth annual Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, and our home in New Orleans.
