-EJG
So as I went to write this post, I saw the sidebar that listed the dates of all my blogs. I saw May 2010 and nearly fell out of my chair. I can't believe this has been four years in the making. FOUR. That's a whole college career, that's 1,460 days, that's the whole time I was in Scotland! It really is amazing how much not only my life itself by me in myself has changed in those four years. I've learned so much about the world and people and writing and living and loving and everything else one should learn between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. Hopefully I will be finished writing by the end of the month, if not sooner. I got a lot done today on Chapter 22, which is already five pages long and I'm not even halfway through yet! Exciting times! Again, if anyone knows of an agent or a publishing house that would be willing to take me on once I've finished writing, that would be wonderful! Also, if anyone has any questions for me, wants advice about writing, information about traveling, whatever really, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (elise_guay) and Facebook (Guay Writing)! Likes, comments, shout outs are much appreciated!
-EJG
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The title of this post pretty much sums it up. I didn't get a single thing written today. However, I did get a lot of work done at work, so that's always a plus. I also swam at 5:30am, which is positive. So, I had a decently productive day in every other aspect except writing. I should be able to get some done tomorrow. If not, I'm looking forward to the weekend when I have a lot of time to myself and I'll be able to get a decent chunk done. Here's hoping!
-EJG Hey folks, just a quick update. I am chipping away, as I have been since I started writing again, slowly but surely at Chapter 22. Hopefully will be done or close to it by the end of the day! Watch this space...
-EJG Chapter 21's excerpt is now up and available for your viewing pleasure! It is short, and not so sweet. Dorian Blackburn, as you'll all know is Gerry's grandfather, has been brought to trial and suffered some type of psychotic break. This excerpt has a lot of important incidents packed into a very small chunk. As they say, great things can come in small packages.
I am beginning Chapter 22 next. As I said in my earlier post, I would like to be half way done with this by the end of the day. A lot is going to change in this chapter, and all for the better! I hope you're all as excited as I am! Also, I'm looking at my page count and I am up to 239 pages (that's at a 12pt Times New Roman font with 1.5 spacing and justified text.) I think by the time I'm done I'll easily be over 300! I was discussing my ideas for print runs with a coworker and I think what I would ideally like to do is a small run, maybe 200 copies or so, paperback, see how those sell, then do an equal sized run of hard backs, see how those sell, then do a bigger run the next time. Of course these are all things that could be discussed with an agent and an editor, should one decide to pick me up. I learned a lot from my masters program at University of Stirling. A lot of things that will help me be a better author and the best ways to get published, but also how much work actually goes into making any publication. If anyone is interested in speaking with the members of staff there, or maybe even thinking about getting your masters in Publishing, simply hover over "University of Stirling" above and click; the link will bring you right to their website! You can also follow them on twitter @stirpublishing and their Facebook page! Well, better get back to work! -EJG We're getting closer, folks! Chapter 21 is coming together nicely, much nicer than I expected even. I hope to finish it before lunch and be on the Chapter shortly after. I am also hoping to be at least half way through Chapter 22 before the end of the day.
I think a good timeline for the next 4 chapters will be to finish them before the end of May. That gives me the rest of the summer to edit, proofread, rewrite, whatever needs to be done. If anyone knows of a good agent, I would be incredibly grateful for their information. If anyone could point me even in the right direction of a YA fiction publisher I would be much obliged! Thanks everyone, keep an eye out for Chapter 21 excerpt before the end of the day! -EJG Today was mildly successful. I actually got a decent amount of writing done and I am almost done with chapter 21! Hopefully by Monday I will have an excerpt for all of my loyal followers! Just call me Joe Carroll...just kidding, don't do that, he's crazy. (The Following, in case anyone was wondering what I was talking about. Great show, watch it.) Anyway, I feel really good about picking this back up and the work I've done so far. Writing is like riding a bike, you can't really forget!
Tata for now. -EJG I'm back at it today. The more I thought about it yesterday, after a giant cup or what we're calling "liquid crack" coffee, the more determined I am to finish this thing up! I have a few ideas for my next project so I want to finish this before I start those. I'm drinking Dunkies today so I'll be a little more mellow, but focused nonetheless. I figure if I chip away at it a little more every day I can get it done before summer. As I just wrote that, my stomach sank. But, this is an opportunity. Nothing will be lost, only gained.
My quote for the day: "The best part of someone underestimating you, is proving them wrong, and showing them what you can do"- E. Guay I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! -EJG I really, REALLY need to finish writing. I have 4 chapters left. Seriously. I think with finishing something like this, something I have been working on for four years of my life, since my first semester in Scotland, there is such a sense of loss. This is kind of the last connection I have to the place I love. I started this when I was 20 years old, fresh off the plane, in a beautiful new country full of incredible possibilities. Since then, I've had so much happiness, sadness, change, distraction, and life that this has kind of taken a back seat. Since I started writing this in March of 2010, I transferred colleges, moved my life across continents the first time, finished undergrad, did some traveling, got my masters, moved my life back across continents, and got a job. There is no excuse anymore, however. I have plenty of time to work on this and finish it, so I need to stop being such a sentimental sap and scardy cat, and finish it! I want to get it out there, I want people to see, and read, and feel everything I have since writing this. The characters have grown with me, I have grown because of the characters. There are so many emotions I have towards this book but the main one is love, which is probably why I'm scared. No one wants to see something they love get rejected or criticized, but that's all part of it, isn't it? JK Rowling got rejected from twelve or so publishers before Bloomsbury went out on a limb and took her on. Now, they could shut the doors tomorrow and everyone could live off of her alone. I, of course, will not be the next JK Rowling by any stretch of the imagination BUT I would love for people to read my book. If I sell 100 copies, that's 100 more than I expected. I'm determined, now. The end is near, but in a good way. So, here goes nothing. The home stretch. Then I can start something else and not finish it for four years! Just kidding.
-EJG So, it has taken months of struggling, and forcing myself to sit and write, but it is finally done! I don't really know why I struggled so hard with this chapter, I think it was because of the intensity that needed to be portrayed. I hope I've done it justice. As always, I sent it over to my editor/proofreader/best friend, Sonja Scutaro. I am anxiously awaiting her review! In the mean time, check out not only this chapter excerpt, but all of them! Thank you all as always for your continuing support!
-EJG Well, I finally have found some time to sit down and write. I don't know how much I will accomplish today, but I want to accomplish SOMETHING. ANYTHING! It has been FAR too long between chapters, I can't even remember how many I have. What I do know is that I need to get in gear and get this thing done. I have spent the past three years looking at books on shelves, longing to see my name on a cover. So, the new goal is to be done before 2014. This gives me just about 14 weeks to finish it. I wrote a 52-page dissertation in a month (not including research), I think I can do 5 or so chapters in 14 weeks. It's going to be tough getting back into the Fledgling mindset and let the creative, non-academic juices flow, but hopefully it will come back quickly. So...here goes nothing... *deep breath*...GO! -EJG |