To continue from last time, I have now completed the re-write to make it more of a Romance...I think I have. But I still need to polish it—get rid of the adverbs and my normal over-writing. I did that somewhat during the rewrite, but I'm sure I need more. The deadline is Sept. 15, so for the next two weeks, or until I get done, that's what I'll be working on.
And in my spare minutes I'll be thinking about character names. A few people have wondered if I could have two books-a paranormal Romance, and another as a paranormal thriller with a romance subplot. N.K. Wagner thought it would be great, but pointed out that I'd need to change names of the characters. And, I figure, the name of the fictional island nation that the story takes place on. So I'll be thinking about those, plus I must decide which names I want in which version. For example, I definitely want Michael Macduff as the hero in the thriller, and I definitely want Samantha as the love interest in the Romance.
The toughest choice will be Atlantis. First, I'm not sure which version would be better with that name for that character, but it also means I'll have to come up with a different title for one of them...which I would have to do anyway. Right now I'm favoring "Olivia," but that may change.
Whoop! Forget all that! Cancel the names changes. I'm not even going to manage getting the polishing finished in time so I definitely have not the time to change the names. I will submit the Romance version with all names intact. If I am fortunate enough to sell the book, then I'll worry about changing the names for the fantasy version.
On a personal note, I brought my wife home from the hospital today after her second neck surgery last week. Caring for her will probably take a little more of my time than it has in the past few weeks, but less than it did after her first surgery in May.
And that's it. I'm sorry there isn't more, but if you've read up till here then you understand.
One more thing: I've often recommended Page and Spine as a source of good reading material and also a great place to submit your writing. One of the regular features is The Writers' Table. I wrote a critique column for that tab for two years, appearing the last Friday of each month, critiquing the stories that had been published that month. I enjoyed it, but stopped so I'd have more time for my own creative writing. In TWT, authors give general or specific advice about writing, usually with samples of how to or how not to. So if you want to learn more about writing, read that!
Thank you and please keep reading.