The painstaking work

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Going through a manuscript with a fine-toothed comb, or the equivalent method of revising. Or deciding the next stage of a medallion quilt. Or how to use one's energies to oppose a false democracy.

Well OKAY Very Recently Past Me, ahem. Very Recently Past Me (VRPM) seemed to be teetering on the edge of her high horse, but sure, I'll run with this prompt. Uh, yeah....

I'm only hesitant because VRPM made this post because 1) I mostly liked the title in conjunction with editing a new (LOL) book. Not that Give Her My Love: The Hawk Book One is old news, but I do like me a shiny, the shinier (and seemingly more labor intensive) the better. Okay, so that's the main reason for this post.

The current round of pink-ish and green hexagons is halfway done, woo hoo!

The second reason is.... 2) The above quilt! Or what's emerging as nightly I ecstatically stitch away on Alexandria. OMG I am SO IN LOVE with SEWING this QUILT! I'd been deeply (DEEPLY) concerned if a medallion-style pattern would drive me round the bend. On the contrary, it's driving me deeply (DEEPLY) in love with this manner of quilt (EPP-style) making. Part of it is how large (2") are the pieces; wrangling them into place, then sewing them together, is such a stop-start effort, although let me be totally honest; hand-sewing a medallion quilt is VERY stop-start, and I'm exceedingly grateful I upsized Jodi Godfrey's design.

And then the third reason, not that in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM do I support the incoming administration. Only that this blog has been free of political-type blah blah blah for a few entries now, as I've wanted to concentrate on GOOD THINGS. Newly released books, newly discovered old manuscripts, newly (kinda) reclaimed old quilts that I am SO FREAKING in love with, lol. Yeah, lots of good things. Life is heaping with good things, uh, yeah. Heaping. Heaping piles of shite are about to invade my nation's capital with policies and rhetoric that make me wanna hurl. Yeah, hurl. But I'm doing my part, in a small way, by 3) Having subscribed to Americans of Conscience Checklist, and passing along that organization here. It was started by Jennifer Hofmann when the current president-elect went to Washington last time, and it's a great way to feel like my one voice matters. I'll post more about that soon, so Very Recently Past Me just hang onto your hat, and let Present Me talk about other painstaking tasks.

Like choosing an old book off the hard drive shelf, opening it up, and finding its purpose. Not for when I wrote it in the summer of 2012, but for now. Now I'm revising a story relevant to present day, after having given it a read-through during this past week. The kind of read-through that merely determines IF it 1) grabs me by the throat and makes me read until I'm done. 2) Isn't beyond the pale in regard to massive rewrites. And 3) I feel inexplicably drawn to hoist it from the vault, dusting it off, myself as well, then diving into....

The painstaking work. The painstaking work is the kind of chore you know you hafta do, but it's so far down the list it only happens when absolutely necessary. Like cleaning a bathroom or wiping down baseboards, you know what I mean? Okay, maybe not that unpleasant when it comes to a beloved hobby, but every pastime, no matter how enjoyable, has its baseboard moments. Reading my old manuscripts doesn't happen often, those I deliberately filed away for posterity. Yet several nights ago I went to bed with a story on my mind, and the next morning I opened it up, read a few paragraphs, then became giddy. A new book, a new shiny, and one that has NO FRIGGIN' SEQUEL! 

You know me, long-winded (Like how this post is turning out, sorry about that!). But this book is purely a standalone, WHEW! And YAY! Because that singular element lends itself to my wanting to turn it into a gem. Which means after I've read it and loved it, then comes the slicing and dicing. Yes it's good story. No, it's not perfect. But I'm older, wiser, a better reviser than I used to be, hehehe. I'm not a bionic writer, nor do I play one on TV or within this blog. But I'd rather reconstruct a novel than scrub the shower or loo any dang day.

So that's what I'm doing, some painstaking edits for a possible release on Monday, the twentieth of January, 2025. Inauguration day, snark. Was this planned last month, weeks previously? Heck no! It's one of those things that when the spirit/muse says JUMP, I don't ask how high. I merely read, make corrections, wash, rinse, repeat. And sometimes that's how a novel goes from the hard drive to your device, dear Reader.

Well, hmmm. A long post, huh. I'll close with the notion that yes I still need to talk about a quilt-in-progress. A much-loved quilt, recently realized. A quilt I started two years ago, then set aside. Because sometimes life is like that. More on Alexandria, The Hawk, and Americans of Conscience soon!

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