A box arrived on my doorstep…

How long have I been waiting to hold my real book, printed and bound? Dreams come true.

Yay! I have a new article in the Deseret News today.  (Sunday, Arts section)

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

Hope you like it.

If you are a writer and you live in Utah, have you considered joining Deseret Connect? That’s the fancy name for freelancing for the Deseret News, and that’s how I snag these fun book review assignments. I had one in the Sunday paper, Arts section yesterday.

New book tells of great S.L walks

It’s good experience and gets me reading out of my usual same-old-same-old. You see, they won’t allow me to review anything that is

1. by a friend

2. published by Covenant

3. a YA book

4. any book in which my own book might be in competition with

These rules are to keep away from a possible conflict of interest. Good idea, but sometimes it really makes me giggle. Like for example, if a YA book by Orson Scott Card came out, I wouldn’t be allowed to review it because our books “compete” in the same market. HAHAHA!!!! As if they could even be spoken of in the same breath.

Anyway, get a hold of me if you’d like info on doing some freelancing of your own for the newspaper. You don’t have to do book reviews…they have all sorts of categories, and you can always come up with your own article ideas and submit them for consideration. Fun!

My book, my cute little as-of-yesterday-unnamed-book, finally has a name.

You see, authors don’t get to name their books. I know, I know, it seems shocking. They can SUGGEST names, which may or may not be chosen. But even though the author birthed their book, the final decision belongs to the marketing department of the publishing house.

I’d been told this, so I didn’t even bother naming the thing, not for real. I named it “Get Real” for a contest but never liked that, especially after someone told me it sounded like a Saturday Afternoon Special from the 70′s.

The book also had a few nicknames, like Zillah (the setting) or Amelie (the main character)…just for convenience in conversation. And when I turned the book in, I was asked to come up with ten suggested names.

Now, the committee has spoken…and the title is not any of my ten suggestions or even anything like unto them. We’re going to attempt a series, or at least a sequel, depending on the first book’s sales. So they picked a series title and then individual book titles.

Series title: The End Begins

Book One: Sudden Darkness

And the end is beginning, because the book is being typeset as we speak. Eeeee! This conjures images of an old man, crouching over a metal tray of letters. I think it’s more like pushing a button or two nowadays, but it still makes me excited to say it.

Woohoo! I have an article in the Deseret News, reviewing the new book Fit2Fat2Fit, about a guy who gained 75 lbs on purpose…and then lost it again, all in one year. Pretty interesting book.
Click here for the word

I got my first ever-in-my-life editorial letter.

What that is: when a book is put under contract, it is assigned an editor. The first thing that editor does (when finally given the go-ahead to begin work) is to read the thing, making comments in the manuscript as they go. Then they write a letter summarizing the changes they want, and send it back to the author. It’s been nearly two years since my book was accepted. It’s finally my turn.

I’ve heard a lot about these letters. Sometimes they can be heartbreaking. Often the editors ask for painful changes and cuts. So I was pretty nervous/excited to read what someone would have to say about my writing–someone who is not a friend or relative, but would be looking at it with a cold eye.

I was happy that there were not any huge changes requested. I can live with them all. Besides a boatload of comma errors (!!!  Me?? !!!) there were some logic things, stuff I’d accidentally repeated, stuff that wasn’t clear enough. Junk like that. She changed a few lines that I thought were indicative of Amelie’s unique voice but I can bear to let them go if I have to.

She’s asked me to add some additional struggles for these folks. Can do. I’m experienced at making my characters hurt.

Overall, I’m very relieved.

She did change the very last line. I loved it the way it was. It was so Amelie. Out of all the changes she’s asked for, that’s the one I feel the saddest about…and it’s one little line. Maybe I can think of a better one we both like…

Why mention that topic on my writing site? Because I just had an article about it published in the Deseret News.

Eggs, my friends, eggs.

Seems like a lot of stuff going on with the paper lately, but it’s sort of just chance and the way their schedule works. I don’t write for them that often…maybe once or twice a month. It’s especially difficult to get review jobs from them now, since they changed their rules to say that I can’t review a book by someone I know personally. Or, whose publisher is the same as mine (Covenant) or is even a partner of (like Deseret Book.) So that eliminates many, many review possibilities I would have loved to take.

Still, it’s a lot of fun and great experience. Plus the rush of seeing my byline. **swoon

Yay! My book review of a Michael Jackson bio is on the front page of the Deseret News arts section today.

Link to the online version

…to see my byline in print.

My review of the new book by Jennifer Chiaverini, The Wedding Quilt, appeared in the Deseret News yesterday, in the Sunday Arts section. You can also see it here:

The Wedding Quilt

To celebrate I’ll give away a free copy of this beautiful hardcover book. To enter, become a follower of this blog and leave me a comment.

As seen on Kate Hart: