More on Maine

It is almost time for me to leave this idyllic spot. It's been a good almost three weeks here on the coast of Maine. I've completed the line-edits for my next book, The Rogue's Redemption (Feb.'08), and completed the proposal for my second Love Inspired Historical--no title, not even a working one yet, so I'm calling it Victorian II.

But most of all, I've been able to replenish the well, as some authors call stopping to take a breather and look around you...and imbibe that fragile, tenuous thing called...inspiration.

For any who have never travelled to this last bit of wild Maine coastline (you have to go beyond Bar Harbor), I wholeheartedly encourage you to come to Cutler and hike the Bold Coast and Western Head trails. They vary in lengths, so practically anyone can do them. But on a clear day, you'll never see such blue sky or sea. The cliffs are harrowing (the best part is you can sit right on top of them!) You can sit as long as you like and think about God.

August Fog

August in downeast Maine means fog.

I arrived a few days ago to glorious weather. Nowhere are there skies as blue as in Maine. The black-eyed susans are in full bloom, the asters are just starting to come out, a few raspberries are still visible on the yellowing bushes.

But after a night and morning of rain, fog has set in. From my office window facing the front yard, I see puffs of the white vapors blowing in every once in a while. It's a good day to write.

I've been studying fashion plates of Victorian era teenage girls' outfits. With the exception of the occasional sailor-suit outfit, they dressed more like their mothers. The only difference are the calf-length skirts and hair worn down (just as frequently it seemed to be worn up).

I'm working on writing the first few chapters of a Victorian story, which will be one of Steeple Hill's new Love Inspired Historicals next year.

So, I'd better get back to work...

Return from Vacation

Vacations are great.

We found what we were looking for in SW France and Spain. Sun and heat. The area is arid, with the Corbieres Range in the distance, the beautiful Mediterrean before us and olive groves and peachtree orchards in the intervening fields. And oh, yes, vineyards on every available space of land.

The beach at Port Leucate, France was wide and sandy, and NOT overcrowded. It was perfect.

Barcelona was large. Also hot and sunny. The best part was visiting a cousin and spending hours talking, especially about the Lord.

What Spells Relief?

I am in that state of mental and emotional exhaustion that signals the end of a manuscript. The baby is ready to be emailed to my editor tomorrow. No more going over it anymore for now. It's leaving my hands and will await the eyes of my editor.

The wonderful thing about the editing and rewriting process is that with each successive reading and the changes that result from it, the stronger the characters' motivations start to come through. Dead wood is removed, things are streamlined.

My mind can now turn to vacation time. Hubby, two of our children, and I are heading to the south of France (from the Netherlands) for a week on the beach!!!! We are looking forward to sun, sun, sun. The Netherlands is a very rainy place.

We were blessed to find an apt. right on the beach at a reasonable price. We'll be half an hour from the Spanish border and will probably drive to Barcelona at the end of the week to visit a family member there for a few days.

My mind can take a break so that when we return I can begin researching my next book, a Victorian set in London.

I'm looking forward to some fun beach reading next week.

The Making of a Gentleman

I have just finished the penultimate read-through of my current WIP: The Making of a Gentleman. Pleeeaaaasseee let them keep my title!!!! It's so right for this story.

This has been a grueling month and a half of revisions and self-edits. For some reason, this manuscript was more difficult to write. Was it because it was my tenth (counting all the unpublished ones snuggled among the dust bunnies) manuscript, or was it because I've just written 3 manuscripts back-to-back as deadlines have gotten closer together?

The fact is that I'm so grateful for my critique partner who pinpointed where the trouble spots in the manuscript were and helped me tighten the story, which at times felt like a great unwieldly lump of clay which refused to take the shape I wanted. Our new buzzword: TENSION!

Another challenge in writing it was the fact that at the end of May I was hit by a car while on my bike. I remember nothing about it except waking up on my back in the street, in terrible pain. I suffered a concussion and lots of facial cuts which have now healed. Anyway, suffering headaches for a month did not aid in the creative process.

The Making of a Gentleman is another regency era story set in London. It involves a 'beast' (as in 'Beauty & the Beast') and an ugly duckling, so I'm not sure what to call that combo: Cinderella meets the beast?