📚 lisa writes stuff issue #33 📖 It’s editing time
Editing updates, Instagram books, upcoming contests
Welcome to A Most Unreliable Narrator, the slice-of-life newsletter of GenXer around town, Lisa Rabey. I talk about anything and everything with a bit of swears. I’m glad you’re here.
Dear Internet,
My editor returned the edits for the first 5,000 words of Going Crazy (formerly Wake the Hell Up, Alex), my novel in progress, Monday night. I told her I’d deep dive into it in the next couple of days. She seems to like the story thus far so that’s good.
I’m a bit afraid to look at the edits tbh. I do not think what I write is amazing first time out, but the work is my heart and I’m afraid of getting stabbed. I do believe in the story, so I’ll have to suck it up and work with the editor.
The story is also important as Harlequin (the heaving bosom publisher) is having an open call for unagented authors for Harlequin’s mentorship program, Romance Includes You. Harlequin is looking for stories from BIPOC, disability, and other underrepresented groups. Authors are starting to publish work featuring characters with anxiety and depression, so the time is ripe for Alex and her bipolar diagnosis.
I’m 20K words into Alex’s story and I have a notebook chock full of notes as new ideas come up. I’ve been workshopping twists in several FB writer’s groups as well. I already knew that I would need to re-write the first 5K words even before Katherine (my editor) got back to me. I’m trying to not stress about it but it’s hard but because this is the furthest I’ve gotten writing wise.
General advice is that your first novel is a trunk novel which means it’s your practice novel. I get that but I consider my previous novel attempts as my trunk novels. I really want, and need, to make Alex’s world reality.
I have not written on Alex’s story in the last 1.5 weeks while I wait for the edits but I got the idea for an adjoining short story in the same world which is for an anthology for one of my writer’s groups. If I can get into the anthology, that would be amazing.
The rules for the anthology is max 8K words, romance element, and based in the Great Lakes area. I’m already 5K words in but the story is a mess and I already know that ½ of the work needs to be cut.
Alex’s world is based in a fake town of Sycamore Falls, MI. (I’m iffy on the name.) It’s a mix of the county where Throbbing Cabin is located and surrounding areas. I’m turning Sycamore Falls into a series with four couple pair offs. Alex and Seth are the novel in progress and Posey and Jake are the short story. I’m not sure on what to do with the other two couples. Yet.
There is another contest I was going to enter where the theme was deconstructed fairy tale, romance, and no more than 1K words. It’s been a struggle to come up with a story so I’m letting this contest slide.
The third contest I’m hoping to enter is for another writer’s group where the theme is fantasy, futuristic, or paranormal, romance centered, and no more than the first 5500 words of your manuscript. I’ve been working on a paranormal romance cozy mystery so this contest is perfect. Right now, I’m in the world building phase and I’ve started writing the story so hopefully I can have this done by the end of June.
So, this is three writing projects I’m working on and I’m swapping on what I’m working on every day to not get overwhelmed with the story of the day. I’m anywhere from two to three months out from the contest end dates so I have plenty of time. I’ve alerted my editor of the contest end dates and my projections to send my work into her and I’m keeping to that schedule.
You can keep up with my work at my novel in progress page on my website. I’m tracking my work for Going Crazy and The Magic of Maeve Fletcher (working title of the paranormal romance cozy mystery series). Even if no one follows along, it’ll be nice for me to see how I’ve progressed over time.
You can also follow Going Crazy on Instagram by either following me or following the hashtag, #goingcrazybook. Every Monday and Friday, I’ll tell the story of Alex and Seth as the book unfolds.
I got this idea from two sources: Steph and a webinar I took on social media engagement for creatives. (Steph was also in that webinar.) Steph and I were talking about future projects and how to engage with audiences on social media. Steph talked about documenting her story as she starts to get together to open her used brick and mortar bookstore in the next six to twelve months. People like following stories! I thought this was a great idea to workshop Alex and Seth’s story on IG so please feel free to comment as I move along!
My writing cup runneth over.
Submission update
78 submissions, including 63 rejections, 8 acceptances, 1 withdrawal, and 6 outstanding.
Publication
chapbook: commercial breaks
lisa x
(Fuck fascists and Nazis!)
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