#22 - Update

It was recently brought to my attention that I need to post an update on how things are going with me.

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted until I logged on today. Since so many of you are waiting with bated breath to see how my writing is coming along, here it is:

I've started another new book. I know, I'm crazy. I think I have an issue with finishing things I've started. Hence, the sink full of dirty dishes, the unfolded and un-put-away laundry on the bed . . . I could go on, but I'll spare you the gory details. :)

On another note, I did work on my other two books recently. I'm preparing to attend a writing conference put on by the LDS Storymakers in March. They're having a "First Chapter" contest, and so I worked on the first chapters of each of my books and sent them in.

One of my books has two story lines and I agonized over which one should be the first chapter. I ended up sending in the first chapter of one of the story lines, simply because I felt it was more polished, had a better hook, and was generally better written. Unfortunately, it's not the chapter that I think will ultimately be the first chapter of the book. Oh, well - what's done is done.

The new book I'm working on is written in a way that breaks one of the cardinal rules of writing I've learned. It seems like the only way to write this particular book, though. It feels right. I don't know if it will be publishable this way, but my first intention is to tell the story the way it comes from my heart. Worrying about whether it will get published or not is for another day.

I just finished reading an amazing book today. I read it in two days, partly because it was due back to the library yesterday and I hadn't started reading it yet, but honestly, I don't think I could have put it down even if I wasn't under a deadline. The book is by one of my absolute all-time favorite authors, Shannon Hale. I've read all of her books and loved them, but the one I just read, Book of a Thousand Days, is her best book yet, in my opinion. It's about a lady and her maid, locked in a tower for seven years. To find out more, you'll have to read it yourself. :)

After reading Book of a Thousand Days, I am both inspired and discouraged. Inspired by an amazing story written in beautiful language, and discouraged because I know I could never write like Shannon Hale. Luckily, I don't have to write like Shannon Hale. I only have to write like Jennifer Wilks, and hopefully that'll be good enough.