Okay, so things have suddenly got just a bit busier. I got my edited manuscript and some excellent comments and suggestions by my editor at Five Star for Heart's Revenge, so I'm going to have to put the new novel on hold for a couple weeks.

Two weeks, actually, to be exact -- edits are due on October 5th. Doh!

But that's a good thing, actually -- too much time and I'd have a tendency to slack. So I finished typing in the most recent chapter of Sixteen Miles this morning, having writting the entire chapter in longhand and loved the process (the transcribing later sorta sucked!). I think I'll keep writing that way -- I really liked it, and never felt stuck (or distracted) like I get at the computer. Actually, I had trouble keeping up with myself as I was telling the story in my head, and stopping was probably the hardest part.

But I'm looking forward to getting back into the paranormal romance novel, to be honest. It's been a while since I visited with Ella and Mitch in Ocracoke. It's a fun story, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of improving Mitch's character and playing up the romance aspects of the book. Maybe we can even take a trip there... Well, maybe after I'm done with my edits...

For inspiration, Lizzie and Drew and I went to the local Borders last night to try and find some cool covers that fit the novel. I'm amazed at the amount of crappy covers for romance novels out there -- what all three of us liked best were the landscape ones -- no people at all, not even a shirtless Fabio. I found just a few that I liked, such as this cover (I dig the almost hidden ship).

I felt a bit better about the rejections I got from various romance publishers when I saw how crappy their covers were. I get to put in my ideas for the novel cover, so it's pretty exciting to think about. I also really like this shot of the Ocracoke lighthouse at sunset. This shot is nice, too.

So it's going to be a busy two weeks. I hate putting aside my current novel-in-progress (I was just getting to the cool stuff! But then again, I always feel that way about), but it's pretty damn exciting to be putting the final touches on a novel before it goes off to print. This is it -- my last chance to fix everything! It's sort of breathtaking -- I've never felt this way about a short story before it's published. Making the edits to this novel feels bigger, and better, somehow.

Whew. And I didn't even get to talk about the fun weekend we had, as we visited with my sister and brother-in-law from Iowa, and I went golfing with the guys, and Lizzie broke "the Streak" that had last for eighteen years... Maybe in another entry I'll give with the details! Later!