Phil, awesome! Well done. Reminds of this blog post from way back when with YA author Nora Price. She said that she gave herself a daily word target of 300 words. I now try to write for about a half hour every weekday (with a big chunk of writing time on the weekend when I can swing it), and if I beat 300 words, I feel like I won the day.

My own writing goal is going well--despite what seems like endless activity here behind the scenes at Book Country--I've been squeezing in morning writing time.

How's everyone else? And Amber--how's your kitty?

 My writing's been ok. I got about 1000 earlier in the week, but between conference planning, early release days (two this week), day job, and a lice infestation, the second half has sucked. I am determined to finish the book in time for the conference next Thursday. Lucy can hold me accountable since she'll be here next week. *Happy dance*

Amber, how is everything with you? Has anything improved? How's your mom?

Noelle

--edited by NoellePierce on 9/25/2015, 4:59 PM--

I only have the final scene and half the epilogue left to write, and only a few things to change in the beginning to reflect what happens in the end, so...maybe? I'd like to have it done. And kids are in day care after school every day next week, so M, T, and W...it's on. 

*fingers crossed*

Noelle

P.S. If I'm lucky, the coloring book will be done, too!

Hi, guys! Thanks for the inquiries. Sorry for not posting Friday. Internet access was down . . . and I forgot again

Things haven't changed much. So far we still haven't found a new place to live and my cat is still with us, since we've found no one to take her in yet. My mom is waiting to get a call from Anne Arbor to set up an appointment to see whether it's really cancer she has.

Overall, things are basically the same. Except one thing: I've written over 2,000 words this week. I even managed to finish a chapter a couple days ago. Destiny's Bond is now 137,000 words. I'm 3,000 words away from my goal. Two more chapters, I think, and I'll have the first book of The Dark Destinies Trilogy finished. Then it will be on to the wonderful world of revision and editing! Yay!

I haven't been writing everyday, but I'm hoping to get back on my schedule soon.

I'm glad your writing is going well, everyone. And it's great to hear back from you, Philthy

Happy Writing!

Amber

By God, I've done it.

Sick of letting Destiny's Bond gather dust, I opened the document at 11:00 P.M. and started writing. It is now 3:16 A.M., and . . . I've finished it.

I've written the entire manuscript, first chapter to last chapter. I've written a total of 140,000 words, fifty-nine chapters. Tonight, I managed a total of 3,000 words, which ended Destiny's Bond, Volume I.

I've never finished a manuscript before--sure, there's going to be editing and revision--but I've written it up. I've gotten the story down. What should I do now? Let it stew? Write something new? I dunno.

Thanks to both of you for your continued support, Noelle, Lucy. Without you, Destiny's Bond could still be sitting around, waiting for me to write it. I'm going to be uploading the full manuscript to the site soon, once I've gone through and made some more edits.

Now, at this exact moment, I can call myself an actual writer. Author will come once I've had something published.

To keep you updated, my mother will be going to the cancer doctor on Thursday, so we'll have information soon about whether she has cancer or not, I hope. And I'm worried about my cat. Somehow she'd crawled under our electronic chair without our knowing, and when my brother went to put the leg rest up, he heard her wheezing and gasping. So he put the footrest back down and my cat shot out.

Now, she won't let us near her. I petted her head a little bit ago, but when I went to scratch under her chin like she likes, she growled at me and wouldn't let me touch her. I can't afford to take her to the vet. She's eating though, so that's good.

. . . Oops, I went on and on again, didn't I? Sorry.

Amber

Amber,

Congrats on finishing!!!! That's a fantastic feeling, isn't it? 

My fingers are crossed that you get good news at the doc on Thursday. Keep us posted, please.

Oh, cats. They keep getting into places they shouldn't, don't they? I hope kitty is okay soon, too.

x♥x

Thanks, Noelle. It really is a great feeling. I'm kind of dreading the re-read and edit, though. I'm not entirely certain what needs polished or changed. Suppose that's what beta readers are for, though I've no idea how to find those elusive creatures . . .

My cat's doing fine now. I think the whole experience just traumatized her, is all.

I'll definitely keep you guys updated.

Happy Writing!

Amber

Hi, guys!

Wow, is it actually Friday that I'm posting on? Yippee

My week has been spent editing and shaving off on word count with Destiny's Bond, so no new writing, really.

On a different note, it turns out today is the day my mom is tested. She's at the doctor right now, and I'm not sure how long it will be before we get the test results.

Pray for us, okay?

Amber

Amber--sending a big hug your way.

I am here in Atlanta at Noelle's conference where she is doing an AWESOME job as conference chair! Just took an awesome workshop and it is inspiring me to get a bunch of words in!

I didn't write yesterday but I did a tiny bit this morning and did some every other weekday this week.

Thanks, Lucy. And I'm glad your writing is going well!

@Noelle: I pray your conference goes as planned

@Amber, hope you got good news today. *hugs*

The conference is going along well! I'm excited to see Lucy again. She is fabulous, as always.

I have done very little writing, though I did sneak in 100 words during Candace Havens' Fast Draft & Revision Hell workshop...

x♥x

Noelle

Hi, Noelle. We're waiting for the results now. It'll probably take them a few days to find out.

It's understandable not to have much writing done when you're as busy as you are right now

I'll keep you both in the loop!

EDIT: My mom is going to have to have a biopsy. They need to take some of her cells to determine whether it's cancer or not. Now all we do is wait for them to call and set up another appointment

--edited by Amber J. Wolfe on 10/2/2015, 6:35 PM--

Way to go re: Finishing your first book Amber!  (Sorry about the worrisome news though  I hope it turns out alright!)

I haven't posed on the Friday group because I've felt a bit intimidated but, wanted to share that I threw down 21k words this past week and posted a short story for a contest.  *mops brow*  

It feels good when there's forward movement!  

Do people mostly work on one project or are they crazy like me and have several irons in the fire?

I'm trying to do what I never been able to: Morph my adroit drawing style into a finished illustration style that I've never been at peace with. I am a crippled perfectionist, the fallout from a father that made us all feel that nothing we did was good enough. He was a brilliant man, but he felt undervalued, and I believe we kids were supposed to be the proof to the world of his superiority. All three of us have imploded from his expectations. 

.

I will use this accountability group to ramp up my courage. Fifty years of fighting my sketch style, which is my great strength, that got me a full scholarship to Syracuse University School of Art in 1964. That's the method with which I build characterization. I am in agony. I have a great young Sly, looking dubious/perplexed at a bug landing on his ear. I have a smiley damselfly, also good, but, per usual, sketchy. Needs a certain amount of cleaning up. Then I will whisk (caught a typo here, I had typed wish, maybe closer to the truth) it into Sketchbook Pro and try to develop a path to overlaid/underlaid color. 

This is crunch time. I have something that I and a few others believe is ready to be published. (Sly - The Poem, a story-verse of Sly's problematic childhood, visiting the challenges that made him into the daring fellow he would be - read my novella for that story.) Short, 1200 words, but for the footnotes, my abundant far-ranging references take a bit of explaining. This has to be an illustrated book. There is no other way. If I can't solve my fifty-year problem now, I'm hopeless. 

--edited by Mimi Speike on 10/3/2015, 5:02 PM--

DianaRoseWilson wrote:

ha

It's Friday! Whoohoo! Cue the fireworks! The red banners! The awful marching band music!!!

. . . Kidding.

Anyway, I've not written much of anything this week. I'm planning to start working a bit on my novella Crimson Fury, which I've been putting off in my focus on Destiny's Bond.

Currently, Destiny's Bond is stewing. And time to write might be becoming shorter--A job might be in my future. Maybe. Right now, I'm waiting for a call back. He called at 9:00 A.M. I return called at about 2:00 P.M. He wasn't there, so now I'm waiting until he return calls me, ahaha.

But yeah, I need to buckle down and start writing. I don't want to get soft, right?

How about you, Lucy, Noelle, Philthy? Get any writing done this week?

P.S. No news regarding my mom's health yet. We're waiting for a call from Anne Arbor, to set up the next appointment. We're thinking it'll be in November. Ugh.

Hey, where are you guys? Lucy, Noelle? You didn't clock in last Friday . . .

Well, I'm here, so I might as well be held accountable.

I've not written anything since Sunday. Bad, I know. But I'm thinking I'll have to rework my goals until I get use to the changes going on--I was hired into my first job. Work is from 5:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. I haven't gotten used to it, so I come home tired. Which means writing has been on the backburner. Once my brain has adjusted to the newness, I'm hoping my writing will follow.

I'd write more, but I have to get ready for work.

Bye, guys!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I didn't post last week. I have no updates on my writing. I recently learned I won't have a class for the term going into the holidays (which sucks giant monkey balls), and I've been scrambling to find a way to make money during that time. Therefore, I'm going to be releasing my adult coloring books by the end of the month (I'll post links to the FB page when it's ready). The only writing I anticipate doing in the next week or so is the copy and forward/introduction to those. THEN, maybe I can finish the revisions on my historical. I do need to post the revised beginning on here, though. I'll let you know when I do that, too.

It never ends, huh?

Amber, congrats (?) on the new job. Those hours aren't ideal, but at least you're done by 2! That'll be awesome once you adjust to the hours. I always felt great when my classes let out in the early afternoon because I felt like I still had a lot of "day" to get things done (versus getting out at 5 or 6).

x♥x

Noelle

Hi ladies and Phil! (and anyone else who joins us )

I'm sorry I didn't post last Friday . . . I was remiss bc it was . . . my birthday! So I was out having lunch and getting my nails done, LOL. (I took a vacation day from Book Country.) I actually also had a family wedding over the weekend so I did not write for several days and I missed it! The last couple of days have been good, about 1000 words total.

Amber--congrats on the new job! Are you a morning person? Another thing I learned from the book that inspired this thread (BETTER THAN BEFORE by Gretchen Rubin) was that people are usually larks or owls--they feel energized in the morning or at night. I am definitely an owl, so for me, writing later in the day works okay even if I had to get up early--it's whatever I do early in the morning that will feel like a slog. I also can't handle working out or running errands in the morning.

Noelle--I am sorry to hear that you weren't given a class--but soo excited about this coloring book! When will we learn more?

Ever since Moonlight & Magnolias (and the historical romance I read on the way home), I keep wanting to cheat on my WIP and start writing a romance . . . it was such an inspiring conference!

Thanks, Lucy, Noelle.

To answer your questions:

No, I'm not a morning person. I'm an owl. BUT this is the only job that actually called back, so I had to take it. We're tight for money right now, so me and my brother both had to find jobs. Luckily, we were hired by the same place, so we're sorta kinda working together. In different departments, but still together.

We get two 10 minute work breaks, as well as a 30 minute lunch period. It's a sit down job, climate controlled. In all, not a bad first job, in my opinion.

I hope your writing starts to pick up! Now that it's the weekend, maybe I'll get some writing done too

I'm definitely an owl, forced to be a lark because of school-aged kids and a puppy. My word production has declined steadily since they started school. LOL

Lucy, I'll definitely let you know when I send them into the world. Also, you totally SHOULD write a romance! I'm so glad you found the conference inspiring. We absolutely loved hosting you.

x♥x

Hello all!

I didn't past anything last week because it was a 5k week.  Better this week at 10k but still feel like I'm behind.  I hope to be back on the wagon this week and keep it going! 

I went to a horse show this weekend and now I am thinking about that book series I've had in my head involving an equestrian and the barn-life and all the crazy stuff that goes on at horse shows.  I have the feeling that's been done already though so I never had let the idea fly out of my head.

*rolls up sleeves*  I did a 15k week this week and finished my Halloween contest erotica story and edited it (I know it needs more but--editing).  Even made a book cover for the thing and put it up here for Workshop 'n to get it polished up all pretty.  (An Angel and an Owl is the story -- I think I need to move it to pure erotica rather than romance. Boo.)  

I should spend today editing and re-writing the Bay Laurel Tree but it's like knowing I need to feed a tiger that may rip my  heart out.  I'm just not sure I have the spine or stomach for it.

I'm plotting my NaNo story with some research.  Also, I realized I can use the characters to put together for my Halloween story for a 'Winter Holiday' erotic writing contest so I might include that in my writing for Nov. ( I /will/ have a story that rates a 5.0!)

How is the NaNo planning/plotting going?  Making your freeze-meals for the month?  (I might be doing that.)

Happy Friday everyone!

Getting super excited for NaNoWriMo myself. During my writing time over the last few days, I cleaned up the last 30 or so pages of my manuscripts--this is where I was storing all the free-writes and fragments I had. I cross-referenced my outline and found places to either put them in the text, or I put them in a recycle doc to get them out of the way. I feel like I am prepping for an out of town guest--cleaning up and making sure all my ducks are in a row so that when I start NaNo on November 1 I won't be greeted with a hot mess of manuscript doc and be tempted to clean it up then.

Now that my doc's looking good, I'm going through and identifying scenes that need to get written. The other thing I want to have happen is that I will be able to open the doc and find little prompts for myself and just get going.

John Updike said, "Some very good things have been written on an hour a day." I think it will take me over an hour to write 1776 words but I am okay with that.

Tell me more about these freezer meals, Diana . . .

Hellooooo friends!!!!

This week has been eventful. One, I received my first novel rejection, so that was fun. Two, I lost my job--or had to quit, because getting there became impossible. And three, I bought a new bike with the money I got from the job I had to quit

I've been going through and polishing Destiny's Bond. I have two beta readers, and maybe a third and fourth soon. We'll see how it goes!

Oh, Lucy, and may I say I'm digging the pretty pictures of everyone in the forum discussions

Amber

P.S., on the first week of next month my mom goes in for her biopsy. We have homes lined up for our cats, within the family. We'll also be moving to a new apartment soon.

Lucy -- That's a lot of work getting your manuscript in tip-top workout shape.  (If your free writing looks anything like mine anyway!)  You've got this though!  This Nov you will get all the missing pieces you need!

As for freezer meals -- I made sauces (Spaghetti as an example) and soups and freeze them into meal sized containers for the family.  The pasta sauce I can make spaghetti or lasagna or shells or what-ever with only a short prep work like boiling noodles or tossing into the oven with cheese.   Soups just re-heat.

This worked out great last year so I could squeeze out a little extra writing focus rather than being worried about cooking.  Slow cooker meals are also good because they are easy prep, you throw them together the night before, turn them on in the morning--ready by nighttime. Boom.  No stress. More writing.

I got that idea from my first year trying NaNo but only really followed through last year and it helped a lot.

Wow, Amber, what a week!

Lots of good vibes for your mom and for the job stuff. So glad to hear your cats are going to be living with family members--so that you can at least see them, right? Maybe catsit every now and again? Still, so tough.

Very very curious to hear about this novel rejection!! I didn't even know that you were submitting.

And thanks, Amber! I love the avatars as well. Everyone looks beautiful and it does make browsing the boards really fun.

Did you notice you can click through directly to people's profiles now? Makes it easier to connect!

Amber -- I hope the rejection was full of possibilities rather than one of those less than helpful ones.   

Sorry to hear about the job, but you'll find something better!  (And more time to write? Spend time with your mom/famil?)

Move + New job  = Good change stuff.  

Change isn't always fun, but man, you never know what new adventure will be waiting for you!

@Lucy:

I noticed this! I really love it

I was encouraged to submit to Hodderscape during an open submission period they were having by someone who read my manuscript and was impressed, so I decided to give it a shot. I didn't expect to be accepted, so the blow wasn't too bad when they sent me this lovely generic rejection:

Dear _______,

Thank you very much for sending us your novel Destiny's Bond during our open submissions period. I'm sorry to say that we will not be moving forward with your novel, but thank you again for submitting it.

Due to the huge number of submissions we received, we unfortunately are unable to provide personalized feedback on your submission. But throughout the open submissions process we have been astonished, overwhelmed, and wholly delighted with the imagination, talent and ability of the 1500 people who submitted manuscripts to us. Please accept our congratulations, on behalf of the entire team here at Hodder, on your commitment and drive. It's no easy thing to finish a novel and you have everything in the world to be proud of.

Good luck with your novel and your writing career!

Best regards,

Anne and the entire Hodderscape team

I'm pretty sure that's what they sent to everyone they rejected, and I'm planning to plaque it on my wall, to look at it

And yes, we'll be able to see our cats occasionally, so that's a nice plus. Hate having to give her up, though.

And thanks Diana! I'm not giving up

Hey everyone! 

I'm trying to catch up on all the posts.

Hi Diana! Welcome!

I just put the coloring books into CreateSpace, so I'm waiting for my proofs. 

Lucy, I'm thinking of doing NaNo, too...which means I need to start plotting ASAP. I just have to figure out which story is going to speak to me.

Amber, I'm glad your cat is staying close. Fingers are crossed for your mom. 

Noelle

Wow! You can certainly see where the action is with these new notifications. I've gone nowhere. Not with the illustration, not with the novella. Got to get back drawing this weekend.

.

As for the novella, I'm stuck on the 'voice' thing. All my people sound alike, is what I'm told. I've copied a bunch of stuff about voice off Scribophile. I've also found a piece on Gore Vidal. Says all his characters sound alike, all arch, his own outlook/voice. I have a suspicion that in the end I'll say screw it, and go with something close to what I have. I haven't looked at it for two-three months now, maybe I'll see the problem more clearly. 

This is out of an interview with Vidal biographer Jay Parini: 

.

"I think Gore’s books are all acts of solo talking. They are all monologues. And the voice is disembodied in some way. Whether it’s the voice of Burr or the voice of Lincoln, that’s just Gore talking. It’s Gore’s tone. And it’s always the arch tone. So Gore has the one voice, but he puts different clothes or costumes on the character, but it’s just Gore."

.

So, I'm thinking, maybe I can get  away with what I've got, just tweak a bit. That's my mind-set of the moment.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 10/25/2015, 12:25 AM--

@ Amber

 Hello. I was wondering, do you mind saying when you got that e-mail from Hodderscape? I submitted too but haven't heard from them since the confirmation of receipt.

 I'm just wondering whether to feel excited or ignored.

 T

--edited by JWillemse on 10/26/2015, 7:26 AM--

Hi, @JWillemse

They said they're hoping to get to everyone who submitted by October 30th. I'm thinking they mean to respond to everyone either with a negative or an affirmative--they don't mean to leave anyone in the dark.

I'd go to their site and search: Open Submissions and check out the update they left, if you haven't already. If I'm remembering correctly, Anne--the head Editor--said they were responding to submitters in the order they logged the manuscripts.

It's live, it's Live, it's LIVE!!!! I'm so excited, I'm not getting any writing (or any other work) done. I keep petting them. 

...for those of you who haven't followed, I'm referring to my coloring books. I made one specifically for writers to help cut out writer's block. Here's the link to it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1He2T3F

Okay. Maybe if I go clean the kitchen or something I'll get motivation to do something other than check Facebook and Amazon.

Noelle

Noelle! How gorgeous!!! I want one. I will buy.

Now we know your real name???

So many congratulations to you. So cool!!

Thank you!   

As far as my real name... *snicker* Someone once found out that "Noelle" was a pseudonym and asked why I used it. My reply is that while I don't mind being mistaken for a beautiful Hollywood starlet by a similar name, I don't want people confused when I finally publish in fiction. But in non-fic, I can add my degrees, which separates me from her. And from financial institutions in Elizabeth, NJ.

Now, I need to drag myself away from the computer and away from the physical books on my table and get some work done. LOL

--edited by NoellePierce on 10/29/2015, 11:54 AM--

@ Noelle - Hi Noelle. Very interesting. I'm looking for information, can't find it. How many pages? Also, since this is to be colored, I assume the interior is black and white. Do you mind telling me approximately how much your book(s) cost to print? I'm working on a verse story/paper doll that will be sold in hard copy. I have also thought of producing a coloring book, of my characters. 

.

Hope you do well with your line. I have looked into these adult coloring books and have been quite taken with them. Know what would interest me even more? (If it can be worked out so the printed picture doesn't bleed.) A water-coloring book. To allow really vibrant color! What do you think about that?

--edited by Mimi Speike on 10/29/2015, 7:46 PM--

@Mimi -

It's 108 pages, with 100 being actual coloring or journal/brainstorming pages. Trim is 8x10. Black and white interior, white paper. All done through CreateSpace. For me to buy one directly through CS, it's about $2.50 plus shipping (approximately $3.00).

A paper doll book would be awesome, and a coloring book to match definitely helps the branding.

Watercolors would be fun, too, but you'd have to find a printer who would be willing to use the correct paper. Laser printing shouldn't bleed with water, but the thinness of the paper might cause a problem. I keep thinking back to art classes and remember the thicker and/or textured paper, but I don't know if any general POD printers (like CreateSpace or Lulu or LightningSource or even Book Country's printer) offer something like that.

@Amber - thanks! And how have you been?

I've been doing, I suppose. My mom's biopsy is scheduled for November 6th--yes, they finally got a hold of us. Took them long enough. Seems the doctors are all pretty much in agreement that my mom has cancer, and with her health . . . it's not looking good. I'm nineteen, and looking to lose my mom if a miracle doesn't happen.

I also got a discouraging beta read on Destiny's Bond--basically, he said it won't ever be published and that it's 'good practice'. Then he went on to give me advice on how to write better.

I appreciate the advice, but that he called Destiny's Bond 'good practice' makes me a little sad inside. I've put hours upon hours upon hours into this story, doing my best to tighten it and better it, and he thinks it's not even worth a 'with some reconceptualization, I think you could mold it into a publishable piece.'

Nope, all I got was a 'it's good practice.'

He seems to think I'm aiming to be a best seller, and went on to say Destiny's Bond will never be that. Umm . . . I wasn't aiming for being a best seller anyway. All I want is to write a story others can enjoy. I'm not aiming for best seller status, and don't believe I said anything to put him under that assumption.

To his credit, he did say he believes I can be published, once I start writing more novels. He thinks I'm serious about writing, and I am. I just wish he'd been a bit softer with his blows, I guess.

I'll stop rambling now, since that's what I'm doing.

Best of luck with your coloring books, Noelle! I hope you sell bunches and bunches and become famous!!!

lol

@Amber - *giant hugs* You and your mom are in my prayers. 

As far as the feedback, it doesn't sound as helpful as it should have been. Did he at least give you suggestions for improvement, or pointed out exactly WHY he though it was unpublishable? Also, is he IN publishing? Is he an editor? How would he know what is publishable or not? Grrr. It always bothers me when people blanket statement like that. /rant

Happy Friday!

Amber, sending you a big hug from NYC. Lots of healthy wishes for your mom!

Yes, that review sounds unhelpful. Do you have any contextual information that would help you to disregard and move on?

Thanks for the hugs, guys. I'm praying my mom doesn't have cancer, but the doctors seem to think it is already.

The beta reader is a fellow writer like me, who likes to read my genre and who I'd beta read for. He hasn't had anything published, that I know of. In our discussions via email, I'm sure he said he's not had anything published, but is working to change that.

He did say that you had to have compelling events in a novel. I was hoping that the emotional scenes/action-centric scenes I thrust the characters into had filled that role.

He said I needed a theme for my novel, and I do--the struggles with recognizing good versus evil, basically. I'll admit the theme doesn't come out sharply until the second quarter of the novel, but I thought I'd made it clear enough for readers to see. Heck, in the 'how-to-write' fiction books I've studied, they said that 'some books have themes, others don't. Or at least, not themes that are clear to the reader.' So, I wasn't too worried about Theme.

He also said my book's plot is unclear. This, I understand. Destiny is adrift for most of the novel, without a true goal other than gaining her freedom. This goal is constantly blocked by obligations and her sense of protection over those she comes to care for. However, I thought the plot became clear about halfway through the novel, when Destiny and her new companions must travel to Brightwood to plea with the Green Court to grant them the protection of a Light Nythpath. Basically, Destiny's new companion's village is being plagued by dark stains left by dark creatures I've called Darklings. These stains are sickening the people and giving them horrible nightmares. On their journey to Brightwood, Destiny learns that more than just her companion's village is being affected by the dark stains--even forests are becoming warped and the animals twisted into bloodthirsty demons.

In essence, book 1 of the Dark Destinies Trilogy sets up for book 2, when things really get bad. I've read novels/trilogies that start as mine do, at a slow boil. Heck, Anne Bishop's Tir Alaain Trilogy starts like this. One of the MC's seems adrift for a lot of the novel, until the plot catches up to her.

He said, "Write what you want to read." I honestly thought I was.

He said, "Your style didn't feel natural." It's the style I've cultivated over the last year through practice. Maybe it's not good enough . . .

He called Destiny's Bond a 'shallow novel', which means a reader skims along the top to the end of the story, sets it aside, and does something else. I don't understand what made him say this. How does he know what an individual reader will do? How does he know their tastes?

He then gives me advice: put Destiny into a situation and see what she does. Go as long as possible. The story will change as you do this, and be sure to go back and edit the chapters before so it all ties in.

That's what I did when I began my rewrite of Destiny's Bond. I put Destiny in a situation, and let her lead me on through the story. She's the one who showed me what her story would be, and where it would lead. But maybe I didn't do it right.

Granted, he put a disclaimer to his suggestions--take what you will, leave the rest. But he strongly stressed why I should follow his advice.

He said my characters lacked emotional resonance, and that stung badly. My story is driven by the characters, and that he didn't feel they seemed realistic hurt. I mean, yes, none of my characters are 'all human'. Destiny is part human, but hosts the soul of a predator and a Goddess, and those two other souls dictate a lot of what she does and feels at times. Karissa is a half-human half Dark Elf hybrid, known as a stigmaton in my world. Arashi is the same, only he's a half wolf-celestialite, half human. But I hoped their personalities and behavior worked for their characters.

I'm not letting his feedback rule my thoughts. I'm just not certain what to think. I've been working on Destiny's Bond for about two years now, molding it into what I believed my heart and my characters wanted it to be. Am I wrong to think I can get it published? A lot of reviewers here on Book Country seemed to enjoy reading it--there were even a few who read through until I had no more chapters uploaded and enjoyed the story as far as I'd had it. Sure, they gave little bits of advice on small things, but they didn't not enjoy it.

I don't know. I guess I'm in one of my ruts again, ahaha . . . And I went off on another ramble. I gotta work on that . . .

Hope you all have a happy Holloween.

Amber