Reviews, Edits, and Updates

It's been a while since I've posted anything so I thought I would explain why and give you a quick update on where I am at.

I got my first review on the Beacon from a stranger, and let's just say it wasn't what I expected at all.  Basically in the review the person my writing got confusing at times and my bad grammar really took away from the person really enjoying the book.  I put on a brave face because I didn't want anyone to know how truly upset the review made me.  The best way I can get you to understand how I felt is to tell you this: I spent seven years of my life working on the Beacon and to have somehow say not so nice things about it was absolutely soul crushing.  Just imagine spending seven years working and putting your heart into something; and then working up the courage to share what you've done with someone, only to have them point out all the bad things.  I think you can understand my anger and heart break.  I didn't want to run the risk of retaliating against that person so I ignored my blog, facebook page, and goodreads page to keep myself from saying something I would regret.  Now, I'm at the point where I am at peace with that review, and my original anger has evaporated.

One of my biggest problems in writing is my grammar.  I am no expert and I will never claim to be an expert.  So I've spent the last few weeks studying my English Grammar for Dummies book.  I have a much better grasp of grammar rules, and I'm beginning a third round of edits on the Beacon.  I started the edits yesterday, and every time I forget a rule or am unsure of how the rule works I look it up to make sure I get it right.  It's going to take me a little while to finish the edits so please bear with me.  I've come to the realization that is going to take a lot of time and effort to have the grammar rules memorized.  I also know my Grammar for Dummies book is a bit old, meaning some of the rules are out dated, which is fine because I don't see how those rules are wrong.  I'm also listening to audio books to train my grammar ear.  My hopes is to be a true grammarian by next year (I think that's a pretty reasonable time frame).

I have been thinking about a few things as far as writing and releasing the Forsaken (the sequel to the Beacon).  I am thinking of putting the Forsaken on hold for a few months and finish one of my other drafts.  I've been thinking of doing this for a while now for several reason.  1) I would really like have some time of suspense between the Beacon and the Forsaken.  2) I'd like to expand my fan base, and I think releasing other books will help me do that.  3) I have so many drafts I need to finish.  4) I think it'll be good for me to have something different to write in between a series of books; it will keep me from getting bored.

So this is where I am at right now.  I'm going to finish the edits on the Beacon as soon as possible, and then finish this draft I have that doesn't have a title yet.  I have so many stories planned out; I can't wait to share them with you.

WooHoo!

The Beacon is now available for Kindle!  Here's the link  - Beacon link.  So please get it, read it, and review it!

I've been asked by quiet a few people if the Beacon will be available on other e-book apps, and the answer is yes.  I singed up for the Beacon to be only available on Amazon for the first 90 days, so after the 90 days I will be publishing it on other sites.  The reason I made it only available on Amazon is because I'm planning to have a weekend where the Beacon will be free for everyone.  I don't have a set date for that but it will happen once I'm ready to publish the Forsaken (the sequel to the Beacon.)  So you are more than welcome to wait to read the Beacon until it's free or get it for $0.99.  (I just want people to read.)

On that note, I will keep everyone updated on the Forsaken through my Facebook page and my goodreads author page.  Feel free to follow either page or both, you won't want to miss what i have planned.  So far I've only got five chapters of the Forsaken done.  It's been a challenge because I'm following the viewpoints of two characters.  The Beacon was written from Arella's point of view, and I got to her know her very well.  With the Forsaken I am writing from Arella's and Jayden's point of views, I don't know Jayden as well as I should.  I'm facing the challenge of quickly getting to know Jayden as well as I know Arella, which is proving to be harder than I originally thought.  I also have two different story lines that have to come together at the end.  I knew the Forsaken was going to be a challenge to write, but I'm excited to face this challenge.

Well I'm going to stop now before I accidentally give something away.  So please enjoy the Beacon, and remember I would love to hear what you think.  I'm looking forward to sharing the Forsaken with you as well.

Emotions of Editing

So I sent my draft of the Beacon to my sister-in-law, Sarah, to get feedback and to have her help me edit it.  I went through a lot of different emotions throughout having someone else read my book.  I thought I'd have no problem with it but I was very wrong.  Let me tell you about the journey I went through.

1. Anger - The first message I got from Sarah just told me where she was at and that there was some confusion.  I'm not really sure why I got angry other than someone is telling me a problem with my book.  I had to walk away from my phone and pray because I knew Sarah was only helping and I shouldn't be angry.  Prayer made my mind switch gears, I reread the message, and I explained what I envisioned to clear up the confusions.

I was like, "Ok, I've had my little anger spat so the rest should be good."

2. Deep Thinking - The message I got was questioning a curse word I used when I am a christian and my book has christian undertones.  I politely explained that I wanted my characters to shine through and used the characters personality as a way to justify using the word.  After I sent the message I was greatly trouble by my excuse.  So I prayed.  God gentle let me know that using the curse word wasn't the best idea and as Sarah told me there are plenty of other words I can use.

Me to myself: "That was humbling."

3. Uncertainty - At this point in the update from Sarah I was questioning why I even wanted to be a writer.  I really just wanted to bang my head against something.  I had left out some minor details and things that would make the world of difference to include.  So this time I read my Bible and prayed a lot.  When I was finished praying I felt this overwhelming sense of peace.  Even though I left stuff out I can still go back and fix things.  God reassured me my dream of being an author would soon be a reality and that I needed to patient and do things in His timing.

Me: "This book will be awesome when it is finished!"

4. Foolish - Sarah was very confused by what my antagonist was ultimately planning.  My goal was to keep things about my antagonist a secret because I wanted the ending to be a big surprise.  I ended up doing too good of job on that, there wasn't much information on my antagonist.  So again I prayed and did some brainstorming.  I hadn't given much thought to my antagonist in the first book because I am planning to iron out all my antagonists plans in the second book.  In my brainstorming I found what information I needed to give my readers to understand my antagonist in the Beacon.

My thoughts: "Disaster averted, man I am good."

5. Excitement - At this point in receiving updates from Sarah we tossed around ideas on what would book so much better.  When I first sent her the draft I had already been thinking my book needed some more oomf to really catch peoples interest and to make the world I created more magical.  I was grateful for her ideas because it really helped me to think of things I hadn't given much thought to before.  I was very excited to being editing and adding things to the Beacon.

I talk to myself when I get excited about things but talking seemed like it wasn't enough so I did a happy dance.

6. Joy - When Sarah finished reading the Beacon she really loved the Beacon.  All I could think was "this is great."  Despite my many errors Sarah really enjoyed the Beacon and I couldn't have been happier.  I told I was really happy she liked the ending because it was really hard for me not to spoil the ending.

And today when she gave me the manuscript she asked a few more questions about two characters I used in the beginning of the Beacon and then never mentioned again.  I confirmed her suspicion of them coming into the sequel.  There were a few other things one being my lack of really mentioning the Higher Power.  I didn't say much on that because I didn't really think of the Higher Power as his own character but as a version of God without calling him God.  So after thinking it over I've decided to keep the Higher Power as a background character and in the sequel I'll really bring in the Higher Power.  I'm not going to say more about my plans for the sequel because I want to leave people in suspense and not spoil anything in the Beacon.

Monday I will begin the second round of edits on the beacon.  My goal is to have all the edits completed and the Beacon up for sale on December 1st.  I'll keep you updated if the date changes, hopefully, the only change is to release it sooner.  After I'm done with edits I will being writing the Forsaken.  This time I'm going to be emailing Sarah chapters as I finish them to get feedback and make sure I don't have any plot holes.

My dream of being an author is becoming a reality.  I cannot be happier.  I thank God for guiding my steps and leading the way on this journey.

(p.s. I'm pretty sure there typos in my blog posts but I'm ok with them.  I write the posts like I'm talking to someone so they do not resemble the way I write in my books.  Just thought I should day this to put people at ease.)

Exciting Times

Exciting things have been happening lately.  First off I finished writing and editing the Beacon!  I've sent it off for my brother, Robert, and his wife, Sarah, to read and make sure everything flows and to catch any grammar or spelling mishaps.  I made the cover for the Beacon!  I now have an author page on Facebook!  I have a book description!  And I've come up with the series name!

Here is the cover!  Not bad for my first time ever making a book cover!

I also made a description to spread the word and get people interested in the Beacon:

Hundreds of years after World War 3 the world enjoyed peace.  But a threat looms in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to launch its attack.  Arella has been chosen by the Higher Power to be the Beacon, the protector of the Higher Power’s creation.  The Higher Power has blessed her with Gifts beyond her wildest dreams but at a price she’s unsure she wants to pay.  She is torn between the quiet life she wants and the famous life as the Beacon.  Dark secrets and a deceptive enemy force Arella to make a decision and accept she is the Beacon.  Yet in the end the enemy will force her to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the lives of her loved ones.

The series is called: A Story of His Love.  I plan to write two more books titled the Forsaken, and the Chosen.  Which I'm very excited to begin writing the Forsaken because I've been dreaming up the sequel for a long time and am ready to take on all the challenges it holds.

I feel very blessed by God.  I have been  praying for years to have the opportunity to finish a book and publish it.  God's has greatly blessed me and I can't be happier.  I continue to pray for everything to go smoothly and I continue to pray that people love the Beacon as much as I do.  This has been my dream since I was 16 years old.  I'm glad the Lord has taken His time molding me into the author He wants me to be.  My greatest pray has been that I stay the author He wants me to be and that by writing people will come to know Him as I do.

I hope to have the Beacon available on Kindle in a few weeks.  I'm excited to take this leap and I hope I don't disappoint all the people that have expressed their interest in reading the Beacon.

If you haven't already please like my author page, https://www.facebook.com/SarahElizabethBooks, and if you have you are awesome!  Feel free to subscribe to my blog to get all the latest information on what God is working in my life  I hope to have a goodreads author page soon, I'll keep you posted.

A Lesson in Forgiveness

Forgiveness seems like a simple concept to understand.  We cry out to God and ask His forgiveness for our sins and He forgets them.  Forgive someone for doing wrong to you is easy if we follow God's example.  But when we make mistakes we often dwell on them and hate ourselves for what we've done.  So often we forget to forgive ourselves.

I know I have many times.

About a week I was talking with a good friend of mine.  Just to give you a picture of our friendship I'll tell you a bit about him.  I met him on my first day in a new school in sixth grade, I was a very shy sixth grader and he was the farthest thing from shy.  We became fairly good friends and he lived down the street from me so he would came out with me and the kids that lived in my housing development.  We lost touch when I became homeschooled and through Facebook we became friends again and caught up on what's been going on in our lives.  I call him a good friend because he's one of the few friends I have that believes in God and because even though we don't talk all that much he always gives me good advice.  Anyways, a week ago I was telling him what's been going in on in my life, how I fell away from God and was now clinging to God to help me through the hard times that have fallen on me.  I told him about all the guilt I felt by breaking my promise with God, pushing my family away, and turning to alcohol to solve my problems.  He told me that God forgives and forgets but I had to forgive myself.

So I thought about what he said.  At first I was like "Ha! I've already forgiven myself" but that was a big fat lie.  God knew it, and I knew it.  I spent the next few days thinking about how to forgive myself.  I prayed for God to show me how to do that.  And He did.  He showed me how to accept the mistakes I made and to let go of the guilt I felt.  By letting go of my guilt I set myself free from the torment I was putting myself through.  I will always carry the memories of my fall.  God showed me that having those memories would sever as reminder of what I had once been.  Those memories are no longer a source of torment, they are a reminder of the person I no longer want to be.

Loving and believing in God doesn't mean I won't ever struggle with sin.  It doesn't mean I  will be perfect.  It means that even though I fall short of God's grace everyday He will always be there to forgive me and to help me in my walk with Him.  I've been assured that if God can forgive me than I can forgive myself.  I doesn't matter to me if no one else forgives what I've done and will do as long as God forgives me and I forgive myself.

I know one day I will be judged for my past.  My dream is to encourage people through my writing and that dream will put me in the spotlight.  I'm not afraid of the day my past will come into question by others.  I'm not afraid to stand before men and tell them all about the mistakes I've made and about the times I've fall short.  I'm not afraid because of forgiveness.  I hope one day I can be an example of God's forgiveness and show others how to forgive themselves.

The Perils of Editing

I have a very bad habit when it comes to editing.  I start out planning to fix plot errors and spelling mishaps but in the end I usually decide I hate the whole draft and want to start over.  I've lost count of how many times that's happened.

So now I have a finished draft that I already know of some plot holes I need to fix.  But I keep thinking that once I start editing I'll end deciding I hate it and start over.  With this particular draft I have rewritten it about three times already.  Each time I read each draft I ended up liking some parts and wondered what the heck I was thinking at others.  So today as I start reading this finished draft and begin edits, I'm scared of hating it.  I really want to get something finished and then begin the process of self-publishing e-books.  I keep thinking that even though I really like the draft and I have a really good feeling about it.  But there's that fear in the back of mind that I'm going to slip into my habit of hating it.

So this time I'm jumping into editing with a plan in mind.  Any time I get that urge to just hate the draft I'm going to stop what I'm doing and pray.  I've felt for years the Lord guiding my writing.  Every time I'm close to the Lord and asking for Him to lead my life the easier it is for me to write.  I get this resounding sense of peace over everything in my life.  So even though I have put a lot of pressure on myself to get my writing career going I feel a good about what I'm writing.  I really like the direction my draft is heading in and I'm really excited to edit it and have other's to read it.  I'm terrified of finding myself  hating the draft but I need to put that fear aside.  I'm going to trust God to guide the words I write.

It Has Been A While

Wow, I haven't had any new posts since November 2012.  Well I am glad to say I am getting my priorities straight once again and am back on the writing track.  I'm hoping to have a good news on the writing front by the end of the week.  So please forgive me for being absent so long and bare with me on the update!