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.