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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Yes!

Yesterday, I was thoroughly frustrated with the book I wrote when the kids went back to school. I even considered ditching the whole thing. (There was more to it than that and my thoughts involved fire, but I was quickly talked out of pursuing those avenues) I didn't know if I'd let it sit too long, not long enough or if I should have never wrote the darn thing to begin with. This book is the longest book I've ever written and I had a great time writing it. The words seemed to flow and I hit record page counts almost every day.
Instead of continuing to try to fix each sentence, I decided to just read and hopefully find the groove I had when I wrote it. The book is about two sisters and the haunted campground they inherit. Add four hunky guys, two choices for each sister, many ghosts, and an evil step-grandmother - and well, this ones considerably lighter than what I normally write. Originally, I had each sister's point of view and I liked it - what one sister believed, the other negated, but for some reason, by the time I reached the end, I'd decided to make the whole book in only one sisters pov and give the other her own book.
That was my mistake.
As I struggled through the edits, I found I mostly disliked the sister who was to have her happy ending in this book. She's too weak, too soft and has no sense of adventure. I wrote volumes of notes with ideas of how to toughen her up, but still felt like I made no progress. That's when I decided to just read. Hoping I'd find the spark I had when I first wrote this.
And I did.
I discovered this needs both sisters. The book is as much about their personal and sisterly growth as it is about them finding their soul mates. The sisters balance each other, they learn from each other and by the end, form a bond stronger than before. One has to let go of always being in charge and learn to have fun. The other needs to put past issues to rest and realize that she's capable. While there will be a romantic happy ending for each, their happiness will also be tied in with their sister relationship and the strength they find there.
And I need to get to work.

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