Sad News

I read via a couple of blogs today that the Harlequin Bombshell Line is closing. Normally such news wouldn't phase me at all as I don't really keep up with the different lines, but a chapter mate of mine, Sandra K. Moore, writes for Bombshell. And from what I understand, she rocks! I met her after her debut novel Orchid Hunter was released, so I haven't read it. I do however, have her current release Dead Reckoning on my TBR stack. I can't help reading the first few pages of books I buy (even if I'm in the middle of reading two other books), so I did the same with DR. So far, so good. I'm excited to read more. I just have all these library books breathing down my neck... Anyway, Sandra is a serious, professional writer, and her books have garnered great reviews. I know she'll find another publishing home. I hope it's as quick as she wants.

I'm not going to get to do any writing today. My mother-in-law was here all day, and I have a chapter meeting (and a pre-meeting chapter board meeting tonight) that will eat up the rest of the evening. It's my husband's birthday today, and I'm deserting him for RWA! Anyway, I did write a little yesterday, keeping yesterday's blog post about tighter writing in mind. It felt completely different. Normally I just write. Ideas come to me, the plot plays out as my fingers trip over the keyboard, things happen that I'm not expecting. And I end up with these big long chapters that probably have more verbage than most people want to see. Maybe the market is different now, but I remember reading long, wordy books--and really liking them. Now people what the story quick and efficient. And while I like that, I also miss the lingering.

Anyway, I digress. I was trying to get at the fact that while I was writing my umpteeth intro, I had an overview in my mind--I was conscious of theme, plot, character arc--all of it, and I was trying to tighten my writing to incorporate all of it. Is that how normal people write? This is a new thing for me, and I'm not sure I can sustain it for the re-write of an entire novel.