The Life of a Writer

I'm sharing a link to another site where I write. 
http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com/site/2010/11/the-life-of-a-writer/

We were recently asked by the founder to write about writing, and between his request and my response, three people I knew died.


My mom's best friend Kathy, who was like and aunt to my sisters and me,  died after a painful three year battle with bone cancer.  My high school classmate's son Jacob died after a heart-lung transplant, he was one year old.  The weirdest thing about that was that his dad and I were in a class of 68, and HRH, which both of our boys had happens in about 1/10,000 births.  The odds were very much against two of us having boys like ours.  Jacob died the day of Kathy's funeral.  Then, on Sunday, Steve a true heart hero died very suddenly.

This post is about Steve and what his life and his writing meant.  I hope you will read it and then maybe read some of Steve's inspiring posts. 

Revise, revise, revise

It took twenty-six revisions of my master's degree project to get me out of CSU, so it should not surprise me that this book has hit about revision number 40 this week. 

I have to say, again, I love you beta readers.  And you're so sweet to worry about hurting my feelings!  Hit me with your best shot, it only makes the book better.  Most of the reviewers are done, and their comments are almost all integrated in some fashion into the book.  There are very few that I didn't act upon.  Most had an impact.

I have more to do: a bit more refinement, a bit more integration, a bit more transition work, etc.  Still,  I'm so much closer than I was before.  Next time you read a book, think about how many times it must have been written before that author got his or her book into your hands!

I won't complain anymore.  It's the work required, and it's worthwhile, but it's still a lot of work and it all happens late at night when the kids are in bed. 

Happy Thanksgiving - I'm thankful for everyone supporting my writing efforts! Maybe by this time next year there will be a book in your hands that came from my heart!

Amanda

What a Week

Last week ended with a very sick daughter and this week began with her still sick, proceeded to a sick little boy, and then the grown ups got it.  One night, when L-man was sick, I didn't sleep for 23 hours.  I just got off of a 32 hour sleeping jag with few breaks. 

It's been a looong week.  We lost a family friend to cancer this week and people all around me were losing friends and family members too.  So much loss in one week.  Revising took a backseat. Sometimes real life just pulls all your attention away from other things.

I did make it to critique group the night before I got really sick myself.  Group was good.  I've completely altered the prologue and it's for the best.  My favorite comment of the night was, "Now I want to read the rest of the book."  Yay!

Well, that's that for now.  I'm trying to incorporate the minor changes back into the text, but I'm not all together better from the flu bug.  We'll see how it goes.

Happy thanksgiving to all!
Amanda

Never Enough Time

I wanted to work on my book this weekend, of which there are 32 minutes left.  I worked on my work tonight.  On Friday night I worked on several loads of laundry after one precious little girl got very, very sick.  On Saturday, I slept - a lot.  Then I went to a writer's fair at JAX.  I also went to hear another writer read and give very good writing advice today.

So, I feel very inspired by all these great writers, and I feel like I didn't accomplish all I wanted to accomplish with my own writing.  However, I did get to revise the patchwork updates I made while waiting for the laundry when my baby was so sick.  That was good use of my time, but being so mentally numb it was easy stuff.  At least it's done!

Well back to real work in the morning.  I like my real job, and I know that I'll never "quit my day job" to be a writer.  But, with all my obligations/blessings, it's hard to find the time to get my writing fix!

Happy Monday to all!

My B List Friends

I love my beta readers.  What I thought was a finished book has come undone at the seams (the very, very weak seams), and that's a wonderful thing.  Better to have your friends and people you respect tear your book apart than have it ignored because of the poor stitching that holds it, or fails to hold it, together.

My dear beta readers, and you know who you are, thank you! Thank you  so much for being honest.  There is far too little honesty in the world and I am blessed by the forthright and helpful feedback I've received from my good friends.  It's not a slight to be on my B-list! You're all Alpha friends to me!

Glossary A Go Go or Your Guide to Acronym Hell

Hi all! One of the hardest parts of Informed Consent has been to balance the medi-tech info with the personal narrative.  I've read ever so many memoirs in the past two years to prepare me for this task.  I don't like the medi-memoir - the book that's all about the disease instead of the experience.  Yet some of that information is important to help understand the story and the transformation.

More than one beta reader suggested a glossary, so it has begun.  I am working on glossary entries to append to the book.  Wow,  I know a lot about Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).  There's s lot I don't know, but it's a balance, and this book is mainly about experience over expertise.  Anyway, that's where I'm at.

I hope to have all beta reader comments in by the end of November and a final draft turned out after my Christmas vacation.  If anyone wants to be a second string beta reader, watch for the call for help! I'll need people to read the book and glossary and tell me what's missing.  So much work this book writing thing is - channeling my inner Yoda.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Please remember to SHARE the love and get as many of your friends contaminated with the social media virus as you can!  Every RSS feed is a step closer to a real book from a virtual aspiration.

Amanda

Welcome Aboard!

Hello friends and strangers who will soon be friends.  Welcome heart moms, heart dads, cardiac kids, heart warriors, and all our friends and supporters!  Thanks to you who understand that the battle with Congenital Heart Disease is long and fraught with loss and fear.

I'm so proud to have written Informed Consent, A Memoir of Hope! I am so excited to share the journey from final edits to first queries. 

I hearby promise to recreate all my rejection letters, as I've done my homework and expect many, many rejections.  You can all take heart with me on this journey as so many of you have with Liam's journey from cradle to operating room and back again.  When I look at it like that, literary rejection seems not so big.  In the heart world, the word rejection means something far more terrifying than "Your book's not for me."

Besides, it will be nice to have people to tell me to keep trying (that's your job, fyi, to tell me not to give up, and I promise not to give up!)  I'll update you on the status of Informed Consent as the months proceed.  Thank you for being on standby, for your positive thoughts, and good energy.  Someday. Someday people will read this book and know a little more about what it's like to wear the shoes of a heart mom, and bear the fear of the other shoe falling.   Someday a new mom will read this book and feel bolstered that there is hope.  I should know, I wrote the book! 


Thank you!
Amanda Rose Adams

PS: Tell ten friends, we're going viral like chicken pox!