I’m thrilled to report that not only did I complete my extensive edits and return them to BookStrand in a week, I also made my NaNoWriMo goal. Now, I get to wait and see if the edits were enough or if I face a second round.

Today, I counted my blessings.

I am blessed with a loving and supportive family. They couldn’t be more incredible. My husband loves me, even with my boisterous and sometimes overhwhelming personality. My children have enriched my life in more ways than they will ever know. My sister is my stalwart. My mother and father have always been behind me, no matter what I’ve tried.

I am blessed with friends who have shared their time and talent to teach me the craft. Judie Aitken, my mentor. My beloved Critters — Judith Bastin, Adrienne Hogan, Leshia Stolt, and honorary members Faith Fenner and Nancy Gibson. Leanna Weissmann, my online partner who has done more for me than she could possibly know. Katherine Smith. Lainey Bancroft. All the incredibly talented women of Indiana RWA. The writers of the Elements chapter.

I am blessed to work with my agent Maureen Walters and her assistant Katie Arathoon. A writer couldn’t ask for two more supportive people behind her.

I am blessed to work with all of the people at BookStrand as they publish five of my stories in 2009. They have made publishing a fantastic experience from start to finish.

My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you, and I wish you much happiness!

This week, I was introduced to edits.

I received the editor’s changes and suggestions for Turning Thirty-Twelve. The bad thing is, I am going to have to put my NaNoWriMo goal aside. These edits are obviously the most important priority in my life at the moment.

I was more nervous about opening the editor’s file than I was for opening the cover art. My first reaction was shock. There were a lot of things the editor suggested. I scrolled through the pages, my stomach tying itself into nervous knots as I figured I was the worst writer in the civilized world.

I reminded myself of a couple of things as I gave myself time to digest the edits. This story never went through my fantastic critique partner. (Love you, Leanna!) My beloved Critters never had a go at it either. So of course, there would be little things that I would need to clean up. In fact, all of the editor’s suggestions were spot on.

What did I learn from my fantastic editor? Sentence fragments can be used sparingly, but they are not voice. I have a tendency to start sentences with “but” and “then” waaaay too often. Don’t use underlines in place of italics. (That comes from both my editor and my agent.)

But (see, I used a “but” there too!) I also learned I write great characterizations, and I pull strong emotions from my readers. How wonderful is an editor to offer praise with such helpful constructive criticism?

I found out this week that I love edits.

Something important “clicked” this weekend.

I’m churning out some new words, but I am breaking the “rules” and allowing myself to go back and edit. (Blows a raspberry at NaNoWriMo for not allowing editing.) In the process of working on Gina’s book, something important happened. I realized the last Amazon wasn’t calling to me because I’d given her the wrong name.

I have a former student who is Indian. She was a big inspiration when I wrote Free Falling because of something she said to me at graduation. Deepika was one of the students who wanted me to hand them their diplomas that year. A couple of those kids had already had their names used in some of my stories. (This was the class of 2006, and they were, by far, the most inspirational. They encouraged and cajoled and made me not feel silly for sitting down one day and writing a book.) Deepika looked sad when I was talking to Ross, Sam, and Brian about “their” characters. I asked her why. She said I probably wouldn’t have an Indian character in any of my books. I loved her so much, I took it as a challenge, and Deepika Sen was born and became a great secondary character in Free Falling.

Since the patron goddess for the Indian Amazon is Ganga, I got back in touch with Deepika (the real Deepika) to ask some questions. She directed me to a fantastic website with names from several cultures. When I saw the name Sarita, I finally heard the last Amazon talk to me. So I owe Deepika a big thanks. Again. I just need to make some tweaks to the earlier books, including the story my agent has on submission. But I figure, it’s a quick fix and well worth it if the charcter can finally come to life.

Off to run with my “new” character…

Halfway through NaNoWriMo in more ways than one.

Time seems to be catching up with me. I have passed 25K, but the last few days have been difficult. No time to write. I desperately want to edit. And the Type A in me feels frustrated. I started out like gangbusters, but my daily word totals seem to be stalling. I had hoped to write like a demon at Retreat, but…

Actually, Retreat was good for me, word counts aside. To spend so much time with other writers was energizing, and I came back feeling both exhausted and recharged. But I did spend quite a bit of time socializing, so I didn’t write as much as I would have liked.

So expect to find me at my laptop all weekend getting up close and personal with my Brazen Amazon Gina and the love of her life Zach.

Keeping track of my progress for you.