reading glasses

I've finally entered the realm of reading glasses. They must be about as comfortable as dentures! I really don't like them as they make me feel my age - and they're a very odd lilac color. But I find I can't do without them, especially in regards to this edit. I'm back in Kentucky on the Red River again and up to page 221 thus far. No major problems yet though we writers are at a decided disadvantage knowing the manuscript so well. Fresh eyes really do detect far more flaws. Maybe that's why editors are so good at what they do!

I am wondering why The Frontiersman's Daughter was so much harder to write than Red River Daughter. Now, TFD was my fifth book, not my first. I wrote my first at age 13 - a novella set in old Sturbridge Village back east. Then I penned (try not to laugh here) Gone With the Wind II, a romantic-suspense novel set in England, then Dances With Wolves II. I may have omitted one or two. I found Dance With Wolves II in the garage recently and hauled it out to have a look. Scary! Fifty pages later I was still on this one jail scene in the middle of the prairie. But I guess if you do anything long enough you will eventually make progress.

I think The Frontiersman's Daughter was difficult because it involved so much research about wildcrafting. I won't say more lest this be considered a spoiler. Also, I have three love interests in this story which I was told is a no-no for a beginning writer. But I've had a 40 year apprenticeship, remember. So maybe it worked:) I hope you think so.

I am learning so much. Maybe the most important thing is that there are as many books out there as readers. My writing won't appeal to everyone. I really write to please myself. And Him. If it spills over and reaches other people, that's a gift.

Anyway, the hard editing of RRD is about to begin. I wish there was no such thing as too long a book. I'm not one of those lean writers. I love words -the more the better.

Till tomorrow!