Thoughts on Editing

I am in the middle of rewriting hell. In a word.. HATE. I hate editing. I suck at it. In order to do a proper edit, you have to be able to look at the work with fresh eyes. This is something I am unable to do with the things I write. I am simply too close to it. I am as attached to the characters I create as I am to my own children..... almost. I love the stories I have written. I reread them and laugh, cry and gasp like I am reading it for the first time. SO I stumble through my editing with a cringe.

Thank GOD for the kindness of others.

I won a 25 page edit from an amazing lady and it was such a relief to read her thoughts and comments! Everything she pointed out were things that had been nagging the back of my mind for months! The comma splices, garbled sentence structure; the info dumps... But I was completely stumped at trying to figure out how to change it.

Thank you Rebecca Hamilton!

I have renewed energy about the beginning of my book! I have been given a wonderful push in the right direction and just enough of a wrap on the knuckles for the wrong I have done. For those of you that know Rebecca, I am sure you will understand my enthusiasm about her critiques. For those that do not know her, let me tell you something...... This lady really really knows her stuff!

The points she made on the fluff in the beginning of my books was backed with open and honest thoughts about what was important and what could be pulled out and left in the notes pile. She made a point to let me know what worked for the story line and what my strong points were (I think it was to protect my ego!). I even received some amazing ideas for changes that got my brain working and the voices of the characters in my head buzzing and chattering excitedly with ideas of their own.

So now I have given myself homework. I am going to have a brand new version of the first 3 chapters written with a new perspective and (hopefully) a better. stronger foundation that is worthy of my characters. I am looking forward to sharing it so much!

I owe you big time Rebecca! Somehow, I will figure out a way to pay you back for your kindness, honesty and time.

My latest project

SO I having a reoccurring nightmare that I am having lots of fun experiencing. I love nightmares! I love the color and sounds, how it seems like you are living every second. Someones typical nightmare are my favorite dreams of all. I have decided that I am going to write my dream out. Who knows, it might make a cool story! I posted the opening page here for everyone to take a gander at. Let me know what you think!!! I am thinking it is going to be in 3rd person POV which is something I have never done. Hopefully it works, but if not then I will be changing the POV to Cara, the heroine. Please, if you read it, let me know what you think! Never attempted horror before :)

Dar

It's been five years since the world fell victim to the virus. It didn't happen gradually either. One day everyone was going about their business, working, raising a family, growing older. The next people were dropping lies flies everywhere. The media didn't even have a chance to warn anyone. The CDC said it was an extremely virulent strain of the flu. Fucking liars.

No, it was death. Too bad it wasn't permanent. See, people died fast, terrifyingly fast. Only problem? They didn't really die like everyone thinks people should. No. They... changed. It's like vampirism. People waking up hungry, but not for food... for blood. But it's not vampirism, they don't have long teeth, they can go out in the sun all they want and they aren't invincible. They just want your blood.

After the virus spread throughout the world, the surviving governments discovered that about 7 percent of the world's population had a natural immunity to the virus that people had dubbed “Suckfest”. Just seven percent of the entire population was able to come into contact with the infected and survive. In an instant, those people became targets. Hunted down and gutted in laboratories like lab rats, the various governments around the world took these people and tried to find a cure to a virus that they helped create.

In late 2011 a large group of international scientists got together to try to create a cure for AIDS. America thought that if the world pooled their resources of scientific knowledge together, then a cure would be possible. And in the mountains of Northern Washington, they thought they had. A scientist out of Norway and a bio engineer from Russia created a virus that attacked only the HIV virus within a person's body. It was a clear success in a test tube. Being only human, they jumped right into human testing... and that's where it went all wrong.

The virus reacted with human DNA and mutated. It bonded with every germ contained in the human body and attacked from within, killing them and bringing them back as blood junkies, a slave to the virus' unending demand for fresh fuel. They tried to contain it. They tried to stop it. But they failed. It got out and spread like wild fire. Mankind became the minority... the hunted.