Tag: Reunion of the Heart

Not doing WIPpet Wednesday – working

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 6 Comments

Yesterday I started a new job.  I’m working as the administrator for a small charity here in Bristol (UK) called Bristol Disability Equality Forum.  The charity seeks to improve the rights and treatment of disabled people.

It’s early days for me yet, but so far it’s going well.  It’s a lot of work to do – hence me not doing WIPpet Wednesday.  Also I haven’t really got anything to share as I haven’t done much writing this past week or more!  I’m currently either doing further planning on my school-set story or I’m editing my previous story which I hope to publish later this year.

So it’s exciting times for me and I hope once I’ve got into the swing of things with my job that I’ll have more time again for writing and blogging – maybe even a bit more tweeting.  Who knows?

I hope to catch up with you all (virtually) again soon. x

Editing, editing, editing…

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 20 Comments

So as the title of this blog post suggests, I’m editing my latest novel, Reunion of the Heart.  But I was wondering – what’s your method of editing?  Do you go chronologically through your story and edit that way or do you do what I’ve been doing and kind of flit about from passage to passage?

The thing is I had eight wonderful beta readers read my novel and comment on it for me, so I’ve got eight different opinions on it already, which is great.  But I’m wondering do I change every last thing that every one of my beta readers has suggested, if even if they might contradict each other?!

Or do I take elements of what each of the beta readers have said to me and follow my intuition, change what I feel from the general opinion I’ve been given is right?  So far I’m doing the latter, but I’m not sure that’s the right course to take.  It’s so confusing!!

But actually so far, having said all that I’m not doing too badly with it.  So wish me luck!  Oh and any info on how you approach editing gratefully received. 🙂

A new start

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 31 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday, hosted by the lovely K. L. Schwengel whose cover for her new novel Emergence I revealed on this blog yesterday.

Well I have an announcement.  Cue fanfare… I’ve finished the first round of edits of Reunion of the Heart and it’s going out to beta readers very soon.  Much love to them!!  But really the fanfare is about my BRAND NEW WIP I began at the weekend.  It’s another romance (no you can never have too many romances!  OK you can if it’s not your thing but it is mine – though BTW I don’t actually read romances all the time!).

Anyway my new WIP is currently untitled.  I haven’t a clue what to call it yet but I’m sure I’ll come up with something eventually. My MC Rebecca is a teacher in a secondary school in the UK.  For those of you who don’t what I mean by a secondary school, it’s for kids aged 11-16, so I’m guessing for you in the US it would kind of be junior high and a bit of high school mixed in together.

I’ve probably got that completely wrong – I find the US system of schooling and all your grades for the year groups really confusing – but you get the idea!

So for today’s WIPpet, I thought I’d share with you the opening 12 lines from chapter 1.  Enjoy!

The tyres of her bike screeched to a halt, skidding on the wet tarmac and narrowly avoiding the bonnet of the car which had also stopped.  Rebecca leapt off her bike, stalked over to the large Audi and hammered on the driver’s darkened window.

‘What do you think you’re playing at?’ she yelled, oblivious to the stares and sniggers of the surrounding children.

Slowly, deliberately the window was wound down.  A middle aged man was sitting at the wheel.  Dark and austere, he glanced at Rebecca as though she wasn’t worth his notice.

‘I think it’s more a question of what you’re doing,’ he said.  His voice was calm and controlled yet simmering with anger.

‘What I’m doing?’ Rebecca spluttered.  Then remembering where she was she paused and took a deep breath.  ‘I was looking where I was going and I’m lucky I did because if I hadn’t I would most likely be severely injured or dead.’

Aware that she had an audience, she did her best to regain her composure.  

If WIPpet Wednesday seems like the kind of thing you’d enjoy and you want to get involved, just post a bit of your newest writing work on your blog, making sure it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your name to this. Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Relaxing at the spa

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 32 Comments

Hi everyone.  Hope you’ve had a good week.  I certainly have.  Spring is in the air and to coin an American phrase I’m feeling mighty fine!

For today’s WIPpet Wednesday I thought I’d share with you 5 lines from chapter 3 of Reunion of the Heart for the 5th of March. We’re going backwards in the story from last week’s excerpt to the weekend away at the spa that my MC Anna goes on with her three friends, two of whom she’s been reunited with at the reunion.

Anna and her best friend Melissa are relaxing as they experience one of the many treatments on offer…

‘Oh this is bliss,’ Anna murmured as the masseuse kneaded her back.  She could feel the tension inside her unwind as if she’d been coiled tightly like a spring. For the first time in ages her thoughts were Elliot-free.  Letting go had never been this easy before.

‘Mmm you’re right,’ Melissa said. 

So it’s short but sweet.  Boy do I envy Anna and Melissa.  I really fancy a nice massage right now. Anyway that’s it for this week.  I may be kind and share with you something longer next week.

If you fancy taking part in WIPpet Wednesday all you have to do is share some of your writing, making sure that it relates in some way to the date.  Then add your details here.

Thank you very much K. L. Schwengel for hosting.  We love youuuu!!

Call for beta readers

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 7 Comments

Hi everyone.

I’ve finished the first round of editing of my novel Reunion of the Heart and I’m currently reading through it again, correcting and amending as I go.

I would like to send it out to beta readers soon, so if you would be interested in reading it and letting me know what you think, please get in touch.

I only need a few people to beta read, so really it’s on a first come, first served basis.  This novel is very much a romance, so won’t be to everyone’s taste.  But if you think you might like to be a beta reader for me, please let me know.

My email address is: elaine (dot) jeremiah (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank you! 🙂

A confrontation

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 22 Comments

Of sorts.  You might not agree that it’s a confrontation, but it sort of describes this week’s excerpt for WIPpet Wednesday quite well. I hope you’re all well BTW.

Last week I mentioned that I had an interview for a work placement.  Well… I GOT IT!!  So I’m really happy about that as you can imagine.  And thank you all for your kind words, it meant a lot to me.  It doesn’t start till the 2nd April though so I’ve got a while to get ready for it. 🙂

So back to today’s topic.  I’m sharing with you 26 sentences from chapter 14 of Reunion of the Heart.  (I’ll leave you to figure out how it relates to the date!!)  Anyway at this point Anna has just arrived home from dropping boyfriend Peter at the station.  I shared some lines immediately prior to this here.  Now she’s got an unwelcome surprise…

‘Anna?  Are you all right?’

The voice stunned her especially when she realised whose it was.  She felt herself flinch.  This was all she needed.  She stood up straight, turning to face him.

‘Yes thank you, Will,’ she replied stiffly.  ‘I’m just going inside, so if you’ll excuse me…’

He nodded and turned to walk on.  But she didn’t go inside.  In spite of her fear that he might be stalking her, curiosity got the better of her. 

‘Will, wait.’ He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his expression unreadable. ‘I… how long have you been living in Primrose Gardens?’  Her voice sounded hostile which was not her intent.  But he seemed unfazed.

‘A couple of years.’

‘A couple of years?’ Anna couldn’t keep the surprise or volume from her reply.

‘Yes.’ He looked as though he was suppressing a smile.  ‘I didn’t know you were living here though, or I would have popped over and said hello.’

‘But you hate me!’ she cried unable to stop herself.  ‘And I hate you.  You made my life a misery when we were at school.  How could I ever forgive you for that?’ 

If you’re not currently taking part in the wonder that is WIPpet Wednesday and you’d like to, all you have to do is post some of your current writing work on your blog which relates in some way to the date.  Then add your details to this.

Thanks goes to K. L. Schwengel as always for hosting. 🙂

When to send to beta readers?

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 22 Comments

Question

I’ve just finished my first round of editing my novel.  I’m wondering when would be the best time to send it out to beta readers (who I’ve yet to find!)?

Do I go over it myself as many times as possible before I get to that point?  Or is it better to send it out now and get the feedback I so desperately need as soon as possible?

There’s a certain element to my novel I’m not sure about.  Not going to say what it is but I definitely need some guidance.

So I’m asking all of you who’ve written a book (admittedly this is my second novel but I’m still unsure about this) what you’ve found to be the best time to send your novel out to be beta read and get those all important second opinions?

I must confess I’m not great at making decisions.  Also, if you all tell me a million different things, that’s going to be even more confusing!  But I’m willing to take the risk with this cos I really need to know.  And even if you don’t have a definitive answer, I’d be interested to hear your stories about editing and how it all went for you.

It’s definitely an exciting time for me having the publication of my second book on the horizon less than a year after the first one was published. 🙂

I’ll keep you all posted on my progress.  Book number three is in the planning stages… (BTW it’s not a series!!)

 

 

 

A short WIPpet for Wednesday

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 23 Comments

Hi all.  My contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday is going to be short as I’m currently in the middle of preparing for an interview for a work placement tomorrow.

So I’m back to my old mean self and I’m only sharing with you 2 sentences from chapter 2 of my current WIP Reunion of the Heart. We’re going back and forth in the novel; here Anna has just arrived at her old school for the reunion:

Anna stumbled a little as she walked; she didn’t wear heels very often.  As they approached the school buildings, memories of being a pupil here flooded back to her.

So that’s it for me for this week.  Hopefully I’ll be able to share something longer next week.  And if you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, just post on your blog a piece of your writing relating in some way to the date.  Then add your details here.

Thank you K. L. Schwengel for hosting. 🙂

Flashback

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 34 Comments

Welcome to a very wet and windy WIPpet Wednesday.  Well it is here in the UK anyway! 😦  Or at least the sun is shining now but it’s been horrible all day until now.  Anyway for this week’s WIPpet Wednesday I thought I’d share with you one of the many  flashbacks that my MC Anna has in Reunion of the Heart.  For the 12th February I’m sharing 12 lines from chapter 2.

In the present, Anna is at her school reunion and she and best friend Melissa have just been reunited with their school friends Lizzie and Rachel who they haven’t seen since school.

In this excerpt, in the flashback, you can catch a glimpse of why they fell out at school and hadn’t made up until now, many years later. I’m not going to say too much more than that.  So without further ado, here’s my contribution to this week’s WIPpet Wednesday:

‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at?’ Melissa had demanded of Lizzie, marching up to where she was sitting eating her lunch at the edge of the school playing fields and tapping her on the shoulder.  Anna was trailing in her wake.

‘I’m sorry, but when did you become the boss of my life?’ Lizzie had replied.  ‘Oh yeah, that’s right, you’re not!’

‘You know what Matt’s like, you know he’s a nasty bastard who’s given our friend hell and yet you still choose to start seeing him.’

‘It’s my life; I can do what I want!’  Lizzie retorted.  ‘And anyway, when are you ever going to let Anna speak for herself?  There she is, cowering behind you…’

‘I’m not cowering,’ Anna said in a quiet voice.  ‘But Melissa’s right, I do have a problem with you dating Matt.  He’s made my life miserable for five years of secondary school.’ 

And if you aren’t taking part but would like to, just post on your blog whatever you’re working on with your writing and add it here, where all the other wonderful WIPpets for this week can be found too.

Thanks goes to the most gracious hostess of them all K. L. Schwengel.

Well I’ve finished my book… kind of

~ Elaine Jeremiah ~ 10 Comments

This week I hit a new milestone on my journey as an author.  I finished the first draft of my second novel which I’m calling ‘Reunion of the Heart’.

It’s been a lot of fun to plot and then write and I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world. 🙂  But as the title of this post suggests, it’s not finished yet.  Those of you who are writers will recognise that I  need to edit, edit, edit before I release it.  And of course I need to have other, dispassionate eyes on it so that I can make it the best that it can be.

So at some point I’ll be putting out a request for beta readers, but NOT YET!  There’s lots that I need to work on by myself first.  I may well tweak scenes and/or insert scenes.  I realise that as a story it does need a lot of tightening up.  I feel like there’re potentially a lot of holes in the plot, things I haven’t caught yet in my writing process.

Yes, I know that’s where beta readers come in, but I want to finish reading it all through first as my initial edit.  I want to make sure I’ve ironed out any obvious mistakes before I (fearfully) hand it over to be read by other people for the first time.  That’s a scary process, for sure – handing over your precious WIP to be scrutinised by other eyes for the first time.

If you’re a writer, I’m sure you’re familiar with that feeling.  You desperately want your WIP to be read by other people… and yet at the same time you’re scared ****less at the thought of other people who aren’t you reading and potentially being critical of your work.

But it needs to be done and so I’m working towards that point when I can finally hand it over to some generous people to read and make comments on.  I want to be the best writer that it’s possible for me to be.  I feel I’m improving and growing in confidence as a writer all the time.  As I’ve said before, the online community of writers has transformed the way I write and my confidence in myself.

So thank you once more.  And I’ll keep you all posted as to my novel’s progress.

By the way… are any of you working on editing?  How are you finding it?  I’d love to have your comments. 🙂