Giveaway Winner, Stacey Wallace Benefiel's New Book, and Changing up ROW80 Goals Again!

And the winner is...

Justine Dell's been on a blog tour to promote her new book and visited here last week! The winner of her giveaway on my blog is:


Congratulations!

Here's an interesting question:



How would you explain certain books to difficult parents?

Speaking of books, Stacey Wallace Benefiel has a new one out!


And if you're still querying, like me, Jo Bourne has - as usual - some great tips:

"'My story is about several main characters. Which one do I build my query letter around?'

I have answers for about anything.

An ensemble cast of four, heigh-ho

So let's say your story follows four characters' intertwined lives. You want to know which of these four stories to emphasize in your query letter.

The really short answer is -- Any of them.
Your query letter can approach the manuscript using any main character as your focal point.
I don't say you necessarily can talk about this manuscript mainly from the experience of the dog, but close.

If you have a strong instinct to cast the query using the story of LolaJo instead of Kindle, Edward, or Framis, then do so.
Nobody knows the story better than you.

I like the rest of her advice because it applies not just to query writing but overall editing:


Actually, speaking of querying (changing up ROW80 goals again!), I've made a momentous decision, thanks to help from fellow Forumites: I'm putting querying for Out of the Water on hold, and concentrating full-time on Druid's Moon. Then I might switch to typing up and editing Santiago and Magdalena's story. There are some basic reasons why Out of the Water isn't exactly working, mainly having to do with how long the story needs to be and how long it isn't right now - which makes the opening a little less emotional and character-connected than it could be. And of course the opening is what most people see...

Have you made any big writing decisions lately?

Comments

Good luck with Druid's Moon then! And congratulations to Nutschell.
And from the comments, you might have a new career in making tiny scarves.
S.P. Bowers said…
Sorry about Out of the Water. I hope you figure out what it needs. Good luck on Druids Moon.
Anonymous said…
The only big writing decision I've made recently is to not stop for good, which I almost did (although, if I had, I've no idea how I would have silenced the voices in my head). Maybe that counts as changing my ROW80 goal, too? ;-) Happy writing!
Linda G. said…
Jo is brilliant, isn't she? I think she should write a book about writing. But only if it doesn't take too much time away from her fiction, because I'd hate to wait too long for her next historical romance.
Anonymous said…
Straight ahead on Druid's Moon! Maybe not thinking about Out of the Water for a while is just what you need.
Unknown said…
Good luck with Druid's Moon!
Gwen Gardner said…
Good luck with your querying, Deniz. Sometimes you just have to set something aside for awhile. I'm trying to figure out which of my two WIPs I want to put out next. I know which one I should put out, but I sort of want to release the other one first, lol!
Anonymous said…
Good luck with your querying, Deniz! You've got so many great stories. I think it's just a matter of finding the right agent/right fit. Keep at it!
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks for coming by everyone! And for the moral support :-)