TGIF!

"The best style is the style you don't notice." ~Somerset Maugham

I'm so glad it's Friday!

Some good news to report: I wrote a whopping 4ooo words on One Night in Napa yesterday and am really liking the direction it's going, so far. The hero and heroine have met and sparks are flying - not the good kind, though. More like they can't stand the sight of one another. She thinks he's too good-looking and arrogant, and he thinks she's over-reacting and snooty. Of course, I guess I can't make them *so* opposite and contradictory that they have no desire to ever get together :)

Do any other writers out there have a hard time getting feedback from their beta readers? I'm still so nervous whenever I get an email that says "So I've finished reading the first half of the story, and..." No matter how times I've posted on a writers' board, or how many times I've read a chapter out loud at critique, or sent it on with crossed fingers to another person for a fresh look, I always wait with a churning stomach to hear what they will say. I guess it's like your baby, sent out into the big bad world, and of course you want people to fall in love with it, and think it's adorable and coo and say it's the best thing you've ever created...

But you know, in the March Romance Writers Report, there's a really good article on rejection, and how it prepares you for the rough world of publishing and marketing. Those authors who sell their first manuscript with ease sometimes run into difficulty down the road, when their 2nd or 3rd isn't as well-received. I think feedback works the same way: you have to be able to take it, to look at it objectively and make your work better because of it. So to all my beta readers out there who also read this blog, I do appreciate you...so much!!

I'm off to my local RWA chapter meeting tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to since I missed the last one. I may even read the first chapter of Napa for critique, if I'm feeling particularly brave. :)