The last quarter of 2023 had a rough start.

I fell on a slope of mud in the rain, jacking my shoulder up on one of our coops. (We homestead.) Many small muscle tears. Had to lay off doing anything with my dominant arm for days. Sore and swollen, all the way down to my fingers 😩

The previous week, Gumdrop, my sweet embden gosling, got injured again. She required care around the clock. Poor baby. And toward the end of October, passed away 💔

I did finish my attempted at rewriting my first three chapters in Deep POV and sent it out to fellow writers and critique groups for feedback.

A first for me: I attended two writing conferences at the same time. The ACFW Virginia Royal Writers Conference online and a local library conference, where a couple of my writer friends presented! I was hopping between the sessions at the library and a small study room to watch online. Royal Writers recorded all their sessions, so I was able to go back and watch what I missed. And I won a book, Rivet Your Reader with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson!

Once I got that book in the mail, I devoured it. It was an easy read. Finally, a resource that describes Deep POV simply!

I received feedback on my first three chapters from eighteen individuals. Of course, I got some critiques. But thought I’d share some fun comments with you 😆

• …may actually disturb some readers, but it’s a good thing, and exactly what you’re going for.
• Loved this. I could really FEEL it.
• Good job invoking disgust here!
• Oooo…I like this curiosity seed!
• Thrilling, scary opening!
• I love the way you just touch on… supernatural

After making needed changes, I sent my first three chapters to four more people. Three of whom are my target audience. While waiting for their impressions, I rewrote the synopsis. Which is basically a book report you give an agent, letting them know what the storyline is, so they know you can write an actual story. Here are some fun comments from my target readers 😆

• Makes my skin crawl!
• It was shocking…
• These guys are EVIL and I’m scared, love it.
• AMAZING storytelling

I have resubmitted the first three chapters and the synopsis to Donald Maass – W00t! Whether or not he responds, and how, I am confident my first three chapters are better than they were. I look forward to having a better version of my manuscript to query agents in 2024.

I took a week off writing before diving into the rest of my manuscript – a mental reset. But of course, got hit with sickness and depression and life. So December wasn’t super productive writing-wise. I think that’s easier for me to accept now than it used to be.

My in-person writing group did have a white elephant book exchange 😊 I walked away with The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Having heard from many people it’s good, I look forward to diving in!

How do the books you read make you feel? Do you read fiction to escape, to be entertained, to be inspired, or some other reason?

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