Meeting with Editor Alice Pope

Alice Pope is the editor of Children's Writers and Illustrator's Market. I was very excited that she was the one reviewing my manuscript. She had a lot of helpful ideas and feedback. Most of it makes sense to me, and because of that, I think I have another major rewrite. Maybe it's good I haven't sent any more query letters for Moonlight Cafe. (I got another rejection yesterday, btw. Still have one more out waiting for a response.) I wrote the contemporary storyline in first person, and the historical storyline in third person. Alice thought I had a better grasp of third person. She also didn't feel as if she knew enough about Vincent. So I think I'm going to rewrite it in third person, and add back the parts I originally had told from Vincent's point of view. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'm editing my paranormal novel. Close to done with the first read through, but am coming up to the part that I think will need the most work. There are also things I need to go back and add, so even after I finish this read through, the first round of editing won't be done yet. Once it is, I'll read the entire novel out loud to myself. Then we'll see what I need to do from there. I hope that have the much done by the end of the year. Two weeks off will help.

I'm going to let Moonlight sit until I finish the above edits with my new novel. I had gotten to the point where I was sick of it and didn't want to look at it anymore. However, Alice's feedback and ideas have made me excited about it all over again. So a little more time away, then I'll get back to work on it.

Alice also asked if I'd considered writing a straight historical fiction. I haven't, but it's a thought. She very much liked that part of Moonlight Cafe. I'll let that sit in the back of my mind. I like the idea, but don't have a storyline. That's okay, I have plenty of other writing work and ideas to keep me busy for at least the next 6 months, if not the whole next year.