Monday, February 18, 2013

The Ah-ha! Moment and an Update

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. Dear Hubby and I celebrated with dinner out (with Dear Son) and then we went and saw Rock of Ages. It was very funny, filled with great music, and we had a great time.

It's been an exciting couple of weeks here, and the excitement continues. I've heard from my cover artist (squee!) and am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with. Also, this weekend I received my galley for Quest of the Hart. It's hard to believe that in a little over a month it will be releasing to the world.

Oh! If you're interested in hosting me for a cover release or book release launch party, let me know in the comments or by e-mail. 

Now onto the Ah-Hah! Moment.

I've been working on a new MS set in modern times, from a single, first person POV (I know- not my usual style at all!) The first draft came really quickly for me, and now I'm going back and adding in another story line to create a much better ending.

As I've been working through my edits, I keep having these Ah Hah! moments. Things that will make the story even more interesting and add more depth to my characters. Things that are slowing down my re-write as I incorporate them in (sorry Trisha, Tammy, and Katie!)

My latest Ah-Hah! started when I was thinking about why a character was doing something. I needed to understand their motivation, and my brain said, Oh! What if. . .? And I was off and running.

A few ideas I'm keeping jotted down in my ever present notebook, so when I go back through I can see where to add them in (or leave them off if they no longer fit). I can't wait to get the ideas all down and do a read through to see how it worked.

How about you? What Ah-Hah! moment have you had? Did you end up using it? Or, did it lead you to something else that worked even better?

7 comments:

  1. I had my aha moment the other day while writing. I realized the the Great Unicorn Stallion's horn lay hidden somewhere in the village. It added a whole new dimension.

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    1. Oh! That sounds really cool! Makes me wonder just where in the village it is. Somewhere everyone sees it and doesn't realize it? Or hidden in a place only one person knows about.

      Hope you're having fun with that Ah-Ha! moment.

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  2. Hi, Mary!

    Sounds like you are having an exciting month! Yay, you deserve it!
    I can't wait for Quest of the Hart to release!

    You are ALWAYS welcome on my blog. I'd love to do a cover reveal, book spotlight, author interview...whatever you need.

    My galleys came in for PODs. I'm reading over them now. The next step is bound ARCs! (Woot!) And then the real thing...the book. I can't believe it!

    My biggest Ah-ha moment came just recently with the huge storm in the north-east. I got thinking...what if there were two people...and I was off. I can't wait to finish the novel I'm writing now so I can dig into my newest Ah-ha. I have a notebook full of ideas, scenes, quotes and things like that. It's a contemporary romance - not my usual genre at all, but I'm so looking forward to it!

    Please let me know when your cover reveal is so I can put it on my blog. When you do your blog tour, I'd like to help then, too. :)

    Michelle :)
    www.michelle-pickett.com

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    1. How exciting on the galley and the coming ARC's! So excited for you!!!

      A contemporary romance is as different for you as this paranormal romance is for me. I wish you good luck with it! Can't wait to hear how it goes.

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  3. I have Ah-Ha! moments all the time -- in my first draft and every draft thereafter. I always use them.

    I once wrote a blog post describing how a character transformed himself over the course of a first draft, becoming a different person and changing the direction of the whole story. (You know him: Riley.)Well, there was one commenter that said she would have fought the transformation and stuck to her original outline. No room for Ah-Ha! moments in her writing. And if I had been like her -- if I hadn't listened to my instincts -- I would never have produced the book I did.

    I totally believe in the sub-conscious, in Ah-Ha! moments, and instincts.

    And Mary, yes definitely. I'd love to do a guest blog for your release. Email me!

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  4. Hi Mary! I have a-hah moments all the time - usually while walking my dog! And I would be happy to do an author interview with you on my blog, drivingblindproductions.wordpress.com. Just let me know when.
    Heather

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  5. Happy to hear about your aha moment. I love those moments. Sometimes I have them, and sometimes a critique I receive makes me have them. It's what makes writing exciting.

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