For the past couple of weeks, since returning from my Texas
trip, I haven’t been writing. It’s the first extended break I’ve taken since I
can remember. And I’m taking this break because I have been, finally, unpacking
case after carton of books – one of the last of the moving-into-a-new-home
tasks.
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| Too many books?? |
All this sorting and sifting is good for the mind and great
for the library. For the first time I can put picture books together, and
alphabetize my YA collection (heck, might as well!) I’ve found duplicates of
some books – time for the library sale – and others, well, I wonder why I have
them on the shelf. I’ve found a number that must be added to my TBR pile. Some
books the family has outgrown, and some I separate to highlight in a treasured
spot.
This is much like what I have to do to my manuscript when I
pick it up again next week, especially after this bit of time and distance.
Some scenes need to be cut and some reordered so they work better with their
neighbors. Some choice phrases turn up once too often. I’ve outgrown some
clichéd expressions and I find passages of which I can be just a little proud.
Putting my words in a box and taping it up for a while is the best way to view
them all with a fresh eye.
In other news, I’ll be in Boston next week, speaking on two
panels at the annual AWP conference at the Hynes Convention Center, with a bunch
of my 2k10 friends (Michele Corriel, Swathi Avasthi, Leah Cypess, and Alexandra
Diaz) and Anna Staniszewski. We’ll be speaking on Craft in YA on Thursday at
4:30PM, and Marketing Techniques on Friday at 10:30AM. And on Saturday March 9
from 10:30-noon I’ll be signing my books in the Vermont College of Fine Arts
booth (#312). Come see us!
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