Lighten Up

I had the privilege of critiquing an unpublished book recently. See, despite my never mentioning it on this blog, I am still working almost everyday. Really! I was almost ready to send my full manuscript on to an interested editor when my agent suggested some changes, so that’s been pushed back a bit. Also, I’m spending this weekend at a writer’s retreat. I’m hoping I can fix what my agent feels needs fixing then. 🙂

Anyway, back to this book I critiqued. It’s amazing. It’s life-changing. It has a powerful message without any preachiness. And it’s chick lit. I’m thinking I have to get over my aversion to the label and admit that I enjoy the genre. Hah.

Angela contorted my body into strange positions when we met two years ago at OCW. She led a workout class as a night owl. A terrific way to work out the stress of the day. We hit it off and found many similarities. Young children, common themes during our marriages, writing for about the same amount of time, and more. We exchanged manuscripts and–this is only my opinion; I don’t know that she’d agree–found we were at the same level in our craft. We both signed with agents soon after and our career paths have continued move at an equal rate since. We’ve both finished second novels and edited our first ones to death. I can’t wait for her to land a contract because it means good things are coming my way. 😉

Check out her blog post about Lighten Up. She has an idea for a book trailer. A genius idea. A brand new way to hook a reader’s interest into the plot. And I love that such a mature, wise book would use a child-like method to explain the plot. Leave a comment and let her know if you agree.