Didn’t get a lot accomplished today on my revisions although it was more than I have been doing of late. I did add some flavour to the countryside… sweet smell of the air after the rain… sprinted through the wet grass… high-pitched whine of a motorbike faded off into the distance… low rumble of a diesel lorry… wood fired steam engine… the smell of freshly cut hay and farm animals.

I rearranged some of the character descriptions. Hope I didn’t create any info dumps doing that. At least I still have my previous version so I can go back to it  if need be and only add the countryside “flavour” to it.

I’m contemplating entering the Indiana Golden Opportunity contest for the first 35 pages (including synopsis) of Sarah’s Gift. I’ve entered the early parts of her in other contests but have never had my synopsis judged. Yes, that’s right, I said judged. Up to 50 points for it. I don’t write a good synopsis – it’s good as far as plot points go but not so good on the emotional reactions. Anyway, here is the link to the contest page… http://www.indianarwa.com/contest/

Well, I’ve managed to start the wedding scene. Okay, I already had “the wedding goes off without a hitch blah blah blah” but hadn’t written any of the details. I’d left Sarah having a confrontation with the bad-ass outside the wedding venue and looking over her shoulder as she took her father’s arm to make the walk down the aisle.

Not sure why I decided to pick this missing scene to work on but, hey, I’m at least working on it. That’s a start.

I agree with Stephen King… when it feels like work, it’s no fun.

I had a letter today–on the finest bond paper, no less–from Mills and Boon. They’ve received Sarah’s Gift and will read it carefully and reply in due course.

Now that I know that they actually received it, I can rest easy. Not really, now I’m on pins and needles waiting to find out what the verdict is.

In the meantime, I continue to work on The Anniversary and if a re-write of a portion of Sarah’s Gift is necessary to get her published, I’ve had some ideas rolling about in me wee heid…

I know, I know. It sounds like an oxymoron.  Usually, reject letters are nothing more than “doesn’t fit our needs, good luck.” Or you get the dreaded form letter with the relevant box checked off, with or without a good luck wish.

When I received my reject letter from Red Dress Ink, I was pleasantly surprised. This letter had been given careful consideration before it was written. With the comments, it was evident that my query had been read thoroughly before a decision was made.

“…captures many of the key ingredients for chick-lit…” See what I mean? Good… “plot goes awry and weakens…” not so good. Alhough, that wasn’t really what I wanted to hear, I know exactly why my query was rejected. It gives me something to build on.

Like I said, A Good Reject Letter.

I had planned that when Sarah went for the prenatal paternity test without anyone’s knowledge, she would go to Inverness after ruling out Aberdeen since she and David lived there and he worked at the hospital. Well, the not going to Aberdeen works out just fine because there is a DNA clinic there–not far from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.  In order to have the test done, she has to go private and there is no DNA clinic in Inverness. So it’s back to the drawing board.

There are a number of these private clinics in England, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland so she’ll go to one of them. I just haven’t decided which one yet. I’m leaning toward the clinic in Norwich. At least I’ve been to the city so can make anything I write about it more believable. Mind you, Sarah won’t be paying much attention to her surroundings. She just wants to get to the clinic have the tests done and go home.

Will she enlist a friend to make the trip with her for moral support? Perhaps Siobhan? Sue? Maybe her sister, Rachel? Or will she go alone with just David’s toothbrush and his comb hoping that enough of the precious DNA can be extracted from them.

Who would have thought this could be so complicated. Yeesh.