Guess what I’m doing this weekend?

The edits for the first half of The Third are in. Time to hunker down and get to work. Update 1/16: Edits are complete and on their way back to the editor. Hoping to have the other half wrapped up this week!

Update 1/17: Received the second half of edits from the editor. Getting back to work.

Book Update

Quick update. My baby is almost done. Late last week I finished the final edits of The Third--it was my last chance to make final edits to the text. Now that it's baked, it goes to a final line edit then typesetting by the editor. Then it's off to the presses. I'm excited. Look for cover art and a large excerpt of The Third up on my website soon. :-)

In the mean time, I'm in the process of outlining my next two books and hope to have them done in the next week or two. More information on them will be up soon too.

'Til then.

A Worthwhile Writing Conference

I rarely endorse writing conferences because most of them tend to be (bad) clones of each other. They usually offer the same kind of writing classes and bring in an author or two who give the same general pep talk followed by the standard Q&A sessions. Rarely have I found them to be that helpful in my own writing efforts. One of rare exceptions is the annual Storymakers Conference. I attended last year and was blown away by the entire conference. The classes were fantastic and taught by published authors who really knew their stuff. A lot of what I learned helped me develop and polish The Third manuscript so that it was worthy of publication.

This year’s conference looks to be even better that last years. Just a few of the events include:

* A hands-on workshop with bestselling author and writing instructor Dave Wolverton. (Word on the street is that he’s taught such authors as Stephanie Meyer, Brandon Mull, and Brandon Asnderson.) I’m going to this. You won’t want to miss it. * Over 50 classes on writing and the industry from authors who really know their stuff. (Side note: I’ll be doing a presentation on creative copywriting. If you’re going to attend, come to my class!) * A chance to network with literary agents, publishers, editors, and authors. Trust me. Getting to know the right people can go a long way towards getting published. * An awesome first chapter contest with great prizes. Past winners have been asked by publishers in attendance to submit their manuscripts for consideration.

This year’s conference is April 23-24 at the Provo Marriot. You can get more details about the conference here.

Hope to see you all there!

The Importance of a Good Editor

Behind every good writer is a good editor. Good writers who have a good editor (and a good relationship with that editor) know he or she can help with the storytelling process and give needed insight to turn an okay book into a great book. The same is true with TV shows and movies. After the show or movie is shot, a good film editor takes images, dialogue, pacing, music, and actor’s performances to make the film or TV show into and turns it into a something the audience will become whole absorbed it.

Like good book editors, if film editors are good at what they do, the audience won’t be aware of the editor’s influence over the film or TV show.

So my hat’s off to whoever edited the first episode of LOST. By cutting out the original first minute of footage from the show, they not only set the tone for the entire series, but made the first episode an instant classic.

See the original beginning of LOST below.