New Moon and Wrenches

Happy Saturday everyone!

Well, I saw New Moon last night. After a long day of working two jobs my daughter and I went to go see it at the last show of the night. Everything about it made Twilight look like a low-budget independent film. The special effects were awesome - particularly with the wolves - and my daughter and I left the theatre as new members of TEAM JACOB. Holy crap, that kid beefed up! Those of you that have kids may remember Taylor Lautner from Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Now little Taylor isn't so little anymore. No offense to Edward/Robert Pattinson, but he made Rob look like an emaciated corpse. And the chemistry between Jacob and Bella was great.

There were lots of funny moments that I really appreciated and a few of the super cheesy "oh, gimme a break" moments as well. Unfortunately, I don't think those can be avoided when you're talking about vampires that sparkle like diamonds in the sun and a girl whose nightmares apparently don't just scare her, they also shove bamboo shoots under her finger nails (or least that's the way she made it sound). Luckily, it's pretty easy for me to overlook silly things like that and just appreciate the book/movie as a whole. I loved the Volturi and can't wait to see more of Dakota Fanning as Jane. In summary, the movie was great, I loved sharing it with my daughter and we're now waiting anxiously for June when the next installment comes out. :)

As for my book, I have been getting a lot of writing done. I only have a few chapters left and then I'll be able to start the rewrites and edits. At least, that's what I thought until yesterday afternoon when I threw a huge wrench into my own gears!!  While writing one of the climax chapter of the book I realized another way I could keep the mystery more throughout the book and give the readers one of those "Oh!" moments at the end. This is something that hasn't come naturally to me during this process. I've come to realize that when it comes to the relationship/romance part of the writing, I have that down pat. But when it comes to holding information back from the reader to keep them guessing - well, let's just say that I've been learning about it over the last month or so. Originally I let the reader in on everything. I don't think it necessarily hurt the story, but it definitely makes things more interesting if you keep some things until the end. As a reader, I know and appreciate that in a good book. As a writer, it took me until the end to realize I was failing miserably in that department.

About a month ago I added a new character to the book that shook up the predictability of the sub-plot, or relationship between Angelica and Dom. I had to write him into certain memories and dialogues and add completely new scenes for him. I was VERY pleased with him joining the cast. :) Then yesterday I realized something that I needed to take OUT. When I took inventory it means that I'll have to rework 5 different scenes. 4 of them are minor edits, but 1 of them is a huge climactic scene for Dom and it's in the middle of the book. I don't want to lose the scene because I think it's imperitive for his character development, but I think I'm going to have to work it so it can be transplanted towards the end. Either way, I've got my work cut out for me. This has been a great learning experience and one that I'm sure will help me with the next book. I'll know better and can be on the lookout for my tendency to super-divulge information.

Thanks for catching up with me and I'm hoping the next time I post it'll be to announce that I'm onto strictly editing! Have a great weekend everyone, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.