SEVEN FOR A SECRET Teaser #2

AVAILABLE AUGUST 12, 2014

Omnific Publishing

Goodreads 

#amediting...not dead

LOVING the changes @RumerHaven made to her novel. #editingWIN!
— Sarah Allan (@Sarah_Allan) June 9, 2014

My editor is so sweet and freakin' brilliant. I hope this positive sentiment that she shared yesterday lasts... :)

My apologies for the radio silence and that I haven't made it around to everyone's blogs lately. I received my first-round edits back and was curled up in my cave the past week tending to them. That was the first time I'd let myself read my manuscript in several months, and I'm so glad we had parted ways a while--made it so much easier to be a little less sentimental and therefore see and trim out superfluous narrative, as well as totally get what my editor was asking for and why. I have loved the process so far and just hope my revisions meet with her satisfaction.

I've never done this before, so my approach was to do a first-pass just making a beeline to all her comments and changes to field them one by one. I then did a comprehensive read-through as my second-pass, re-addressing my tweaks along the way to smooth them over and look for any excess I could cut out--my word count is rather long due to the fact that this book is comprised of two separate yet intertwined romances (one modern, the other in the 1920s), so to develop either adequately, some length was in order. But in general, it's my modern-day thread that has required the most work to pick up pacing and make characters more sympathetic, so for my third-pass, I did a read-through of the modern story only, further trimming and developing. And did this all in a week's time. So my mind is fairly fried, and my eyeballs are hanging from their sockets by a thread.

And now it rests in my editor's hands to do with what she will to meet our developmental edit deadline at the end of this month. Wish us luck!

Am off to become some semblance of a domestic goddess today to undo various results of my neglect... ;)

A to Z: High on the Hooch

It's one thing when your giggle water gives you an edge, quite another when it sends you over one...

Today's 1920s slang term makes a cameo in my part-contemporary, part-historical novel SEVEN FOR A SECRET, and it's not a pretty scene. Let's just say when my dear Lon Ashby drinks to drown his sorrows, his evening goes from jazz to jail. :(

~*~  OSSIFIED  ~*~

Meaning: Drunk.

  

Evil-eyed when ossified.

A to Z: The Young and the Yawning

*yawn*
Hm? What? Oh sorry, I must have zoned out for a second there on this dull and dreary day. But that's not the right attitude, is it? We must have zest for life! Live like there's no tomorrow! That's the fun of a flapper, after all, so let's dance!

If you're scratching your head in a daze because you missed my original post about the A to Z Challenge, don't feel deflated. You can find it here:  A-Z, and all that jA-Zz

Meanwhile, the Devil is finding work for idle hands to do, so let's keep ourselves occupied brushing up on our 1920s slang:

~*~  FLAT TIRE  ~*~

Meaning: A bore

"Boy, this road trip sure became
a real flat tire once we got
that...flat tire."

A to Z: Tipsy from Your Tipple?

Why, hello, hellooo! Fancy meeting you here! If you've stumbled in here after-hours and are curious what this is all about, my explanation is at this link, if you can still read it through your beer goggles:  A-Z, and all that jA-Zz

And now, let us raise our drinks in toast to my next A to Z Challenge 1920s slang term, as well as the intoxicating debut novel that inspired this theme. Cheers!

~*~  EDGE  ~*~

Meaning: Intoxication, a buzz 

"Woo! I've got an edge from that gin fizz."

A to Z: Felines are the Fashion

Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up to the latest craze since knees on bees...

But first, if you missed my original post about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge: A-Z, and all that jA-Zz

And now, without further ado, I give you today's installment of 1920s slang to prepare you for when Seven for a Secret is the next greatest thing. ;)

~*~  CAT'S MEOW  ~*~

Also, the CAT'S PAJAMAS or WHISKERS

Meaning: Something great, wonderful

"I'm telling you, 
cats in hats are the cat's meow.
Everyone's doing it."

Getting My Knickers in a Twist

Ahhh...today, folks, today I revel in modern conveniences. I am not a materialistic sort, and I learn to do well without when I need to--but waiting OVER TWO MONTHS for a functioning washing machine is for the birds. To keep a long story short, this was me before:

Red chapped hands...alas, too rough for writing!

And this shall be me ever after:

That's right, Washday. I'm giving you the come-hither look.

Forgive me if I'm setting my gender back decades, but boy, oh boy, my knickers can't wait to knock around that new drum!

Well Hello, Dollface!

Greetings and salutations, oh brave, pioneering blog readers who are the first to see this! I have been terribly lax in my social media responsibilities, but if it's any consolation, I finally, officially launched my author website: rumerhaven.com. A wee bit of my short fiction can also be found at ckwagner.com if you'd like a taste of my style, though CK is far less saucy and accomplished than me. ;)

I think I've been shy about writing anything here because I technically don't have a physical or even electronic product to promote, but I will...oh yes, I will. Come spring 2014, if all goes to plan, my debut novel, Seven for a Secret, will launch. And with any luck, that day the planets will also be in alignment and no one will step on any cracks in the sidewalk to break this mama's back. I am huuugely excited and terrified in equal parts at this point. But that combination should be good. I keep reminding myself that it IS good so that I can get through all the anticipation and preliminary work I already have cut out for me. My manuscript hasn't gone into editing yet, so I have nothing to report on that front, but in the meantime I hope to share some insights into how the novel was inspired, written, and queried--whether you're just curious or pursuing the path to publication yourself! I empathize either way.

In the meantime, while there's still so much pending (book cover, trailer, reviews, events, etc.), I've provided some stuff to peruse on my website, including real-life inspirations for locations and other details in Seven for a Secret. I will surely expand on some of those in this blog, and I'm interested in hearing what reading or writing projects you have going on as well. So you see? There's so much to look forward to here. You're a star for patiently standing by for my end of it...