My Best Work Yet . . . The Amazing Editor . . . And a Bit of Wisdom from Author Carmen Baca #Witches #preorder #HispanicLiterature #SpeculativeFiction #WritingCommunity #Writer #amwriting #kindle #barrioblues #border #Amazon #barrioblues

I know I tried giving this book away a few months back, and the work was great. Since then, people requested it on Amazon. They also wanted a printed version, so I decided to have it edited. 

Mona's Return is my best work yet. Part of this breakthrough is that I got to sit with the story and make changes that it needed.

You know when your story just sings and is a page turner. I think this novelette does just that. I read this story three times after final edits, and I loved it more each time. That is the level I want to hit every time.

The other reason the work is so amazing is that I found an excellent editor to help me fine tune the piece:

Aditya Deshmukh @adityadeshmukhwrites

He read it three times and took his time making corrections. Then, after I went over it and made the changes. He went over it again. For once, in the final stages, I wasn't reading a proof, agonizing over missed errors. I also learned a great deal from his feedback and will carry that advice as I revise my novel and write new work. I highly recommend his services. In fact, he doesn't know it yet, but I am having him go over my past publications. I am rolling out a second edition of La Bruja in the Orchard and revising past novelettes.

I always say, treat your editors like God (as Stephen King says), but I can honestly say Aditya is a champion. And friend. 

I am also very blessed to have amazing writer friends around me. One of them is Carmen Baca, author of El Hermano and most recently Viajes con Fatasmas. I was chatting with her via Messenger, and she said something about writing that . . . well, let's just say I had a mental explosion. She said about writing, "It’s not a struggle if you know and love the craft, only when you’re forcing it." I hit home with me because I've been complaining about my novel revision. Hell, I always complain about revising. I also just finished listening to Stephen King's On Writing and in that book, he swears he loves all aspects of writing. Of course he does.

That bit of advice though is so true. We may love the craft, but if we don't know what we are doing or if we are forcing it, we are going to fundamentally fuck up the writing process and our books, stories, our writing.

My perspective on revising has changed because I love writing, and I know more about it than I give myself credit for. (Plus, I reached out to a bunch of experienced writers who gave really great advice.) That doesn't mean there won't be struggle or a learning curve as I, or you, write, but if we don't know, we should study to get to know what we need to. And have faith.

Well, I hope you are having a productive writing week. Stay tuned because this week, I am going to send interview questions to Martin Eastland-King! Then, I have a few more writers lined up.

Love every aspect of writing. Don't struggle stupidly. #barrioblues

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