SueHarrison.com

“Hey, Sue, wot up?”

Well, you’re not exactly saying it in those words, but I’m catching some curiosity about what I’m currently writing. Thank you so much for that! Your support gives me courage and energy, two very important commodities.

As I have explained in various posts, emails and author lectures, the market for novels set in prehistoric times is very soft. That means I don’t have a publisher interested in my next prehistoric.  Unfortunately – and fortunately – I love to write.  Specifically, I love to write novels, so I’m venturing into a new-to-me genre, which is a combination of romance (not X-rated) and mystery.

Last year, I completed my first attempt at this genre, sent it to an agent and received some very valuable advice about how to make the manuscript more readable and more marketable. Since February I have been working on those suggested changes. They are extensive and require quite a bit of new material, and I have absolutely loved doing this rewrite!  I am now within a few weeks of completion. After, I will chart the plot and make sure I’ve woven in all the loose ends. Then I’ll do another quick reread and, if the manuscript meets my expectations, I’ll resubmit.

Then I’ll be working on another manuscript in the same genre AND working on my patience.  Agents are incredibly busy people and a reading often takes a long time. No writer wants to bother an agent so much that he or she turns you down, not because your manuscript is lacking, but because you appear to be a spoiled brat: Read mine!  Read mine!  Read mine!  So . . . here’s to patience and UNbratiness!

How do you deal with the waiting times in your lives? I could use some pointers!

Blessings!

Sue

Congratulations to Meghan and Susan Hutchinson our April book winners. Meghan’s name was drawn first, so she will have her pick of the two books. Would you both please email me at sue@sueharrison.com.

Thank you!
Sue

I’m sorry to have been lax in posting this past week , but we’ve had a bout with a virus that is pretty wicked.  It seemed to go through our local school system in January and February.  I kept expecting my husband to come home with it.  Principals usually get introduced to viruses early in the season, but he managed to hold it off until just after spring break.  He was down for a weekend, but didn’t miss any work.  About a week later, my father-in-law started sneezing.  Two days after the first sniffle, he was running a temp of 101 degrees.  That’s bad for anybody, but especially if you’re 90.  After a week of rest and meds, he’s doing great, but now it’s my turn.  I’ve kept up with the caregiving and laundry and my writing but not the Blog. 

So now that I’m feeling almost human again, let’s talk about books.  Our Pickford Reading Group is meeting this week to discuss THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold.  I’ve read the book before, but I delighted all over again in the poetry of the words and the very true-to-life voice of the 14-year-old protagonist Susie.  It’s one of those books that you just can’t stop thinking about.  Next month we’re reading HAVE A LITTLE FAITH by Mitch Albom.  I’ve not read this one, so am looking forward to the joy of something ”brand new” – at least to me! 

My reading stack also includes THE CONFESSOR by Daniel Silva. I really enjoy Silva’s books.  He writes elegant thrillers, and his characters are very real to life.  I’m also reading ELVIS IS DEAD AND I DON’T FEEL SO GOOD MYSELF by Lewis Grizzard.  Somehow I missed this one when it was published back in the 1980’s.  Last week, one of our Blue Grass group friends lent me a copy.  This book is hilarious, and laughter is great medicine!

Okay, I want to know what you’re reading – for joy, to your kids, in your reading group, for English class…   Love it, hate it – let us know!  

Blessings!  Sue

This month our free books are for children.  You are eligible for the drawing on Monday, April 26, if you post and let us know one of your favorite children’s books.

Our first April Free Book is for children ages 3 – 5.  The title is BUSY FRIENDS by Constance Allen.  It is a large hardcover  “Discovery Book” full of all your favorite Sesame Street characters.   Here’s a publisher’s blurb .

“Inside, kids will find two stories featuring action-packed scenes and fun interactive elements like flaps, pull-tabs, and more!  Engaging activites on every page include early learning concepts like colors and counting.”

Our second April Free Book is actually two books from the “First Questions and Answers” series.  They are  paperback books (approx. 8″x12″), 32 pages each.  They are appropriate for ages 4 (advanced) to 8.  The book titles are WHY DID KNIGHTS FIGHT? and WHY DID PIRATES BURY TREASURE? both by Miles Kelly and illustrated by a variety of artists.  Each book is full of questions and very interesting and enlightening answers about the subject - in this case, knights and pirates.   Even adults will find the information included very educational.   (At least I did.)

All the April Free Books are brand new. 

Well, let me know your favorite children’s book or books.  My all-time favorite is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS.  What’s yours?

When you live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the promise of Spring Break carries with it a great longing for warm, snowless climes.  Thus this year, as we began to contemplate that magic week at the end of March, my husband and I looked south, but not as far south as we usually do. 

This time we decided to try a new-to-us destination: Branson, Missouri, home of country music.  (Well, one of the homes of country music.)  Our journey to Branson, via car, was mostly uneventful.  We did drive through a violent thunderstorm, during which we spotted a television van heading full speed into the heavy weather, followed by a couple of storm chasers. 

Upon seeing them my husband made the classic deadpan comment: “Hmm, storm chasers.  That can’t be good.”

It wasn’t good, but we survived –  obviously - and topped that on our way home, by driving through a fire that had jumped the highway from a burning cornfield.  With flames leaping above the car on both sides, we slowed to a crawl and prayed that the vehicles ahead of us would keep going so our tires wouldn’t melt.  Don’t let anybody tell you that the state of Illinois is a boring place.

Our time in Branson was absolutely joyous.  We attended two or three shows each day.  The people were kind, the shows were classy and good down-home restaurants were plentiful.   We had a ball, and we bought enough CDs to last us the whole sixteen-hour drive home. 

It’s spring.  Each year Trumpeter Swans stop on our bay and spend a week before they continue their long  journey to the Arctic.  We always try to count them.  One hundred.  Two hundred.  On Spring Break.  How joyous! 

An abundance of blessings to all of you,

Sue