#elementalauthor

[monicaannebooks]

I did it! 🎉 I got up the courage and queried another agent.

Her wish list seems very aligned with my book series to which I expressed with enthusiasm.

So we will see. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🤞

Wish me luck! 🍀

[monicaannebooks]

Anyone else just in love with Petra’s outfits on Jane The Virgin? 😍

Yeah, so, this is the third I’ve watched this show. Yup. I re-watch Netflix shows instead of writing or editing. 😬

Her body type is totally different than mine, so not all of the looks would work on my body, but some might. 💞

[monicaannebooks]

Pro Tip for Editing Your Book:

Want to catch more errors? Try putting the text into a different medium. For example, if you have it typed up, print it out and vice versa. If your book is typed, another great medium to try is audio. Most computers and phones have a text to speech option. I use Ivona, but it’s not really available any more.

I’ve done a lot of editing on my first book. I don’t converted written text to typed text and edited the typed text twice to make it coherent. I then listened to an audio version that allowed me to find errors. This is when I sent it to beta readers and to an editor. I also sent it t two of my brothers. (One is also a writer and knows a great deal about the theory behind writing good novels, while the other one is very knowledgeable about book, lore, and editing.) At this, I printed my book, leaving the editors suggestions to review further. My brothers sent or told me their suggestions, I mark my pages up. I would sometimes discuss those suggestions with them. Of course, having written edits doesn’t help me if my book is typed, so I manually entered all the edits. Once that was done, I turned it into an audio file, found some errors, and fixed them. Those same brothers will be getting another copy this week. I’ll also re-read over it. But, for the most part, I am done editing my novel. It’s time to start querying!

You definitely don’t have to edit that many times, but I felt like my book needing that many edits. Plus, I can be perfectionist.

Wishing all of you luck with your book writing and editing!

[monicaannebooks]

Banned Books

I watched a foreign tv show today. They talked about books that were banned in their country. That made me think, “I’m so glad we don’t do that here.” I mean, sure, churches, schools, and workplaces may banned books, but the country as a whole doesn’t.

I remember in high school I read Angela’s Ashes, a coming of ages story about life during The Great Depression. To me, I was shocked that I was really allowed to read a book for high school that was so... progressive, so vulgar, so raw. Time after time, I’m able to read books that may be banned in other countries.

Freedom of speech and press are a wonderful things that we, especially as authors, should not take for granted.

[monicaannebooks]

Writing is my outlet. I’m stress; I write. I’m mad; I write. I’m feeling romantic; I write. I’m super happy; I write.

I watch an awesome fantasy show that makes me miss writing on my book, so I’ll either write on my book or work on my writing website. I write about writing, like now. I’m feeling WooWoo, so I write LOA stories about what might/could/will happen.

I can’t get enough!

[monicaannebooks]

It's time to get serious about all these blog posts and articles. 👩‍💻 I've got so many posts that are half done.

Fellow writers: Always remember that what you write does not have to be perfect. Just write it. You can always edit later. You got this❣I believe in you.

[monicaannebooks]

I just finished writing a blog post for @united-nations-of-influence. Through the first go around, it seemed pretty legit. I'm stepping away before doing any revision or sending it to the team. It's important with writing to wait a few minutes, hours, days, etc. before editing. The words are just too fresh. I hope it's well received. Wish me luck! ☘

[monicaannebooks]

This is me waiting for an agent to pick my book.

Sometimes, it’s just so defeating getting a rejection email or even just going through agent want list after agent want list, only to find out that YOUR BOOK isn’t what they’re wanting.

I know I just have to keep the faith, but it’s not always easy.

After my last searches and set of rejections, I had to take a break from it all.

It was heart wrenching knowing how long and how hard it was to create this amazing story, only to find out that either there aren’t agents wanting to even look at my book or who pass on it when they do. 🙄

But I’m ready to get back to it now.

However, I’m not looking forward to the gut punches that’ll come my way. Fingers crossed that there won’t be too many at least. 🤞