A long time ago, as stories go...

...I wanted to be Patricia Veryan, swashing my buckle as I rode around the countryside with dashing rouges and daring heroines (who could always pull off being a boy easily). After many rejections and an agent or two, I figured, ah--well, I was probably meant to be a Harlequin Romantic Suspense writer instead. And spent many years writing myself down rabbit holes so deep and broad even a metal fire ladder wouldn't have pulled me out.

Nothing panned out, but it did make me realize I needed help. I was so lost it wasn't funny, and everyone else seemed to have it together. It took me years to realize my interests were kind of skewed. I loved to write, but I also loved the mechanics of writing--the craft stuff. All the lines and squiggles, and arcs and do-giggys. I used to dream in text, and after I started editing, I started seeing diagrams. It was weird. Probably weirder because it's just not something copy editors do, being logical people like my friend, Laura.

I had a really bad year wondering if something was wrong with me, until I realized my strengths weren't in copy, but developmental edits. Thank God for Dr. Google and those people who stuck with me as I shifted gears and worked through my sea change.

I started doing workshops to get my head on straight and share my thoughts. Last year, my tidal wave of info all but drowned me and I'm still having problems finding things that used to flow like rain. I need to shift gears again, and this time, scale it back.

I have so much info and so many powerpoints I can't even remember where I put them or what they're about, and sometimes (to my surprise and occasional delight) will find things I did that startle me, or make me scratch my head. A lot of my older information is obsolete, evolved away in the progression of time and theories as they morphed into smoother, more elegantly usable things, like the hammering of a block of steel into a katana. And a lot of it isn't here, in the one place I consider my online home. I need to fix that and the damage left by my near drowning.

I have two more workshops left in the year, and...I don't think I'll be doing any more. At least, not for savvy or for pay. Maybe for free, if I can ever find a way to create some structure and hold myself to it. Or maybe I'll just hand out pdfs and stand around on a facebook corner, hoping people talk to me, I dunno. It's a question for another day. Right now, I'm a fingertip and a straw away from being swallowed by edits. My schedule has always been tight, but now it's back to back, and sometimes doubled. I wonder if dev edits have finally gained some recognition, or it's just a natural progression of the indie revolution. Whatever it is, hasn't left me much time. My contact info is current if you need to talk to me, want to check availability or have a question.

*pats blog* I'll be back, blog. I just don't know when.