Getting it Write

by Margie Senechal

Old files are kind of scary. I wandered into an email file titled Betas and realized that I have been writing Bix for around eight years. Why, yes, I do have eight versions and close to 300,000 words to prove it...but really eight years. Wow. 

Either I'm dedicated or crazy. Not sure which.

But then I saw an announcement on Facebook from author Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus. 

Now, The Night Circus is one of my all-time favorite books. Easily in the top five, if not top two. It's quite magical in that I had no idea at any time where it was going and how it would end up. 

And the announcement was that after seven years of not publishing, she was going to launch her second book, The Starless Sea next  November. And this new book sounds amazing--well worth the wait of near a decade.

Now, I'm not putting Bix up to the masterpiece quality of The Night Circus. I'm just saying that patience and getting it right may be worth the work.

I have YA Beta partners who have recently or will be soon publishing their books and it makes me happy that I may have assisted their journeys along the way and they mine. 
 
Ann Braden's The Benefits of Being an Octopus has gone into it's fourth printing since publishing this September. She's on an incredible journey with an incredible book.

Tiana Smith's Match Me if You Can publishes in January 2019--I read an early version of this and adored it. I can't wait to read the final product.

And Stacy Stoke's Where the Staircase Ends published a few years ago--but it's worth seeking out. I think I read this one three different times and versions over the time Stacy worked on it.

It just goes to show, that every book has their journey and Bix is still on his. I have to remember that when I get discouraged that I am writing another version of the same story I've been working on since 2011.  I've taken pauses, beginning several books along the way, but I tend to always return to Bix.

And this--Number nine--is more of a family story than past versions. Basically all that remains from the first incarnation are the characters, the Witsec town, and Bix's snark. 

Thank you, Erin Morgenstern for taking the time to get it right and showing me it's okay to take my time. 

Thank you, Ann, Stacy, and Tiana for reading Bix, giving me advice, and for persevering toward your own dreams of publication.