April 16th, 2016

I thought I was nearly finished No Evil Star but one of the editing notes I made told me to create an up-dated scene map. In the process of that - it took five hours to complete -  I ended up with a list of things still to fix taking four pages, instead of the original six items, and I identified seven scenes in the beginning of the book that were shorter than 500 words. Suddenly the amount of work still to do felt overwhelming.

I began to wonder if I really wanted to do this writing thing (I hate editing). To get my head back in the right space I started reading some of my old blog posts. I found one from 2013 that still works for me. The file is labelled 'June Blog submission' which is not at all helpful in remembering where it was originally published. I've learned a few things since then and now name my files something useful. I've edited the end bit to make it current:

I was in my mid-thirties before I finally decided what I wanted to be when I grew up. I took a couple of short writing courses, just to see if I had it in me to work at it. I also joined some writing groups that critiqued members’ work and learned a lot about how to critique writing and about editing. I learn more every day.
 
I write to find out the end of the story. I write because it’s fun; I bounce for hours after a good writing day. I write because if I don’t, my family tells me I’m cranky and sends me to my office.
 
There’s one main reason I write M/M romance: conditional love makes me weep. Everyone deserves to be loved and accepted unconditionally, without judgment.  I try to show that it’s the way things should be, even if some of my stories don’t have a happy ending.
 
I was very fortunate that Dreamspinner Press picked up my short story Between Love and Honor. It’s a M/M historical romance without a happy ending and not many publishers take that combination at that length. You can find all my stories published with them on their website. The Courage to Love continued David’s story.
 
My hard drive is full of completed and partially completed science fiction and fantasy stories that I’ve begun to edit and submit. The Planet Whisperer was released just before Christmas and I’m currently working on edits for No Evil Star, the story of Jonah’s younger brother. It should be ready for submission soon.
 
You can find me—and a number of free short stories—on my website: http://www.eemontgomery.com/ and blog: http://www.eemontgomery.com/blogeemontgomery11@gmail.com; on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ewynelaine.montgomery; on Twitter: @EEMontgomery1; Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/eemontgomery11/