I’ve spent a good part of the last year re-writing Stone Seeker. I’ve always loved Arroon and his oddball pack of friends. I love the book, the story and as it winds up…I’ve often loved it a little too much. I hesitated to make changes to those wonderful words, because they were all so good. Then came the realization that I could do better. Editing and re-writing have been fun, disturbing, exciting and in the end, empowering. Books are like that. Just as you feel like you’ve gotten there wherever there is, you find out that there is a whole lot of there left to get to.
It took several tries to get Stone Seeker to the point where my kids and their friends would read it without wanting to put it down. Where they’d sneak flashlights into bed so they could read a few more pages. Where they’d get in trouble in class for reading at inappropriate times. I’m sorry that they got in trouble, but I’m thrilled that they liked the book enough to feel it was worth getting in trouble over.
So we’re sending Stone Seeker, and with it Arroon, Finder and Miran, out into the world to try to find a publisher. I’m trying very hard to be nonchalant about this event. I’m trying to remember to breathe because the process of matching a book with the right editor at the right publisher can be a lengthy one. Still…I find myself tempted to call my agent, Donald Mass and bug him. And I want to keep one eye on my e-mail…just in case. I am somehow resisting these temptations because neither one of these actions is going to get me anything but an irritated agent and a lot of wasted time.
Instead, I’m working on Mutant. I’ve got Miranda Baxter and her mutant friend, Riley Fortune, stumbling through the Nevada desert, trying to find water and ultimately looking for a home. I can’t help Arroon and his pals in their search for a publisher—that’s out of my hands. But I’m still in control of Miranda and Riley. Their fate is still in my hands. Books are like that.
Tags: Arroon Walker Unlikely hero, Miranda Baxter, patience, re-writing
