June 23, 2010

Exciting news!  After a couple more brief rewrites this past month, I got the word yesterday from my editor: "In my opinion, this is IT!"  As of now, THE WORK OF A WOMAN is scheduled for publication in August 2011!  My editor swears she's been running up and down the halls at Random House saying, "You HAVE to read the new Ellen Baker book!"  :)  I blush to report also that she said she'd never seen a book go in one 6-week rewrite from being a "really good book" to a "phenomenal book."  She said it was as if the book had been a "really pretty tree" before -- but now the twinkle lights have been turned on, making it "magical" and "breathtaking."  Hooray!  I'm so grateful for all the help I've received along the way from my editors, agent, and others, and so excited to be moving forward and to feel, finally, that the novel has taken the shape it was meant to have.

So here's what it's about: World War II shipyard welder Grace Anderson dreams of designing costumes in Hollywood; instead, she’s stuck doing her patriotic duty in the bitter Wisconsin winters, nursing her sick father, and keeping up a superficial correspondence with her high school boyfriend, Alex, a Marine in the Pacific.  To lessen the monotony, she agrees to exchange letters with her coworker Lena Maki’s twin brother, Derrick, who's serving in the Navy. But when the just-for-fun epistolary romance turns serious, Grace becomes mired in a Maki family nightmare and a struggle for “home,” the consequences of which aren't resolved until more than fifty years later, when Lena’s granddaughter, Julia, is caring for the family farm and her long-lost great-grandmother appears, in search of a final reconciliation.  Uncovering family mementoes and buried secrets, Julia pieces together the mystery of her family's past and learns that lost things can, sometimes, be found...    

When I posted the publication date on Facebook, someone asked, "If the book is done, why does it take so long for it to come out?"  The answer, as I understand it, is that it depends, first of all, on where the publisher has room for it, as they only publish a certain number of books each month/each season.  And I believe they like to have at least a year to build up lots of advance interest in the book through publicity, reviews, etc., because, once it hits the shelves, they want people to be looking for it.  Also, there are many steps to turning the manuscript into a book, such as copy editing, jacket design, choosing a typeface, designing the interior of the book, and so on.  So for me, this upcoming year will be a time to do all that I can to get the word out -- and I'll also start writing a new book.  I have an idea for a third book which is currently in proposal form and I'm waiting to hear whether my editor wants me to go ahead with it.  So I feel there is a lot to look forward to!  

I'm especially looking forward to the chance, next year, to travel and reconnect with the fabulous readers, book clubs, and bookstores I got to know with KEEPING THE HOUSE -- and to connect with many more.  Meanwhile, I'm spending this summer in Maine and would be delighted to visit with New England book clubs in person -- just email me and we'll see if we can set it up!

Wishing you a wonderful summer!

 

May 19, 2010

I did it!  I finished my latest revisions and turned in my manuscript ... I'll post when I hear any news...

 

March 31, 2010

Just as I suspected (below), I heard from my editors last week!  They love THE WORK OF A WOMAN -- and had a bunch of suggestions about how to make it even better.  I'll be spending about the next six weeks on another rewrite, focusing mainly on the last 1/3 of the manuscript.  (I imagine at this point you all are going to expect this to be a damn good book.)  Anyway, wish me luck!  I'll post again when I have more news.  Thanks, as always, for your patience and your faith in me. :)

 

March 22, 2010

Thanks to all of you who keep checking back for news about my new book!  All this time, I've been hesitating to post a "no news" update, thinking that any day I WOULD have something definite to report.  I thought, how silly to post "no news," only to have to go back the very next day (surely!) to say, "Spoke too soon!"

Now I wonder: Will it really work that way?  Will tomorrow be the day? :)

Meanwhile, if you're checking here because you loved KEEPING THE HOUSE, would you do me the great favor of writing a review on amazon.com or barnesand noble.com?  I'd be forever grateful!

Thanks again so much for your support, and I will post again whenever I have news.  Probably tomorrow. :)

 

November 17, 2009 

I just got the nicest letter from a woman named Judy.  She wrote: "Now I AM concerned about you!! I check your site each week, looking for news on your new book. I know something has to be wrong, and it is hard to face the fact that I can't know what and why the book is not here...
I often wonder how an author faces a re-write, when the story that lives inside of you ... comes alive.  Then the publisher comes along and completely changes the whole scene. (Or something like that)!!  I so hope this isn't happening to you, or discouragement is taking over... DON'T GIVE UP !!  You gave me some very pleasurable hours, and I look so forward to reading my new Ellen Baker book when it is done."

I was so touched by this note. I've been waiting until I had more significant news to report, but Judy's concern has inspired me to post an update -- the last thing I want to do is to make anyone worry!  I asked her if I could share what I wrote to her, and she generously agreed.  So, here's the scoop:

"There is really nothing wrong regarding my new book -- the process just takes a bit longer than one might think.  The last I heard, last week, my editor hasn't yet had the time to read my latest rewrites, so that's why there's still no update.  However, through my agent, my editor did express confidence that she was going to love what she read, based on what a great job I did on rewrites the previous time around.  So, I am really not worried -- it just takes patience, this waiting, and lately I've been thinking a lot about the lines from the T.S. Eliot poem, "There will be time, there will be time... time for a hundred visions and revisions..."  In other words, I think that I'll receive feedback when the time is right for all concerned.  And I'm sure there will be a few more changes I'll need to make.  Meanwhile, this waiting has given me the time to focus on some personal things which had also 'fallen through the cracks' during the many months that I was consumed with writing.  So please, don't fret.  All is well.  One other thing I have to mention is that, although the rewriting process has been quite a challenge with this book, I wouldn't change anything about it.  The discerning eyes of my editors and other wonderful readers have meant that you will get to read a much, much better book than what you would have had they not contributed their talents and visions... I hope you'll find it worth the wait, and meanwhile, please don't worry about me, and thank you!"

To all of you who are faithfully checking for news and looking forward to my new book, I say the same -- thank you!  Your enthusiasm and support truly means so much.  I PROMISE to post when I have more news.  Meanwhile, if you're looking for something good to read, I just posted some new suggestions on my bookshelf.  Thanks again, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

September 30, 2009

Just turned in my latest rewrite!  Will post when I hear back ...

 

July 2009

Embarking on another rewrite -- very grateful for my editor's insightful comments -- and happy to see the words "next time could be the final draft"!

 

June 2009

The past few months have passed in a blur of writing, dancing, and, well,  moving.  Moving as in relocating, I mean -- I'm officially a Minnesota resident, again.  Dancing as in literally (see photo of me with my partner, Ryan Stokes, in the Minnesota Ballet's "Celebrity Dance Challenge").  And writing as in re-re-re-re-writing.  Now I can finally report that the new house is fantastic, I've put away my dancing shoes, and my new book is with my editor.  I'll post news when I get it...

 And, as of a few days ago, I'm on Facebook.  Hope you'll find me there!  

 

January 2009

For those of you who are wondering how my revisions on the new book are coming along these days, the answer is the same as always: somewhere between “I’m almost done!” and “I have no idea.” 

I’m not trying to be mysterious or flip; it’s just that it’s difficult to measure progress.  I’ve tried.  Nearly every day for the past year or more, I’ve recorded the word count of my manuscript.  This felt like a better measure last year, when it was going steadily up.  I had a goal of writing at least 150,000 words by June 1, and I did it.  That’s why anyone who’s inquired since about last April got the “I think I’m almost done!” answer.

But, by this time, it seems like about 110,000 of those original words were (probably) not the right ones.

Now I have six or seven “cut stuff” documents, one for each time I’ve rewritten the manuscript.  I think they add up to about 800 pages of unused material.  Since one of the main comments from my editor and agent and other readers has been that the book was too long, a declining word count is now, perhaps, a better indication of “progress,” though the real question is whether the words that are there are actually telling the story that needs to be told, and telling it in a compelling way.  Obviously, that’s a much more subjective measure, impossible to note on a calendar, day by day. 

But I’m not discouraged.  The only way out is through, as the saying goes, and I find that every day the book is, in one way or another, a little bit better than it was the day before.  I’ve just stopped trying to predict when I might be “finished.” 

But I hope you won't give up on me.  I’m almost done, really.  I think.