Category Archives: Grendel’s Mother – Book

A mainstream, literary book, based on the character from Beowulf.

Grendel’s Mother and The Mistakes I Made as a First-Time Indie Author

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Back when magazines were delivered by mail or purchased on the newsstands—obviously pre-internet–one magazine, Calling All Girls which later merged with Young Miss, had a column called, “Was My Face Red!” The column consisted of letters by readers who revealed embarrassing moments. Some were funny, some sad, but they all had one thing in common: they showed how human we all are, reinforcing that we all make mistakes.

Well, I’m here to make a confession—a big one.

Recently, I discovered that my first indie-published book, Grendel’s Mother, was a bit of a mess.

A couple years after it was published, I saw a review by a German reader who commented on two characters’ names that were misspelled in the book. Sometimes Angus was Agnus. Sometimes Erik was Eric or Erick.

Fortunately, I was able to make the repairs to the names and provide a cleaner copy to Amazon and Ingram right after that reveal.

Or, so I thought.

Turns out there were more issues than just two names being misspelled. Now, I understand why there was silence from certain individuals, people who normally always have an opinion about a book.

During a recent experience of listening to Grendel’s Mother, preparing it to be listed as an audiobook on Amazon, I was stunned to hear the errors:

  • Missing words
  • Correctly spelled words but not the right word, such as again when it should have been against.
  • Repetition of words… in the same sentence.
  • Unclear meaning
  • and more.

Is my face ever red!

I didn’t know. No one said a word. Did they just not want to tell me, didn’t know how to tell me, or did they not see the errors themselves?

I’ll never know the answers, but I can only imagine how some might have been embarrassed for me. I wish I could have known then what I know now, but that’s a fruitless wish. The mistakes I made back then:

  • I had no beta readers, no proofreaders. Just me.
  • I didn’t reread the book multiple times. Multiple as in a dozen or more, until I stopped finding errors.
  • I suspect auto-correct may have been turned on.
  • I didn’t read it aloud.
  • I was in a hurry. The worst possible reason ever.

When I discovered all of these errors recently, I beat myself up for a few minutes, and then, I started to work the problem. I ran the story through the process I use today.

The one thing I don’t do anymore is be in a hurry. I take my time.

I figured it’d take me a week to fix Grendel’s Mother. It took me three weeks.

I’m happy to report that the audio version is now live!

To you readers who left glowing reviews, THANK YOU! To you readers who were brave enough to reveal the errors or flaws, THANK YOU! You made me want to be a better proofreader.

I appreciate you all!

How about you? Do you have any publishing or writing-related Was My Face Red stories you’d like to share?

How to Become a Writing Maverick: aka, a task-oriented and persistent writer

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The questions for this month are:  When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If [you] have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is, and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

How to Become a Writing Maverick: aka, a task-oriented and persistent writer

What do I use to help me find my groove when starting to write?

  1. I’ll listen to genre mood music, usually soundtracks from favorite movies; or, I’ll listen to sounds of nature.
  2. I’ll just start writing, knowing the first couple page equates to priming the writing pump so that the well of words will flow easily. These first few pages will probably be garbage and that’s okay.

If I haven’t started the writing yet, why do I think that is?

  1. I’m procrastinating. Climbing any new mountain looks daunting. I’ll find a writing task to do instead.
  2. I’m exhausted from finishing the last project. I’ve learned I need a short break between major projects. That’s when I’ll file papers, clean off my desk, and perform other types of writing tasks.

When the going gets tough writing the story, how do I keep myself writing to the end?

  1. I gut it out. I put my butt in the seat and make myself write the words.
  2. I write every day. Even if it’s only for five or ten minutes. If that’s all I can accomplish that day, it’s enough.
  3. I write first drafts now by ignoring the mistakes, the rules, and the inconsistencies because this is where I can get taken down by trying to rewrite before the first draft is finished.
    1. It happened with Grendel’s Mother, which was a 10-year process, with a 7-year gap between starting the first draft and its completion. The first three years, I spent rewriting the first 40 pages multiple times.
    2. It happened with my Laurel Ridge Novella series, where the first book, Shattered Dreams (#1), was published, and now five years later where I’ve just published Burning Desire (#2), and have Arrested Pleasure (#3) set up as a pre-order. I discovered I had to write all of the following six books as first drafts before I could publish #2. The other four books of the series will be published closely behind #3.

Every day is about priming that pump, finding that zone.

If I can’t find the zone, I just write anyway. I know from experience that without any words placed on the page, I’ve got nothing to work with later.

Some days it’s easy, other days it’s not. But the end result, the opening of that box of new books, is always the same. Pure ecstasy.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Finding My Way Through the Genre Wilderness

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With almost all of my writing projects from the start of writing the first word, I knew the genre and the form. Romance as a novel or as a short short story. Mystery as a short story or novel series. Poetry as a sestina, haiku, or sonnet. Romance novella series. 400-word column for XYZ (magazine/newspaper), non-fiction. And, so forth.

I say almost, because there’s only been one project that I began writing and had no idea what form it would take—would it be long, short, mid-length? —or the genre it would become. For its first written word, I dubbed it a historical, telling myself that I’d research the genre later. As to the form, I figured the story length itself would be the deciding factor. I suspected it would be a novel, but I wasn’t confident about it.

I knew the story took place in the late 5th century and I knew it would be fiction, based on a character from the world’s first English manuscript that had an unknown author. Those were the only two things I knew for sure.

The genesis moment occurred in the middle of my teaching a women’s study survey class where we were examining stories where women didn’t have a voice. In the middle of one student’s presentation of their book, I had that brilliant “Aha!” moment: Grendel’s mother in Beowulf.

I wrote those four words down and felt an excitement rise within, an excitement I hadn’t felt in while. Four years to be exact. Life had intervened followed by a decision to return to school so I could become degreed where I could teach accredited classes. Up until then, the classes I had been teaching in were either online or through adult enrichment classes at colleges.

Once I started going back to school, I was writing just as much as I had before, if not more, but it was all academic writing or creative writing forced by assignments, which were difficult to write because that deep-down bubbling joy and inspiration was always missing.

There was little time for laying any assignment aside, letting time work any creative juices. Instead, quick revisions and polishing, turning it in for a grade was the diction and process of my writing those days.

That initial excitement of a new idea stayed with me through the rest of that class I was teaching and through the commuting drive home. Walking to my car after class and during the drive home, the title was instant—Grendel’s Mother—and she was already talking to me. I saw flashes of scenes, but I had no idea of order or structure.

The minute I got in the door, I dropped my bookbag, keys, tore off my coat, and went straight to the computer. I didn’t even think about eating. That could wait a few minutes.

Those few minutes turned into an hour where I quickly wrote twenty pages of what I thought was the opening pages of the project. It felt like a book. It felt like a historical book. I saw it as a screenplay, too. The images were vivid, the dialogue clear and crisp.

Strangely, I didn’t have to struggle to discover any of the book’s characters. This is the one and only time where all the characters came fully formed, included their bitterness, goals, and wounds. All of them.

It was magical. I didn’t question anything.

I began to question the historical genre. I did some research. How was Beowulf classified? Medieval Poetry, Norse & Icelandic Sagas, English Literature, Epic Poetry, Mythology & Folk Tales. And then, I saw it: Epic Fantasy.

Not until, I was in the end revision stages—and there were many revisions—did the starting pages change. I changed the beginning to provide a better hook. To provide stronger action. The original beginning—that truly started at the beginning chronologically became the transition from present to past. The new beginning was an extremely active scene, taking place nine months later from the original beginning. The transition occurs as a way to deal with the present pain…and so, she starts remembering.

I even got as far as assigning the genre to YA historical because the heroine is a teenager in the beginning; but then, someone said, no, it’s not a YA because she ages. They were right.

The genre fit.

Grendel’s Mother became a novel and my first indie publication. To date, it’s still my most favorite book that I’ve written and published so far.

***

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!