Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Here we are at yet another passing month, which means another Insecure Writers Support Group monthly question. 
What's IWSG, you ask? It's a group of writers who lend support, encouragement, and guidance to each other. Once a month, we share our insecurities about writing, marketing, and the publishing industry. On occasion, we also share insecurities or struggles from our daily lives. Want to take part? Click on the image at the end of my post. We'd love to have you join us! This month's question is:  For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?  
I remember when I first began writing. The thought of 'shelving' a manuscript was almost as offensive to me as was eating liver when I was five years old. 
Unthinkable.
But as with all things in life, once we gain experience and experiences wisdom abounds . . .

Now, with a few published novels under my belt and a couple on deck to be released, I've come to appreciate the clarity distance provides from a drafted manuscript.  Distance gives me new eyes. Sometimes I find it's also given me a new attitude about a scene, character, or setting I've written about. I'm always amazed at my altered perspective when I read a piece I've allowed to sit for a while. It's kind of like cooking. Over the years, I learned that allowing some dishes to set and simmer, adding spices and other ingredients in time, makes them more flavorful and potent to the pallet.

Other Cool Stuff I Was Talking About:
I might not be posting here often anymore, but I still am a current contributor to a few other sites. Here are a few of my most recent author interviews and even a spooky MG post.
 I chatted over on @MixedUpFiles with the lovely Marie Arnold about her latest middle grade book THE YEAR I FLEW AWAY.  In this magical middle-grade novel, ten-year-old Gabrielle finds out that America isn’t the perfect place she imagined when she moves from Haiti to Brooklyn. With the help of a clever witch, Gabrielle becomes the perfect American — but will she lose herself in the process? Perfect for fans of HURRICANE CHILD and FRONT DESK     
And then there's my conversation with author Cliff Burke about his MG book AN OCCASIONALLY HAPPY FAMILY over on @MixedUpFiles. Gordon Korman meets The Great Outdoors in this funny and moving debut about a boy who goes on a disastrous family vacation (sweltering heat! bear chases!) that ends with a terrible surprise: his dad’s new girlfriend.
Author & Cartoonist Michael Fry shared his book GHOSTED with me over on @MixedUpFiles, too! From the best-selling author of the How to Be a Supervillain series comes this laugh-out-loud, heavily illustrated story of a shy boy, his best-friend-turned-ghost, and their bucket list of adventures and dares. Perfect for fans of the Timmy Failure and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Psst . . . and if Michael's name looks familiar that's because he's the successful cartoonist of the internationally syndicated comic strip OVER THE HEDGE.

 Lastly, here's my article where I explored Poetry in Middle Grade literature. It was a really fun exercise to research how much poetry is used in MG books! 

MORE PARTICIPANTS  Thank you to this month's co-hosts! J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria! Click on this image to find other participating writers or to join our group!

 SHERI 💖