In order to grow as a writer, I must conclude that I lack the touch of a true artist, which is knowing when to let go and stop tinkering.   The book is done, but I haven't been able to let go.  I so want this one to be awesome-r than the last, and so I've been holding it back, afraid to allow it to fly on its own.  It will be leaner (approximately 10,000 words less than the first) and with any luck, less restrained.
One can only hope I've learned one or two things over the past 16 months.  Of course I'd read a bunch of writing advice before completing my first novel and stupidly thought that I understood it.  Unless your a savant, all that stuff about showing not telling, writing lean, to the point sentences, pace/mood and such, probably falls on deaf ears when you start out.  (If you're a savant and think the rest of us are idiots, best to just hold that in for awhile before sharing.)   Every writer who gives out advice to amateurs says junk like: But really, the best way to learn is to Just.  Keep.  Writing.   Gee, thanks, I thought before vowing to never return to their stupid site or whatever ever again.  Such obvious, tedious nuggets of so-called writer's wisdom I shelved alongside similarly unhelpful crap that thankfully became obsolete years ago, like VCR instructions or that pantyhose size chart.  I must now hang my head ever so slightly, an acknowledgement that their once scorned advice has proven quite true.  Just another charming little life lesson that you can't know until you do.  Even blogging, though I don't do a tremendous amount of posting, has really honed the technique of giving voice to my feelings, frustrations, and quirky-girl thoughts.  Early on I stumbled often, my voice timid, hesitant, because I really had no idea what I was doing, and maybe, if I'm honest, afraid that what I had to say (even though I believed in it) would be mocked by others.  At some point you just have to get over it and let the beast go - to fly or fail on its own (and hopefully not devour/destroy any small towns when it does).  Over time my own writer's voice has solidified.  Some will like it, others won't.  That's the way it has to be, and every writer, I suppose, must come to grips with that truth if they're to dare to move forward. James Patterson has recently come forward in defense of traditional publishers, pleading with them to get their acts together for the sake of literary classics.  He argues, that if independent writers are allowed to continue, we'll never see more works like The Sound and the Fury and A Wrinkle in Time.  If this indie/e-book revolution continues, Amazon will "take over the world" and the quality of literature with suffer.  He took out full-page ads in the NY Times and elsewhere just to make his point.  At last check, Patterson was making in the neighborhood of $94 million a year.  And, let's face it, his entire body of work is not worth one To Kill a Mockingbird.  So what's the real worry here?  Surely not quality, because he himself follows a very rigid formula and is not writing the kind of art that he claims to want to protect.  What does that leave?   Money, duh-uh.  So Patterson has been stealing the air in the publishing world for decades.  Everyone who cares to look behind the curtain will see that the actual number of successful, published authors has been in rapid decline for quite some time, leaving only a select few at the top.  If it's starting to sound like every other big business in this country, that's because it is.  Just like the upheaval in the music industry, where the industry wants complete control of their artists, to gobble up the profits, and to create, polish, and deliver prepackaged money-makers, usually with the actual music/quality taking aback seat.  Backlash from this type of phoniness is inevitable.  And backlash/upheaval is where the publishing era is at right now.  Maybe the reading public has tired of books that take years with a publisher, going through no fewer than 10 separate editors, and coming out bland and formulaic.  And nearly all of the published books coming from only a handful of authors.  (I refuse to believe there are not more J.K. Rowlings or Suzanne Collins's out there.  They're out there alright, they just don't have a prayer of getting published.)   So me, a lowly independent author, should probably not be criticizing the lordly authorial magnates.  I should be kissing up, begging for scraps, fawning over them and their teams of ghost writers because their books are the Best.  Things.  Ever.     But it wouldn't be the truth.  And greedy attempts to stamp out my voice make me angry.  I love Amazon for the opportunity that I never would've gotten elsewhere.  I love hearing different, quirky voices that I never would've found in the world of traditional publishing.  I love being able to follow my heart. But this isn't what I set out to post today.  I set out to finalize the Ever Evangeline May release, more on the publishing biz later.  Here's the article I came across, if you're interested:
 http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/56940-patterson-sees-ads-as-a-wake-up-call.html