Books, Travel and Friday the 13th

It seems like a different story.  That was a comment made by my critique partner on the last round of revisions.  Not that she literally meant that my story was radically altered but that it was tighter, or more concise as she put it.  Suspense - there was more of it.  It's a romantic suspense, so that's a good thing.  The Borneo jungle is a little hotter than it was two weeks ago.  Again - good from the romance aspect.

Good changes, I think - and it was all because this set of rewrites came from a different perspective.  The writer that wrote the first version over a year ago isn't the writer that wrote the revisions.  Well, the mirror says it's the same one but I like to think she's learned a lot since then.

Different perspective comes from many places, experience and honing your craft is one.  Seeing the familiar from a different angle is another way.  So the other day it was a drive into the country.  It was a week day - what would once have been a work day, and that was the beauty of it.  My new daytime job, writer, is so much more forgiving about the hours.  So I became a tourist in a short drive out of town.



First up were these girls who gave me the look that I've seen in so many other places of the world - sure take my picture, that will be one American Dollar.  And in case you're wondering, or maybe you're not, one Canadian Dollar just doesn't cut it.  I didn't stop to ask the preference of these ladies.

Next on the list and much further down the road, was a chap I'll call George.  He seemed to have escaped from the field and was standing quite calmly on the road.  This picture was snapped in a bit of a hurry, just in case his complacent look was all a ruse.




A farmyard can be an intriguing place, at least to a city person.  And in this case, the farm was once my husband's family home.  Now, while the land is still farmed, the house sits, like many of the original homes on the prairie, abandoned.



Sometimes you just need to get away from the familiar to clear your mind and freshen up your fiction.    
Take a different road and the view changes.  The familiar becomes, well - like a journey afar.


On another note - today is Friday the 13th.  I don't know about you, but for an unlucky day sometimes some pretty incredible things happen.  Good things.  Today is my twelve year old niece's acting debut.  It's an amateur production but no less exciting for a kid who with born with the gift of the mime.  I'd like to say break a leg but, it is Friday the 13th, it might be safer to stick with good luck!


Today is the day for subject veers - rather like that curving country road - Here are some chances to win some first reads given away by authors or publishers, maybe find a new author or two.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com
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