The difference focus makes

March 31, 2026July 28, 2026 ~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

At the rate I’m going this year, I may actually have a completely revised (and possibly ready to pitch) manuscript.

Since I started working through Jim Jackson’s revision and self-editing process in January, I’ve made it through the total read-through and identified the major changes. Yes, I’ve been at it since January, but it’s not like I’ve put in eight hours a day on the project. In fact, I did some rough math and calculated I’ve actually spent a little more than week and a half on this project. If I didn’t have other “retirement” activities, I might have finished the entire revision by now.

But I do have other activities and, frankly, I don’t plan to drop too many more of them. I have a couple of board memberships that will expire next spring, but by then I may have a solid revision plan to work with.

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Almost OJT

August 28, 2018January 28, 2026 ~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

I went to the Writer’s Police Academy this year. I wish I had time to talk about what a great experience it was. Meeting people who actually work in law enforcement and public safety without having a reporter’s notebook between us was a great experience. Almost “on the job” training.

And I got to shoot some guns. Which wasn’t nearly as scary as pretending to shoot a gun in the video training simulation that police cadets actually use.

But I don’t have time to go into detail. It will have to be enough to say I learned a lot that will, I hope, make my novels better.