Last Saturday I began a six week course on revising and editing called “Zen and the Art of Manuscript Maintenance”, taught by author Meredith Bond. I made a discovery during this class which has spurred me to make a quick public credit shout-out. As I compiled the various worksheets and outlines from my years of studying writing theory, I found the Excel spreadsheet that formed the base of the scene worksheets I have discussed previously on this blog.

Well, it turns out that the Excel spreadsheet that I used was actually a handout from Ms. Bond’s editing class that I received from a previous student. When I saw the scene worksheet up on the projector this Saturday, I realized that this is basically her baby, and that I should give a very clear and formal crediting for it. So, there you go. I’ve made a couple minor tweaks to it, but the substance of the scene worksheet is hers.

By the by, if you’re a fan of Regency romance, go check out her website!

In other news, I received my scores for the Beer Judge Certification Program late last week, and I am happy to announce that I am now a fully certified Beer Judge. I have a number and everything.

I'm still on the look-out for a beer drinking certification program...

October is quite the furious month in our household, thanks to two birthdays (mine is this coming Monday, by the way… I’m registered at Tiffany’s), an anniversary (seven glorious years!), my second favorite holiday in the year, and no fewer than six extended family birthdays. It’s more expensive than December! But what a magical month it is. The leaves are changing color here in the Maryland piedmont, the air is clothing itself with a brisk chill, and the quality of sunlight has tilted to the peculiar shade of blue you only get during Autumn.

Which is to say that I’m finding myself pulled in several directions and finding it more and more difficult to carve out time (insert jack-o-lantern pun here) to edit Omnipotence. Happily, I have a strong support team at home, and this revision class is twisting my noodle back into a rigorous, one might say merciless steel trap of editing terror.

As I move into the second half of this glorious month, I intend to adopt a policy with junk words and adverbial dialogue tags similar to that which I take with zombie hordes.

Go for the headshot!

I’ve added a few more entries to my blogroll, including:

Ava Jae’s Writability

Marina Scott’s Writing Unhooked

Michael R. Hicks’ Blog

Steve Umstead’s Blog

and

The Write Type

Give these links a click early and often!

My previous post on Scene Worksheets has generated tremendous interest. Thanks to all who stopped by to give it a read, and I do hope the information helps in your pre-writing!

And now, I would like to remove the author’s cap, and discuss my “other” avocation… beer.

Cue the Hallelujah Chorus...

I had a very fine weekend with regards to my homebrewing hobby. To fill you in, I am active in a local homebrew club, which basically administers the local county fair’s homebrew division. I entered three beers into the competition, and got my results last night. One of my beers took fourth place in its class, and another took fifth. But that’s not the most exciting part.

I am also very active in beer judging (yes, it’s a thing). I’ve been participating in beer competitions as a judge for just over a year now, and I volunteered to judge this year’s county fair. Two developments of interest transpired:

1) I was made Head Judge at my table, which is usually reserved for the senior-most judge in the category. This was a first for me.

2) I was called back to the judging venue after I had left to participate at the Best of Show table, a spot usually reserved for Master Judges and representatives of the breweries which volunteer to brew the best of show winner.

I was flattered, humbled, even verklempt. Well, maybe not exactly verklempt, but it certainly did my ego a world of good! It was an enjoyable day evaluating home crafted brews, and interacting with the BOS judges was both comfortable and informative.

In writing news, the second draft revisions of Omnipotence have begun in earnest. I am roughly 1/8 of my way through the edit already, and my speed is increasing the deeper I go into the manuscript. The closer I get to a completed second draft, the more my excitement is building. In no time at all, I’ll be looking for beta readers to kick the novel in the proverbial tires.

In the meantime, I think I’ll pour another beer and keep revising. What a fantastic way to spend an evening!

Image credit: Me… that’s my Kellerweis.

I’ve dedicated some time this week towards expanding my understanding of the Twitterverse.

One of the benefits of increasing my Followings (Is that a term? I think it’s a term.) is that I have discovered a couple useful and informative blogs to add to my Blogroll.

The recent additions:

David Gaughran Let’s Get Digital

Duolit

David Wisehart – Kindle Author

Good Book Alert

Girls With Pens

Go take a look at these sites, and visit often.

I just wanted to take a break from vacation planning, and taking, and post an update from my little world.

The Curse Merchant is well into its Chapter 7, and there is considerable momentum!

Between writing and packing suitcases, I have been dedicating considerable time towards my other passion in life… homebrewing. More specifically, I have been studying to take the Beer Judge Certification Program’s Exam, which is like the Foreign Service Exam for beer.

Between this endeavor, my actual writing, and some greatly-needed time off with the family, expect sporadic update to the blog until July, after I take the Exam.

See you on the other side!

Welcome to my public airing of literary laundry!

My name is J.P. Sloan. I have taken the first earnest steps towards a career as a novelist. Having written various pieces in various genres at various lengths, my recent investment in my goal of being published was sparked by a simple question.

What do I really want to do?

For the last fifteen (or so) years, I have enjoyed the simple act of building worlds from the page up. As with practice comes improvement, I have found that my fiction has gathered more and more interest. So it occurs to me that any dream worth having is worth pursuing… even to the point of flinging myself headlong.

In this space, I will be commenting on my journey from relative obscurity to success, and with any luck, beyond. Along the way, I will be commenting on my various writing projects, my journey as a writer, tips and tricks I have discovered along the way, and perhaps a laugh or two towards maintaining mental health. And as my projects progress, I will be adding bits, clips, and snippets to whet the appetites of would-be readers.

I would feel honored if you would follow along with me!