© Van Wagoner

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings!

It has been a good and productive year. Many exciting things in the works for the upcoming year. Submissions will begin on my middle grade book, Thunderbird Dreams, and I will be busy painting like a mad woman for the first couple months to complete the artwork for the picture book in works for Pauline Books and Media. It's all good, and I'm happy to have plenty of little things, and big things, to celebrate.

© Van Wagoner

I'm done! I'm done!

Time has slipped away from me while I've had my head buried in the last revisions of Thunderbird Dreams, my middle grade historical fantasy. And today, I'm celebrating a lot more than little things. I'm done! I'm done! I'm done! Well, at least done enough for beta readers. Then I'll polish it up (hopefully that's all that's needed) and begin my agent search with it.

I have learned so much in finishing this project. And I must send out thanks to the writing community on the web. There is some amazing information out there in a variety of formats. I have been amazed at how tips and techniques I needed came at just the right time. Or perhaps that's the wonder of the internet, I can search for craft tips that deal with what I'm having trouble with, and many options and techniques come up.

Next up on my writing plate is Digo Bait (working title), a fantasy novel for upper middle grade (maybe YA). It's been many years in the progress. I think now I have the skills and ability to actually finish it.

And back to celebrating I go. Don't forget to find something to celebrate today!

Writing Layers

© TVW Thinking

You know, dang, just as I thought I had a handle on my story and that I’m almost done, I uncover a whole new layer that needs to be applied to the entire thing. Well, I’ve always known it’s there, but I’ve had the liberty of ignoring it until I got the plot working (which I believe I’ve finally managed), not to mention the structure and pacing. I’m pleased with the overall story and the fun adventurous spirit I’ve captured. I think I’ve got a good external conflict worked out and … stutter… the emotional journey? Yeah well, there’s one there, but have I followed that thread through to it’s fullest?

I’ve got all the framework in place, and now I’ve come back to character — a good story always comes down to good characters. Yep, that’s the next layer. Like an onion or parfait — everyone loves a good parfait (as Donkey says), a good story has many layers. So here I go adding that next layer of fruity goodness — characters and their emotional journeys.

Get ready characters, here I come with a magnifying glass to delve into your deepest and darkest secrets. Ha, ha, ha, you can’t hide from me.

So what layer are you working on in your tasty parfait?

The Search Begins

The querying has begun in my quest for an agent. The star of the show, It's Coming Down! is a middle grade novel set in the early 1900s during the height of coal production in Carbon County, Utah.

This story means a lot to me. Inspired by my dad who spent hours talking with me about his experiences in the mines and living in a coal camp in Spring Canyon, I have tried to bring to light the every day life of a coal miner in the early days of mining.

I hope those who are reading my manuscript (or parts of it) are enjoying the story of Mitch and his struggle to find his place in a world from which his pa has tried to protect him.