Jean Marie Bauhaus

Thanks to a couple of impassioned arguments that my cover for Hungry Child really needed a child, or at least something child-related, and also thanks to finally coming across a photo that seems to fit the bill that I can actually use, I’ve done up a new new cover:

I think that one’s appropriately creepy, don’t you?

In other news, author and self-publishing guru Dean Wesley Smith is currently re-posting his “Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing” series. Today’s post on Rewriting is one that every writer should read, regardless of whether you’re self-pubbing or trying to storm the gates of traditional publishing.

I read it, and I’m so glad I did, because I was really psyching myself out about doing some fairly major rewrites on Restless Spirits. I already went through that story with a fine tooth comb back when I posted it online in 2009, and it’s gotten good feedback, but I’d managed to convince myself that it still wasn’t good enough. And I have to tell ya–I’ve reached my limit on how much I can stand to look at that story. I could barely get through another re-read, let alone another re-write. I’m at the point where I can no longer look at it and tell what works and what doesn’t, because my eyes glaze over as soon as I begin to read. I know that doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement of my own work, but I do remember quite enjoying it when I read it back in ’09. I’ve just stared at it too long for it to have any meaning for me anymore.

Before I read that DWS post I was on the verge of canning it and forgetting about publishing it. But now I realize how foolish that would be. I still think the beginning could stand to be tightened up a bit, but by and large, I’m giving myself permission not to worry too much about further revisions on this one.

As for everything else, I’m going to be pondering this article and what it means for my future approach to beta readers and revisions.