Hello,

I am working on cutting down my novel since it expanded to 108,000 words and one editor told me that is way too big for a first time author.  So, after working so hard to write and checking my word count, I need to cut down. Last night, I cut one chapter and some scenes.

Today, I am working on eliminating overused words.
Rebecca Andrews wrote: The Millennium Phrase Book.
Her website is here:
http://www.rebeccaandrews.net


She made a list of words that are overused.  I use the search and find for this in MS Word.

Here are the words she suggests to delete.

about                 all                        almost
always              eagerly                 every
finally               frequently            got
just                   merely                  nearly
need                 never                    not
often                only                      so
that                   then                      very

These words can be removed in most cases.
although               appeared                at least
began                    even                       felt
figured                  for a moment         heard
if nothing else       in spite of              perhaps
quite                       rather                    realized
really                      saw                       seemed
sort of                     started                  suddenly
in fact that

You can remove And, But or While from the beginning of a sentence.

I cut many words so far.  Cutting is worse than writing.

Here is a Happy Friday picture.

Merry Christmas!
Here is a present for you. I like Gabriel Aubry. I wish I could use this picture for a book cover. He is perfect!

Good Morning,
As I go through my novel for editing, I noticed I got carried away with removing adverbs. But what did I do?  I replaced them with adverbial clauses, more words.  I now have broken the rule of write less. I noted that I have a fixation as using this: "In an instant" instead of using an adverb.  The only reason I noticed this was from listening to my novel on my Kindle. So I will do a search for  "In an instant".

I downloaded Movie Maker to make a video trailer of my book.  This should be fun and challenging at best. I use pictures to help me describe things in my novel.

I am doing some research on males who dress like woman and want to be addressed as a woman. When writing about these characters, do I use the pronoun she or he?  So far, most think use the she.  I don't want to offend anyone. Brennen has one client like this named Theresa.

Here is Theresa's bed.

I researched a great amount on Russians so now my inbox is full of Russian Mail Order Brides.

I joined a few interesting writing groups. If you are a writer, you may want to check them out.

http://www.worldliterarycafe.com/

http://www.critiquecircle.com/default.asp

https://ce.savvyauthors.com/index.cfm

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/romantica-critters/info

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MarketingForRomanceWriters/info

http://lowcountryrwa.com/workshops/all-workshops/

UPDATE:
I had to delete this chapter.

This is today's GM man.

Please email me at brinabrady@gmail.com or answer here which cover do you like best by the number.
I did not purchase the image yet until I decide which one I want. That is the reason for copyright on the image.

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Adverbs!

Apparently, adverbs stink up your fiction, so out go all the perfect adverbs.  Here I am doing a search for "ly" words and replacing adverbs with action verbs. Since when did the Parts of Speech have an hierarchy?  Many publishers reject manuscripts because of the damn dirty adverbs that are creating a foul smell in your story. Frankly, I love adverbs. Maybe someone could create a "Adverbsaurus" that can create verbs from adverbs. That would be helpful!!

Let's not forget you must rid your story of the passive voice.  You know, any form of the verb "to be".  Also please do not leave in too many "this" or "that" either;  I have to work on REVISION.  This part of writing stinks. 

Currently, I wrote 100, 300 words for my novel Rent Me.  I need to develop my last chapter more then the first draft will be completed.

Here is THE CABIN in my book that I used.



                              Blurb of Rent Me
Brennen fell in love with the Russian stranger who saved him from an abusive environment. Dmitri, a Russian Mafia member, adopted Brennen, sent him to the best schools and spoiled him with all the finer things in life.

When Brennen turned 18, he became Dmitri’s lover. Dmitri controlled ever inch of his life in and out of bed. The story captures their struggles to define their relationship. Brennen loves Dmitri as a father and lover and Dmitri loves Brennen as a son and lover. 

Their relationship with many overlapping roles to each another creates chaos in their lives. Brennen denied sex to Dmitri to attain an escort position in Dmitri’s Escort Service. Dmitri gave in because he needed Brennen as his lover. To maintain control, he diverted Brennen’s entire paycheck to a trust fund in Brennen’s name.

Two years after Brennen became an escort, Dmitri married Nika. He moved Brennen to his own apartment while he attended USC. Devastated Brennen did not know how to deal with being number two to his lover while they continued their sexual relationship as if nothing changed.

Will Dmitri and Brennen’s love be strong enough to endure all the trials and tribulations?

Will they have a happy ever after ending?

Want to find out, read the book.