Though the story made me slightly nauseous, I took it to my then writer’s group. The reception was lukewarm which, for them, meant... the story sucked. I then asked my sister to read it. She flat out told me the story sucked. Not to be daunted, I got back to work.
There was just one problem. The story was syrupy sweet. It made me sick inside. The story sucked. Lesson learned; listen to your critique group, your sister and mostly, trust your gut.
On the upside, when I let go the fantasy, sticky-icky candy elements, another story came forward. Last year I got out, in no particular order, about 4 chapters in rough for Cecilia and the Yucky Muckys. After a break, (breaks consist of working on other projects and some day dreaming about Cecilia’s story), I’m ready to get back to it. Today I begin with what I believe to be Chapter One of what I believe to be a Middle Grade Novel. My target is to have this completed by end of October. I hope when I’m done, I don’t realize it really should be a Picture Book.