Writing Update

I "finished" a novel a few years ago, depending on how you define "finished." There was the point when I completed a rough draft, then points when I completed drafts, then when I decided I had too many characters and switched from six to five (cutting David as a narrator was one of the hardest things I've done as a writer to date), and then there's where I'm at now.

The novel may not be perfect, it may not be publishable/marketable. I honestly can't tell. I've submitted my book to agents and gotten some nice notes. I get a lot of: this is good writing, but I'm not in love with it enough to take it on. Here's the problem.

At this point, I'm really not sure what else to do with it. One person described writing a novel as putting an octopus to bed. As soon as you get most of the legs under the blanket, another one pops out. I really don't know what else to do with it to make it better. That's not to say that I'm against making changes or revisions. If I suddenly have a eureka moment, or if an agent or editor read it and gave me some feedback that I agree with, feedback that made me suddenly realize what's been missing all along and how I could make it better, I would certainly take that under advisement. But at the moment, all I can do is scratch my head. I did the best I could do and until I get a better idea, I'm going to leave it the way it is.

A couple of months ago I entered the amazon breakthrough novel contest. I made it through the first cut (from a potential 10,000 entries to 2,000) but I did not make the next cut, which was 2,000 to 500. One of the "perks" of making it past the first round was getting two reviews of your novel.

Here is my description of "The Belly of the Father":

THE BELLY OF THE FATHER is a 105,000-word novel about four generations of a Mexican-American family living in Midland, Texas, at the crossroads of two cultures. The story spans five decades and is told from five different points of view. Gabriel, a traditional Latino father and self-made entrepreneur, receives a buy-out offer for his two neighborhood grocery stores from a regional chain. His wife Magdalena struggles to find a balance between living her own life and meeting the demands of her husband and daughters, her aging mother, and even her dead father, to whom she made a deathbed promise she can’t bring herself to keep. Their three daughters, Eva, Isabel, and Jane, are each searching for fulfillment and caught between their Mexican heritage and their American goals. When the family’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration is disrupted—first by the news that single mother Eva has become engaged to a man the family loathes, then by the discovery that rebellious daughter Jane has taken middle sister Isabel’s savings and left the country—the family’s long-simmering tensions reach a boil. Will Eva marry her philandering fiancé in the face of her family’s disapproval? Will Jane return to Midland, and if so, how will her disappointed family react? Will Isabel’s crippling anger keep her from finding her own path to happiness? How can Gabriel and Magdalena help their daughters when they are unable to make peace with their own choices? Each character struggles between listening to his or her own voice, and following family expectations.


Here were my two reviews from the contest:

ABNA Expert Reviewer
Gabriel is a traditional father trying to let his daughters be women in the modern world. All he asks is that the entire family ring in the New Year together with their band of family and friends. His oldest daughter is too sexy and makes a life changing decision at this party without consulting him. Another daughter, a professional and more modest seems upset when she arrives. The third never makes it to the party.

At first I thought this was a set-up for a murder or missing person's story but then chapter two flashes back to Jane, the other daughter's life. I just couldn't figure out what was happening and that deeply disappointed me.

ABNA Expert Reviewer
"The Belly of the Father" is a beautifully written portrayal of a family. In a few pages readers get to know Gabriel Garza, his wife Magdalena, their three daughters, and Magdalena's mother. The author has a nice way with words that make you feel like you know these characters. The underlying tension that happens in all families is nicely portrayed on these pages. The second chapter switches from Gabriel's viewpoint to that of his daughter Jane and that chapter is as well done as the first. The author has a wonderful way of describing small things, like a peeling sunburn, that make the excerpt an even richer read.

The author of "The Belly of the Father" has created a family that readers will care about and want to know more about. Well done.


So there you go. Two different opinions. I'm not sure if they were able to read the description/synopsis, or only the excerpt (which in my case was two chapters). Some of the feedback I've gotten from agents is that they don't like the structure of rotating narrators/characters because it's confusing. Based on the two reviews, I think you either like it or you don't.

Since I'm not really sure how else to improve the novel at the moment, and I have three new ideas burning holes through my brain, I have elected to move on to my next project. I'll write about that more in a couple of days. Mommyhood calls: Zoe is hungry and it's time for dinner.