Writing Rambles

A couple Links

2012-01-01T11:33:00.002-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Written World Communications had released another book! Check it out.

New Blood: Book 1 of The Calling Of The Blood

Also, OtherSheep has a facebook page up, as well as other imprints of WWC.

OtherSheep

Splickety Magazine

Harpstring Magazine and Books

Written World Communications

So please, come join us on facebook! I will also be updating this list as it grows.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T11:24:00.001-07:00

Happy New year to everyone. This is normally the time where I chose to post my goals for the year; however, this year is a little bit different. I want to look back a little bit on my year and reflect on what I accomplished, even if I didn't accomplish any of my goals from last year.

2011 was a fantastic year for me, especially towards the end. I got to travel with my husband a little more. I started working on freelance writing with FEZ. I landed the internship, executive assistant, job with OtherSheep. And the best thing that happened to me is that I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, baby girl.

So I didn't get published, so I didn't fit back into my punk pants (in fact, I donated them) and I didn't submit something every month, (I did manage about six months of that). I still live in a place where cars make a habit of disappearing, and my stereo disappeared this year. (At least it wasn't the whole car again.) But here is the thing, look at everything that was accomplished this year.

So this is what I have to say. Happy New year, I wish you the best in accomplishing the goals you have set, but more than that. I wish you success in bettering yourself and never giving up. The best advice I have received was 'Never give up, never surrender,' There was a lot more said, but it was about writing; this first part can be applied to anything in life.

Here's to a successful new year, in any way. I have goals this year, but if I accomplish none of them, but succeed somewhere else, what does it matter? At least I am pushing forward in my own way.

A new-found respect

2011-12-17T21:39:00.002-07:00

So about a month ago I started working at Written World Communications, a small independent Christian publishing house. What was supposed to be an intern spot as a slush pile reader turned into much more for me. I'm now an (intern) Executive Assistant to the editor of OtherSheep, an imprint of WWC. Who knew that when I showed up to my Nanowrimo kick off party in jammy pants and completely frazzled, that I would snag a job that will help me accomplish my goals.

I never would have guessed.

So now I get to see the other side of things. What sits on the other side of that rejection letter? A whole lot more work and thought than I even considered. Even though I'm an assistant, I still get to see the slush pile, but I also get a good look at the inside workings. The kind of work that goes into editing a manuscript, how contracts are handled with agents, and more. I will admit, at first it was a little overwhelming, but I was so excited about it, I decided to dive head first into a world that I had no clue about.

After reading several different manuscripts and helping to keep my boss organized. I have a new respect for agents and independent publishers. Not that I didn't know why before, but now I have a deeper understanding of why a manuscript must be polished before you send it out. If whoever is reading it (be it agent, publisher, assistant, slush pile reader) can't get passed the first few pages, then the manuscript will never have a chance.

This brings me to my new-found respect. Holy cow, there is a lot of work behind scenes that is done in order to get a manuscript ready for publishing. Like my boss said to me, much of the creative process is done with editing. That, ladies and gentlemen, is very true. Maybe it's because I haven't been here long, but not once have I looked at a manuscript and say, this is perfect. I've had a couple where I feel in love with the characters or the plot, enjoyed reading it, and even think that we should pick it up because I want to see it in print. But nothing has been perfect. It takes a special kind of person and a lot of patients to edit these works. It takes a special person to take on some of these authors. I have found a new respect for agents, editors, and publishers.

That being said. I love my job with OtherSheep. The people I work with are great, the company is growing and there are a lot of exciting things in the future. This was an opportunity that I never expected to come along, but like I always say, everything happens for a reason.

End of NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-12-01T11:09:00.001-07:00

I have to say that this year was one of the hardest for me in terms of NaNoWriMo.

Why? I had a lot of things come on to my plate this month that became distractions and I didn't have an outline. When you're 9 months pregnant, counting the days until the baby gets here, that tends to put a damper on your writing. There was a lot of physical stuff this last month that I just wasn't expecting, mostly the exhaustion and the inability to sit for long periods of time.

My saving grace? Friends, writing sessions, and one scary dream about Christ Baty coming after me in his viking helmet. I won, despite the want to give up, I won. After hitting the 50k mark I realized that my characters had so much more to share and that the book didn't live up to it's potential, so it's now my pet project. I will go through, figure out what I like, what needs to be kept, what needs to go and make an outline for the edits/rewrites. There is something that is workable here, and I know it now.

My biggest challenge this year truly was writing by the seat of my pants. I'm an outliner, a planner, the person with character bios and world building. I had none of that this year. I had character names, and that was it. Originally I was going to write a novel based on a short story I had turned in for a contest, and thought well, I wouldn't need an outline, the characters are great together, and then names changed and the world changed. Then I was lost. I would say that it wasn't until about 30k words in that I actually found my plot, and it wasn't until about 45k that I realized that there was going to be something useful out of this.

So next year's plan for Nano? I don't know, I guess we'll have to see where life is and where it takes me.

NaNoWriMo: End of Week Two

2011-11-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

And what a week it has been! On the writing front the start of the week I was struggling, hard. I was trudging through my second week slump, forcing myself to write, one day I had written only 400 words. That's it! I didn't even make word count. Then the most amazing thing happened...I found my motivation. I found that part of me that said write! Who cares if it fits into the plot, let your characters dow what they want. I found this motivation as I was pushing others to just write, new-bes who were concerned about being behind on word count, and I told them just write. That is the point. That's when I realized it, so I moved on, I let the characters tell me what they wanted, I jotted down a few notes and went back to the keyboard to work.

And work I did: As it sits right now, I'm at 34,186 words, partly thanks to my 7,638 word day today. At this time last year I was finished, this year I'm not, but I will still finish this novel by the 1st of December, and then after that, I don't know what will happen to it. I will probably file it away for a little bit, let it stew and stir before I tear it to shreds. I have other projects that are demanding attention right now and I really want to submit this year.

Speaking of submitting this year, you know how I'm always saying that this year will be the year? Yeah well....no I'm not published yet, but I landed a spot in the publishing business. I'm now an intern executive assistant, thing, if you would (no I don't know my exact title, you can stop laughing now...), at an independent publishing house. WWC has given me a fantastic opportunity to learn the ins and out of the publishing industries. So keep your eyes peeled for updates about that now as well, I'm sure it'll prove to be an exciting journey.

End of Week One: Nanowrimo update

2011-11-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

I sit just sigh of 16k words, not too bad. That's about 3k behind last year, but this year is a bit different. It's damn hard to write without an outline. Where the hell did my structure go? Where the hell am I suppose to go? Truly, writing by the seat of my pants is making this hard for me.

Okay, so what I'm a head of the game. I've been rocking 3k-4k days here and there, yeah, that's great. Except today I realized that my story was kind of running out of steam as well as I was becoming overwhelmed with stuff in real life. (Hey, it's going to happen when you're having a baby!) So for once, I've been hit by that second week slump, but I've moved forward. I've added some characters, planned to kill another one, and I have a naked drunk witch trying to get it on with a sober demon. (what? It was the only way they were going to have sex!)

So that's my little update. Once I actually figure out a synopsis for the plot, I'll share. But for now, that's all you get.

Good night, and good nano dreams!

The day before Nano

2011-10-31T08:44:00.001-06:00

It's the day before Nano, and I have no outline.

I have a couple characters and a small idea of a plot, but really this year is truly writing by the seat of my pants. When the clock strikes midnight tonight, assuming I don't fall asleep in my chair, I will be writing a novel that I really have nothing for. It'll be fun, it'll be exciting, and I'm glad I decided to do it this way. I'll be keeping up here on my bitches about the novel itself here, but I'll also be doing weekly articles on FEZ about the challenges of writing during that month. So on top of being 8 months pregnant, I'm going to have my hands full this November. My plan? Set time aside every day to write and then write as much as I can after I get other stuff done. Try and write while I'm at work, and write late at night when I can't sleep. Somehow, some way, I will win Nano this year and keep my winning streak up.

This fun, write by the seat of my pants, Nano will lead me into a year of serious editing and polishing of past projects. It's time to get serious again and start submitting again. I will be submitting to both Agents and small publishers just to see what I can do. So here's to Nano 2011 and a new year in 2012, successful writing, here we come.

Everything Happens for a reason

2011-09-29T15:16:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here staring at the screen, willing a 3k word contest entry to appear on the screen. Yeah no luck, I have almost 300 words, but nothing promising, so I decided to write a blog. Meanwhile, as I sit here I was talking to a friend and had one of those moments where I was basically slapped in the face, in one of those 'I needed that' sort of way. To understand this, we're going to have to go back a month or so ago.

A while ago, before submitting something I confided in a friend that if I didn't get my break soon that I was done. I was so frustrated that I had been at this for nearly five years and I have nothing to show for it. (Other than a file of rejection letters). Yeah, in hind sight it was childish, but that's really how I felt. I really felt that I needed that break in order to continue on. I had hardly written anything through out the year up to that point, and I wanted something to boost my confidence and my motivation. I saw that submission as a sign, and then my hopes were crushed and dreams were shattered, again. And yeah, I about quit after that.

There were tears that I tried to blame on hormones and there was some very upset grumpiness even though I told myself that I was going to move on, my mind wasn't ready. Well ladies and gentlemen, it is time to move on and encourage those who got what they needed from that submission. One of my good friends made it into the anthology that I was trying for, and even through my grumpiness, I congratulated her and I truly meant it. (had I not, I would have kept my mouth shut and been grumpy at her.) The day that the anthology was released, I was still happy for her and I give her props for not running around screaming 'I'm published' at the top of her lungs all day. I am happy for her and proud of her achievement. And yet, I've hardly written a word since that day. I've tried plotting for Nanowrimo, I've made a list of deadlines for next year, and I've stabbed my characters with a pointy stick. This brings us up to the present.

I am talking to this friend today, and she mentioned how getting into the anthology really gave her confidence back, confidence that some people had taken from her before. Now, we're not talking rejections got you down kind of confidence break, we're talking a little more personal than that. She was telling me how her acception into the anthology really gave her the courage to start writing more and going after her dreams again. So really, it was meant to happen for her, not for me. Which is fine, I got encouragement from that conversation and well really, I'm done pouting. End of story.

So that's where I sit, onwards and forwards my friends. Nano is coming and we have books to write.

It's nearly time

2011-09-11T19:46:00.000-06:00

Nanowrimo

Yep, almost time for Nanowrimo. Am I ready? Not really, I haven't even gotten character stuff done and I'm taking a whole new path this year. I'm writing a true paranormal romance. Yeah, you heard me right, I'm putting Society Series away for now, until I can get the first three two books completely polished. I'll come back to that decision in a moment. Right now I want to focus on Nano. Many of you know what Nano means to me, so I'm not going to go through that again. (You can read it here) However, this year is going to prove to hold some interesting challenges, other than to write 50k words. Mainly, I'm going to be almost nine months pregnant during this Nano. Yep...I'm going to be huge, tired, and trying to be prepared for a new born.

The other challenge this year is that I'm going to be working a lot more than I was at this time last year. True, this time last year I had just started this job, but I was in training and wasn't warn out at the end of the day. I was so excited when I found out that I could have my laptop at my desk, but I'm highly doubting I'm going to be able to make word count at work, so I'm going to have to find a schedule that works for me. Even if it's doing 3k a day on my days off.

The other challenge comes from the point up there. I'm writing a paranormal romance. (No, not Twilight-like, and not a fanfic of something) Awakening, the short story from the last blog post, as decided that it doesn't want to be a short story, it wants to be a novel. Why? I'm not sure, but who am I to argue with characters?

Awakening will be my nano, and then I'm going to focus on that and Something's Missing. (Oh yeah, digging that out of the drawer!) as my two main projects to get up and going, and possibly query for in 2012. I want to focus on my stand alones first, and see if I have any better luck with that than I was having with my series. On my off time, or that time of banging my head against other projects, I will be working on the Society Series and seeing what I can do for that. There may be a complete overhaul happening with that.

On a random note: The Articles that I have written for Flesh Eating Zipper now have links on my blog. So make sure to check them out.

stamp Rejected, blog #100

2011-08-11T21:12:00.000-06:00

Woohoo, the big number 100, wish I could say I had happier news for the blog, but sadly, I don't. It's been a very, very long time since I've been rejected, granted I haven't sent much out that required rejections. Most of what I've been doing has been contest, but this last contest came with a rejection. So I want to take a minute and focus on what rejection means, not in the literal sense, obviously.

Rejection: Means get your ass off the ground, dust it off, and get back on the damn horse. Yes, the horse may kick and yes it hurts like hell, but at some point it will all be worth it. It means being willing to rework, rewrite, and tear through your writing. It may mean tears that lead into joys. No matter what it means, it does not mean that a door is forever closed to you. Just because one person tells you no, doesn't mean the next person will.

So yeah, that was my pep talk for myself. I'm still dusting myself off, because for some reason this rejection hurt more than the others. Maybe it's because of hormones, maybe it's cause it's been a long day, or maybe it's because I've been trying for five years to get something published. Despite all that, I've learned a few things along the way, so it wasn't an all out loss in the last two months.

I'm filing Awakening, the short that I received the rejection on, away for a little bit, until I figure out what I want to do with it. Right now I need to figure out what to do to get back on track with my life, both writing and other wise. So tomorrow is a new day, and Nano is only 2.5 months away. Maybe a month of literary abandon is just what I need.

Hehe Oops

2011-07-31T21:09:00.000-06:00

So Camp Nano was a fail on my part, mostly because well I got overwhelmed with things going on in my real life. So no 50k novel for me this month, but on the bright side I have done quite a bit of writing this month, which was the point of Write Until You Die July. Tonight is the final night and as I look back on my month I realize that I need to go back to having a writing schedule. I have managed to survive a month of concentrating on random writing projects, I've entered a contest (still waiting to hear back from) and I have written several articles for the Flesh Eating Zipper; however, I want to improve my concentration and actually focus to produce something a little more than just articles.

I have a novel that needs to be plotted out, since no actual writing ever seems to get done at work, I think that's where the plotting is going to take place. I have two novels that need to be edited so I can pass them along to my wonderful beta reader and get feed back. I haven't given up hope, not yet. There is much for me left to do, and I need to get it done. There was a time where I was worried I was giving up hope, because I hadn't done anything productive. I need to buckle down, make some deadlines, and do it!

I also want to concentrate on short stories a bit more, even though I don't really like to write them. (I like character background stories too much to do it) The small amount of work I've done this year with them alone has already helped me improve tremendously. The other thing I want to do is work on continuously submitting work anywhere and everywhere I can.

So yeah, that's my update, a lot of promises to myself and not much on the month. All I can say is that some times life gets in your way and you have to shove it back. This is an exciting time for me in my life, but I can't let it take away my dreams. I want to be able to share my dreams with my little girl, but how can I do that if I lose sight of them. There's these signs on my way home that say "Never Lose Hope" I need to take that and apply it to several aspects of my life, and I think once that's done the way will be a little clearer.

WUDJ and CampNano Update

2011-07-08T08:37:00.000-06:00

So week one is about over, and I sit somewhere around 12000 words in a novel that I had not planned. I forgot how hard it can be to actually sit down and write a little everyday, especially with so much going on in normal life. This year just seems to be extremely busy, I don't know if it's the job, I don't know if it's the idea that a baby is coming, but damn. This month has made me realize that I need to step back and make a list of priorities and goals. I was presented with two fantastic opportunities this month, one I snatched up because I made it happen for me, the other was brought to my attention by facebook.

Let's talk about Camp Nanowrimo and WUDJ first. Like I said above, it's been a challenge to write every night. I missed two nights because I was in a drugged sleep, what can I say, I had a head cold, hell I still have a head cold that's refusing to go away. The hardest part is the fact that I'm writing from the seat of my pants, I didn't plan this novel out at all, and to me that's hard. I'm use to having an outline to go to when I get stuck, or at the very least a break down of what should happen each chapter. I've been forcing myself to write, but I'm not sure how much of it will stay in the final edits. If there are final edits, hell it may sit in a draw waiting for attention like the prequel to it.

The first opportunity I've mentioned last blog post, the fact that I'm writing for Flesh Eating Zipper as a free lance writer. So far I love it, I have one article up, and I'm going to be working on another one today, after I settle opportunity number two. The admin of Flesh Eating Zipper has been great, and I look forward to working with them for a long while.

The second opportunity is actual a contest for an anthology. The entry is pretty simple, 6k words romance/erotic and the prize is publication. I double checked the publisher, and even though they are an e-book publisher, they are a legitimate publisher and it would be the exposure that I want. So I need to come up with a polished entry, I just have a very strong feeling about this.

So a "by the seat of my pants novel", a freelance job, and a contest to enter, see a bit crazy this month.

A renewed...Something

2011-06-30T16:24:00.000-06:00

So the website is up for Camp Nanowrimo, and even though they are doing an August session as well, I feel that I need to do this first session. WUDJ is the same way. Both of these events is something that will spark a fire under my ass so I can get going. I've actually made a lot of advancement in my path for my writing career, I snagged a non-paying, free lance job with Flesh Eating Zipper. This is going to help me improve my online presence.

I was writing for the Examiner, but I decided that it wasn't really that creditable. Not to mention to me it kind of gave off the sleaze ball kind of feeling, where you could probably get a spot there no matter how well you wrote. Thus is one reason why I stopped, the other reason was I was running out of time to watch full length Anime series. It was kind of cutting in to my normal writing time, with the Flesh Eating Zipper, I get to write on pretty much what I love that fit into different categories and write when I want. Since I know that the website has a vast readership already (and I do recommend you check it out) I'm not dependent on attracting readers specifically to my articles. (though you know there will be links to the website when my articles appear)

One thing I do want to say, I did know one of the admins before I applied to write for the website. However, I did not depend on that to get the spot. I did everything professionally and follow the guidelines for applying. I didn't even mention it to him, until he said something on my facebook about looking for writers. I say this because I do not want people to think that I got it just because I knew the guy.

So that's it tomorrow I have decided is the official date of jump starting my writing career and goals. It's time to grow up, and that means it's time accomplish my goals in life. I will not sit by idly while my friends and family achieve theirs. I refuse.

Combining WUDJ and Camp Nano

2011-06-23T12:39:00.001-06:00

First off, I want to share some fantastic and exciting news: I'm not even published and I have fanart. *grins* My roommate decided she needed inspiration and went through my character bible to find it. Lady's and gentlemen I present to to you Zaaren, from the Society Series. (look at shiny picture.) Please support the artist by visiting her Deviant art page here. Again a giant thank you goes out to her, she did a wonderful job on him.

Now, the title says it all, in the month of July I will be participating in two writing challenges. How? Well it helps that they are both very similar so really it's like killing two birds with one stone, kind of...except for I'm not killing birds. Anyways, those of you who have been following this for a year remember when WUDJ came up as a challenge. The main purpose of the challenge is to write every day, and those of you who don't remember it or have no idea what I'm talking about check over here. So starting July first we are to write for 30 days. Hm...sounds an awful lot like another challenge that happens in November, and this year Nanowrimo introduced Camp Nanowrimo in which the first session starts July 1st as well. (according to the website anyways.)

So how am I combining these two challenges? Well let's compare them first.
What they both have in common:
A tentative word count goal (Nano:1,667 words/day WUDJ:1,500 words/day)
They both last 30 days (I know July is 31 days, but the point is to write for 30 days straight so it turns into a habit.)
They both are challenges that force you to write a little every day (though with Nano, you have catch-up to do if you miss a day)

How they differ:
WUDJ: No ultimate word count in mind, the point is just to write.
Nano: 50,000 in the course of 30 days is the goal.
WUDJ: Write on any project, old, new, forgotten, anything. Just Write.
Nano: Is supposed to be 50k words on a single project in a month, normally written by the seat of your pants. (Normally ;) )

Okay I believe those are the main points that need to be made. So here are my thoughts on combining them. By writing every night, I complete the challenge of WUDJ, even if I have to stray from what every unimaginable thing I'm planning on writing for the Nano part of this plan.

If I manage to write a novel of 50k or more words, then I complete the Nano challenge of it. So either way it's a win-win situation that gets me off my butt, writing, and creating. WUDJ part may include editing and rewriting while at work, while the Nano part of it may be done on my days off. (So I can have super 3k+ days) Who knows. All I know that it is going to be pure insanity. And if something happens that Camp Nano doesn't happen in July, then alright, I still have some kind of a plan for WUDJ.

Let's here if for a month of insane writing!

Lalalalal Back to life, back to reality.

2011-06-14T11:57:00.000-06:00

Some of you know that I really haven't been at work much as of late for different reasons here and there. Yesterday started my voyage back into reality, on one hand, I was not looking forward to it, but on the other I realized that I could go back to what I originally did when I started this job. Write short stories. So my short story notebook will be traveling with me to work so I can get things done. So far it's working, yesterday I wrote about 300 words during a shift, that's not a whole lot, but it's better than none.

As WUDJ comes up, I'm still confused as to what I want to do. Do I want to write a new novel, completely by the seat of my pants? Do I want to edit Edge of Darkness, and work on short stories, or do I want to do what I suggested to a friend and write 1,500 words each day on a new prompt? So many choices, but what is nice about WUDJ is the point is to write 1,500 a day, it doesn't have to be on one project, you just have to write.

The other thing that I have been working on is my professional image, if you would. This includes cleaning up any profiles that I may have that will show up in google, making my Facebook page more presentable, having more of a presence on Twitter, and any writing website I belong to is up-to-date.

The last thing that I want to work on is getting back to a writing schedule, yes I have the short stories planned out for work, but I have a lot of stuff novel wise that needs to be done, editing, plotting, adding to the character bible, and just plan organizing. I really want to try and start sending queries out for The Edge of Darkness soon, but there is a lot of cleaning up that needs to be done. I have three days off a week, and I need to put those days back to good use.

Series

2011-06-06T21:05:00.000-06:00

Today I spent some quality time figuring out where my series was supposed to go and where it had been. I've been stuck on the outline for Playing with Chaos, and seeing as that is supposed to be my Nano, being stuck is not a good thing. So this was my way to at least figure out what was supposed to happen in each book, and things have been going well so far, I just wish I could get characters to agree on how things should go in the story. I have characters thinking about getting in bed with characters they shouldn't, and some characters who want to get in bed with anyone, someone-here's the funny thing....I'm not writing romance. How do you explain that one?

The other thing is I think they changed the month for Camp Nanowrimo to July instead of August, so either have to chose do either do WUDJ or Camp Nano or find some insane way of combining the two. Either way some massive amount of writing and editing must be done. My husband made me a new quiet spot so that I have a place to call my own that I can shut the door and work. That's going to be getting a lot of use here soon.

I have a list of magazines that I want to send to eventually. I'm hoping that I manage to write a short story that will fit in somewhere and I think eventually it will happen. As a lot of you know short stories are not my strong spot, but it's a great place for authors to start. I'm going to leave you guys with that and get back to work.

Erm-Long time, no update

2011-05-22T20:29:00.000-06:00

So wow, it's been a couple weeks since I've updated. The thing is, there's not a whole lot to update right now. You see, I've barley been writing since I haven't been feeling well. I've started a short story, which I still haven't finished, and I have a random character running around in my head. I've been trying to get the revised chapters of The Edge of Darkness taken care of, but the characters are being difficult.

As this month is drawing to a close, I start to think that I am crazy, with a little bit of writer's block. WUDJ starts July 1st, but then Nanowrimo decided this year to do their Camp Nanowrimo, which from what I can tell is in August, and then Nanowrimo is in November, and I plan on doing all three of them. Yeah, I'm crazy.

The plan for WUDJ is going to be to work on The Edge of Darkness and short stories, which was an idea given to me from a friend. The plan for Camp Nanowrimo is...there is no plan! I'm going to just write, and if it's 50k words of crap, well Myth Busters proofed you can polish crap. The plan for Nanowrimo is book 3, also known as Playing with Chaos. So during September and October, I will be panicing to finish an outline for book 3. Hehe, the end of this year should be interesting to say the list.

Another week gone, but more things accomplished.

2011-05-01T15:59:00.000-06:00

So it is now the end of April, which means two months until WUDJ. I feel a bit more accomplished this week then I have in past weeks, seeing as I've started a short story, that I'm going to turn into 'Writer's Digest' Your Story contest. Even if I don't end up winning, it's another short story written. I have revisited The Edge of Darkness which is going to me my WUDJ project, unless I manage to finish it in two months. (Highly doubtful because there is so much work to be done on it.)

There is something that I've realized as of late. My goal isn't going to happen right away, but it'll probably happen if I do everything write the first time. Now, I'm not talking about the first perfect draft, because there is no such thing. I'm talking about making sure, double sure, and triple sure that everything is polished and ready to go before jumping on the submit wagon. Just saying. I think some times I get so wrapped up in the excitement of submitting stuff that I forget that even through the fifth and sixth edits, things can be missed or can just be plain awful.

Even though it's nearly 6 months away, I'm getting excited about Nano, I think because I'm spending some quality time with the series, and it's starting to actually pull together. I like when that happens! That's my update, now I gotta get back to work.

Okay so things have been....interesting

2011-04-27T13:33:00.000-06:00

So I do apologize for the delay in a blog, I just haven't been feeling myself lately and with that comes no motivation to write. However that's going to change, I need to force myself to get some stuff done. WUDJ* is right around the corner and though I finally have a plan for that I'm still not ready for it.

For WUDJ* I plan on actually editing and rewriting the parts that need to be rewritten in The Edge of Darkness. I have my lovely husband, The Geeky Writer, helping me out with edits, which works out well because unlike most husbands, he's brutally honest. So that's what I plan on doing for the month of July, which is coming up quickly and me and my little pregnant belly won't want to play outside in the sun.

The plan for the rest of the year, until November** is going to write a lot of short stories, edit a lot of short stories, and send them off the magazines. Getting pregnant kind of put a cramper on entering contests, especially when they cost. Besides, it's time that I try to break into the actual writing world and develop my platform more. Some time this year The Taste of Blood will be edited as well, at least those first painful edits.

As for November**, assuming I don't go into labor by the end of the month, Book 3 of the Society Series will be written. (Playing with Chaos). I plan on utilizing my late nights, up because I can't get comfortable, to write. You think they would let me write at the hospital while in labor? Hmmm.

* WUDJ= Write Until you Die July, see the explanation here.
** November= Is National Novel Writing Month aka NANOWRIMO

Wow, post 90

2011-04-10T16:03:00.001-06:00

90 blogs here in this little blog of mine. Seems like quite the accomplishment for me. Sadly I don't really have a lot to talk about today. I turned in a contest this month to Writer's Digest, so we'll see how that turns out. I'm preparing for WUDJ, though it seems that there is a lack of interest around it this year, and I'm preparing to buckle down to get some editing done, once my husband reinstalls Office 2010 on my computer and he gets the printer back up and working.

Today I'm spending working on the plot for Playing with Chaos, cleaning my desk, and musing for some short story ideas. With the fact that there is a little one on the way, we must watch our Ps&Qs to make sure that we are going to be able to afford a baby. (not that anyone is really ready for that) What this means is that I need to try and avoid entering contests that have high entry fees, and stick with free contests or actual submissions. The down side of this, it kind of breaks my new years resolution, the upside of this is hopefully some good will come of it.

Let's hear it for changes and a good year to come.

Whoops, skipped a week.

2011-04-03T16:08:00.000-06:00

Last week I learned something very exciting, I'm pregnant, so that's why you didn't get a blog last week. You can follow that at Baby Kessler if you'd like. In the writing world, things were kind of put on hold with the excitement, but it's time to get on track. Back on contests, back on editing, back to plotting and back to work all together.

I feel useless since I haven't been productive, part of it is because of work, part of it is because of the excitement, and part of it is my lack of motivation. The first big writing event of the year is approaching fast and I only have three chapters outline. So I'm almost in panic mode, but that's alright. That's really all I have to report on.

March is almost over

2011-03-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

And I really haven't accomplished much. Chapter One of The Edge of Darkness has been rewritten and is read for edits, and Chapter Two has been planned out for new edits and adjustments. I have used Writer's Cafe to help me with this. (See my review here.)

Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot going on in the writing world. I'm preparing for Write Until You Die July and from there, I'm just making some massive editing plans and working out the storyline of my series. This is very important seeing as by the end of 2011 I'll be four books into the series, hopefully. So there is my minuscule update for the week. Be back next Sunday. Don't for get to check out my sister blog The Geeky Writer where I have been doing guest posts.

Mac, editing, and insanity

2011-03-13T13:48:00.000-06:00

So like I mentioned last week, I bought a Macbook Air. The good news is that I haven't thrown it out the window in frustration, not that I was every close. One thing I do suggest to people planning on switching from PC to Mac is expect a learning curve. If you go in with the mind set that it will be different and not everything is going to work how it does on Windows, you're going to be fine. Those people who are thinking of switching from Linux to Mac, you're going to have less of a learning curve, but it's still there. Over the passed week or so I have lost windows, forgotten to quit programs, and have discovered some niffty features. (Like screen share, which is really helpful.)

This was also a hard change for me for my writing life, I didn't replace windows completely with my MC, just my netbook, so I'm using both platforms still. OneNote was a major program that I used for my writing, but it's not cross platform. I found Growly Notes which is very similar, but again not cross platform. However Writer's Cafe has been working flawlessly, since I got the directory to save in drop box and is cross platform. Better yet, this program forces me to take a wider look at my novel, the bigger picture if you would, and it works great for the editing method that I picked up out of the Writer's Little Helper.

Chapter one of The Edge of Darkness will not being going out for the contest. That means that I am skipping this month when it comes to contest. I plan on entering two contest probably next month to make up for it, but Chapter one is no where near ready. After sitting down and talking to my husband and editor, Brandon, we both realized how much work needed to be done. It's not that it was bad, there was just more potential there. I want to tap that potential to make the novel the best it can be. Simple as that. That's where I stand for now, there's not a whole lot going on in the writing world.

Transition

2011-03-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm at the point in my writing that it was a good time to go through a transition. I'm switching writing programs, from OneNote to Writer's Cafe, and get this...I bought a Macbook Air. Yep, I now have both a PC and a Mac. I plan on doing a more detailed blog about it once I get used to the Mac. So that's where I am now.

Writer's Cafe took a little getting used to as well. (I plan on doing a detailed blog on that too, but at geeky-writer.blogspot.com as a guest.) Over all it's a great writing program, and I can't wait to really put it to the test. Right now I'm working on plotting Playing with Chaos (book three of the Society Series) and I'm loving it, but the real test come when it's time to write. This book will be done for Write Until You Die July.

In other news I have started reading a book called The Productive Writer and it's a fantastic book. Just a few chapters in and I've already taken a lot of the advice to heart. This feels like a great start to a brand new year, yes I know it's March already, but it's still a new year. Chapter one of Edge of Darkness is almost ready for the contest, going to sit down with my husband and do some final edits, pass it to another beta reader (Jessi) and get her final opinion on it and then off it will go off to the contest.

The Supernatural Call Center Story (which needs a title) has actually started to come along, and then I read through an old free writing that I like, that I want to continue, though I don't know where it's going. So that's my quick update, sorry it's not much.

One thing down, a few things left to go

2011-02-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

I finished Something's Missing a couple days ago. The novel ended up falling short in word count (just 51k) but with edits there should be some hope for it. Though I'm not planning on diving right into edits with this novel, I do plan on keeping it near for a rainy day. I feel accomplished now that I've finished it because it means that I meat one goal for this month. The second goal should be done tonight or tomorrow, at least it better be. The third goal that I had for this month may or may not happen.

After yet another lengthy discussion with my husband, I have decided that it's time to grow up a little bit. No that doesn't mean I'm giving up on writing, quiet the opposite, I'm going to start treating it like a second job. On my days off, I will spend eight hours doing something in regards to my writing. Assuming I stick to this, it means shit will get done. Also, in result of this discussion, I get a baby and a house soon-ish.

March looks promising for a contest that is for the first chapter, and you guessed it, the first chapter of The Edge of Darkness will be going in for that contest. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep working on polishing the rest of the novel. I'm itching to send out a query for this again, I have a good feeling. So basically, I feel like I'm running around in my writing world like I'm crazy and have no idea where I'm going. Oh wait....that's true.

So it's time to figure out what the next writing project is, also attempt to write a few short stories, and well maybe find that sanity I've been missing.

8 Days and counting

2011-02-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

Eight days till the end of the month and I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'm dropping the examiner thing because as of right now it's a waste of my time. I'm still going to continue with short stories and contest, but I really want my main focus to be on my novels. I have a plan in my head and that plan includes being on my way to a published author soon.

In the update world I haven't touched Something's Missing since last week. I'm really just not feeling it any more. I remember when I was so excited about this project that I couldn't wait to work on it, but now that it's winding down to the end I feel the excitement has just left me. I have eight days until the end of February and in order to meet my goals, I have to finish that novel. So I'm going to hunker down and finish it. Even if it turns out to be shit, I can polish it later.

My character bible has most of the character updates for The Taste of Blood which means that the bible should be up to date by the end of the month as planned. I got an e-mail back from one beta reader for The Edge of Darkness, the feed back is good, concise, and constructive. Just what I needed. Chapter One is going to take my attention for now since I'm planning on sending it out a contest. Once I'm sure it's polished until it shines, I'll turn my attention to Chapter Two and beyond.

The other thing that I have found is an amazing group of people who are all writers in one way or another. Even though none of them have read my stuff or know me that well, I feel like this group will push me to my limits and help me increase my talents as a writer. I am very happy that I made the choice to join this group.

That's all I have for now.

Another week gone...

2011-02-13T16:10:00.001-07:00

Though I have gotten a lot done this week, more than I have lately even. I've set more goals, I've cleaned stuff up, I've started editing and my character bible is in a new binder. So Something's Missing is coming along nicely, what I'm running into is that normal lag that I hit when I come to the last few chapters. The start of post novel depression rears it's ugly head, but I don't think it'll be that bad when I finish this. Since Something's Missing is a pet project, I don't think I'm going to mourn the end as much. There's a lot of editing and some research that is needed for that novel, so I don't for see it completely edited and ready to go for a long while.

The Edge of Darkness is a different story. I found a beta reader that can give me a reader's view, instead of a writer's view. Those of you who know me well, know how hard it is for me to give my work out. There are many reasons that I don't like to share my work and there are very few people that I give it to. The reason I chose this girl is the fact that she reads and doesn't write. She'll have more of an eye for plot holes, inconsistencies, and character, and she'll worry less about grammar, style, and things of that nature. As of right now, that's what I need. Since she doesn't write, I don't have to worry about her running off with my ideas. I know that sounds silly, but hey, I'm paranoid about that.

Before I give her Edge of Darkness, I will be going through and doing another edit. Even going through just the first chapter I realize that there is still a lot of polishing that can be done. I'm going to try something a little different this time with editing. The Writer's Little Helper has a lot of good tips on editing, and I think I'm going to take one of the techniques that I've read in there and apply it to the novel and go from there.

As for contests, there is a flash fiction due the first of March, a first chapter due the 15th of March, and I think another one due somewhere in the middle. So I've got my work cut out for me, but hey that's nothing new.

Productivity is amazing

2011-02-06T16:20:00.001-07:00

Alright, one week into February and I'm doing great, so let's hope I can keep this up. I've gotten the Writer's Digest contest almost ready to roll, I'm opting out of the Flash Fiction contest (it's snail mail, and they want a check, that makes me nervous) but I've got another short story that I'm going to get done by the end of the month.

Something's Missing is now 4k longer than it was on 1st, and only has a couple more chapters to be written. I already know that there is going to be a lot of editing that needs to be done on this novel, but that's alright. I have hopes for this storyline, and the characters, but let me tell you, I am glad that it's not a series. (Even though it did try to turn itself into one, yikes!) I think after some polishing, more polishing, and maybe a spit shine, Something's Missing might be ready to send out sometime after July. This novel isn't my main focus, but kind of like my pet project, so I don't have as strict of deadlines for it.

The Character Bible, which really turned out more of an Information Bible for the Society Series (the vampire series) is coming along nicely. Most of you know that this is something that I wanted to have done before I started on more edits for The Edge of Darkness and The Taste of Blood. I'm almost done with all the character sheets and character interviews that are required for The Edge of Darkness. The binder that I'm keeping all this in, cause I like to have hard copies of my things, will not only house character profiles (character sheets, pictures, interviews and other random tidbits), but will also hold most of the information that I need for the series to be consistent. This includes short stories I have written for some of the characters, descriptions of places, descriptions on how each society works, time lines, history etc. So I have my work cut out for me on this, but most of this are things I have written down in random places or in OneNote.

Those are the two things that I plan on focusing on this month. I'm hoping that The Edge of Darkness will be ready for another round of query letters by June, but I'm not going to rush it. Book Three of the Society Series is in planning stages and writing will start in June, as part of the Write Until You Die July challenge.

So a bit more of an update than last week. I'll see you all next week, hopefully jumping up and down saying I finished writing Something's Missing.

Not much of an update

2011-01-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

I really don't have much of an update for you guys today. It's been a pretty slow week in any terms and the only exciting things I've done is gotten back to work with my characters for the vampire series, and finished my Something's Missing outline. Today I spent my day doing normal people stuff, like grocery shopping. We found some apartments that we are probably going to move into, which is fantastic, they have like a little club house, complete with coffee that I could go to and chill out. Not to mention, it's down the street from one of my favorite local coffee shops.

All is quiet on the writing front, I haven't won any writing contest, I haven't gotten a long lost rejection letter in the mail, and I haven't had any brilliant ideas. Honestly, I'm taking it slow until I move, then I'm kicking everything into high gear. Right now I'm just struggling to get everything done, and make the contest deadlines.

Like I said, not much of an update, but hey, it's blog number eighty. :)

Another week gone

2011-01-23T16:44:00.001-07:00

January is almost gone, but I have accomplished quite a bit this month. I entered a writing contest, I finished two short stories (almost three, still working on that third one), I got new glasses, and I have almost finished the end outline to Something's Missing. I plan on finishing that up tonight and have the novel completed by the end of February. The fantastic thing is that, even though I've been busy at work, I've gotten a lot done on my work days. This is a major improvement over my last job.

Update on the two contests for February, the Writer's Digest Your Story is almost done, I should also have that done either tonight or the end of tomorrow. The Flash Fiction piece is one that I'm going to redo an old contest entry, by cleaning it up and tightening up the writing, then submitting that. I still haven't found a March Contest to enter, but I have a feeling one will come along.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on in my world of writing right now, but now that the update is done I want to address something. At work the other day I had a coworker ask me how I was so disciplined in my writing, before I had a chance to answer she requested that I not tell here that I don't think I'm disciplined.

My honest answer was going to be, I don't think I have enough discipline. (Not to say that the answer I gave her wasn't an honest answer.) The answer I gave her though is that writing is my go to thing. When I'm bored, I write. When I'm upset, I write. When I've too much energy, I write. When I'm stressed, I write. I think you get the point now. If you want to call that disciplined, so be it. I don't. That's like saying someone who plays video games for those same reasons are disciplined when it comes to video games.

I need to take my passion, my hobby, and become disciplined with it. I've started with baby steps, I have manage to post an article every other week on my Examiner.com account, I'm trying to start getting up earlier (that one needs a little work), I've set attainable goals for myself, and I make myself feel guilty if I even think about being lazy for skipping one of those goals. Baby steps will grow into big steps eventually, and then I will be able to say that I'm disciplined in my writing.

That being said, I need to get to work.

Oh, how times change...okay not really

2011-01-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

The only thing that has changed is the fact that I've been writing in a notebook instead of the computer. The purpose of this is that, for short stories, it forces me to finish a short story before I start another one. This means by the end of the year I should have quite the collection going on. That being said, I have a short story due on the 10th for the Writer's Digest Your story contests. Yep, that's right, I'm going to do two contests next month.

In other news, I finally read over what I had written for Something's Missing, and I'm excited to get back to writing. The story line isn't half that bad, and I finally figured out what I wanted to do with the end of it. (I think.) So I need to finish outlining that tail end, and then get to finishing the novel. The word goal for Something's Missing is a little over 60k. My other goal is to finish my character bible by the end of this month, because that's something that needs to be completed before I do edits on the other two novels.

I'm starting to an idea of where I want book 3 to go, which I will be writing for Write Until You Die July this year. I have no doubt that I can write the entire, if not most of the novel, in the month.

I'm already making plans to attend the Night of Writing Dangerously this year in California. I'm very excited to attend it, it is one of my dreams to make it there. So hopefully, everything will go fine. So, lots of stuff on the horizon for me, lots of stuff I'm planning on doing, and a couple more changes I plan on making for myself. Let's hear it for the new year going fantastic!

Weekly Update

2011-01-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

So this week is better than last week. I have a bit more of a plan, better deadlines for stories, and I wrote almost 2000 words in four days. (Okay, so it's not Nano standards, but it's better than nothing.) My first contest entry of the year has been submitted; I decided not to do the second one this month because the story seemed too forced. I still need to find contests for some other months of the year, and I plan on doing that tonight. So over all a good week in the world of writing.

To give you and idea of what's coming up for deadlines, this is what I'm looking at:

January: No more deadlines! But start final edits on The Edge of Darkness and work on Something's Missing.
February: 10th-Flash Fiction contest, continue final edits on The Edge of Darkness and work on Something's Missing.
March: A contest. Finish final edits on The Edge of Darkness, be close to finishing Something's Missing. (This is also the month I should be moving.)
April: A contest. Start first edits on The Taste of Blood, Finish Something's Missing, query for The Edge of Darkness. (That last part is assuming we have moved)

So that's my next few months, and I'll be sticking to it. Some deadlines count on a move date of March-ish, so that I have a new mailing address and I don't have to worry about letters being forward to me. That's my update! I'll be back next week with another one.

A late, uneventful update

2011-01-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

So really the only thing going on right now is the fact that I'm trying to find contests for every month to enter in. This month I'm doing the Writer's Digest Your Story, which is written and ready to turn in. Next month is going to be a flash fiction contest, and that's about all I have figured out. I haven't touched any of my novels, I haven't done feed back for a friend yet, and I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit discouraged right now.

This happens every now and then, something comes up that just makes me take a look at reality and think about it. The only thing I can do is push forward. So my plan? Work my butt off, and go back to what I was doing: Dedicating my free time to writing. I can write in a notebook at work, and I have already started one project. I think I might dedicate another notebook to short stories. I love my netbook, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about writing in a notebook. I will edit The Taste of Blood and Edge of Darkness, finish the character bible for that series, finish writing Something's Missing, and participate in Write Until You Die July again this year. There's the first 6 months of my year planned out in the terms of writing. The only giant glitch that I can foresee, is that we're moving, and that always throws off the creativity.

So there is my update, it's late, it's uneventful, and honestly it hasn't helped my discouragement any.

Reflecting on the past year and an update

2010-12-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, another year almost gone. Hard to believe that 2011 is almost here, and that it is time to look back and see what I accomplished. Last year I titled this blog the "The Dreaded New Years Blog", but this year, I'm trying to cast a more positive light on it.

So let's take a look at the past year. I accomplished very little on my list of resolutions, but the one that I'm most excited about is the fact that I got out of retail. I did it before the holiday season, and it is a better paying, less stressful job. So that is my grand accomplishment of the year. The other part of my resolution was to help more around the house, and because of a life style change that has happened. I'm still sticking by the changes that Brandon and I talked about a few months ago, and I have to say that I am happy. We had tough times, we had good times, and really things are starting to look up. I'm excited to see what next year brings.

Next years goals, or resolutions, whatever you want to call it:

1. Fit back into my punk pants, also known as lose weight and get back into shape. I actually have a plan for this next year.

2. Move to a safer place where cars don't make a habit of mysteriously disappearing.

3. Submit something every month for publication and/or contests. Query for The Edge of Darkness, finish Something's Missing, completely, and edit The Taste of Blood completely. Query for both of those sometime in 2011.

4. Get something published, if I keep up on #3, this should happen easily.

There we go, that's what I want to accomplish in 2011.

Now my update:

I've been busy with the holidays and work, but I'm slowing working on a short story for a contest due to be post marked by January 15th. (Yeah, that's right post mark, the contest is using snail mail. :) ) Then there is a Writer's Digest contest due January 10th, I've got to get going on that as well. The querying that I was going to do for The Edge of Darkness got put on hold, since we are planning on moving soon. (Keep your fingers crossed) There is my short update.

Plans

2010-12-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

So last night (or really early this morning) I was on Skype with Jessi, and I made a plan for December. So what is this plan? Well, the details of the plan is to follow my planner and to get certain things done by certain times. Those things are: WD Your story (due December 10), another complete edit of The Edge of Darkness (due about December 30th), redo my query letter for The Edge of Darkness (due December 30th as well) and hopefully finishing writing Something's Missing.

So there we have it a busy month. I'm a few days behind already, because I had a long week. My car was stolen, then recovered, and now on it's way to be fixed. So my husband and I have decided that we need to move, and we need to move ASAP. So I'm going to be balancing a lot of stuff on my days off.

In other news, my final word count word count for the month of November was 90,045, and the finishing word count for The Taste of Blood was 93,000 words, the longest novel I have written so far. This was my fifth year doing NaNoWriMo, and my third time winning! Honestly, NaNo gave me a lot of my confidence back, which is good. Here's hoping that I stick to my goals and my deadlines, and see something come from it next year!

Week Four: NaNoWriMo

2010-11-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

So there are two days left of NaNo, and something happened a few days ago that may make those last two days hell. My characters completely took over my novel and changed how they wanted it to end. For those of you who know me, I plot, and I plot and I plot some more. Normally I stick to my outlines, occasionally something comes up that isn't in the outline, but still works in the plot. This is not the case, this is worse than when Alex in Something's Missing, tried to negotiate her ending with me. (She almost won that fight) The characters have completely taken over and I have no idea when the book is going to end. Finally last night, they did share with me how it was going to end, but there are still some key points that have to be written until I can end it.

This isn't a problem at all to me, other than the fact that I may not be finished by the December 1st. That was my deadline for the first draft of this novel, and I hate being late on my deadlines. I really do. (Well actually, I just hate being late in general.) My plan? Push on until I can push no further, or until I am done, what ever happens first. My prediction is that the novel will end somewhere between 85k and 90k words. Normally my novels fall between 70k and 75k, so this is a good sign for me, but let me tell you, I'm not looking forward to editing this. I know there is a lot more work that needs to be done to make everything flow together.

And that's my Week Four update, I'm sitting at 75k words, my characters have taken over, and I have had way too much caffeine

NaNoWriMo: Week 3

2010-11-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

I currently sit just shy of 62k.....

So, apparently the sluggish issue that most people have on week two, I had on week three. It also doesn't help that my job has been kicking my butt. My hour lunches were cut down to half hour lunches, and I stare at computer screen all day, sadly the last thing I want to do some nights is come home and work on another computer. However, I will not let this continue. I am determined to finish the novel, I don't care if that means pulling a couple late nights and lots of coffee. My characters are demanding to finish their story!

I have characters who are refusing to do what I had planned for them, and then I have new characters who are demanding a bigger part than they have. I realized that I didn't truly plot out the last four chapters of the novel, but now I'm thinking that might before the best at this point. Who knows what else my characters might decide to come up with!

I discovered some massive plot holes, and a couple small ones, but I'm trying not to worry about them until December. Let me tell you, part of me fears editing, and the other part of me is looking forward to it. Granted, this particular novel will not be edited in December. In December my main focus is to completely polish and re-query for The Edge of Darkness, and finish the first draft of Something's Missing. (I'm about 3/4 through with that now). I realized that I have to revise some of my deadlines to make them work for me again, I'm alright with that though, because they are goo revisions!

Also, I got a new keyboard! This one is a true ergonomic keyboard that should help my wrists, which means much more typing time. That's all that went on last week, sorry about the late update, I didn't get Sunday off of work this week, so it kind of messed things up.

Week Two: NaNoWriMo winner

2010-11-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's right, two weeks in and I'm already at 50k, so that means I have won the basic meaning of NaNoWriMo. However, I have yet to finish the novel, that comes next. I still have about ten chapters to write. I had unexpected characters showing up, and random scenes I wasn't expecting, but that's alright. That is what makes it fun.

How do I feel now that I've written 50,000 words? No different than I felt last year when I hit 50,000, I'm still excited and proud of myself, but the story isn't done, and I won't be completely happy until it is. This is the part of the month and story that I start considering deadlines. I have other projects that were started before NaNo, and they will stay in the drawer until NaNo is over. November is solely to work on The Taste of Blood, who's 1st draft is due by December 1st. I won't bore you with the details of the rest of my deadlines, not tonight anyways.

Something I am learning during NaNo this year is that writing on my days off seem to be more productive than the little bit of time during the days I work. So I think I'm going to keep it that way when I am done with NaNo.

On the story of The Taste of Blood, the characters are doing what they are supposed to, for the most part, and everything for the series is falling into place. The over all story line seems to be a lot bigger than I had ever planned. The Society Series (The Edge of Darkness, The Taste of Blood) is going to be my main focus for a while. Something's Missing is going to be a side project, that actually has deadlines, and then there is that mysterious young adult concept that popped into my head. That's my update, I'll see you next week!

Week One, NaNoWriMo

2010-11-07T16:49:00.001-07:00

I just want to point out, that I have now kept this blog up for a year, and honestly I think that this is what has helped me keep up on my writing as well. The whole reason of starting this blog was because of NaNoWriMo and to keep everyone up to date on my writing.

So here we are, the end of Week One of National Novel Writing Month and my word count is at 19,102. Where I'm supposed to be at per the rules of Nano (1667 words a day) I should be around 11,700 words. So as usual, I am a head of the game during Week One, and I want it to keep it that way. The story itself has taken off on it's own, the characters are almost real people to me now. Normally this doesn't happen until the editing phase, because Nano is just a rush of get the idea on paper, type of thing. So life is good, I've got people cheering me on, and characters who love me. I haven't seen any huge plot issues yet, which means there haven't been many sticky notes put to use, that there is kind of sad.

To all the other Wrimos out there, good luck and I'll see you at the finish line! (And next week with another update.)

It was the night before Nano

2010-10-31T18:47:00.001-06:00

and all through the house, every creature was panicking, even the mouse.

Okay, so we're not exactly panicking, but it's close. I still have 4 chapters that need an outline, a shirt finished, and I start my new job tomorrow! So yes, tomorrow is a very big day. Though, I am very confident in my novel this year, and it makes me more confident in the series. I rambled with Brandon for a good hour about where different creatures came from, and who exactly created the vampires. I did nothing but outline this week, and read another friend's novel. That's my update! I'll be back at the end of the week with Nano 2010 updates!

7 Days

2010-10-24T15:42:00.001-06:00

Seven days and some odd hours until the start of Nanowrimo, and I still don't have a complete outline. It's not that I don't know where my story is going, and it's close to being completed. My biggest problem is that I'm not looking at just the book now. Now I'm looking at the series that I want to complete, and taking another look at the first book in the series. (The Edge of Darkness.) If I want to make this work, I need to get down to some serious business.

This week, all I did was outline, outline, outline! I kind of figured out where my series plot is going, and I think after I finish The Taste of Blood, I will know more precisely where the series is going. There is just so much to consider that my entire head feels like it's going to explode. Tonight, I plan on taming some of that.

My last three days of sheer panic will be spent in Delta, Colorado hanging out with old friends, my in-laws and finishing up my outline. My first day of Nano will be spent at work, yep, I actually work on the 1st of November this year, better yet, it's my first day at my new job. The first week of November will be spent trying my new schedule that I have devised for Nano, if it doesn't work, I'll rework it so that it will work. Hopefully it's something I will keep up after November, just toned down a little.

So the next post will be on Halloween, the night before the insanity begins. :) Good luck to those who are participating in Nanowrimo this year, and for those of you who are not participating, but are supporting those of us who are, thank you.

Change

2010-10-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

14 days 14 hours and 19 minutes, that's how long before Nanowriomo officially kicks off. This year I won't be able to stay up until 3am on the 1st pounding out my first 1000 or so words, because I got my new job! *takes a moment to do the happy dance* This new job is the change that I needed though. It's going to give me three glorious days to work on my writing. (And do house work, cook, and so on.) This means that my writing is going to prosper. Did I mention that I get an hour lunch? And that the floor I'm working on has seven coffee pots? :)

So this week, what did I accomplish? Well, I learned that the ending I planned for Something's Missing wasn't the correct ending, and all other endings that were obvious were well, too obvious. There was a dangerous cheese factor that was baring it's ugly head. So I worked out that, and now I have to fixed the end part of my outline to reflect that.

I've outlined a few chapters in Taste of Blood, and watched as those characters have weaved themselves together to make more of an intense storyline than I ever imagined. I can't wait to start working with them! This is the magic that I've been waiting for. So I've been working on that. I've been helping another Wrimo prepare for her first time doing Nano, and I'm excited to see what happens with her.

I think I'm going to try something a little bit different with Nano this year. I've been reading Chris Baty's 'No Plot? No problem!' again, and there was some good advice that I apparently missed last time. So in attempt to not have a "piss-poor" novel (who am I kidding, every first draft is piss-poor regardless if it's written in a month or in three years.) So maybe better wording would be, in attempt not to have a complete, unorganized, disaster on my hands by the end of November, I'm going to try a couple different techniques. Well wish me luck everyone!

21 Days

2010-10-10T21:53:00.000-06:00

Yep, in a couple hours it will be 21 days until Nano. Am I ready? Nope, I don't have half an outline done, and I'm trying to switch jobs. I did get some outlining done this week, and turned in my Hint Fiction, I decided not to turn in the Writer's Digest Your Story. Most of this month is going to be spent outlining and preparing for Nano. There's going to be some time writing Something's Missing, but mostly outlining and preparing.

I'm still on the schedule that allows me two days a week to dedicate to my writing, but if this new job works out, I'll get three, that's right three, days to write. Complete novel, here I come! That's all I really have to report, I'll be back with a better one next week.

October is here

2010-10-03T22:54:00.000-06:00

Today is October 3rd, just wow. That's all I have to say. There is so much that needs to be done before November, and there is also a lot of things that need be done before the end of the year. I'm in panic mode, sheer panic.Though, I think this blog has been helping with moving forward with my goals, and I feel like, this could actually happen, I could actually be published.

In a need of a mood lifter the other morning, I went through old rejection letters for Dark Moon, the (horrible) novel that I queried for in 2005/2006. Among those query letters was the one full manuscript request I had gotten. I still remember the excitement (and the panic) that I felt when I read that letter over. That alone gave me courage to continue on this road, and sure th manuscript was rejected, but I assure you, it was well deserved.

So I didn't really accomplish too much this week, I wrote a little bit on Something's Missing, I updated my Nano profile, I read over my short story for Ayden and Izzy, and that was about it. This week should be much more productive. I do have an interview on Tuesday, but it's a phone interview, so I don't think it will be too long. Nanowrimo is just around the corner, and I'm getting excited, and so are my characters, I'm itching to spend some time with them. This month will be spent editing Edge of Darkness, polishing that short story, and out lining for Nanowrimo. And that's my update.

Colds, shorts, and short shorts

2010-09-26T23:36:00.000-06:00

So last week, I got a little sniffle, and I brushed it off. This week the cold came in full force and knocked me on my ass. So after drowning myself in tea, a nights with cold medicine in my system, and one day home from work, the fever, stuffy nose and everything else went away. The only problem is, I got almost nothing done this week. I didn't touch Edge of Darkness for editing, I didn't write anything on Something's Missing, and I barely outlined for my nano.

That being said, this is what I did manage to do. There are notes on the top of each outline page for Taste of Blood, not all the way through, but enough to know where I'm going. I created some stuff for the Nanowrimo packages that I'm going to be sending out, which is good, I might go to the dollar store tomorrow to finish those off. Tonight I started a short story, yes, that's right, willingly, I started a short story. It's not forced or anything. It's the story of how Isadora met Ayden, and what sparked the relationship they have in the Taste of Blood.

It needed to be done, because I was having problems understanding the relationship. I'm 2,000 words into it, and I think I might be able to pound the rest out tomorrow, smooth it out, and polish it in time for the WD short story contest. This is giving me renewed faith in my short story abilities. Not only does this give me a great insight to my characters, later on when I'm published, it will give my readers a better understanding. So that's one thing out of the way, one less thing to worry about.

I have another short story, novella, thing that's sitting in limbo, I really like the concept, but I'm not sure where to go with it. So it's just kind of hanging there, waiting for my attention, and I'm okay with that. I still want to try for the WD Short Short that's coming up, but I really don't have too much of an idea with that one. I may dig through my old writings and see if there is something usable and fixable in there. There is also the WD Your story contest due on the 10th of October, still playing with that one. I thought I had an idea, but it didn't quit work out. I think I just need to let characters talk to me, and figure it out from there. The other thing that's on my plate is the Hint Fiction contest that is due on the 11th of October. That one has a twenty-five word limit, you'd think it would be easy, but nope.

So there we go, multiple contests going on, three novels in various stages, and a story in limbo land. I better get used to this, because this is what that big decision was about. This is what I decided to dedicate my life to.

A new start...so to say

2010-09-20T13:58:00.000-06:00

The other night I sat down to talk to my husband about what I wanted to do with my life, after a nice long talk it was decided. I don't want to go into details of the discussion here, because there are those who would not understand. Just know that I am happy with this decision, and I think it will go well. Here's what that discussion has to do with my writing, I will have two solid days dedicated to my writing. As a promise to my husband, some how, some way, I will have something published next year. (Chances are a short story, or several short stories. Though, I'm hoping to snag an agent next year too.)

I took all this to heart, and decided I needed to clean my desk, those of you who know me know that doesn't happen very often. So I decided to take pictures and share them with you. :) This is going to be a long blog, sorry.

This is my pin board, it's not really in use right now, because it's on the other side of the office. I'm waiting until my husband moves it to my side of the office to start using it again.

The importance of this pin board is that it keeps moving with us, it holds information, images, and random stuff that is needed. (with the exception of that random plastic thing, that came from a keyboard.) The map of the US is for my Vampire novels, you can't see if from here, but it is divided up into territories.

This is where I'm sticking the sticky notes until my husband moves the pin board.

As you can see I have a verity of sticky notes, and they spice up my writing life. Sticky notes is where I put random thoughts, things that need to be fixed, characters that randomly appear, and reminders.

This is the left side of my desk (well and part of the right side). As you can see, I have a window.

Other than the fact that the ledge allows me a place to stack random note books, there's nothing too important about this. Under the ledge (you can't see it) is A Rubik's Cube, and another puzzle, those keep me amused while I think. On top of the ledge is a charging station, that I don't use, with these cute things called Funkies sitting in it. There's a chalice a friend made me up there, a speaker, and a broken Nano coffee mug. (It's the non-lead one they sent out to replace the red one that had a made in china sticker.)

This is the right side of my desk, where most of the work is done.

So this is the important part of the desk. Right? You see the line of sticky notes, the two monitors (which are a god send by the way), the fan, the drawers, and another pin board. On the monitor stands you see the second speaker, and my head phones wrapped up. (My husband's not home, why should I wear head phones?) The fan keeps me cool during the evening when the sun is hitting the office. The draws have my sticky notes and funny colored pens. That pin board is the rejection board. It's lined in rejection letters, but hanging on it are note cards. One stack is the queries that have been responded to, the middle one is who I'm still waiting to hear from, and the other one is people I still need to send queries too. It keeps me organized.

That was the last picture. So this is where I'm going to be spending many (more?) hours trying to accomplish my dreams.

Now the update: Had a long weekend, got some editing done of Edge of Darkness, but really, that was about it.

The reason I'm choosing to go the Traditional Publishing route

2010-09-13T20:58:00.000-06:00

So I've had a few people ask me why I'm not interesting in self publishing, and why I keep wasting my time on query letters and agent research. My original idea was to take an objective look for both sides of the argument, so I did a bit of digging. The first thing I found was that there was not an article, I could find, that did not trash talk one side of the argument. The second thing I found was that if going the self-publishing route, I would have to go with e-book publishing. In example, the Amazon Kindle store offers authors the change to upload their books to the Kindle store, in which you can provide a price (has to be $0.99 or more) and receive royalties, either 35% or 70% with the recent program they rolled out.

As for the rest of the market, like print on demand companies, you'd have to still invest a lot of money into marketing your book, that is if you want to sell enough books to make it worth your effort. Even with Amazon's 70% Royalty program, it would be hard to make enough to break even with marketing. Sites like Lulu.com offer marketing packages that start around $400 and go up to almost $1400, that's a lot of money to lay down. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of money laying around my house. Not to mention, there are no editors to help polish your manuscript, you may think it's perfect, but what about those little typos you over looked? What about that poor word choice that made the scene weak?

But what about instant gratification? Or get your name out there before trying to get an agent? What about the lengthy wait time?

Instant gratification isn't all it's cracked up to be, sure I get to see my book instantly on sale, which would be awesome I admit, but on the other hand, chances that my book will be on the bookshelf is very slim. Not to mention, that I'm not a real entrepreneurial type of person, I don't have a wide social circle, and I don't have connections that people mention in a lot of Self-Publishing articles. In order to make any impact as an author, I have to sell the shit out of my book, work my ass off, and spend my money. Why would I pay someone to publish me? Shouldn't they pay me?

Getting your name out there before finding an agent is great, if you do it by getting short stories published in meaningful magazine, or anthologies, but once you get a book published (any means) then you are no longer a debut author, and an agent will look at the sales of the book, and let that determine if you are worth taking on. If your self-publish book does not sell well, for whatever reason, then that will hurt you if/when you decide to go with an agent.

Lengthy wait time, okay, so I may have to wait a bit to see my book in print, but I think it's worth it. I will have a physical book, an Agent who cares about the project and can help with the marketing. Yes, they take a chunk of money for their hard work. The thing is, I will be in league with my heroes, and favorite authors. This way I know that I am worthy of actually having my book published and out there. I get the help of professional editors, agents, and publishers who want to make money, and because of that will help me sell my book.

The thing is, I see self-publishing as the easy way out. Perhaps you are scared of rejection, maybe you are too lazy to go through the motions of research, rewriting, queries, and waiting, or perhaps you just want the self gratification. As another author, I wish you the best of luck, I really do, but self-publishing is not the route for me, I would think less of myself for going that way. So sneer at me all you want, while I wait and count my rejections, but when I'm on the New York's Best Seller's list, and you've sold merely hundreds of books, we'll see who is laughing.

*****note: the information here is in regards to novels, self-publishing is a fantastic opportunity for those who do graphic novels, comic books, and/or photo books.******

Amazing what happens when you get three writers together

2010-09-12T15:35:00.000-06:00

So I took this weekend off for my birthday, and after a day of hanging out with my husband I joined two good friends in an all night write-a-thon. What the heck were we thinking? Well, whatever we were thinking, we made progress, all three of us.

Something's Missing is now sitting at 31k, 7 chapters, and around 88pages. I did 5k words last night, and it felt great. The characters are really getting into their roles, and the personalities are coming out. This book is coming along so well that I may actually get to finish it by the end of next month. Editing will have to wait until after November though, of course.

In other news, I have decided to continue editing The Edge of Darkness, and to keep querying for this. Yes, I know I keep going back and forth with this, but now the decision is final! I just feel like if I don't then I'm missing a huge opportunity, so I'm going with my gut feeling. There are still 7 query letters that are floating around without a response, I don't know if I will ever get a response, but that is still 7 chances.

Planning for Taste of Blood goes well, I'm excited because the series is becoming more clear in my head every day. I'm making notes about future books, what needs to happen in each society, and new characters that surface. Yay!

So over all, a productive week.

Man, oh man

2010-09-05T00:47:00.000-06:00

So it's the start of another month, and the end of another week. So here's the deal, there is a lot going on and a lot of decision that need to be made. I need to figure out exactly what I want to focus on, and this is proving to be a bit more difficult than it should be. The good news is that I had an extremely productive week. Something's Missing is at 23k words, Taste of Blood's outline is coming along nicely, I have a piece written for a contest and I have decided to revisit The Edge of Darkness.

Something's Missing is currently my main concern, this novel has been a work in progress for a while. Back when I very first started it, I had lost the outline, and then redid it. I swore it was fantastic when I had written the first version. When I went to edit it, I scrapped it all, I hated it. I thought I could have done much better with the storyline. That was a little over a year ago, and now, I have turned the story line into something solid, and hopefully amazing. Word count goal for the final version of this (including edits) is between 85k and 90k words, but it might end up longer.

Taste of Blood and Edge of Darkness are starting to inner mix with each other a bit. My biggest worry about this is that I want to make sure they can stand alone as well, but I think I can make it all work out. Taste of Blood's outline is going smoothly, but it's out of order right now. It seems that the character wish to tell me other parts before they explain how they get to those parts, but hey, whatever, as long as I have a complete book outline by November. (57ish days) I decided to revisit Edge of Darkness this month because it's calling to me. I keep making excuse not to finish polishing it, well that time is over. I will polish it, and it will be complete. I will also start query for it again, with a new and improved query. (Hate queries...)

The things that need to be decided on are, if I want to go for the grant that Jessi showed me, what I'm going to do for the other two contest with looming dead lines, and what I want to do with the free writing that turned into a massive amount of words with a blossoming story line.

And that's my update! It's going to be a long, but productive month!

A productive week

2010-08-29T11:33:00.000-06:00

After a talk with my husband the other day, I realized something, writing is exactly what I want to do with my life. I will make it in this market, no matter what I have to do. I will reach my goals, and I will show everyone, who has doubt me, that I can do what they told me I couldn't. It was almost 5 years ago that I finished my first, serious, novel, Dark Moon. Though it got a full manuscript request, a year later I decided that it wasn't worthy of even being revised or revisited, so I put it away. That's when I started the vampire series, which is on it's third go through, but now I have a story line, world, and characters that I like.

I look at my life now, and compare it to where I was five years ago, and it makes me smile. I now have the discipline, the drive, the inspiration and the cheer team (that would be Jessi, SE, and Brandon) to make all of this work. I spend at least three hours a day working on something that is writing related, it is now, truly my life. But enough about reminiscing and my self discoveries of the week, lets get to the writing up date!

This week I worked out the plot issues in Something's Missing, and gave myself a nice line to follow to get where it needs to go. It is going to turn out to be a massive book, and a fantastic story. Something that, I believe, is original and worthy enough to query for right now. Five chapters were outlined for Something's Missing this week, a chapter of Taste of Blood was outlined, a little over a thousand words were written on my free writing on the 25th, and I've been haunting Query Shark for research. That to me is a very productive week.

A friend brought some contests to my attention, but I have decided to concentrate on the two that Jessi and I had originally decided. That means the Short story, and the Short Short, I may attempt some others during the next two months, but I highly doubt I will have time. I need to put some more articles up on the Examiner.com, but it's been a long time since I've watched/read any anime. Three more days until the end of the month. Yikes!

Holy cow!

2010-08-22T12:05:00.000-06:00

Another week gone! How time flies when you are trying to outline two novels and balance life. So I actually had a very productive week. I got quite a bit done outlining wise, I finished the end of my free writing, now I just have to start the beginning, I got a couple chapters outline for Something's Missing, a couple chapters outlined for my Nanowrimo, The Taste of Blood, and I've decided that I'm going to start working some short stories into my schedule, so that I have some things to submit.

As for the up coming Writer's Digest contests, for the Short Short I have decided to redo Charon, so that it is more story like instead of a retelling of a myth. It didn't work as a flash fiction piece (750 words), but maybe I can do something different with it for the 1,500 word limit the Short Short gives me. (Doesn't seem so short now does it?) As for the Short, the 4,000 words one, I need to work on some more, it's a classic story line of damsel in distress, but it's thrown into a supernatural world, and has a couple twists. When Jessi and I sit down to do September's schedule, I need to work some time in for those.

So Goals have shifted a bit for stuff that needs to be done before November:
Something's Missing: Outline done by September 1st, first draft done by October 30th
Taste of Blood: Outline done by October 31st, First draft done by December 1st
Short Short: Done by November 1st
Short Story: Done by November 1st
Free Writing: Work on as time allows (oh that's funny....)

And there we go, my weekly update. :D

Another week gone, another week closer

2010-08-15T13:10:00.000-06:00

So it is now the third week in August, and I haven't really achieved much, but a couple things cleared off my plate, so some time has opened up. I got very little outlining and writing done this week, because characters just didn't want to work with me, I wasn't sure really where my priorities were, and I have a nephew born. (I have a thing for babies, what can I say?) But here is to a new week, to character behaving, getting a half a chapter outline done before work, and a new diet! Well, an old diet that's being revived, and being stuck to. We'll put it that way.

I need to have the outline done for Something's Missing by September first, and then the first draft of the novel written by November first. School starts on the 23, but as usual with school, I'm sure my inspiration will spike. There's a quote somewhere that says, "If you want something done, ask a busy person" my writing always ends up increasing during school, because well, I'm busy, I don't get it, but I'll take it! If I write 1,500 words everything on Something's Missing, starting September 1st and ending October 30th (cause the 31st is Halloween and last minute Nano prep) It will be finished. I can do it!

I have recently been re-motivated, and have also come to realize that yes, writing really is my life. I may not lead an interesting life, but at least my characters do. So after that realization, I have decided, it is time to go back to dedicating my life to writing.

Also, the panic of the moment: 2.5 months until Nano!!!!

I have an announcement

2010-08-11T15:05:00.003-06:00

Created by OnePlusYou

Yep, that's right guys. :D Who's ready?

Weekly Update

2010-08-08T22:59:00.000-06:00

So after spending the first of the month planning with Jessi, we decided weekly updates were best now. WUDJ has still proven to have done what it was meant to. Though I haven't written everything, I have done something writing related.

I have decided that the Short Short may not happen, unless something strikes me that will work for it. The deadline is still awhile off, but currently my mind is just not in the game. My short is kind of coming a long, I have an ending in mind, but I'm not sure if it's going to read as a short. I will have to see what happens with that. Outlining for my Nano is going well, Ayden, my main guy character is very chatty lately and I have filled sticky notes with his thoughts. Outlining for Something's Missing is going slow, because I got a book for research, and that has distracted me from the outlining. So a productive week, I'm starting to feel like a real author.

Back in the real world...there was almost a small mental break down, but Brandon talked me through it, so currently my life is guided by a strict schedule that I'm putting together tonight. School starts the 23rd, so hopefully I've got everything balance before I have to add that to the pile. Wish me luck.

What I've taken from WUDJ

2010-08-01T00:09:00.001-06:00

WUDJ- An acronym for Write Until You Die July, an event first started in July 2010, by a guy name Brian Black. It evolved into a big group writing challenge and soon took over lives and inspired people. Well close enough.

The point of WUDJ was to write every night, at least 1,500 words. That would mean that one would write for 30 days straight (well 31 actually) and it would become a habit. Here's what I have gotten from WUDJ:

I wrote over 20,000 words on a new novel. I wrote and submitted a short story. I started two other short stories, and a potential new novel. I outlined, I wrote articles, and I didn't write for three days.

Lets start with those three days I didn't write. Now they are all spread out, the first two were towards the start and the middle of the month. I didn't feel anything about those first two nights, really all I felt was exhaustion. That third night however, killed me. I wanted to spend time with my characters. They were begging for me to return the computer. I felt guilty. Seriously, guilty. I knew then that I wouldn't be able to go another night without at least outlining. I'm starting to think that my characters are my only friends. (I kid guys, I know you're out there.)

Now on to more positive stuff, over 20,000 words on Something's Missing. That is amazing to me, what's even more amazing is that I'm only a few chapters into the novel. The characters are so much more talkative and lively than I expected. I put the writing part of it aside though, so I can focus on the outlining because there was just so much happening, and so much going on that I needed to make sure everything was covered. The short story that I submitted, Scrambled Brains, went to Writer's Digest for a contest. I started two more that will go to Writer's Digest later this year. I did some free writing that end up being a novel idea, and that has really taken off, I'm already 5k words into it. (Granted, I think I'm writing it backwards, but whatever.) Then I also did my two articles for the Examiner.com, which makes me a bit of money.

So what exactly did I take from WUDJ? I took a plan to continue writing, a feeling of accomplishment, and most of all, I found my muse. I'm writing again, and I feel fantastic about it. Tomorrow night I'm making a physical plan, written down and everything, with Jessi so that I have a map.

So in the end, thank you to all who did WUDJ with me. I had a blast, and my writing shall continue.

Two days left

2010-07-30T08:40:00.000-06:00

So on day 30 what have I discovered? That I have early morning characters, and early morning characters apparently demand attention. I'm sitting at Panera's Bread, working with a set of early morning characters who have decided to be the subjects of my short story for the Writer's Digest contest that's due November 1st. What a way to prepare for Nano! I'm about 1,100 words into the story, and I'm glad that it's only 4,000 word limit, because I have a feeling these characters are just visiting. That's alright, I'll take the visit, especially since they are early morning characters. If they stuck around too long, I'd never get sleep!

The short short that is due December 1st is coming along slowly. It's kind of a depressing story, so I have to be in a certain mood in order to write it, but it is coming along. In other news, I've started outlining for The Taste of Blood, which is coming a long nicely. (Those are my night characters.) Something's missing, I'm pretty sure the characters when to sleep, so the continuing outline of that is going slow, but I am working on it. I just wish they would straighten up. My free writing is coming along amazing! The characters feel like I've known them forever, and they finally came back home.

For those of you who don't know, I've very big on knowing your characters. They are very near and dear to me, and I love to see them come alive. If I get stuck in their story, I sit down with paper and pencil and tell them to talk to me. Yep, I know that sounds crazy, but hey, I'm okay with that.

So for the coming months, this is what life looks like:
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: Crafting (had a huge order come in) and outlining, because these are some of the days I work. There maybe some early morning writing involved, but it depends on what I'm working on that day.
Monday and Wednesday: Home work and Writing, school starts August 23rd. These are also house work days, but that's without saying.
Saturday and Sunday: These are going to be catch up days, so a mix of everything, and also my play days. Can't work all the time right?

So thats how my life is going to be for the next few months. Then come November, and I'm going to end up abandoning everything, but my novel. Well, time to get back to work a bit before I have to go do my real people job.

I'm done counting days!

2010-07-27T20:53:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we're on day 27, damn it. Four more days until the end of the month, and I plan on blowing this out of the water, not to mention this challenge has served it's purpose. I feel guilty if I don't write, so I foresee me writing every night after this until Nano, then I'll go into over drive mode. :D For those of you who don't know, over drive mode is scary. I don't really sleep and I live off of coffee and Vault. So where am I at now? I'm somewhere around 35,000 words for the month, not too shabby considering I skipped three nights this month. (What can I say, some times life just gets to ya) I've also lost 7 pounds this month...I don't know if that has to do with my writing, but hey, it's good.

Writing wise, this is what I've come up with: there are too many damn characters running around in my head, they need a plan and a schedule or they are going to drive me NUTS! So what does that mean? I gave you a semi schedule last blog, I am aware of that, it means that there will be designated days and hours sorted out for different stories. That is the only way I'm going to get things done. I'm not going to give it all to you in gory details because the characters and I have yet to agree on a set schedule. Chances are they won't let me have an actual set one, but a set schedule will force me to write those nights where no one is talking. So here is my list of stuff that I want to work on and/or finish before November:

Something's Missing, first draft- finish
Short Short -Finish (Due December 1st, but I want it done before November)
Short Story-Finish (Due sometime in November)
Outline for Nano-Finish (Obvious reasons)
Alternative (no title)-work on
Strange Free Writing (Idea that popped into my head) -Work on, see if anything usable comes out of it
Misc projects-work on

Yay for a busy next few months! Yay for a very productive month!

Day 20: Going strong

2010-07-22T01:11:00.000-06:00

I have hit my goal almost every day this week, and three weeks into the challenge I am happy to say that there were only two nights that I haven't written at all. I feel like this is going continue on through the next month, because Something's Missing is going to take more than a week to complete. :) things are falling into place with that novel, and it's fantastic! There is a lot of outlining that needs to be done, which is fine, cause it'll all work out. Though I'm a bit worried about the chapter length, but I'll deal with that next draft. If it flows right, I'm not going to mess with it. I rather do long chapters than a bunch of short chapters.

I'm taking a note from Jessi's page, and writing down my plan. I want Something's Missing's first draft be done by October 31st, yep that's right, the night before Nano starts. During the next three months, I will write Something's Missing and complete my outline for Taste of Blood for Nanowrimo '10. After Nano I will pull Something's Missing out and edit the hell out of it. Hopefully I will have it polished enough to send out during 2011. Jessi and I are both going to try to query for our novels at the same time. The waiting game is so much better with someone else. :) Then after Something's Missing is done being polished. I'll start on Taste of Blood, and maybe another WUDJ ;)

I'll be continuing to submit stuff when I can. I recently sent something into Writer's Digest, and I'm still waiting to hear if I placed in the contest. I have two other contests I'm planning on entering this year. Still waiting for inspiration on those, but it will come, I know it will.

Day 12,13,14, and 15: Blahs

2010-07-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

"The blahs suck. Words come like molasses and they are usually monosyllabic. You feel like a hack and an ignorant one at that . You wonder why you ever thought you could write anything more than a check. And even though each word you put down on paper will feel like another step uphill in deep snow, you must keep doing it until you reach your goal for the day. Tomorrow you can go back and add some syllables and some genius. Tomorrow you can breathe life into the molasses. But you cannot breathe life into a blank page." -101 Habits of Highly Effective Novelists.

That basically describes my passed few days. I've gotten stuff down, but tonight has been the only true night of success in a while. At 1,800 words. I just have a lot on my mind, and it's been tough to get the characters to work with me. I'm at least getting stuff down, and I still spend a bit of time with my characters. The only night that I didn't write anything, or even touch my outline was the night that I worked open to close. That day sucked. :D. I feel like I'm back on track now though which is good. That's all I have to report. Enjoy the quote, and think about it.

Day 11, Part2: 2,300 words

2010-07-12T01:08:00.000-06:00

Yep, that's right, 2.300 in a night and I feel good about the words. The story has finally picked up speed, and the characters are reacting well to each other! Fantastic! I still plan on editing a bit tomorrow, and outlining. In other news, I'm planning on doing a lot of reviews on Examiner.com again, so I can try to make a bit of extra cash. (hey everything adds up! Just like words...>.>) And that's all I have to report.

Day 11 Part One: Outlining

2010-07-11T13:24:00.000-06:00

I seem to have a pretty good system going on here, outline in the morning and writing at night. Really a fantastic system. I feel like I'm actually getting something accomplished. Tomorrow I plan on editing my Prologue for Something's Missing, just to make everything flow right in it, and I think that's what I'm going to continue to do for my days off. Edit. I will still write my 1,500 words a night, or at least write every night, but editing is important too.

My original thought for Write Until You Die, July, was that I would treat it much like Nano, get everything down, worry about editing later, but Something's Missing is just too involved, there are little details, that if I don't go back an add, will be lost. Sticky notes, sadly won't do anything for me, but that's okay. For Nano, the point is to write 50,000 words in a month, true, but every year I've been trying to make it a point to finish a novel in a month. Last years novel ended up at 70k, 20,000 more than the goal, and yeah, it needed a lot of work, but the point was it was written. No first draft is perfect. Something's Missing will take me around two months to finish. (July and August), but I'm okay with that. :P I plan on taking a few months to polish it, then query for it. I plan on continuing to query for Edge of Darkness too, that means two queries out at once. I'm starting to feel like I'm really getting somewhere. :)

Time to go to work now, I'll be back later tonight with my word count update for tonight. I'm aiming for 2,000 words tonight.

Day 10: Part Two - 1,500 words

2010-07-11T02:15:00.000-06:00

So tonight, is a productive night. I just got through an intense scene and made my word count. I'm still about 500 away from where I'm supposed to be for the month, but I'm okay with that. I've managed to write every night, and quite honestly. I feel good about it. :) That's all I really have to say tonight, since I did my 'serious' blog earlier today.

Day 10 part one: Outlining

2010-07-10T13:03:00.000-06:00

So I close tonight, but that's okay. I got some good out lining done today before work, so I'll have plenty to write tonight, and of course, the story is actually getting passed that dull introduce the characters part. I just want to point out that I've written almost 12,000 words this month. That's more than I've written in the passed few months. It seems to me that everyone is doing well with this challenge. I'm excited to see so many people move passed the slump we all seem to be in. I need to remember that I don't have to wait until November to write. NANOWRIMO just enhances my writing life, it is not my writing life. How ever, I have come to realize that writing IS my life.

I have found myself thinking about my stories while I'm at work, and it's been helping me get through tough days. You know those days where I'm screaming 'I quit' At my supervisors....yeah those days. If I remember that my characters are waiting for me, it gets me through those moments. I've been musing on my lunches lately and it does really help. I feel like I'm back on track again. This is fantastic.

Everything seems to be quiet on the side of Edge of Darkness, no rejections, or other responses. I'm okay with this right now. Let them be quiet, maybe it's a good thing. On other news, my typewriter may be getting fixed! I miss that thing so much. I started doing first drafts on it, because I found that it forced me to pay attention to what I was writing. <3 I really miss it. It's also loud when I type, and the little ding excites me. Yep, I'm a dork.

So that's my update. I'll throw another blog up when I get home from work, with my word count for the night. I close again tomorrow, so I will probably have another late night.

Day 9: 1000ish words

2010-07-10T01:29:00.000-06:00

So it's not 1,500, but hey it's writing. So this is my blog for the night. I wrote, I sent out "Scrambled Brains" to writers digest, and killed some Zombies. That was my night, but hey no FAIL BOAT tonight. :D

Day 8: 1,100 words

2010-07-08T23:52:00.000-06:00

So I'm not too far off the mark tonight, but it's not 1,500 words. I'm fading fast though. I refuse to call this a lose though. The point of the challenge was to write every night, its to make writing a habit, and so far. I have written every night. So I'm not failing in the challenge. Short is almost done, completely done, like almost ready to send off done. Other than that, no news. *yawn*

Day 7: somewhere around 1600 words

2010-07-07T23:55:00.000-06:00

Just a quick blog tonight. I made word count. Something's Missing is coming along nicely. Retype of the short was finished to night. Edits will continue until the tenth, then it will be turned in. Wish me luck! And that's it, I'm tired. :P

Day 6: I'm a bit late

2010-07-07T10:38:00.001-06:00

So I'll take a note from Brian Black, today (erm Yesterday) was a fail day. I only wrote 500 words, but that was really only where I failed. I edited my query letter! And most of the Short is edited as well. Okay, so it was still a pretty fail-tacular day. Life just got in the way yesterday. I had a hard day at work, and a hard workout. Through out the month, I'll learn how to move passed those, and my sleep issues.

Today is a new day though! (Day 7) Tiffany is coming over, and we don't know what we are doing yet. I'm going to finish the Short, and do some plotting while I'm waiting for her to get here. She, out of all my in town friends, understand the most about how much writing means to me. She's my own personal cheer squad! She is also my instant mood lifter. Normally. :D Her and coffee. >.>

So today, I will write 1,500 words or more to help make up for yesterday. After the short is done, I think I'm going to focus on Something's Missing, I'd like for the first draft to be done in a month or too. Yay for productiveness. Writing the novel is the easy part, it's the editing that kills you....

I end with a quote today, because I thought it appropriate: "Keep writing. Keep doing it and doing it. Even in the moments when it's so hurtful to think about writing." Heather Armstrong

Day 5: 2047 Words

2010-07-05T23:50:00.000-06:00

This puts me at just under 9,000 words for the week, and for the month. Yay! Granted not all of it is on one story, but most of it is. I have a nice start on Something's Missing, and I did edit my short last night. (That still needs a title) Just 4 more days until that is due, and I need to put first edits in the computer. I guess I'll do that Tuesday night, and the run it by Tiffany when she's over Wednesday. :D So much have I accomplished in 5 days, and so much left to do. I need to clean my desk. Like bad. :D

Day 4: 2000 words

2010-07-04T22:42:00.000-06:00

So, tonight, I finished without racing against the clock, and not only did I finished, but I wrote an extra 500 words than the challenged called for. :D Yay for productive nights. Also I sent off another query letter for The Edge of Darkness tonight. I'm thinking I'm going to send one once a week. I know that I wanted to wait until the vampire craze was over, but there's a index card posted next to the "Needs to be sent" group of contacts. It reads, "If not now, when?" I thought about it. The index card is right. I might as well send queries out. Once I deplete my group of agents, then I'll wait until the crazy is over. Maybe. I might just keep sending. Though my query needs work. Hmmm....anyways!

I'm not done for the night though, I need to edit my short story, and find a balance for some more stuff I just threw into my life. :D. A lot of stuff going on in my writing life, this is good, very good. :) I may need to buy more sticky notes. Also, I need to outline some more of Something's Missing, so I can continue on writing that. I think Write Until You Die July is the best thing that's happened to me this year, to get that fire burning under my ass!!! Fantastic. Now...off to work on stuff.

Day 3: Made it

2010-07-03T23:55:00.000-06:00

Again, another close call tonight. Finished just passed 1,500 words tonight. That makes just over 4,500 words for the month so far. I miss doing this, and tonight I feel especially accomplished. I wrote the first draft for my Writer's Digest contest tonight. I'll print it out in the morning, and take it to work to edit it on lunch. I wish I could edit it on the clock, but hey, that's not what they are paying me for. The Prologue and the start of Chapter One of Something's Missing are done. I like the way I've started everything, the story is already pulling together in my mind. I need to do some more plotting before I continue though.

It was tough today, to find the motivation to write. I worked 9 hours at work today, did a nice workout since I entered a weight loss challenge, and went grocery shopping. There was a bit of mandatory husband time, because we can't neglect him. Over all just life made today tough, but what I'm realizing is that if I want to become a published author, that if I really want this, then I cannot let life get in the way. I have to work it into my busy schedule some how. I have a great support group, even if we don't all see eye to eye. :P, but it's nice to have people who go through the same challenges.

On tomorrow's agenda, work my nice 6 hour shift, work out, go through the short story, make an outline to follow for the next couple chapters, and I think my 1,500 words are going to be done in character interviews, since those are supposed to be done by the end of the month for my 'time line'. The nice thing is that I have Monday off, so I can stay up late Sunday to prepare for Monday. Yay! Night guys!

Special Thanks goes out to Leen and Jessi, who stayed up with me and kept me motivated. Milk Vampire and all :D

Day Two: 1537 Words

2010-07-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

It has been a long day, and if it wasn't for those 200 words I did this morning, I wouldn't have reached 1537 today. But I prevailed, through work disasters, company over, and a friend in need, I still managed to write 1537 words today! The good news is, Prologue is done for Something's Missing, and my zombie story is started. A fantastic day for writing! Lets hope tomorrow goes just as well. I realized today, that writing is still my escape. Which is good. I think that is the only thing that keeps me sane. :D Okay that's all I got to say right now.

Day Two: Morning start

2010-07-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

Just a quick blog for the morning. Today I currently sit at about 200 words, hey for writing for 15 minutes, thats not a bad start! The Writer's Digest story is started, and it will be traveling to work with me today so I can make some notes/edits during my lunch. I'm starting to think writing is the only thing that keeps me sane through my day. Plans tonight will be interesting. We have one friend that is temporarily staying with us and she will be staying with us tonight. Ricky, and his girl friend Brittany will be coming over and Curt will be joining later. (hopefully, the guy needs to play some video games...) So the challenge today, really is a challenge. I have to be in to work at 7:30 tomorrow, so I can't do an extremely late night tonight to get my words. :/ I'll make it work some how. I have too.

So off to work I go. Hopefully I can make it through a tough day of customers, and survive to let my '50's house wife tell her story to the poor cashier, of why she is buying a flame thrower. :D

Day One: 1,537 Words

2010-07-01T22:57:00.000-06:00

So far so good, and though most of the words were done right after midnight, they were written today, and that allowed me to do something other stuff that needed to be done. (damn house work) My prologue to Something's Missing is almost done, and I did some musing on my short today for the Writer's Digest contest. :) Other than that though, nothing else is going on. Tomorrow I work, and we're supposed to have friends over, I will either a) get up with my husband and write when he goes to work. (Very Unlikely) Or just be flat out rude and write. (Sorry guys, but when I'm published, I'm sure you'll understand.)

Tonight, I'm going to do either work on my Short, or do my character interviews. The characters for Taste of Blood seem to be very chatty tonight. This is a good sign come November. So much planning to do before then. On top of this, Jessi and I have both decided to finish a novel, keep on each other until the novels are edited and polished, then we shall query together! :D Okay...I'm going back to work now.

Write Until We Die July

2010-06-30T22:45:00.000-06:00

Two hours an counting before the July challenge officially starts for me. So far so good, I have a list of stuff that needs to be done this month, and I'm very excited to get started. First thing on the list is my rewrite of Something's Missing. The characters are coming alive (Well, they are currently arguing, but hey...), and the story line has made itself epic, and clear. The next two projects to be done are both short stories. One is a 750 word short for a contest, all I gotta say is it includes zombies and a frying pan. The second short, is for another contest and that one is a sad story, meant to inspire emotion. My last project is the character interviews that need to be done for my NANOWRIMO planning (Shut up Brian :p). I will be blogging here every day for this challenge, so keep an eye out for that.

So that gives me a busy month. All I have to say is that I'm really excited to get a lot of stuff done, especially with my favorite group of writers! And I look forward to finished projects from everyone. :D

Write Until We Die July

2010-06-26T21:53:00.001-06:00

I'm currently in an AIM chat room with 6 other people, all of them are excited about doing the July Challenge, now lovingly named by Leen and Jessi : Write Until We Die July. (So there you have it Brian, we have more people participating!) The purpose of this, as Leen points out, is not to writing until we actually die, but to actually WRITE. So please, join us, start a new project, work on an old project, work on several projects! Just write! Goal is 1,500 words a day (Approx. 3 pages), and make a habit out of writing. Get some of those unfinished projects out of the way, or write that short story you've always wanted. Join us on July 1st!

And that's all I'm gonna say.

A quick blog with breakfast.

2010-06-23T10:45:00.000-06:00

Wake the press! I was up at 7:30 am. It's been a long time, granted the reason was I was supposed to have a friend visiting, but she was too sick to come over. :( That gave me time to do other stuff though. Dishes are done, laundry is started, and I have spent some much needed time with a few characters. (I'm currently taking a break to eat) There will be much more spending time with characters today. I put Edge of Darkness in the drawer for right now, going to wait for a couple more responses before sending more queries out. Why? Well, one, my query needs work. (We all know how much I HATE those things) I will be doing more research on them, and reworking the query when it is time. Two: A friend and I had a discussion about how we are tired of the vampire crazy, which is funny, because thats what I normally write, vampires. So we decided that, if we are tired of the vampire craze, than the agents probably are too. So I'm switching gears a bit. I'm going to save my vampire work for Nanowrimo. (Shut up Brian! :p)

On to the other subject of this blog, I've started completely reworking Something's Missing, using the yWriter5 program, so far I really like it. It lets me put things into manageable chunks, and not get overwhelmed. I'm excited to rework this book, so that it will transform into the epic novel I'd imagined it as. Hopefully the characters will help me out with this. This is going to be my main focus during the writing challenge that I'll be during during July, and that will hopefully get me in the mode to continue it after that month. (Remember the purpose of the challenge is to make writing every day a habit) If I keep on the schedule, that should put this novel done (at least first draft) by the end of October, just in time for Nanowrimo. That will give me a month to put it away, and get over the 'school girl crush' that tells me that everything is perfect. After November, I will pull it out, and take the time to edit it, and polish it. Then I will send queries out. (So we're looking at April, Mayish for queries.) And of course while that is out, I will edit my nano.

And that's my update, breakfast is done, so I need to get back to work. :D

A new Challenge

2010-06-14T12:31:00.000-06:00

So I haven't had any rejections, or otherwise, since my last update. Kind of sad, but on the other hand, it also reminds me that I need to send more out. Between work, house hunting, house work, and a husband, I'm having a hard time finding time. This is a disappointment to me, seeing how I feel better when I actually accomplish something in my writing life. So for the last two weeks of this month, I plan on focusing on The Edge of Darkness, and getting more query letters sent out. Though there is still this issue of time that needs to be cleared up.

This month proves to be a crazy month for me, and I don't think I've ever had a really busy summer before. I've got costumes to make, and a wedding to go to, Ren Fest is just around the corner, and that means more costumes. Not to mention the community stuff I have going on at work, and a husband who is always working, which means house work to be done. We have a friend staying with us for a couple weeks, and the apartment is slowly getting ready. This brings up the question of, when they were struggling authors, when did the now published authors find time to write? Most of them will tell you, you need to make it habit, then your day is not complete without writing.

This being said, a friend of mine, Brian Black and I have decided to challenge ourself with a 30 day writing challenge. The subject matter can be anything, but the goal is to do 1500 words (approximately 3 pages) a day. We start July 1st and end July 30th, if there is anyone who would like to join us, feel free. Brian and I both agree that we will blog during the experience to document our progress and our struggles to make writing every day a habit. Wish us luck, and I look forward to updating you on my progress.

Stamp Rejected and other things

2010-05-21T21:30:00.000-06:00

So I'm up to about five rejections now, and I'm still waiting on other responses. I'm not too worried to be honest, if it's meant to happen it will happen. I will be bouncing between three projects, that is until November that is. Finishing up final details for The Edge of Darkness, working on the outline for Taste of Blood, my nanowrimo for 2010, and reworking Something's Missing.

I have decided to work on Something's Missing again, because it was simply too good to let go. Sure the first version of it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but it hardly ever is. There was so much more to do, so much more the characters could have done, and I want to give them that chance. So off to get some tea I go, and then writing work until midnight, then bed, and real work. :)

stamp Rejected

2010-04-25T14:19:00.000-06:00

So I've received four rejections total so far. I'm okay with that, I just have to wait things out. Tomorrow I plan on working through some more items that I need to send out other query letters. Someone is bound to ask for a full, or a partial even, and then from there someone is bound to say yes. I will succeed in this, and those who don't think I will can shove it. So I sit an wait, and that is the worst thing about Sundays. There is no mail, even e-mail seems to be a bit slow.

On other matters, I have officially been published! Granted it is by the Examiner.com, and it's really not a fantastic source. It still counts as publishing credits, and it makes me a little extra cash on the side. :) I'm doing Anime and Manga reviews for them, and my first article is up. I'll be writing my second article tomorrow and be posting that up as well. I'm very excited about this new position.

Musing for Taste of Blood, the second Society book, is going well. I have a few character sketches done and I might start my outline tonight or tomorrow. I miss writing and musing, and I think that might help my insane mental state. Speaking of that mental state, I'm going to be trying to take a mental holiday soon. So if I suddenly disappear for a few days. Don't be alarmed, I'm just regrouping.

And that's all the news I have for right now.

Stamp Rejected

2010-04-15T18:05:00.000-06:00

So far I have sent out 13 queries, and I have gotten one back. You guessed it, it's a rejection. A very simple, not so formed, rejection. "Not for me, but thank you." Simple six words. I'm not hurt about it, I may be a little disappointed, but it's part of the writing life.

Now this was a response to an e-mail query that I sent out. There's just something about a six word response in an e-mail that makes it less exciting, and less disappointing. Strange, I know, but that's only one response out of a lot of queries. Here's hoping I get good news soon?

Nanowrimo

2010-04-04T23:01:00.001-06:00

Yeah, I know, it's not November yet, but deal with it. This blog is about Nanowrimo. Something has been bothering me. Someone told me that Nanowrimo was silly and a waste of time, and this was said to me by another writer. Now by the end of the conversation we both agreed to disagree. He thought it encouraged people to write crap. I think it just encourages people to write.

Nanowrimo has a lot of meaning to me. Not only does it force me to sit at a computer for 30 days, and write, but it gives me a chance to be creative. I met so many new people through Nanowrimo, many of which I still keep in contact with today. Writing an entire novel in a month makes me feel good, despite how much sleep I lose, and how grumpy I get. There's nothing like printing out the first copy and knowing that you completed that in a month. Sure, it's not going to be perfect, but no first draft is. The point is, you have a first draft finished. You learned to push through barriers and that's because you had a dead line.

When I decided I wanted to write this blog, I asked a couple people what Nanowrimo meant to them. These are their responses.

Ace (4 year participant): "It's competition and inspiration and it's fun! And I make new friends and it's Nano!"

S.E. (4 year participant):"I do nano because I do better in time constraints. And love the "competion" with others durring word wars and myself as well as against the clock/calendar. And in general Nanowrimo is just another word for insanity."

Jessi: (2 year participant):"Nanowrimo means expanding my brain, making friends, and building up my writing profile and being as creative as possible. I do it because it forces me to be creative for 30 days, and it's hard when life gets to you, to be regimented (for me)."

Jan:( 3 year participant) "The freedom of expression. The love of good literature, the comroderiy between friends, the challange for myself."

Sparrow (8 year participant): "I do NaNo because it's fun, and because it signifies a real achievement for me - it gives me the motivation and inspiration and support I need to write, and also gives me a sense of "I can do great things" when I pump out a novel every year.
I do it because it makes me feel like I have a shot at being a real author, but also because I et to spend more time with my friends and surrogate family then than I ever do normally."

Leen (7 year participant):Nanowrimo to me means not having to worry about 'getting it right.' Because during Movember (November, to the uninitiated), if you're doing it, it's right. Whatever you want to write about, however you want that story to turn out, it's right -- it's good, it's correct and it's awesome. I find I write more in Movember every year than I do the other 11 months because it takes so much of the worry and the stress away.

So there you go. Nanowrimo does not encourage people to write trash, and it's not a matter of rushing yourself to the finish line. it is about fun, meeting knew people, being creative and simply, writing. Many people plan out their novels for months before hand, and others simply write by the seat of their pants. This is Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, and it is not silly (well...it can be) nor a waste of time. Why don't you give it a try? And if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.

P.S. This was not written to offend the guy I was talking to. It is simply to express what Nano means. Also a special thanks to those who answered my questions about Nano.

D-Day

2010-03-31T10:21:00.000-06:00

So tomorrow's the big day. How do I feel? Like a chicken with my head cut off. I had such a craptastical day yesterday that I didn't get anything done. Unless you count killing the Oldsmobile. So what am I doing this morning? I'm plotting out which 7 agents I want to query to in the first set, polishing my query letter some more, and then personalizing my query letter to each agent. Tonight Tiffany is coming over and we are going to address some envelopes, and then tomorrow I will be sending out 7. I'm nervous, I'm scared, and I'm excited. Who knows, this one could be it!

As for the novel itself? There are some tiny little things that need to be done, but it will be finished up in a matter of days. I'm choosing to query now, because well the book itself is done. I'm just like spending time polishing it more, and I have to find something to keep me busy during the waiting game. :)

I'm out for the day, got lots of work to do!

Just a quick update

2010-03-26T23:33:00.002-06:00

Okay...so I suck at keeping a blog every day about the day's events in my writing life. That's okay though, because other then my set backs of losing Chapter 9 and the end of Chapter 8, nothing exciting happened. I've made massive amounts of progress, but I still have a lot of work a head of me. Tomorrow I will finish the complete rewrite of The Edge of Darkness. This is a great mile marker for me. It'll be the first book that I've ever rewritten from cover to cover (imaginary covers of course) and trust me, it benefited from it.

The next step is to add the things that needed to be added. I decided when I started first edits that something was missing in the book, so I'm adding that something, and hoping that it will make everything better. While I do that I will also double check the consistency for time and character appearances. Then will be my grammatical edits, which maybe done during the 'waiting game.' Which, once I start the waiting game, I will tell you all about it.

The other thing that needs to be done before the end of the month is my query letter. Already on it's third edit, I remember why I hate writing these things. I am not a sales person, so selling this story, though important to me, is hard. Very frigging hard. During my breaks from the evil query letters, I have been doing agent research. I have 14 of them picked out so far. I want 49. Why so many? It's what I call the rule of 7.

The rule of 7 is something a manager taught me. You can ask 7 people a question the same question and at least one of them will say yes. This was in regards to magazine subscriptions, but I am apply that theory here. It was my friend Tiffany that took it further. I was simply going to send out 7 queries, she decided I should said out 49, because out of that 49, I should get 7 requests back for more material, an at least 1 of those request should come back positive. So let's here it for the rule of 7!

Tomorrow is Museum day, where my Husband, Tiffany, and I all get to go to the Museum and act like the giant dorks we are. After that, the day will be dedicated to The Edge of Darkness. Let me tell you, once all the retyping is done, I'm going to be happy to get away from the computer for a little while. Have a good night everyone, and I'll try to keep you up dated.

Day 1 and 2

2010-03-22T14:39:00.002-06:00

So yesterday I started my 'staycation' in where I am off of both school and work for a week, but staying home. My goal during this week would be to finish my novel. Completely, and have a decent query letter done by the end of the week. So that the last week in March I can spend researching the agents I will send my first 7 query letters out to. So I will be updating my 8 straight days of writing. (That 8th day I have a meeting to go to, and then I have the rest of the day off. So here we go.

Day 1: Sunday, the 21st. I spent my morning at Tiffany's house after spending the night before celebrating Spring Break. I then went and attending my nieces birthday party where my dad proceeded not to make father of the year. After some much needed healing (French fries and ice cream) I went to work. I typed up over half of chapter 10, then wanting to see what my current word count was for first edits, I found out that I'm missing chapter 9. It just disappeared. I'm starting to think it's the result of the almost computer crash that I had. Even after that shock I continued into the wee hours of the morning working on Chapter 10.

Day 2: I work up around 11 (yay for sleeping in!) and I have been at the computer ever since. I finished Chapter 10, and until I finished it, I didn't realize what a tense chapter it actually was. Which is good! After a small break for food, I'm going to attempt to make up for what was lost. I will update later as well. This leaves me at this: finish typing up first edits. Chapters 9, 11-14, and that last half of ch 8. Finish physical second edits, and put them into the computer. I can, and I will do this!

That's all for now.

Fear

2010-03-18T17:16:00.003-06:00

School has been kicking my butt. There hasn't been much time for updating my blog, or working on my novel. (Which has switched titles to The Edge of Darkness)I'm extremely behind in novel work, and it's two weeks until launch date of query letters. This worries me. I fear launch date.

I've started to double guess my novel, this is fear that I've been having. What if it's not good enough? I've kind of started planning for book two. (Though I do plan on taking some time off of writing after sending queries out for The Edge of Darkness)I'm fearing complete and total computer failure.

Lots of fears are coming out of this. I may just be being irrational, but they bother me. I'm hoping some good ol' waitin' time will due me good. So that's my small update, not much to update at all. Though my Albino Vampire has a real name now, I'm not sharing it quite yet. :)

Also: I hate Query Letters.

Dead Line Approaching

2010-02-23T20:52:00.002-07:00

March comes in just 5 days. That means that I am, at the very least, supposed to be done with second edits. Well, I'm not close to where I need to be, but I'm catching up. A few days dedicated to my writing will put at a comfortable spot, which is good. Come March first, my free time will be dedicated to finishing up edits, working on my query letter, and researching agents. That is the moment I am waiting for, the moment where I get to send off a stack of envelopes and see what comes back to me.

While I play the waiting game, I will be outlining/writing book two and sewing. A lot. Because I will have nothing else to do. I look forward to checking my mail every day and hopefully see something. Here I will post updates, and hopefully keep everyone amused about it. I would prefer good news, but I will take the bad. Rejection is part of the business.

To let you know where I currently stand: First complete rewrites will be done by the end of Thursday. (Half of Ch 9 through 14) Physical second edits are currently done through Ch 5. Second edits include making sure that the time flows right, that pieces of the story are correct, that characters have descriptions, and that certain elements are added. There's a lot of work to be done, but doing complete rewrites for first edits helped out a lot. My goal is to at least have all physical second edits done by the first, and all of it in the computer by the 7th.

I'm taking a week off in March to allow for me to relax away from work, school, and life, and that is when most of my query/agent work will be done. The query will be polished, and I will have at least my first seven agents picked out. If all goes well I will have all back up agents picked out as well. First queries will be sent out the first of April.

And that's where I stand and where I am going.

I feel accomplished!

2010-02-08T21:25:00.002-07:00

Thinks are looking up for The Taste of Blood. It has survived first physical edits, and is half way through complete rewrites. It feels good to have gone this far, and knowing that my goal of querying at the end of March is close at hand. I will hopefully have second edits done by then, and during that first initial 6 week waiting period, I will be constantly polishing the novel with final edits.

This small accomplishment has given me the enthusiasm to keep going, and even start musing for my query letter. It is an exciting time for me, and after this novel is polished I will be working on the second book, the outline at least, and trying to see what I can do with Something's Missing.

I haven't heard anything back on the Writer's Digest Contest, so I don't think I won, but that's alright. March is my next month to send something out, and, though I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do, I will send something out. Things are looking up in the Amy world of writing. Let's hope it stays that way! Well I'm off to bed, I think, and have all the hopes in the world to get up at 6 with Brandon. :D

Early morning blurb

2010-02-03T06:57:00.002-07:00

It's almost seven now, and though I have been up for an hour, I have accomplished some small feats. I have had my first cup of coffee for the day, and I have done my early morning query research. www.writers.net always has query letters that are up for review. Some are good, and others bad, but I can learn from them all. In progress of my own writing, I can smile and give a small easy sigh. I am making progress now, true progress.

I'm almost done with physical first edits for Taste of Blood. This is a very good sign, seeing as after I'm done with physical first edits, and retyping them, I can start physical second edits. Which will be more in-depth in certain aspects, but I won't have to retype all the chapters. I hope.

On the upside, I have started rambles for book two in the series, I was trying not to start any until book one was completely done, but in order for me to make sure book one was completed properly, I had to start rambles for book two. Some decisions had to be made, somethings stayed and some things didn't. Everything is turning out wonderful.

I have three days without my husband here, and I have two options for those days. One: Work on my novel endlessly and nonstop in hopes that I don't notice his absents, or Two: work feverishly to make that house spotless.

Take your guess on which one I'm doing? :)

Small set back and school

2010-01-26T11:24:00.002-07:00

Or maybe school does count as the set back? Okay, no not really. I'm not where I wanted to be, I'm still considered a week behind on edits. I will get caught up, but first that dreaded thing called home work must be finished. I'm starting to worry that my novel will not be done before March 1st, though I try to tell myself I'm alright with that fact, I can't lie to myself. I gave myself a goal, and I'm failing to meet that goal. I do that enough at work, I don't want to do it at home as well. Of course it didn't help that when I actually had extra time yesterday morning that my computer didn't want to start up. It gave me a scare, but Brandon has done a once over and everything is alright. So tonight, after doing homework I will go back to pounding out the rewrite of Ch 6, lucky, the physical edits of Ch 7 are almost already done, and that will move me on the physical edits of Ch 8 sometime tomorrow. So we hope.

I wasn't feeling well today, so I opted to sleep in instead of getting up when Brandon left. Tomorrow though, I am determined to start getting up with him again, because that seemed to work. So much to get done, and so little time, but I have to learn how to meet deadlines. Simple as that. So there's my update, I have to go get ready for work.

yikes!

2010-01-22T10:41:00.002-07:00

39 days until the first of March. I may not make my deadline, and that scares me. Though I have closed some of the gap, I'm still about a half a week to a week behind. According to my schedule, I had left a week of relaxation between final edits and starting the Query work. I'm starting to think it's time to be selfish. No more going out, no more being social during lunch, and strictly working on editing and homework during my free time.

I no longer have days off because school has started. Though I have started my schedule of waking up at 6 every morning and that is going...wellish. It takes a little trying, but it gives me a nice two hours before school or work that I can edit and rewrite.

Even as I struggle though editing, I find myself dreaming about book two. I have made several notes already. I'm glad to know these characters are still with me! Well I gotta get back to work. Have a good day readers.

Feeling off

2010-01-14T08:03:00.002-07:00

So despite the fact that I have been on a good roll with editing lately, I am still behind. I know that I have been trying to catch up, but just things in life keep coming up. I was thinking yesterday about where I want to go in my life and what I want to do, and I realized something. As soon as all the bills are paid off, and we both can find decent jobs, I want to move away from Colorado Springs.

I moved back here originally to be closer to family and move to a bigger town, but the problems that I moved away from, didn't manage to solve themselves. They managed to stay right where they were. I thought three years of being away would have at least put them in a different light. No. And it's not like these are problems I can fix, and some of them are the same problems I had when I was living in Grand Junction. So maybe it's time to grow up and face them. If that's what I'm going to do, then I want to do it while I live somewhere I actually like.

My writing has began to suffer again, though I did get a boost from a conversation with Nicki, and I don't mind the editing all of a sudden, but something just feels...off, and it's hurting my stories and my characters. I'm hoping to get a small vacation in March, but still the book is 'due' by then. That's all I really have that I can share right now. Off to work, in hopes that today is not horrible. Maybe I need more coffee?

Editing update

2010-01-10T20:06:00.004-07:00

So, thanks to being sick, I am behind on my editing. Only by a couple days, but still; however, I am on a roll. I finished retyping Chapter 3 tonight, and though I have already cut about 6,500 words because of edits, I have no doubt that I will add later on during the book, and of course during second edits.

I am finding that my characters are coming even more alive for me. As I retype it's like the story becomes even more clear, who likes who, and the characters you love to hate, you can well...hate more. I think I like the way Chris Baty puts editing/writing. When you do Nano, you are going at a tree stump with axes and chainsaws to get something rough, and kind of...well ugly. When you edit you are going after it with dental picks and chisels. I think I'm somewhere in between, maybe with knives and axes, and second edits will be those chisels and that last edit will be dental picks, brushes and book polish.

I'm taking the rest of the night off I think. So I can finish healing from this ass-kicking cold. Yay for progress!

Book Review: No Plot? No Problem!

2010-01-10T16:30:00.004-07:00

Founder of National Novel Writing Month, Chris Baty, released his book No Plot? No Problem! in order to help participants deal with the stress of writing a novel in thirty days. The beginning of the book Chris explains the history of Nanowrimo, and the meaning behind it. He explains on how to lock your inner editor up, and board it away for the month and how that striving for imperfection is fine, as long as you write.

The second part of the book is four pep talks that are meant to be read at the start of each week in November (Or which ever month you decide to write your novel). Each pep talk is inspirational to the stressful writer, who may be considering giving up. Chris keeps true to the feeling of Nanowrimo in his pep talks,and encourages all authors to reach that 50k goal. He closes the book with encouraging words to those who faced the challenge, and with a few wise words on editing.

Filled with humor, inspiration, and a bit of Chris Baty's quirkiness, No Plot? No Problem! is a book that any Nanowrimo participant should pick up and any author should keep for a quick inspiring moment.

Behind schedule, but looking up

2010-01-04T19:14:00.002-07:00

Now that I'm neck deep into editing I realized something very important. There is a lot more work to be done. If I want this done by March every waking free moment is going to have to go into editing. I'm determined to meet my deadline and get going! Chapter One has been approved as keepable (Yeah, I know, not a real word) But there is much work to be done on it. I have plot to add and characters to straighten out. Here's the funny thing, I'm still in love with my story. That's right, even through the editing, I still love the story. This is a very good sign.

On other notes, I submitted a short story (very short) to Writer's Digest for a contest. I'm not sure when I'll hear back, but here's hoping. That's project one submitted for the year of 2010. Yay! So that's on it's way. The next project (While editing) is a short story for another contest due in May.

Well that's my short update, I'm going back to editing to see if I can catch up.

The dreaded New Year's Blog

2009-12-31T18:58:00.003-07:00

Though titled the dreaded New Year's Blog, it's not as dreaded this year as it has been other years. This year, despite the craptastic way I feel right now, I ended on a very productive note. Though I didn't reach any of my resolutions that I made last year, I did do a few things that I'm proud of. I wrote another novel, and I've actually have plans to finish the edits. I grew up a little bit, and learned not to depend on someone, that someone not being so healthy for me to depend on. I finally got a full time spot at work. I'm still in school, and I have made it through some tough times. As 2009 comes to a close I dwell on the changes that I want to make and the goals I want to achieve.

In Health: I want to remain healthy and start treating my body like it should be. This means working out, eating better, and (possibly) getting more sleep. Soda will be cut out of the diet, and there will be no more fast food.

In Writing: I will submit something, be it a poem, short story, or a novel, at least every other month. This can be to a contest, magazine, agent, or any attempt at publication. I will have a writing schedule, a goal for every day, and I will follow this schedule. I will make time in my life for it.

In Life: I will attempt to get organized and stay that way. This means keeping the office cleaned and craft stuff out of the way. I will also try to keep my attitude positive and learn to let things roll of my back.

In Work: I will learn to deal with the job I have until something better comes along, but I want to try and get out of retail by the holiday season of 2010.

In Relationship: I will try to help my husband more around the house, though he is understanding to my want to do nothing but write and read,but help is needed. This means helping with the laundry, taking out trash, and doing dishes after he cooks. It may even mean cooking....though hell might freeze over if that happens. ;)

This year I decided to keep it simple so that as long as I try it will be an accomplishment and when 2011 comes around, I'll be proud of what I have done. I'm already well on my way with some of the goals. I have a short story prepared to go out on the 10th of January, another short story on the way for May, and my novel to be worked on and sent out in March/April. After I'm done writing this, I'm moving to the office to clean my desk up, and storage units for fabric were purchased to clean that area up. See, well on my way.

I want to wish everyone a Happy New, and hope that all your dreams, goals and wishes come true.

Dreams, new ideas, and progress

2009-12-28T19:51:00.003-07:00

I did it. I wrote a short story around 750 words, and though I'm not completely happy with it yet, I did it. That's my exciting news for tonight. After a long day yesterday, dealing with the fact that someone broke into our car, I did manage to get some editing done. So tonight is the night for me to really get on a roll.

I have caffeine in my system and more in the god of all coffee machine to keep me going tonight! Chapter Two will be completely edited and tomorrow I will start typing it up, and Chapter Three will be at least halfway edited tonight and finished up tomorrow. I only have 62 days to polish this book, and by the gods I will do it! I get more and more excited when I sit down with this book. The characters are still talking and chatting away for me, it's amazing. I love it.

On the other side of things, I have an idea for a short story. It came to me in a dream last night, and I am determined to make it work. I'm going to outline a bit for it tonight, and play with it in a notebook for a little while. Completion goals will be: 4,000 words or shorter, and completely finished (edits and all) in time for a contest May 14th. This falls in with my goals for the new year. Which I will be posting on New Year's Eve.

I've got to get going before my inspiration, dedication, and caffeine fail me. Good night to those who read this.

Now is the time

2009-12-25T21:55:00.003-07:00

So Christmas is officially over and I am exhausted; However, I must thank my sister who gave me the Coffee machine which I have named god. It has a timer and a warmer on it. Who can beat that? That being one of the most inspirational gifts I have gotten this season, I can promise you that I will be using it often. So now comes the reason I'm blogging, other than my amazing coffee machine :).

Holidays are over, and now comes the time I start to breath, eat, and sleep my novel, but despite the time that I want to spend on it, several little projects are showing up. I made a deal with myself a while ago that in 2010 I would submit something at least every other month. (More about that come January first.) So I chose the first month to start. My first short story in a long time is due to Writer's Digest on January 10th. It is a simple 750 word short, which should be easy. Two other people are doing it with me, Brandon and Jessi. So here's hoping we can all stick to it!

On editing news, Chapter One of Taste of Blood is retyped, and ready for second edits. I read a bit of it, and it already reads better than the original, so that's a good sign. Chapter Two continues tomorrow, and hopefully be retyped soon. I need to get on a roll if I want things done on time! That's all I have to report for you now. I should have another book review for you soon, but we'll see. I will of course post the results of that story when I know what they are.

Editing and Holidays

2009-12-18T13:04:00.003-07:00

The holidays are upon us, and this makes for a very busy time, especially for those who work retail, but that is no excuse for slacking on editing. Nanowrimo has been over for 18 days, and I only have two chapters edited, and only one of those chapters have I started to retype. Most of my distraction comes from my want to sleep, Supernatural, and Harper's Island (Both amazing shows. Then of course there is the holiday stuff, like making presents, shopping, and doing the family thing. I have already decided that after the holidays, I'm going to be living with my novel. It will be traveling to and from work with me. It will be worked on during lunches, breaks at school, and any free moment that I have.

I'm currently reading the book, "How to get a Literary Agent" and it has reminded me of the excitement of sending out query letters and receiving a response. Yes, even if that response is a rejection letter, there is still something exciting about the whole process. Come March, I will be going through that process for my third time. This is the one. An old manager once told me, you can only get 7 nos in a row (granted she was referring to magazine subscriptions), but I think that will hold true. The query letters for The Taste of Blood will be sent out in groups of 7, probably once a week.

So only 72 days until the first of March, and much more editing to do. I should probably get back to work....

Book Review: The Writer's Little Helper

2009-12-14T13:06:00.004-07:00

Again, instead of boring you with thoughts on my editing I thought I would post another book review.

The Writer's Little Helper, Written by James V. Smith, Jr.

I highly recommend this book for any writer, no matter what the genre. This book is full of helpful information, from basic grammar to getting published. A small book that could easily fit inside your purse or backpack without taking up much room, it is the perfect companion for writing.

The book is broken up into different sections, Character, Writing Scenes, Getting published, Writing mechanics, fiction Techniques, editing, Beginnings and ends, point of View, Word choice, Creativity, Dialogue, Plot and Pacing. They aren't in any particular order, but an order where each relates to each other, and they are color coded. Smith offers some really useful tools in his book, including a pacing tool for scenes, chapters, and the finished project.

Though I don't agree with all the advice in the book, Smith did a wonderful job of breaking down the editing process to make it seem bearable. This book has quickly become my 'Writing Bible' and I believe that other writers should find it useful as well.

Book Review: The Science of Vampires

2009-12-04T13:07:00.003-07:00

So I decided, instead of bore you with descriptions of my editing, I would do a few book reviews. Now these aren't going to reviews of Novels, but research books that I have found helpful alone my way, including supernatural research, writing research, and books that I just found damn interesting. I hope this helps people out there who are struggling for good books to help them along their writing paths.

Book Review: The Science of Vampires, written by Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.

Now some of you know that I write mainly Science Fiction and Fantasy. If that's the case with you, or your just interested in vampires. Pick up this book! The author spends the first part breaking down the original myth of the vampires. It does something that most readers don't do, but most writers need to know, she applies scientific reasoning to why people believed vampires existed. Where this takes some of the fun out of the myth of the vampire, and you will learn more about a corpse than you ever wanted to know, it is helpful and intriguing.

Ramsland spends part of the book going through vampire disorders in the actual medical field. This part of the book was a little bit harder to read, but it proved the point. That people rather think that something evil, like a vampire, could create such crimes. She goes though history bring up different cases, both ancient and modern, to show the kind of things that human beings are capable of. She also touches on the "Vampire life style".

After that is where my interest stopped, because it went into the love scene of vampires, the ability to have sex, and partners. I'm not against either, but that part of the vampire is merely up for debate, and is the author's choice. Scientifically, as Ramsland points out, if the vampire is an undead creature, he shouldn't be capable of having sex, because nothing in his body works; However, there are those who disagree and say that as soon as the vampire wakes for the night, his body works, and as soon as he consumes blood he is able to have sex, if he is male, and modern marvels make it possible for female vampires to engage in sex as well.

Over all the book is well written, and caught my attention. I have all intentions to look up the different books that she mentions through out. The entire thing gives an image of how vampires have evolved since the time of Dracula (even before really) and to our modern day vampires. Again, if you write vampires, or you are just fascinated by them, pick this book up.

Writing Rambles

A couple Links

Happy New Year

A new-found respect

End of NaNoWriMo 2011

NaNoWriMo: End of Week Two

End of Week One: Nanowrimo update

The day before Nano

Everything Happens for a reason

It's nearly time

*stamp* Rejected, blog #100

Hehe Oops

WUDJ and CampNano Update

A renewed...Something

Combining WUDJ and Camp Nano

Lalalalal Back to life, back to reality.

Series

Erm-Long time, no update

Another week gone, but more things accomplished.

Okay so things have been....interesting

Wow, post 90

Whoops, skipped a week.

March is almost over

Mac, editing, and insanity

Transition

One thing down, a few things left to go

8 Days and counting

Another week gone...

Productivity is amazing

Not much of an update

Another week gone

Oh, how times change...okay not really

Weekly Update

A late, uneventful update

Reflecting on the past year and an update

Plans

Week Four: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo: Week 3

Week Two: NaNoWriMo winner

Week One, NaNoWriMo

It was the night before Nano

7 Days

Change

21 Days

October is here

Colds, shorts, and short shorts

A new start...so to say

The reason I'm choosing to go the Traditional Publishing route

Amazing what happens when you get three writers together

Man, oh man

A productive week

Holy cow!

Another week gone, another week closer

I have an announcement

Weekly Update

What I've taken from WUDJ

Two days left

I'm done counting days!

Day 20: Going strong

Day 12,13,14, and 15: Blahs

Day 11, Part2: 2,300 words

Day 11 Part One: Outlining

Day 10: Part Two - 1,500 words

Day 10 part one: Outlining

Day 9: 1000ish words

Day 8: 1,100 words

Day 7: somewhere around 1600 words

Day 6: I'm a bit late

Day 5: 2047 Words

Day 4: 2000 words

Day 3: Made it

Day Two: 1537 Words

Day Two: Morning start

Day One: 1,537 Words

Write Until We Die July

Write Until We Die July

A quick blog with breakfast.

A new Challenge

*Stamp* Rejected and other things

*stamp* Rejected

stamp Rejected, blog #100

Stamp Rejected and other things

stamp Rejected

Stamp Rejected