T Minus 20 Hours.....

Yes, folks, that's right!  In about 20 hours I will begin my journey to Edinburgh, Scotland for a week of Hogmanay celebrating!  I'm frantically packing today and cleaning my house so I don't come back to a mess.  I'll be staying in this hotel and enjoying the view of Edinburgh Castle from there.  The hotel has free wifi, so I will be posting and bringing you pictures of my grand adventure!  I've never been to Scotland in the winter before and since they've had horrendous weather lately, it will definitely be interesting.

In case you haven't heard the reason for the trip, I'll turn 40 in 2011.  I decided a few years ago that I wanted to celebrate from the first moments of the year.  What better place to start the celebration than Edinburgh?

Don't forget the contest I'm running for my new identity!  The contest closes as of 12/31/10!  Details are on my website, but I'll remind you here too.  Become a follower of this blog AND then send me a comment/suggestion for my new website and then you're in!  The winner will receive several romantic suspense books (some signed by the author!), a Celtic Woman mug, chocolates (of course!), a journal, a 2011 calendar from Scotland and maybe a couple other surprises!

Merry Christmas!

To all of you, have a Merry Christmas!  Have a wonderful holiday with much love and laughter.  Be safe and may Santa bring you all you're wishing for!

Pursuit of Writer Happiness

I think I figured out where my writing is going with the new year!  I've got some more details to work out in my head and to run past my CPs, but I will share my plans with you as soon as I can!

From One Extreme to the Other

Christmas will be quiet and warm with family in Texas.

New Year's will be frigid and crowded with family and family friends in Edinburgh, Scotland.

What about you?

Ho Hum

I'm kinda down right about now and I have absolutely NO reason to be.  I just am.

I started a Christmas anthology yesterday and couldn't get into either of the stories I tried. Then I picked up another anthology I bought a different year and I couldn't get into those stories either. I did find a Cara Colter Harlequin Romance that I'm liking, although I feel like I've already read it. BUT I don't remember how it ends so I'll keep going.  LATER:  YEP, I READ IT LAST YEAR.  IT'S ON MY LIST OF BOOKS READ IN 2009.  BUT I STILL DON'T REMEMBER HOW IT ENDS SO THIS WILL BECOME THE 2ND BOOK I'VE EVER READ MORE THAN ONCE.

One of my CPs asked me to evaluate my writing career and my goals. I always do that at this time of the year anyway, and I'd actually started thinking that maybe I'm not writing romantic suspense. Maybe I'm writing novels with strong romantic elements. I also said I'd been toying with the idea of a single title, a story that won't fit in any Harlequin category line. So she challenged me to write a single-title in 2011.

I want to write, but the problem is I have no story in me that's BEGGING to be told. I have a lot of great story ideas, but nowhere to focus my energy. I know all this glumness will pass, but right now it's buried deep into my soul.

GET OUT!!!!!

SQUEEEE!

My friend and critique partner, Cat Schield, just sold her second book to Silhouette Desire!  Whoohoo!  I'm so proud of her and soooooooo excited!  It'll be a January 2012 pub date!  I'm going to raise a glass to her tonight!

Busy, Busy!

Hello, blog world!  It feels like FOREVER since I blogged!  I've been keeping busy, as I'm sure you are.  Tuesday I had a job interview that went really well and I REALLY wanted the job, but they called me today and said they'd hired from within.  Bummer. 

I realized, though, that my writing rejections have helped me deal with job rejections.  I wallowed for about an hour and then I hopped back online to check some of the school district websites for other openings.  I applied for 2 more jobs.  Tomorrow I'll check some more school districts and some other websites.  One day at a time, right?  SOMETHING will break and I'll start to earn a regular paycheck again.

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping and today I boxed everything I have to ship and spent 12 minutes in the post office! 

Tonight I'm going to an advanced screening of True Grit. 

In between all my activities, I've been reading Kerry Connor's Silent Night Stakeout.  I LOVE Kerry's work! 

Tomorrow will be spent applying for more jobs, finishing my Christmas shopping, and a trip to Barnes & Noble to spend my $25 gift card from the ladies of Get Lost in a Story.  I also plan to spend a HUGE chunk of time writing.  I mean hours.  Lots of hours.  I'll write on my novella, some fan fiction for a new-to-me show with yummy heroes, and another blog post about some other writing related things that have happened this week.  (No, no contract yet.  And no, no other rejection yet.  You'll just have to wait to find out.)

The Verdict is In!

I started work on the novella for my next heroine.  The story is called Hidden Passages and will be 15,000-20,000 words.  It may not every be used for anything, but I need to tell this part of Sarah's journey.  Thanks to those of you who chimed in with your thoughts!

Odds of winning the New Identity, New year Contest on my website are pretty good.  Right now only 7 people are entered!  Of course, the contest runs through the rest of December so more people may join in.  If you have entered, good luck!  I'm planning to bring something back from Scotland to toss into the prize bag.  If you haven't entered, why not?  All you have to do is become a follower of this blog, have a peek at my new website and then email me comments on the new website.  That's it!

Okay, now I'm going back to my novella.  That heroine is talking up a storm and I'm having trouble keeping up with her!  (Yeah, that's not really a problem!)

Thinking...Rambling...Looking for Your Thoughts

I'm feeling a lot better finally!  I was getting restless yesterday and started writing out my Christmas cards.  I worked today and made it through the day, but I am tired now.  That's all right.  I can handle tired.  I don't want to handle tossing my cookies, sleeping all hours of the day, chills, body aches, etc.

So, back to the writing....I have this story that I've written about 100 pages on called Broken Promises.  To be honest, I was so confused with my NaNo manuscript for a while I thought I was working on this story.  I stopped writing on Broken Promises a few times because something else always seemed more important- a request from an industry professional for a different manuscript, contest entries, my own temporary switch to writing short contemporaries.  But I'm thinking that now is the time for this story.  I believe this story has SOOOOOO much potential.  I already love the characters and I've had other people ask when I'm going to write it.

BUT.....

The heroine has a REALLY LONG journey to take.  I have in my head (and my heart) these thoughts that she needs a story before THE STORY.  I believe she has to go through some things before she is ready to deal with the hero and the events in Broken Promises.  The problem I'm having, if I can call it a problem, is that the BEFORE story isn't long enough to be a novel and it's not about romance.  So it can't be BOOK #1.  And it's not short enough or simple enough to be a prologue for Broken Promises.  But Broken Promises IS a romantic suspense and the heroine does get her happily ever after.  The BEFORE story needs to happen as much for me as the it does for the heroine.  So, what are your thoughts?  Do I just write it for me and then tuck it away somewhere?  Do I spend quality time on it come January when I start back to "officially" writing?  (Remember, I'm taking December off after NaNo.)  How can I use it?  I mean, I know writing it will not be wasted because it will help me understand the heroine and the secondary characters (those who appear in Broken Promises) better, but is that all?      

I'm Sick

I had planned on getting on here and chatting about my new story idea, but something vicious came at me hard and fast yesterday.  I've been sleeping on and off since yesterday afternoon.  I'm feeling A BIT more human right now, but I've only been up for 2 hours.  So, I'm heading back to my couch with my cup of tea.  I'll chat at you when I can.

I'm A Winner!

Several debut authors decided to start a group blog to help authors connect with readers.  The blog's first day was the same day as my name switch.  They've introduced themselves and presented readers with 2 really awesome interviews.  Then they had a drawing for a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card for everyone who commented yesterday.  I won!  I had already decided to visit the blog regularly (it's in the blogroll on the right), but this is just icing on the cake!  

TIME TO CELEBRATE!!!

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!  

Celebrate my new identity- ALEXA BOURNE- with me!  Want to know the story behind the new name?  Well, you can read why I had to change here.  So what went into choosing this name?  I wanted to keep a first name that would allow people to still call me Lexi because a lot of people only know me by that name.  I wanted the transition as simple as possible.  Then it became a struggle to find a last name that meant something special to me.  Every other name I came up with either already had a well-established writer attached to it or it didn't roll off the tongue like I wanted.  OR I was afraid to pick something that I might hate a few years down the road.  Now, those of you who have known me for any length of time know that my absolute favorite fictional character is Jason Bourne.  So, one day while searching for a new name, I jokingly said Alexa Bourne to my critique partners and they liked it.  I tried it out with a few other friends and they liked it too.  So I decided to embrace it! 
                                               

NOW...

Today I would like to invite you to the New Kids on the Writer's Block blog 

because I'm guest blogging about how I still have the energy to 

continue my pursuit of publication after so long.  I encourage you

to read it and share your thoughts.

AND FINALLY...

To celebrate the birth of my new identity, I'm running a contest for the month of December.  Details are located on my brand new website- www.alexabourne.com!