I'm A Winner!

At the weekend I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish on time. I was at 37,834 words on Saturday. But the people around me kept saying, "Oh, you'll do it." For them, for myself, for my characters I did.

An Amazing Family

Today as I worked on my Nano words, I found out that my hero DOES have a sister!

See, woman A was going to be the heroine for the oldest brother and I thought woman B was the sister. BUT then woman B made sure to let me know she was NOT the sister. She will be the heroine for one of the other brothers. Great. I loved it and the chemistry I could already feel between that couple made me excited for their eventual story. And so I kept writing and figured woman A would eventually be the heroine for the oldest brother. They've had some interaction, but there's been no chemistry. BUT today, woman A revealed to me that SHE is the sister to this family of 4 brothers.

Clear as mud? No worries! Here's the most important part: I now have my family of 5 siblings and each of them will have their own story. I LOVE each of them and these stories will be explosive!

Now, I'm off to continue my Nano words. I've got tonight and until midnight tomorrow to finish about 4200 words!

I Think I Can...I Think I Can.....

For the first time this month I'm thinking I might actually be able to make the 50,000 words needed to be a NaNoWriMo winner! I'm exhausted and I'm bleary-eyed, but I've managed to write 8,681 words in the last 2 days. Send good vibes so I can get my last 5500 words done in the next 2 days!

Catchin' Up

Hello! I spent Thanksgiving with family and no computer so that's why I haven't been updating. Not much to tell you. My move was successful. (I'm updating this blog at my new place.) I'm still behind on my Nano word count, but I have been writing some and I'm DETERMINED to finish the last 10,500 words I have by the November 30th deadline. I wrapped up my latest Killer Openings class before Thanksgiving and got some GREAT compliments from my participants. I'm LOVING my current hero and heroine a bit more each day. I'll keep you updated on my NaNo progress over the next few days! I'm off to keep writing!

Coming Up For Air

I survived the move to my new digs! I've still got a TON of crap to do to make it livable, but that can all wait until after Thanksgiving. I need the next 4 days to relax and do as little as possible! I'm WAAAAAAAY behind on Nano again (about 4000 words), but I am DETERMINED to make it to the end. I'm jotting down a bunch of story ideas before I go to bed so I have somwhere to take the characters (until they take me!). I've got at least 3 hours of writing time tomorrow (and many hours over the holiday weekend) so I plan to use it wisely!

I Will Be MIA

Lots going on here! I thought I'd pop in to give you a heads-up. I'm moving this weekend, working hard to keep up with my NaNoWriMo words (I'll be caught up tonight!), finishing up an online class, and prepping for Thanksgiving. So I may not be online much in the next week. Of course, if I have anything major to tell you I'll be here. But other than that I'll catch up to you during the American Thanksgiving holiday!

Halfway There???

So today is the halfway point of NaNoWriMo 2011. Technically, participants should be at 25,000 words by the end of today. Will I be? No.

At first, this was bothering me because I HATE being behind. I know I'll catch up eventually (as long as my characters work with me) because I've "won" NaNo the 2 times I've done it and I'm NOT about to lose now. But also, I've been thinking about it this way. I'm almost at 21,500 words. By the end of today, I expect to be around 23,000. And you know what? 23,000 words in 15 days isn't too shabby!

Happy Release Day!

Happy Release Day to my friend Jessica Scott! Folks, this woman has worked hard to get here and she's got one great story here! Trust me, I know. I've read it! Congratulations, Jess, and may this be the first of many! Find out more about Jess on her website: www.jessicascott.net!

Another Week Begins

I'm now loaded with boxes so I have lots of packing to do this week! I start moving next weekend.

I'm making AWESOME progress on my NaNoWriMo word count and I'm hoping to be caught up sometime this week.

In writing this NaNo novel, I've been learning a lot more about my hero's family. At first, I tried to subdue the others so I could focus on Zack & Jamie, BUT then I realized that each and every scene I write, whether it ends up in this novel or a future one or on the cutting room floor, helps me to get to know my characters better. Today I've been working on scenes where Zack & Jamie go to a Christmas party with all of his brothers and some other friends. Learning how they all interact with each other is a great eye-opening experience and I'm psyched!

Of course, I've also figured out whose story is next. That brother and his heroine already have sparks flying and they've hardly had any scene time in this book! Yikes! Can you say, sizzling??????

Honoring Veterans

To all the men and women who serve our country, keep us safe and allow us the freedoms so many of us take for granted: Thank you for your service.

Uh-Oh

I was so excited about submitting my Scottish suspense novella to the epublisher, I sent the query off with a typo in the very first line.

The First Verdict Is In

Squeeeeee! I got my first comments on my Scottish suspense novella today from my fantabulous beta reader who ALWAYS tells me exactly how it is. Ahem...and I quote:

WOW WOW WOW

THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

such a fast read - very very good -I'm breathless

great job
~~~~
Isn't she GREAT for my ego????? Hopefully the editors will like it as much!

Quick Update

The novella is gone. I got the confirmation today that they received it. I should hear a yay or nay between now and December 18th.

I'm WAAAAAAY behind on Nano, BUT I am determined to get busy and kick ass! I'm already falling HARD for my hero, Zack. YUM!

A friend of mine offered to rent out her 2nd floor apartment to me for a bargain price! It could be an answer to my prayers!

Some sickness is trying to subdue me, but I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY!

My Killer Openings class is going GREAT!  I LOVE teaching it!

SQUEEEE!

The novella has been sent! I just hit the send button on the email for the epublisher!  YAY!  I could've spent another day on the query, but it was good enough (hopefully). I'll get a confirmation email within 24 hours and then I should hear a response within 6 weeks.  I'll keep you updated!

Now it's back to Jamie and Zack and their lives.....

Almost Time To Celebrate!!!!!

I'm pretty much finished with the novella, Her Highland Champion!  I pulled an all-nighter last night and pushed on to the end. I'm thrilled with the way it's shaping up. I've got one snag to still work out sometime tomorrow. Then Sunday I'll reread the entire thing out loud, make any other corrections I want, and then I'll hit the SEND button Sunday night!

Whoohoooooooooo! THEN I'll be able to focus totally on Jamie & Zack. Sigh, I love Zack even when he's acting like a jerk, which is MOST of the time.

Progress Report

NaNoWriMo- I've been able to meet the 1667 word count each day so far. Yes, I realize it's only been 3 days, but it's already a struggle for me.(Actually, it's 2 days. I haven't written today's words.) That makes me sad because I was so looking forward to Zack and Jamie's journey. Still, maybe when less crap is going on I'll be able to focus more.

Novella- I do declare to all that read this that the novella will be submitted to the epublisher by the time I go to bed on Sunday night. I didn't have a sub job today (LOOOOOONG story), so I was able to pretty much finish the latest draft. I have a couple of things to still work out (like the crappy 1st chapter & the epilogue I haven't written yet), but there's no reason for this to wait any longer. SUNDAY OR BUST!

Work- I've subbd 3 days this week, have a sub job tomorrow, I worked 7 hours tutoring and I had a 2-hour editing job.

Real World- I had a chat wih my financial adviser today (my logical stepfather) and I now have a plan. I will be moving out of my condo before 2012. I'll be renting out my place and moving into an apartment, which means I'll have even less time than I'd planned for NaNo & other writing activities. At least I'll be forced to toss out a bunch of crap I no longer need rather than haul it off to storage...like the shoeboxes of cassette tapes from high school, the birthday cards from my twenties, the tons of books I'll never read again.

NANOWRIMO!

Let the insanity begin! Have you joined NaNo? Are you psyched? I'm so excited to write my next bounty hunter story, I Dare You. It's about a fun-loving, baby of the family whose choices bring danger to the door of the one serious, shy woman he can't charm into his bed.

If you've taken on the challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November, let me know and I'll put you on my buddy list! Good luck and get busy! For those of you not enjoying the challenge, I'll update you with my progress on here throughout the month.

Veterans' Day

To all the men and women who serve our country, make us safe and allow us the freedoms so many of us take for granted: Thank you for your service.