In The Next Few Days

I'll be doing something very drastic in the name of my craft.  (No, it's not signing a contract.  Geez, by now you should know I won't put you through that much suspense when "The Call" comes!)  It's something I dread and look forward to, something that will devastate my world and yet, at the same time, open up HUGE possibilities for me...when I get the courage to do it.

Stay tuned to find out what it is and if I followed through or chickened out! 

The Battle Continues...

I love the concept of my new book.  I love these characters.  I love how the "good guys" win and how the villain will be destroyed.

But I can tell already that this book will suck the blood from me.

Slowly.
Painfully.
Completely.
Repeatedly.

I Lost...Again

I've had trouble the last couple of days with where I want the 2nd & 3rd chapters to go in my current manuscript.  At first, I thought the problem was that I used the wrong character's point of view.  So I wrote the same scene again, from the "right" person's POV.  It still didn't feel right and it was too easy to walk away from the whole thing.  Then I thought maybe I needed a break since I've been working on it straight for a while.  So I didn't write after my 2 1/2 pages yesterday afternoon.  And today I thought about working on something different, but the problem with my latest suspense wouldn't go away.

Finally, after critiquing with some of my Austin RWA sisters today and reading a lot, I realized that things weren't working because I, the author, was trying to write the story instead of letting my characters tell their story.  I was trying to make 2 scenes work when I didn't like them and I knew my heroine wouldn't approve of what I was trying to do.

So, I got smart and decided to shut my mouth and listen to my character.

My Busy February!

Since I finaled in the Daphne last year, I got a certificate for a free class through Kiss of Death.  I signed up for John Foxjohn's class Freeze or Name Your Beneficiary, which will focus on police procedures. 

BUT.....

Today I found out I won a contest on Rebecca Lynn's blog!  Rebecca graciously offered to pay the registration fee for a different online class for the winner of her contest.  So now not only will I be learning about proper police procedures, but I'll also be participating in The Dirty Little Secrets of Character Development taught by Keena Kincaid!

Tuesday Check-In

Day Job Work:  I was thinking about taking more classes and becoming a school librarian.  Then I heard Austin ISD is eliminating 74 librarian jobs.  So now I'm just going to get my K-6 certification and hope for the best for a job next school year.  (I'm already English & ESL certified for 4th-8th grades).  Of course, I'm still subbing, still applying everywhere and anywhere I can and still hoping for something awesome this spring.

Yesterday I didn't have a sub job and today I had a 1/2 day sub job, so I got to spend a chunk of time on Lies.  

Writing:  I'm making slow and steady progress on my 2nd draft of Lies.  I'm really enjoying the book so far.  I had wanted to already be done with the partial, but I'd forgotten that a winning partial takes time!  So, I'm working on chapter 2 now and should be done with it after tomorrow night.  Then, by the end of the weekend, I should have chapter 3 belted out.  Here's hoping!

Reading:  I decided to set a reading goal for myself.  I'm aiming to read a book a week.  It may not seem like much, but over the last year, year and a half I've read less and less.  So, 1 book a week is doable for me.  So far it's working.  I'm about halfway through Tami Dee's 3rd Viking story (and LOVING it, of course!) and I started it at the weekend.

Life After Quitting:  It's about this time last year when I first seriously considered leaving my job.  I've said all along that I don't regret it.  Would I have done things differently had I known I'd still be without a "real job" now?  Yes.  Would I have still quit?  Most likely.  It's hard to be so positive about my decision when people are starting to get excited about Nationals and I know I can't go unless something MAJOR happens.  It's hard when I want to make vacation plans to get to RI (where I haven't seen some of my family since Summer '09) and I still can't be sure when I'll get there.  But mostly, it's hard to imagine NOT being at RWA Nationals when my friend and CP Cat will be signing her first book.

And now you're caught up! 

Searching For The Silver Lining

Yesterday I read the first of the Golden Heart entries I have to judge.  It was....interesting.  Because I've been at this writing thing for so long and I've had a chance to learn quite a bit, I am now able to understand more of what an editor sees when he or she picks up a potential manuscript.  And this first one hurt.  (Probably much like my first few manuscripts!)  But how wonderful of this writer and so many others willing to put their work out there!  For that alone, everyone should be commended!  A person can't get published if she writes a book, shares it with friends who say, "Great job!" and then stuffs the it under the bed.  So congratulations to everyone brave enough to submit a manuscript to any contest!     

The New Work

I pledge to have the killer 1st chapter ready for my first reader by the time I go to bed tonight.  DIDN'T HAPPEN, BUT I WAS WORKING ON IT!  SATURDAY FOR SURE!

I also pledge to have a rough draft of the partial manuscript done by Sunday night. STILL DOABLE.  GOT NO BIG PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND EXCEPT READING AND WRITING.



 Gotta go.  I've got some heavy writing to do!