BUT then again, thank you to those of you who are still here!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Not Feelin' The Love
Someone de-followed me. I had 11 followers before and now I've got 10. It's their right, of course, but I feel......
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Slow -N- Steady
Caitlin, my LOVELY muse, returned. She told me to chill and just write both versions of the scene that was killing me. I haven't decided which will stay, or Caitlin hasn't shared her wisdom with me to let me know, but I have been able to move on. I'm almost halfway through this draft. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I will have to do ANOTHER draft (#5???) before the manuscript goes to my CPs. I say fortunately because I really do like these characters and love working with them when they let me work!
Oh, and have I mentioned the NEW people setting up shop in my head? Yeah. I've got one couple that will, no doubt, give me fits until I can get to their story, which may not be until the fall. Um...well, the heroine isn't liking that so much and she's letting me know that she and I will have to have a long chat. She wants her man sooner rather than later, yeah, the one standing in the corner with his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. He's shaking his head. Not in this lifetime, if he has anything to say about it.
Should DEFINITELY be interesting!
I've been applying and interviewing for some jobs lately and still subbing. Keep your fingers crossed for me and SEND POSITIVE VIBES! I'm also judging contest entries, hitting the gym and thinking about studying for my certification test, which is less than 3 weeks away.
And now? I'm off to bed because the morning will come soon enough!
Oh, and have I mentioned the NEW people setting up shop in my head? Yeah. I've got one couple that will, no doubt, give me fits until I can get to their story, which may not be until the fall. Um...well, the heroine isn't liking that so much and she's letting me know that she and I will have to have a long chat. She wants her man sooner rather than later, yeah, the one standing in the corner with his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. He's shaking his head. Not in this lifetime, if he has anything to say about it.
Should DEFINITELY be interesting!
I've been applying and interviewing for some jobs lately and still subbing. Keep your fingers crossed for me and SEND POSITIVE VIBES! I'm also judging contest entries, hitting the gym and thinking about studying for my certification test, which is less than 3 weeks away.
And now? I'm off to bed because the morning will come soon enough!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
And The Nominees Are...
My heartfelt congratulations goes out to:
Jill Shalvis for a DOUBLE FINAL!!!! Simply Irresistible in the RITA Contemporary Single Title Romance category AND for "Friendly Fire" in Born on the 4th of July in the RITA Romance Novella category-Jill is one of my all-time FAVORITE authors! (I've met her a few times, but I'm sure she might consider it stalking!)
Sherry Thomas for His at Night in the RITA Historical Romance category --Sherry is an Austin RWA member and she WON the RITA last year for her book Not Quite a Husband!
Melissa Mayhue for A Highlander's Homecoming in the RITA Paranormal Romance category-- Melissa is a fellow Celtic Heart
Chris Campillo for Sail Away in the Golden Heart Contemporary Single Title category-- Chris is another Austin RWA member
CONGRATULATIONS, LADIES! I'LL BE ROOTING FOR YOU ON JULY 1ST!!!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
T Minus....
I say too many hours remain because my stomach has been in knots for almost a week now, with the knots getting tighter as each day passes. I say not enough because right now there is hope for all of us who entered. I can dream of my phone ringing and the magic words of the RWA representative flowing into my ear.
Early tomorrow morning, the calls will go out to those writers lucky enough to final in these two contests. For those people, their lives will change. They will be whisked away into a fairy tale of recognition and celebration.
I entered the Golden Heart again this year. I would love to final, of course. I will survive if I don't. In the end, all that matters is the book I'm currently working on, the one that's better than the last, the one that might move me from unpublished to published, the one that might make me ineligible for the Golden Heart next year.
To all of you who entered either contest, good luck! I will be watching and rooting for you!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Lies, ALL Lies!!!!
No, not the painful ones we tell each other. My book! Yesterday I mentioned that I figured out my plot. I wanted to expand on that today. It may seem like a minor thing to some people, but to fellow writers and to those who know me, this is a MAJOR accomplishment!
I have always been a plot heavy writer. I get the characters first, but then the plot ideas take over to the point where I can definitely see my story on the big screen with today's movie stars portraying my brave and sexy hero and heroine. Then the reality comes in and I have to figure out what really works (no, that building blowing up won't happen without the school janitor villain getting access to explosives. And how will he do that????). THEN I start to figure out who the characters are and what their internal conflicts are. Usually, the internal conflicts are the most difficult aspect of a book for me.
With Lies, the internal conflicts came fairly easily. The external conflict eluded me. I had aspects of the characters that I knew in my gut had to stay in the story, but a whole bunch of stuff could be scrapped if needed. I knew my hero was a bounty hunter. I tried to change it a few times, but I always came back to this career path for him. It felt right. And you know what? In the end, it IS right. Another problem came when I had scenes that weren't plausible. The scene itself worked, but its place in the story did not and no matter how I tried to fix it or place it somewhere else, the square block would not fit into the round hole!
When I wrote the first draft in November during NaNoWriMo I had the same issues, but I kept writing to see what I could come up with, what my characters would tell me. Their biggest suggestion was to trust them. So I did. I did not panic....much. I let it go. I asked for help. I wrote the 2nd draft with a different plot in mind. Then I wrote the 3rd draft, or most of it anyway, with 2 different plots in mind. I then did start to panic a bit because it was the end of the 3rd draft and I wanted this book to be finished in April. But my hero whispered to me again to trust him. So I did...again. And he came through for me!
So now, I'm on a quest to finish this book by the first week in April. I'll send it to my FANTABULOUS CPs, query an editor and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll be submitting this book by the end of April.
Of course, that won't happen unless I get off the Internet and get to work!
I have always been a plot heavy writer. I get the characters first, but then the plot ideas take over to the point where I can definitely see my story on the big screen with today's movie stars portraying my brave and sexy hero and heroine. Then the reality comes in and I have to figure out what really works (no, that building blowing up won't happen without the school janitor villain getting access to explosives. And how will he do that????). THEN I start to figure out who the characters are and what their internal conflicts are. Usually, the internal conflicts are the most difficult aspect of a book for me.
With Lies, the internal conflicts came fairly easily. The external conflict eluded me. I had aspects of the characters that I knew in my gut had to stay in the story, but a whole bunch of stuff could be scrapped if needed. I knew my hero was a bounty hunter. I tried to change it a few times, but I always came back to this career path for him. It felt right. And you know what? In the end, it IS right. Another problem came when I had scenes that weren't plausible. The scene itself worked, but its place in the story did not and no matter how I tried to fix it or place it somewhere else, the square block would not fit into the round hole!
When I wrote the first draft in November during NaNoWriMo I had the same issues, but I kept writing to see what I could come up with, what my characters would tell me. Their biggest suggestion was to trust them. So I did. I did not panic....much. I let it go. I asked for help. I wrote the 2nd draft with a different plot in mind. Then I wrote the 3rd draft, or most of it anyway, with 2 different plots in mind. I then did start to panic a bit because it was the end of the 3rd draft and I wanted this book to be finished in April. But my hero whispered to me again to trust him. So I did...again. And he came through for me!
So now, I'm on a quest to finish this book by the first week in April. I'll send it to my FANTABULOUS CPs, query an editor and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll be submitting this book by the end of April.
Of course, that won't happen unless I get off the Internet and get to work!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
At This Moment....
Leaving my teaching job last year was the best decision I could've made.
Today, I got paid for an editing job, sent a proposal for another, subbed with an awesome class, applied for another job to teach writing to kids, applied for another part-time job and got a "good word" put in for me, read, went to the gym, stopped thinking about the GH announcements for a total of ten seconds, and.....
I FIGURED OUT MY LIES PLOT!!!!!!
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