As I took a tea break from working on Fractured Paradise, I opened my emails and found one with the mock cover for Her Highland Champion. It is GORGEOUS! I can't wait to share it with you! Of course you know I will do that as soon as possible.
Back to novella #2!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
On My Way
Whoohoo! I've got the correct title, the right theme song and the perfect cast in mind for my latest Scottish novella, Fractured Paradise! AND today I figured out the plot! SOOOOOO.....now I can get busy with finishing the rough draft!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Caught Offside
Caught Offside is a great story by Liz Crowe. It is part of Decadent Publishing's 1 Night Stand series. If you like soccer and romance, this is definitely a book for you! Ramon Castillo is a soccer star who's had a career-changing injury. Instead of dealing with his situation, Ramon is holed up in his family's hotel so that he doesn't have to deal with the outside world.
Gillian Winter is the banquet manager for a major Las vegas hotel. She is a former soccer star herself and she has a young son. Gillian has thrown herself into her work and into raising her son so she doesn't have time to deal with the emotions of being a widow.
While in the lobby of the Castillo Hotel, Gillian's son flips out when he sees Ramon, his soccer idol. Gillian arranges, through Ramon's cousin, for Ramon to spend some quality time with her son. What she doesn't expect is that she may be the one who enjoys the time with Ramon more than the boy.
I really enjoyed this story. I think part of the reason is I love soccer so much, but I also thought Ms. Crowe did a great job showing how the characters changed through the story. Gillian and Ramon are attracted to each other from the start, but their personal, internal pains make them both reluctant to engage in any type of romantic encounter. The emotional journeys they go through and the relationship that evolves make the story believable and heart-warming. It is a fast read and a perfect way to spend a raining afternoon. This will definitely not be the last story I read from Liz Crowe!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Lessons From The Voices In My Head
So, I'm still on the rough draft of my latest Scottish novella and I've been struggling with it for the last few days. It's good so far, but something was missing. Today I figured out why.
As I drive around town, I often hear Without You by David Guetta with Usher. I LOVE THIS SONG. When I first heard it I was working on one of my bounty hunter stories and it instantly became the "theme song" for the hero and heroine of a future story, a story that is currently scheduled to be written during NaNoWriMo 2012. Every single time I hear it I get a rush as I think of that couple, of the explosive chemistry I'll be able to explore later this year. And I always smile.
Today, as I came home from the day job, the song came on and it finally hit me. My Scottish novella isn't working because there's no chemistry between the characters. It's a great story and the characters are interesting, but there are no sparks between them. Obviously THAT'S not going to work for me writing a ROMANTIC suspense! So, this weekend I'll be hunting for new characters to complete the kick-ass story!
As I drive around town, I often hear Without You by David Guetta with Usher. I LOVE THIS SONG. When I first heard it I was working on one of my bounty hunter stories and it instantly became the "theme song" for the hero and heroine of a future story, a story that is currently scheduled to be written during NaNoWriMo 2012. Every single time I hear it I get a rush as I think of that couple, of the explosive chemistry I'll be able to explore later this year. And I always smile.
Today, as I came home from the day job, the song came on and it finally hit me. My Scottish novella isn't working because there's no chemistry between the characters. It's a great story and the characters are interesting, but there are no sparks between them. Obviously THAT'S not going to work for me writing a ROMANTIC suspense! So, this weekend I'll be hunting for new characters to complete the kick-ass story!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Hump Day
I'm over my bout of doubt for now. It only lasted Monday. I've got a great story and it deserves to be shared!
Since then my editor has sent the manuscript up the totem pole to the Line Editor. There may be a couple rounds of revisions depending on what she suggests. I don't know how long it will be before I hear from them. It depends on what the Line Editor has on her plate.
While I wait for the response, I have plenty to keep myself busy. I'm still working on the rough draft of the next contemporary Scottish novella, Coming Home. I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of this weekend. Then next week I'll start draft 2! And of course I'm spending plenty of time each day learning about how to promote my book and me. Any suggestions?
Since then my editor has sent the manuscript up the totem pole to the Line Editor. There may be a couple rounds of revisions depending on what she suggests. I don't know how long it will be before I hear from them. It depends on what the Line Editor has on her plate.
While I wait for the response, I have plenty to keep myself busy. I'm still working on the rough draft of the next contemporary Scottish novella, Coming Home. I'm hoping to have it completed by the end of this weekend. Then next week I'll start draft 2! And of course I'm spending plenty of time each day learning about how to promote my book and me. Any suggestions?
Monday, January 2, 2012
Edits, Round 2- An Emotional Roller Coaster Ride
I started my day feeling a little down. I had no sub job planned and few jobs I could apply for online. I figured I would spend the day working on Coming Home, my 2nd Scottish novella & prepping my lessons for my online class that starts tomorrow. THEN I got my 2nd round of edits for Her Highland Champion from my editor. So I switched modes and focused on the edits. They weren't terribly difficult. For the most part it was just accepting what suggestions she'd given me. But then in her email she also mentioned that I should be super careful because she would not be reading the entire manuscript again and this would be our last time working on it together for a while. After she goes over the changes I make, she'll be sending it up the chain to the Line Editor.
As I finished the revisions, I found myself feeling less competent and confident. Again I thought, "Seriously? Somebody believes in this story enough (besides me) to expect people to pay money for it?" I completed the edits quickly, but then I decided to reread the entire thing to make sure it flowed like I wanted and to catch any other typos or "bad" word choices my editor and I had missed. Of course, she'd already done a fantabulous job so I had little to worry about. But the rereading took a lot longer than I thought. (Granted, part of that might've been because I was watching the Rose Bowl game too. Yay Ducks!!) Well after dinner time I emailed the round back to my editor.
My low confidence continued because I also had to ask her what the heat level of my story is. I've spent so much time writing my full-length romantic suspenses that focused more on the suspense than the romance, and Her Highland Champion is so much more focused on the romance than I'm used to. Again, I was feeling out of my element. It didn't matter that after talking to my editor I realized my 1st guess for heat level was right on target. I still felt somewhat incompetent. I also started examining this whole writing business as a business again, something I'm still getting used to.
I imagine I'll go through roller coaster emotions throughout this process from contract to cyber shelf and I've decided that's okay. This is ALL new to me. I'm supposed to need guidance. And, smart woman that I am, I'll keep asking questions so I can learn.
So now, at the end of my day, I feel better, more confident. (Of course, getting picked as Teacher of the Month at my part-time job didn't hurt either!) I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I can't wait to find out!
As I finished the revisions, I found myself feeling less competent and confident. Again I thought, "Seriously? Somebody believes in this story enough (besides me) to expect people to pay money for it?" I completed the edits quickly, but then I decided to reread the entire thing to make sure it flowed like I wanted and to catch any other typos or "bad" word choices my editor and I had missed. Of course, she'd already done a fantabulous job so I had little to worry about. But the rereading took a lot longer than I thought. (Granted, part of that might've been because I was watching the Rose Bowl game too. Yay Ducks!!) Well after dinner time I emailed the round back to my editor.
My low confidence continued because I also had to ask her what the heat level of my story is. I've spent so much time writing my full-length romantic suspenses that focused more on the suspense than the romance, and Her Highland Champion is so much more focused on the romance than I'm used to. Again, I was feeling out of my element. It didn't matter that after talking to my editor I realized my 1st guess for heat level was right on target. I still felt somewhat incompetent. I also started examining this whole writing business as a business again, something I'm still getting used to.
I imagine I'll go through roller coaster emotions throughout this process from contract to cyber shelf and I've decided that's okay. This is ALL new to me. I'm supposed to need guidance. And, smart woman that I am, I'll keep asking questions so I can learn.
So now, at the end of my day, I feel better, more confident. (Of course, getting picked as Teacher of the Month at my part-time job didn't hurt either!) I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I can't wait to find out!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
With a new year comes a list of goals. I'm a MASTER at making lists and revising them when
something doesn't work out exactly as I'd planned. So without wasting time, here's a
condensed version of what I expect/hope to accomplish in the next 12 months!
1. See my first book published (You'll know the release date when I do!)
2. Sell at least one more novella, if not 2
3. Sell my 1st full-length novel
4. Make it to at least 1 conference
5. Visit my family & friends I haven't seen in 2 1/2 years
6. Find a "real" job
7. Look into and possibly "go back to school"
8. Get back to being healthy again
9. Get down to my goal weight & keep it (or most of it) off
10. Learn to be a PR guru
11. Build my critiquing/editing business
12. Read a book a week
So, there's my list. What's on yours?
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