It's only Thursday and my writing goals have been met and surpassed for the week already. I'm glad I was able to do something, because I wasn't sure if I would get any writing time this week. Friday is a statutory holiday here in Canada, and although my husband is working, schools are closed so Son is going to be home. That means if I tried to get anything done writing wise, it would take me an hour to do one short paragraph, because Son would be asking for help with different things and I wouldn't be able to think because of that dratted TV being on anyway.
Monday afternoon, Hubby took Son shopping with him after school, so I sneaked in a little addition to Chapter 6, finished it, and started Chapter 7, all in just over 2 hours.
Tuesday was my only full writing day this week, and even though it was slow going, I managed to get a short scene that happens later on in the book written up and moved on a little in Chapter 7. I'm in the middle of a scene in the main file right now, and I hope to finish it sometime between now and the 23rd if I can do it.
Next week is another short school week, but I think I have a writing day during one of the three days Son will be in school... And I plan on making the most of it. I have only a few writing days left in the 8 weeks between now and the end of the school year, and I want as much added to Eleven's rough draft that I can before I wind up writing late at night again... And my longtime readers and friends know what happens a lot of the time I write late at night - I write something that seems like a brilliant idea at the time, and wind up taking it out after seeing it in the light of day. For example: Summer of 2012, I write up what used to be Chapter 31 of the manuscripts that were "No Regrets" during a late night run, and after rereading it, decided it wouldn't work right - and it was also a situation that had been used a zillion times in my genre. So I chucked it and rewrote almost the entire chapter.
That was NOT fun, and I'd prefer to keep rewrites to a minimum in Eleven if I can. Compressing things, fleshing out scenes a little more and keeping things on track is one thing, rewriting something because of my "bright ideas" late at night is another. It frustrates me, and makes me wonder what I was thinking.
I guess the lack of caffeinated coffee on those late nights made the brain go off in silly directions....
The weekend is going to consist of me going over Eleven's main file with a fine toothed comb to see where the biggest problem areas are, and using color coded highlights to show which areas are passive, repetitive, wordy, etc, so I don't have to do that later... And so my Alpha reader (Sandra) doesn't have to point things like that out to me when she finally gets her copy of Draft One of it. A few typos were caught too, which means less for her and my Betas to catch.
I'm learning so much this time around... And I can't stress it enough: Have someone else check your work BEFORE you send it out... Don't make the same mistake I did with the first manuscript!
Have a great long weekend everyone!
©2024 V.J. Allison Art. All Rights Reserved. NO USE PERIOD!
©2025 V.J. Allison Art. No use without written permission from designer.
Showing posts with label Sandra Durham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandra Durham. Show all posts
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
It's Been a Wacky Year.... A Look Back on 2013
You guessed it. This is my annual look back at the year blog entry!
2013 was interesting to say the least, for all aspects of my life, real, online and the writing part of it.
My first completed manuscript, "No Regrets" (Book 1, formerly "Untitled 7"), went through several perking and editing cycles during the year, and in early November, was deemed "as perfect as I can get" and ready to submit to various publishers around the globe. Who got it, any interested parties and any rejections on that manuscript is strictly confidential and only a select handful of people know about any of it. I will only say anything publicly AFTER I sign any contracts and when and where I know it will be available for purchase.
As a lot of you remember, my writing batteries were still in "recharging" mode at the start of the year, and I was having a lot of problems getting what was dubbed "Untitled 8" on the go at the time, and how frustrated I was with myself for not being able to get the story moving. In January, I had tried getting things moving with the RH rewrite/overhaul and that wasn't working, neither was getting "Untitled 8" (now "Book 2" or Family Portraits) off the ground, and I was going crazy. I finally got a new digital camera at the start of the month and started setting up a few things to create some original photographs with props for my own use and possible cover photos for Sandra Durham's second book in her Keyholder's Castle series (published on Amazon.com currently).
Sandra's second and third books were published via Amazon.com. The second one, "Damnation and Trial" was published in March, and the third, "Destinies", was published in May.
Thankfully, concentrating on that and doing something creative helped, because the next time I opened that manuscript file, I noticed a few things that were throwing me off and decided to scrap what I was using to start it, and went with something else. That DID help, and I did start getting into it a little bit, although I wasn't sure how the story would go or how it would even end. Sandra was a godsend, by listening to me rant about my lack of progress and helping me with brainstorming ideas for the story during the first two months of 2013.
The end of January saw me becoming an aunt for the fourth time, thanks to my sister. I now have one nephew (age 16 1/2 at the time this blog was posted) and three nieces (almost 14 years old, 3 years old and 11 months old at the time this blog was posted), all thanks to my younger sister. Little A is one adorable girl, and she is a happy child, according to my sister and mother. I have met her, and love her to death, just like I love all of my sister's older children. I'm hoping to see them all soon, and may even see my mom this weekend, if things work out just right!
It wasn't until March was underway that, thanks to Sandra, Book 2/Family Portraits took off like a shot out of a gun. She had an idea zoom through her head and suggested it to me. The instant I saw her idea, I could actually see and hear everything that was going on during a few of the scenes and ran with it. Her idea IS in the final product and thanks to her, Family Portraits/Book 2's ending was conceived! I knew a few things that were going to be in the book but wasn't sure on what else to slap in until I saw that fateful message from her. When an idea is so good you can see all of it happening in your head within seconds, RUN WITH IT!
Sandra's little idea wound up being the basis for most of the entire build up to the finale and everything else in between... Seriously! More on that later though...
Spring saw my dear son do something that proves to the world that kids on the autism spectrum CAN do more than "flip burgers" (quote from someone I cut out of my life about 7 years ago and who I will never let them back into it!)... He took second place in all of the grade 2 students in the Mental Math competition for our district at the Education Festival, which was held at my old high school. He went into Grade 3 with mostly As and Bs with a couple of Cs, and top math student in his grade!
It also saw me starting to write like a squirrel on speed as I started building up toward the gem that Sandra shot at me in March. As the school year started winding down, things were really moving with it. I was around Chapter 26 when school got out for the summer and although I was going batty, I managed to survive despite not being able to write a lot, even at night. The mosquito population was terrible this past year due to a lot of rain. We live between two lakes and that didn't help much either, so I wound up spending most of the time slapping mosquitoes and being so darn distracted that I didn't get much done in an hour, even with the scene RIGHT THERE in my mind. *SIGH*
Even with the late night problems, thanks to my husband, I managed to get a couple of chapters out of the way in the first couple of weeks of summer vacation. I basically gave up on writing at night for the entire month of July and into August, until I knew the provincial bird population had dropped a lot. By the time mid August rolled around, I was into Chapter 29, and a lot further along than I had hoped to be in the manuscript that close to the end of the summer.
On August 19th, I officially launched my Facebook Author's page, my author's profile and a new look for my blog here. I had chosen my pen name quite some time ago - thanks to help from several of my friends, and it's one I really like! - so the name of the page and the profile were officially changed that day, and had a new banner installed on each of them. My new blog look is the same one I have now, with the sky photo in the background and the black font. It's the same photo I use on my Twitter profile, and the same one I used to create banners for my author profile and page, and my personal/real name profile in Facebook.
Two weeks later, I officially launched my author's website and in the months since then, I've added links to where people can find me - Twitter, Google+, Facebook and this blog, and a photograph of me so people know what I look like.
Son started Grade 3 with eagerness and has one of the teacher's assistants that he had last year, the one who was with him in the afternoons. Unfortunately, we also said goodbye to the TA who had been with him since Grade primary. We loved Mrs. O and although we miss her a lot, we adore Mrs. T as well, and like Mrs. O, she's great with our boy. Again, he's top math student in his grade, and working ahead in that subject. No surprise, and I won't be surprised if he's invited to participate in the Grade 3 mental math competition this year....
Whom Gods Destroy played at two venues over the summer - Benstock in August and Local Only in early September. I was lucky enough to be able to go watch them both times, even though I kinda missed most of their set at Benstock. That said, what I did see was great, and really enjoyed both concerts. They featured local music at both and I loved hearing other local musicians strutting their stuff! All of you who read my blog and know me, know that music is as vital to me as writing. I can't sing or play an instrument to save my life, but I love it and respect and admire anyone who is talented in that area of the creative realm!
Well, after Son went back to school, things once again took off with Book 2/Family Portraits. Even with having to get a new computer - thanks to my Vista one dying - by the time the first week of October was finished, I was into Chapter 36. Not bad for only a month's worth of writing PART TIME!
Thanks to my mind running in overdrive for the next month, I managed to finish draft one of Book 2/Family Portraits on October 30th, quite a while before I expected it to happen. Like its predecessor, No Regrets/Book 1 - which starts off the series - I basically zoomed through the final ten or so chapters of it. Of course, having a lot of that written up already - the Gem that Sandra shot at me - did help, but there were a lot of things I had to wrap up, like finish that area and its aftermath, then get into the finale and finally wrapping things up so tightly that not even I could write another sequel... Unless I want to, of course. I'm not saying I will "never" write another sequel to this series, I'm saying "it's not likely". I said that before and wound up eating my words.........
Like I've said before, No Regrets/Book 1 did have a lot of unanswered questions that nagged at someone after they read it, so it's only natural that I would wind up writing a sequel to it, and finally get around to answering them. Thankfully, No Regrets hadn't been sent out to any publishers that are still in business today, so I could make all of the necessary changes in it that would make it line up with Book 2/Family Portraits a lot more. I was inserting a few things here and there into No Regrets while Family Portraits was still being written, but it wasn't until after Family Portraits was in its first perk cycle that things were really added to make things coinside a lot easier and better. I'm not saying what was added, those who have read the earlier drafts of that story know what was in there before and what is in its final, perfected draft.
I used some of the squirrel on speed energy I had from not having anything to write to perfect the grammar, proofing, formatting and overall story in No Regrets, and that was finally stamped "Perfect as I can get it" on November 7th.
In the weeks since then, I've not only gotten an idea for a new story that I've dubbed Untitled 9 at the moment, I've actually started it, even if it's only a page of stuff. That idea is a combination of two ideas from Sandra and another one of my closest writing friends (two other fellow authors), and although it hasn't really taken off yet, it may in the new year. Thanks Sandra and G! I do have a lot of material from researching, and need more, so I'm going to be doing that in between different things, like more photography and trying NOT to lose it each time I submit my work to a publisher!
Yes, we lost a few that were near and dear to our hearts, and we had a lot of ups and downs, but for the most part, I'd say that 2013 was a great year for a lot of us... I saw my mentor publish two more books in her series and saw her start the fourth one, saw another friend publish a collection of poems, met a lot of great people via various writing hang outs and other great places to put the feet up and relax online, and I was just surrounded by so many wonderful, loving and supportive people this past year. I'm so grateful to the divine and fates for every little blessing they've given me, and thank each and every single person who has been there for me, from the good times to the bad times.
Yeah, 2013 may have been a wild ride, but I enjoyed it... Even if my brain was in a writing fog for a good part of the year!
I'm hoping 2014 is just as fun, if not better. One of my new year's wishes is to get on with a great publisher and finally see my dream of becoming an author come true. I'd be flying really high if and when that happens!
Have a safe, fun and happy new year everyone! I'll be back with updates in 2014! All the best, to all of you, now and always.
~V.J~
2013 was interesting to say the least, for all aspects of my life, real, online and the writing part of it.
My first completed manuscript, "No Regrets" (Book 1, formerly "Untitled 7"), went through several perking and editing cycles during the year, and in early November, was deemed "as perfect as I can get" and ready to submit to various publishers around the globe. Who got it, any interested parties and any rejections on that manuscript is strictly confidential and only a select handful of people know about any of it. I will only say anything publicly AFTER I sign any contracts and when and where I know it will be available for purchase.
As a lot of you remember, my writing batteries were still in "recharging" mode at the start of the year, and I was having a lot of problems getting what was dubbed "Untitled 8" on the go at the time, and how frustrated I was with myself for not being able to get the story moving. In January, I had tried getting things moving with the RH rewrite/overhaul and that wasn't working, neither was getting "Untitled 8" (now "Book 2" or Family Portraits) off the ground, and I was going crazy. I finally got a new digital camera at the start of the month and started setting up a few things to create some original photographs with props for my own use and possible cover photos for Sandra Durham's second book in her Keyholder's Castle series (published on Amazon.com currently).
Sandra's second and third books were published via Amazon.com. The second one, "Damnation and Trial" was published in March, and the third, "Destinies", was published in May.
Thankfully, concentrating on that and doing something creative helped, because the next time I opened that manuscript file, I noticed a few things that were throwing me off and decided to scrap what I was using to start it, and went with something else. That DID help, and I did start getting into it a little bit, although I wasn't sure how the story would go or how it would even end. Sandra was a godsend, by listening to me rant about my lack of progress and helping me with brainstorming ideas for the story during the first two months of 2013.
The end of January saw me becoming an aunt for the fourth time, thanks to my sister. I now have one nephew (age 16 1/2 at the time this blog was posted) and three nieces (almost 14 years old, 3 years old and 11 months old at the time this blog was posted), all thanks to my younger sister. Little A is one adorable girl, and she is a happy child, according to my sister and mother. I have met her, and love her to death, just like I love all of my sister's older children. I'm hoping to see them all soon, and may even see my mom this weekend, if things work out just right!
It wasn't until March was underway that, thanks to Sandra, Book 2/Family Portraits took off like a shot out of a gun. She had an idea zoom through her head and suggested it to me. The instant I saw her idea, I could actually see and hear everything that was going on during a few of the scenes and ran with it. Her idea IS in the final product and thanks to her, Family Portraits/Book 2's ending was conceived! I knew a few things that were going to be in the book but wasn't sure on what else to slap in until I saw that fateful message from her. When an idea is so good you can see all of it happening in your head within seconds, RUN WITH IT!
Sandra's little idea wound up being the basis for most of the entire build up to the finale and everything else in between... Seriously! More on that later though...
Spring saw my dear son do something that proves to the world that kids on the autism spectrum CAN do more than "flip burgers" (quote from someone I cut out of my life about 7 years ago and who I will never let them back into it!)... He took second place in all of the grade 2 students in the Mental Math competition for our district at the Education Festival, which was held at my old high school. He went into Grade 3 with mostly As and Bs with a couple of Cs, and top math student in his grade!
It also saw me starting to write like a squirrel on speed as I started building up toward the gem that Sandra shot at me in March. As the school year started winding down, things were really moving with it. I was around Chapter 26 when school got out for the summer and although I was going batty, I managed to survive despite not being able to write a lot, even at night. The mosquito population was terrible this past year due to a lot of rain. We live between two lakes and that didn't help much either, so I wound up spending most of the time slapping mosquitoes and being so darn distracted that I didn't get much done in an hour, even with the scene RIGHT THERE in my mind. *SIGH*
Even with the late night problems, thanks to my husband, I managed to get a couple of chapters out of the way in the first couple of weeks of summer vacation. I basically gave up on writing at night for the entire month of July and into August, until I knew the provincial bird population had dropped a lot. By the time mid August rolled around, I was into Chapter 29, and a lot further along than I had hoped to be in the manuscript that close to the end of the summer.
On August 19th, I officially launched my Facebook Author's page, my author's profile and a new look for my blog here. I had chosen my pen name quite some time ago - thanks to help from several of my friends, and it's one I really like! - so the name of the page and the profile were officially changed that day, and had a new banner installed on each of them. My new blog look is the same one I have now, with the sky photo in the background and the black font. It's the same photo I use on my Twitter profile, and the same one I used to create banners for my author profile and page, and my personal/real name profile in Facebook.
Two weeks later, I officially launched my author's website and in the months since then, I've added links to where people can find me - Twitter, Google+, Facebook and this blog, and a photograph of me so people know what I look like.
Son started Grade 3 with eagerness and has one of the teacher's assistants that he had last year, the one who was with him in the afternoons. Unfortunately, we also said goodbye to the TA who had been with him since Grade primary. We loved Mrs. O and although we miss her a lot, we adore Mrs. T as well, and like Mrs. O, she's great with our boy. Again, he's top math student in his grade, and working ahead in that subject. No surprise, and I won't be surprised if he's invited to participate in the Grade 3 mental math competition this year....
Whom Gods Destroy played at two venues over the summer - Benstock in August and Local Only in early September. I was lucky enough to be able to go watch them both times, even though I kinda missed most of their set at Benstock. That said, what I did see was great, and really enjoyed both concerts. They featured local music at both and I loved hearing other local musicians strutting their stuff! All of you who read my blog and know me, know that music is as vital to me as writing. I can't sing or play an instrument to save my life, but I love it and respect and admire anyone who is talented in that area of the creative realm!
Well, after Son went back to school, things once again took off with Book 2/Family Portraits. Even with having to get a new computer - thanks to my Vista one dying - by the time the first week of October was finished, I was into Chapter 36. Not bad for only a month's worth of writing PART TIME!
Thanks to my mind running in overdrive for the next month, I managed to finish draft one of Book 2/Family Portraits on October 30th, quite a while before I expected it to happen. Like its predecessor, No Regrets/Book 1 - which starts off the series - I basically zoomed through the final ten or so chapters of it. Of course, having a lot of that written up already - the Gem that Sandra shot at me - did help, but there were a lot of things I had to wrap up, like finish that area and its aftermath, then get into the finale and finally wrapping things up so tightly that not even I could write another sequel... Unless I want to, of course. I'm not saying I will "never" write another sequel to this series, I'm saying "it's not likely". I said that before and wound up eating my words.........
Like I've said before, No Regrets/Book 1 did have a lot of unanswered questions that nagged at someone after they read it, so it's only natural that I would wind up writing a sequel to it, and finally get around to answering them. Thankfully, No Regrets hadn't been sent out to any publishers that are still in business today, so I could make all of the necessary changes in it that would make it line up with Book 2/Family Portraits a lot more. I was inserting a few things here and there into No Regrets while Family Portraits was still being written, but it wasn't until after Family Portraits was in its first perk cycle that things were really added to make things coinside a lot easier and better. I'm not saying what was added, those who have read the earlier drafts of that story know what was in there before and what is in its final, perfected draft.
I used some of the squirrel on speed energy I had from not having anything to write to perfect the grammar, proofing, formatting and overall story in No Regrets, and that was finally stamped "Perfect as I can get it" on November 7th.
In the weeks since then, I've not only gotten an idea for a new story that I've dubbed Untitled 9 at the moment, I've actually started it, even if it's only a page of stuff. That idea is a combination of two ideas from Sandra and another one of my closest writing friends (two other fellow authors), and although it hasn't really taken off yet, it may in the new year. Thanks Sandra and G! I do have a lot of material from researching, and need more, so I'm going to be doing that in between different things, like more photography and trying NOT to lose it each time I submit my work to a publisher!
Yes, we lost a few that were near and dear to our hearts, and we had a lot of ups and downs, but for the most part, I'd say that 2013 was a great year for a lot of us... I saw my mentor publish two more books in her series and saw her start the fourth one, saw another friend publish a collection of poems, met a lot of great people via various writing hang outs and other great places to put the feet up and relax online, and I was just surrounded by so many wonderful, loving and supportive people this past year. I'm so grateful to the divine and fates for every little blessing they've given me, and thank each and every single person who has been there for me, from the good times to the bad times.
Yeah, 2013 may have been a wild ride, but I enjoyed it... Even if my brain was in a writing fog for a good part of the year!
I'm hoping 2014 is just as fun, if not better. One of my new year's wishes is to get on with a great publisher and finally see my dream of becoming an author come true. I'd be flying really high if and when that happens!
Have a safe, fun and happy new year everyone! I'll be back with updates in 2014! All the best, to all of you, now and always.
~V.J~
Sunday, December 22, 2013
It's Looking a Lot Like... Spring?
No joke. Right now, although there is ice on the ground and some snow here and there, outside looks more like March or early April than it resembles December and the first of winter here. Today into tomorrow, we're getting rain and freezing rain, and it's really confusing to me to see this kind of thing outside instead of snow falling. Although we've been in the deep freeze - or what's considered "below seasonal" for my end of Canada - it still doesn't feel like winter to me yet, even with the tree up and preparations for Christmas being well underway.
In other news, my brother in law's cat Tippy isn't doing so great right now. He's at the vet, with a feeding tube, and we're hoping he'll get better so he's home in time for Christmas... But it's not looking good, he's diabetic and that's complicating things. I ask that anyone who reads this keeps Tippy in their thoughts and if they want to, say a prayer to their chosen deity for him and my in laws. All of us love that cat a lot, and we would love to see him come home, healthy and happy.
Writing wise, not much has been happening with me... I haven't gotten into Untitled 9 yet and things have been slow in coming to me.
That said, my mentor Sandra did get a copy of Book 2 and she's been trying to read it in between working on her fourth book and getting things ready for the holidays at her house. So far, only a couple of things have cropped up, and I have corrected them in Draft three of the manuscript, but she's only at the start of Chapter 14 at the moment. There's still a lot of book to cover, and I suspect I will have a number of revisions to do by the time she's finished. By the way, the current title of Book 2 is "Family Portraits"... Y'all will get why I chose that name when you read it. *wink*
Other than that, not much else is going on here other than the usual zaniness that happens for us around the holidays and me compiling the highlights of 2013 for my annual look back at the last year. Things are quiet in the writing arena for me so I probably won't be doing any more updates until the ultra long annual year end blog.
To all of my readers, friends, family and fans...
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, or one of the other wonderful holidays December has to offer... All the best in 2014, everyone, and have a safe, fun and magical holiday, from our home to yours!
In other news, my brother in law's cat Tippy isn't doing so great right now. He's at the vet, with a feeding tube, and we're hoping he'll get better so he's home in time for Christmas... But it's not looking good, he's diabetic and that's complicating things. I ask that anyone who reads this keeps Tippy in their thoughts and if they want to, say a prayer to their chosen deity for him and my in laws. All of us love that cat a lot, and we would love to see him come home, healthy and happy.
Writing wise, not much has been happening with me... I haven't gotten into Untitled 9 yet and things have been slow in coming to me.
That said, my mentor Sandra did get a copy of Book 2 and she's been trying to read it in between working on her fourth book and getting things ready for the holidays at her house. So far, only a couple of things have cropped up, and I have corrected them in Draft three of the manuscript, but she's only at the start of Chapter 14 at the moment. There's still a lot of book to cover, and I suspect I will have a number of revisions to do by the time she's finished. By the way, the current title of Book 2 is "Family Portraits"... Y'all will get why I chose that name when you read it. *wink*
Other than that, not much else is going on here other than the usual zaniness that happens for us around the holidays and me compiling the highlights of 2013 for my annual look back at the last year. Things are quiet in the writing arena for me so I probably won't be doing any more updates until the ultra long annual year end blog.
To all of my readers, friends, family and fans...
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, or one of the other wonderful holidays December has to offer... All the best in 2014, everyone, and have a safe, fun and magical holiday, from our home to yours!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Revisions, Rewrites, Compressions and Other Things...
I have been trying to get the new idea off of the ground, but it's not quite gelling yet. That tells me I may need another month or so away from forcing myself to write to let the batteries recharge a little more. It's hard going from one book to another sometimes, especially if it's a new idea with brand new characters, situations, pasts and everything else, or it is in my case. This is an idea that came to me this past month or so, courtesy of two good friends of mine that are also fellow authors, so I'm still trying to get into synch with it and get things moving along in that one.
That said, a lot happened in Book 2's edits. This past week, I reread the entire manuscript from start to finish and got a lot of the compressions, rewrites, editing and overhauls of certain spots completed in the meantime. So far, it's looking a lot better and closer to my standards for a second draft of a manuscript. It's still not there yet, and there is still a lot to do in it before I can do another huge copy/paste into a new document and put it into Draft Three.
The formatting is up to Draft Three now. Chapters now start on a new page, just like a lot of publishers like, it's in "justified" alignment (meaning the text is lined up with both left and right margins), and a lot of other things. I had written this one in Times New Roman size 12 from the start, so I'd have a lot less to do in later drafts, and I also put it with indentations at the start of a paragraph from the time I started draft one of this manuscript, again so I don't have as much to do that way in later drafts. There are one inch (2.5 cm) margins all around and I am liking the way the formatting on this one looks at this point in time.
The major edit that was bothering me this week was in the final ten pages of the manuscript. I had written things up one way, but decided it would be too boring for the reader, so I switched things around and it looks and reads a lot better now. The reader will see a lot of loose ends tied up, and no more questions about certain things will still be there at the end of this one.
I'm not saying I'll "never" write another book with that cast of characters, I'm saying it's "not likely". Look what happened the last time I said "never"... I don't want to eat my own words again, so I'm being cautious from now on!
When Book 2 goes into Draft Three mode, I will be sending a copy to Sandra, for her reading pleasure. I hope she likes it as much as she liked Book 1/"No Regrets"....
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll update if anything new happens here writing wise, and my annual look back at the year will be coming up either later this month or first thing in January. Watch for it!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Here We Go Again....
It's official:
I now have a folder set up and the idea I got thanks to my mentor and another writing friend/fellow author has been dubbed "Untitled 9". I set up the folder this evening and now have everything I have so far added to it.
I have a feeling of deja vu, probably because a similar thing happened to me last year about this time... Anyone who has been following my blog over the last eighteen months or so will note that although I finished "No Regrets" draft one on October 19, 2012, I had the idea for Book 2 less than a month later. Yeah, it feels exactly like things did last year when I first started jotting down ideas for what was dubbed "Untitled 8" back then and what turned into Book 2 over time.
However, unlike last year, I'm starting from scratch this time, so in that way, it feels like I did when I first started developing ideas for the characters in "No Regrets" and where things took place, etc. This one is still in its embryonic stages and although I have a few ideas for various things and part of a scene somewhat "gelled" in the brain, I have a lot of things to figure out, like how to start off Chapter One for starters. Things may be slower with getting this idea off the ground for that very reason, but I'm sure with a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears amongst a lot of researching, days of wanting to bash my head against the wall, turning the air blue in here thanks to a lot of "choice words" and so many other things that make up being an author, I will get things moving in this one at some point, especially once Book 2 fades from the mind a lot more and the writing batteries come back up from being so drained.
It feels odd working on something fresh, brand new and unknown, but I hope that feeling goes away very soon and I'm able to get into it like I did with my first two books. Switching gears to a new story with an entire new cast of characters may seem daunting at first, and it is hard to do it sometimes, but I am determined to get moving forward with my writing again, even if it takes me into the new year to get things going with this new idea or another one. It took me three entire months to get into the groove of Book 2, and I'm not expecting much to happen other than the occasional idea popping into my brain before that time period is up this time around.
I've started the Ideas for Scenes file for this one and will be starting a rough timeline tomorrow. I already know what will happen overall in the story, but am not sure on a few things... Like how the main characters wind up in their situations at the start of the book for example, and who the antagonists are/will be, and so on. Things will come to me over time, as the story is slowly revealed to me in my mind. More questions are in my head right now... Like how much time passes between the first word of the first page to the final word on the last page of it? How long is it before the leading couple get involved?... And so many others are starting to bounce around in there.
The questions are good things. They keep me thinking and wondering how a new story will unfold, and also keep me focused on finally seeing its full picture in time. Right now, it's sort of like looking up at the night sky, and only seeing one or two stars peeking through a cloud cover.... Slowly over a few hours, the rest of the constellation and later on, the rest of the stars are revealed to you. That is the best way I can describe something like starting a brand new story from scratch for anyone who hasn't tried it, or wants to try writing something, even a short story.
I just hope the questions do not stop for this one, and I get sucked into it like I did with the previous two. With a little luck, I will be back at it sometime soon, and back to driving my poor husband, son and mentor nuts with seeing me being spaced out all of the time because my mind is so focused on the new project.
Have a great night everyone.
I now have a folder set up and the idea I got thanks to my mentor and another writing friend/fellow author has been dubbed "Untitled 9". I set up the folder this evening and now have everything I have so far added to it.
I have a feeling of deja vu, probably because a similar thing happened to me last year about this time... Anyone who has been following my blog over the last eighteen months or so will note that although I finished "No Regrets" draft one on October 19, 2012, I had the idea for Book 2 less than a month later. Yeah, it feels exactly like things did last year when I first started jotting down ideas for what was dubbed "Untitled 8" back then and what turned into Book 2 over time.
However, unlike last year, I'm starting from scratch this time, so in that way, it feels like I did when I first started developing ideas for the characters in "No Regrets" and where things took place, etc. This one is still in its embryonic stages and although I have a few ideas for various things and part of a scene somewhat "gelled" in the brain, I have a lot of things to figure out, like how to start off Chapter One for starters. Things may be slower with getting this idea off the ground for that very reason, but I'm sure with a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears amongst a lot of researching, days of wanting to bash my head against the wall, turning the air blue in here thanks to a lot of "choice words" and so many other things that make up being an author, I will get things moving in this one at some point, especially once Book 2 fades from the mind a lot more and the writing batteries come back up from being so drained.
It feels odd working on something fresh, brand new and unknown, but I hope that feeling goes away very soon and I'm able to get into it like I did with my first two books. Switching gears to a new story with an entire new cast of characters may seem daunting at first, and it is hard to do it sometimes, but I am determined to get moving forward with my writing again, even if it takes me into the new year to get things going with this new idea or another one. It took me three entire months to get into the groove of Book 2, and I'm not expecting much to happen other than the occasional idea popping into my brain before that time period is up this time around.
I've started the Ideas for Scenes file for this one and will be starting a rough timeline tomorrow. I already know what will happen overall in the story, but am not sure on a few things... Like how the main characters wind up in their situations at the start of the book for example, and who the antagonists are/will be, and so on. Things will come to me over time, as the story is slowly revealed to me in my mind. More questions are in my head right now... Like how much time passes between the first word of the first page to the final word on the last page of it? How long is it before the leading couple get involved?... And so many others are starting to bounce around in there.
The questions are good things. They keep me thinking and wondering how a new story will unfold, and also keep me focused on finally seeing its full picture in time. Right now, it's sort of like looking up at the night sky, and only seeing one or two stars peeking through a cloud cover.... Slowly over a few hours, the rest of the constellation and later on, the rest of the stars are revealed to you. That is the best way I can describe something like starting a brand new story from scratch for anyone who hasn't tried it, or wants to try writing something, even a short story.
I just hope the questions do not stop for this one, and I get sucked into it like I did with the previous two. With a little luck, I will be back at it sometime soon, and back to driving my poor husband, son and mentor nuts with seeing me being spaced out all of the time because my mind is so focused on the new project.
Have a great night everyone.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Slowly Changing the Gears...
It's been a full week since Book 2 went into stasis, and so far, so good. I'm getting urges to work on it, but at the same time, I'm able to stay away from it for now. Yes, it's hard to do sometimes, but so far, I'm managing and although there are some days I have to hand the computer over to someone else, it's not as bad as what it was last year after I put "No Regrets" into stasis for the first time.
This last week has been interesting to say the least. My husband was working all evening shifts - minus this weekend, where he was working two day shifts - so I haven't had any days that I was home alone all day and wanted to write. Friday will be the big test for me, because I'll be home alone all day that day, but thanks to a few things popping up here and there, I may not be all that crazy that day.
You see, my beloved mentor shot an idea at me for a possible storyline, and I copied it and pasted it into an "Ideas" file, just in case. I'm not going to say what it is publicly, y'all know how I tend to be closed mouthed about my stories and their plots, but it's a good idea that has merit and it is within the "romance with a twist" genre I write in. I was mulling over the idea for a bit, thought about modifying it a little bit and set it aside while I relaxed and tried to keep sane from not having anything to do with the writing open on my taskbar.
Over the weekend, I said something about not feeling great, and of course, my writing buddies chimed in with their support and friendship, with a few reminders I'll be okay (that's normal, we support each other fully in all aspects of our lives, not just writing!), and one of them said to message them. I did, and thanks to this friend, I started having quite a few questions bouncing around, and he gave me a few extra to think about.
Thanks to him and my mentor, I *may* have a new idea for a future manuscript. What it consists of is their ideas combined together into one, with a few modifications. There is a huge twist to it, one that hit me while I was talking to both of them, and it's going to work, if I can do it just right.
Again, I'm keeping the mouth shut on what it is publicly, just like I didn't share any of the storylines from "No Regrets" and "Book 2" while I was writing them. I don't even know if this new idea will turn into anything or not at this point, it's very early in its conception stages, and I'm not sure what the main characters look like, let alone their personalities, their careers, or anything else for that matter. All I have right now is the combined ideas from my two friends, with the big twist, where in Canada the story will be set, and the leading characters' first names. That's it.
I know, it's not much, but at least I have more today than I did last week, so it is progress of a sort. Yes, I am looking at the bright side of this, I'm still the eternal optimist, and it's times like this that I am grateful that I'm so sunny-natured. I swear that's the only thing that keeps me going some days, that and my son and husband.
So today, and possibly the rest of the week, I plan on jotting down ideas and doing research on everything I have so far for the new idea. I'm not classifying it as anything like "untitled 9" or "book 3" yet, because I'm not sure how far it's going to go, or even if it's going to make liftoff right now. It's something I hope to turn into another book in time, and there may be a book or two in between today and this one getting off the ground for all I know at this point. We'll just have to see how things go with this one, and future ideas.
On another topic, I'd like to thank everyone who commented or sent me anniversary wishes yesterday and today. Yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary, and the day was extra special thanks to our family and friends sending us congratulations and well wishes.
Before I close, I would also like to remind everyone that although today is Remembrance Day here in Canada, remember our veterans and our allied forces year round instead of only one day of the year. Our world would be a much different place if they hadn't protected our freedom, after all.
"Highway of Heroes" by the Trews...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Feeling Like a Squirrel on Speed, 2013 Edition, Part 2: It's Sinking In!
It's official: Book 2 went into its first stasis/perk cycle as of 8:58 a.m. Atlantic Time on Monday, November 4th, 2013.
I wasn't doing great after I closed it. I started getting jumpy, feeling out of sorts and wanted to open it and work on it, but I couldn't, not if I wanted to let it sit for a while and let it fade from my memory so I could edit it properly when the time is right. It's a hard thing to do when you suddenly set aside a project that has consumed your life for a while, even only a few months like Book 2 did with me, but you have to do it, if you want to be able to catch any errors that you had missed during the time you were working on it. My mentor has told me several times that sometimes the mind will automatically fill in a missing word or comma, etc, and you don't catch it until later on, sometimes after it's published. People who haven't read the work will notice it but you won't, because your mind is correcting it unconsciously.
She is right. I was noticing my mind was doing that with Book 1/No Regrets, and now that it's gone through not one, but several perk cycles, I was seeing errors galore in it, even after letting it perk for only a week or two.
I wasn't seeing many errors in Book 2 during the last few edits on it before I finished it, and that was telling me it really needed to be set aside for a while before I attacked Draft 2 and made all of the changes and other things I need to do on it to get it closer to perfect. I'm not doing them right now. The story itself is too fresh in the mind to start it and I want it to perk for a while before I start doing anything related to it. So, during the last read through of its entire document, I took notes in a separate file and highlighted areas in its Draft 2 file that need to be changed. They're color coded, so I can easily find what needs to be compressed, rewritten, 86'ed, and so on when the time is right.
Since I wasn't feeling the best yesterday and it felt weird having nothing open writing wise on the taskbar, I decided that it was time to relax and do one last read through of Book 1/No Regrets, so I could see if there were any more errors in it, and to see if everything flowed smoothly. Of course, the one day where I needed to block everything out and not have any distractions is the time I get flooded with them. *SIGH* Out of the first six hours I had Book 1 open on the taskbar yesterday, I didn't make it past the middle of Chapter 2. It wasn't until I literally started losing it around Sanctuary and with some people in Facebook (as in babbling nonsense and laughing at stuff that wasn't really funny!) that things finally settled down, and I was able to carry on for a bit. I gave up at the start of Chapter Four, due to homework time for Son approaching and the fact that I was too jumpy and distracted to continue.
Today, I'm a little better. I'm deeper into the last edit/read through, and even with a few gallons of coffee in me, I'm not so jumpy right now. Maybe doing what I did by holding back on sending Book 1 out to publishers wasn't a bad idea after all, even though I had originally wanted to have it sent out by the time it was a year since I finished its first draft... That was on October 19th, but I kind of missed that self set deadline. Oh, well. At least I'm getting it ready now and hopefully won't be too out of it when I finally do get it sent out. (Reminder: Only a few people will know when and where it goes, and if I get rejected. I won't say it publicly because I do not want to disappoint a lot of people!)
That said, I'm only on Chapter Seven of the final run through of No Regrets/Book 1 right now. I'm going over it with an ultra fine toothed comb, to be sure I didn't miss anything at all. I am still seeing a few missing commas and words here and there, and seeing a few spots where the wording can be changed around or compressed a little, and I'm doing all of it as I go.
I'm hoping to have this last run through of Book 1/No Regrets' final draft done by the 23rd, which is the American Thanksgiving. With a little luck, I'll be done long before that and my mentor, Sandra, will have the fully updated draft in her inbox, for her enjoyment, and to see if I missed anything on the last few readings of it. She really enjoyed an earlier draft of it, so I hope she likes the updated version of it, which includes a few extras to fully line things up with what goes on in Book 2's story. I'm not saying what those changes are, she knows what they are because she helped me with not only them, the entire story of Book 2 and parts of Book 1/No Regrets. She has been there with me since I first got the idea for Book 1/No Regrets, and I trust her fully with it. It's thanks to her ideas for it and shooting both the original idea *and* the big scary part of Book 2 at me that I was able to keep going and really get into both books. She's done the same with me and her work, including talking to me about her fourth book, which is currently "under production", and she knows if she needs to brainstorm, I'm there and will do my best to help her with it like she helped me with my two books.
Others have helped me and encouraged me too... One of my best friends, my "Peapod" and twin sister-soul mate, who I met on a large spiritual forum, helped me get the first love scene in Book 1/No Regrets perfected. I was online, talking to her privately when I did the full rewrite on that section, and thanks to her help, that particular scene and the teaser that eventually leads into it were perfected. What is in the final draft of No Regrets/Book 1 is pretty much what I had written that night, with the verb tense corrected that is. (Don't get me started on how horrible my verb tense was in the first draft of the first 37 chapters of that book in draft one!)
I had several friends and others read snippets of Book 1/No Regrets over time, and thanks to everyone's help, I have managed to see what I was doing wrong, was I was getting right, and my strengths and weaknesses. Dialogue was never my strong point, it was one of the weakest (or as I called it, my "Achilles Hell") and after a while, I noticed it was easier to write, thanks to some brutally honest criticism and encouragement from my mentor, my Peapod and so many others out there.
No one knows just how much I appreciate everything... From the big boosts and brainstorming, like the ones I got from Sandra, Peapod and a few others, to the smallest things like only a smile of encouragement. It all helped me get to this point, and I'm grateful for every single word, gesture and hug sent to me over the last two and a half years, ever since Book 1/No Regrets started to take over almost every aspect of my life.
So, although the crash back to reality did hit me somewhat hard this time, it's not as bad as it was last year when I finally set Book 1/No Regrets aside to perk for a while. It could be because I have something to do other than twiddle the thumbs and attack a thousand dreamcatcher kits while I drive my husband and my poor trusted best friends nuts, or try to get into another writing project before the writing batteries are fully recharged. I admit, both books took a lot out of me, because I was so absorbed in them and the fact that Book 2's story was a difficult story to write by times considering the nature of it, and it will be a while before I can even consider diving head first into another writing project, not even one I have from the time before No Regrets was conceived. Yes, the RH overhaul has been put aside yet again and I'm wondering if I'll ever get it published, or done for that matter. It's hard to say. The No Regrets/FP series is still pretty fresh in my mind at this time, and until the urge to write yet another sequel to it is gone and I feel I can move on from it, I don't see anything new happening writing wise for a while. Folks, I've lived with some of these characters in my head for over two years, and sometimes it's really hard to let go of them, even if you wrote only one book about them and their lives. (I'm sure others will get what I mean!) It's a rough thing to say goodbye to them, although I know it's time to move on with new characters, new stories and other mysteries and twists and turns that not even I expect to happen, whether my brain wants to or not. Believe me, sometimes it doesn't want to let go and I have to distract myself with something like a movie or an episode of one of my favorite shows until the brain relaxes again. It's hard to do, but I have to do it, if I want to write anything other than stories about this dynamic, fun and interesting group of characters.
I hope all of you have a great week, and hopefully I'll be able to alert my "writing buddies" via FB that I have sent No Regrets off to a publisher finally, sometime soon. It's time to start showing off that particular baby, and pray that someone out there gives me a chance.
Thanks again to all who have supported me. Love you all!
I wasn't doing great after I closed it. I started getting jumpy, feeling out of sorts and wanted to open it and work on it, but I couldn't, not if I wanted to let it sit for a while and let it fade from my memory so I could edit it properly when the time is right. It's a hard thing to do when you suddenly set aside a project that has consumed your life for a while, even only a few months like Book 2 did with me, but you have to do it, if you want to be able to catch any errors that you had missed during the time you were working on it. My mentor has told me several times that sometimes the mind will automatically fill in a missing word or comma, etc, and you don't catch it until later on, sometimes after it's published. People who haven't read the work will notice it but you won't, because your mind is correcting it unconsciously.
She is right. I was noticing my mind was doing that with Book 1/No Regrets, and now that it's gone through not one, but several perk cycles, I was seeing errors galore in it, even after letting it perk for only a week or two.
I wasn't seeing many errors in Book 2 during the last few edits on it before I finished it, and that was telling me it really needed to be set aside for a while before I attacked Draft 2 and made all of the changes and other things I need to do on it to get it closer to perfect. I'm not doing them right now. The story itself is too fresh in the mind to start it and I want it to perk for a while before I start doing anything related to it. So, during the last read through of its entire document, I took notes in a separate file and highlighted areas in its Draft 2 file that need to be changed. They're color coded, so I can easily find what needs to be compressed, rewritten, 86'ed, and so on when the time is right.
Since I wasn't feeling the best yesterday and it felt weird having nothing open writing wise on the taskbar, I decided that it was time to relax and do one last read through of Book 1/No Regrets, so I could see if there were any more errors in it, and to see if everything flowed smoothly. Of course, the one day where I needed to block everything out and not have any distractions is the time I get flooded with them. *SIGH* Out of the first six hours I had Book 1 open on the taskbar yesterday, I didn't make it past the middle of Chapter 2. It wasn't until I literally started losing it around Sanctuary and with some people in Facebook (as in babbling nonsense and laughing at stuff that wasn't really funny!) that things finally settled down, and I was able to carry on for a bit. I gave up at the start of Chapter Four, due to homework time for Son approaching and the fact that I was too jumpy and distracted to continue.
Today, I'm a little better. I'm deeper into the last edit/read through, and even with a few gallons of coffee in me, I'm not so jumpy right now. Maybe doing what I did by holding back on sending Book 1 out to publishers wasn't a bad idea after all, even though I had originally wanted to have it sent out by the time it was a year since I finished its first draft... That was on October 19th, but I kind of missed that self set deadline. Oh, well. At least I'm getting it ready now and hopefully won't be too out of it when I finally do get it sent out. (Reminder: Only a few people will know when and where it goes, and if I get rejected. I won't say it publicly because I do not want to disappoint a lot of people!)
That said, I'm only on Chapter Seven of the final run through of No Regrets/Book 1 right now. I'm going over it with an ultra fine toothed comb, to be sure I didn't miss anything at all. I am still seeing a few missing commas and words here and there, and seeing a few spots where the wording can be changed around or compressed a little, and I'm doing all of it as I go.
I'm hoping to have this last run through of Book 1/No Regrets' final draft done by the 23rd, which is the American Thanksgiving. With a little luck, I'll be done long before that and my mentor, Sandra, will have the fully updated draft in her inbox, for her enjoyment, and to see if I missed anything on the last few readings of it. She really enjoyed an earlier draft of it, so I hope she likes the updated version of it, which includes a few extras to fully line things up with what goes on in Book 2's story. I'm not saying what those changes are, she knows what they are because she helped me with not only them, the entire story of Book 2 and parts of Book 1/No Regrets. She has been there with me since I first got the idea for Book 1/No Regrets, and I trust her fully with it. It's thanks to her ideas for it and shooting both the original idea *and* the big scary part of Book 2 at me that I was able to keep going and really get into both books. She's done the same with me and her work, including talking to me about her fourth book, which is currently "under production", and she knows if she needs to brainstorm, I'm there and will do my best to help her with it like she helped me with my two books.
Others have helped me and encouraged me too... One of my best friends, my "Peapod" and twin sister-soul mate, who I met on a large spiritual forum, helped me get the first love scene in Book 1/No Regrets perfected. I was online, talking to her privately when I did the full rewrite on that section, and thanks to her help, that particular scene and the teaser that eventually leads into it were perfected. What is in the final draft of No Regrets/Book 1 is pretty much what I had written that night, with the verb tense corrected that is. (Don't get me started on how horrible my verb tense was in the first draft of the first 37 chapters of that book in draft one!)
I had several friends and others read snippets of Book 1/No Regrets over time, and thanks to everyone's help, I have managed to see what I was doing wrong, was I was getting right, and my strengths and weaknesses. Dialogue was never my strong point, it was one of the weakest (or as I called it, my "Achilles Hell") and after a while, I noticed it was easier to write, thanks to some brutally honest criticism and encouragement from my mentor, my Peapod and so many others out there.
No one knows just how much I appreciate everything... From the big boosts and brainstorming, like the ones I got from Sandra, Peapod and a few others, to the smallest things like only a smile of encouragement. It all helped me get to this point, and I'm grateful for every single word, gesture and hug sent to me over the last two and a half years, ever since Book 1/No Regrets started to take over almost every aspect of my life.
So, although the crash back to reality did hit me somewhat hard this time, it's not as bad as it was last year when I finally set Book 1/No Regrets aside to perk for a while. It could be because I have something to do other than twiddle the thumbs and attack a thousand dreamcatcher kits while I drive my husband and my poor trusted best friends nuts, or try to get into another writing project before the writing batteries are fully recharged. I admit, both books took a lot out of me, because I was so absorbed in them and the fact that Book 2's story was a difficult story to write by times considering the nature of it, and it will be a while before I can even consider diving head first into another writing project, not even one I have from the time before No Regrets was conceived. Yes, the RH overhaul has been put aside yet again and I'm wondering if I'll ever get it published, or done for that matter. It's hard to say. The No Regrets/FP series is still pretty fresh in my mind at this time, and until the urge to write yet another sequel to it is gone and I feel I can move on from it, I don't see anything new happening writing wise for a while. Folks, I've lived with some of these characters in my head for over two years, and sometimes it's really hard to let go of them, even if you wrote only one book about them and their lives. (I'm sure others will get what I mean!) It's a rough thing to say goodbye to them, although I know it's time to move on with new characters, new stories and other mysteries and twists and turns that not even I expect to happen, whether my brain wants to or not. Believe me, sometimes it doesn't want to let go and I have to distract myself with something like a movie or an episode of one of my favorite shows until the brain relaxes again. It's hard to do, but I have to do it, if I want to write anything other than stories about this dynamic, fun and interesting group of characters.
I hope all of you have a great week, and hopefully I'll be able to alert my "writing buddies" via FB that I have sent No Regrets off to a publisher finally, sometime soon. It's time to start showing off that particular baby, and pray that someone out there gives me a chance.
Thanks again to all who have supported me. Love you all!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Closing In, Part One...
Another writing day has passed and this little aspiring author went berserk in her word processor...
I was having problems getting part of the "aftermath" of the big discovery written up. I wasn't sure how to lead off into it, and I wasn't sure exactly how to have two very special characters react to the news that had been years in the making. So, I thought about it for a while and just "winged" it, like I do sometimes when I'm writing, and before I knew it, I had it written and was on the next scene.
Chapter 36 was wrapped up, Chapter 37 started, and the story is now in the "calm before the super-storm" area, and the build up to the big "UH OH" part is rolling along in the sidelines. The reader will know something is going to happen, but not what, and it won't be a huge surprise for them when they finally get to that part.
I did see I have to add something in, something that is more in line with a character's personality than what it is. I'll be adding that in during my editing time later this week, and tweaking the "UH OH" part (what's written in it so far) so it's just about ready to be spliced in. I've been working on getting that ready but between everything happening here, and with our crazy schedules, it's been tough finding time to get things done without using some of my actual writing time... Since I want to keep as much of that as possible, I've been trying to work on things while Son is quiet and Hubby is at work. Sometimes it works, other times, forget it. *SIGH* I have noticed a few spots in both the main manuscript file and the "super-storm" file that need to be tweaked, 86'ed or changed/rewritten, and will be doing that as things progress, or in Draft Two of this one. All areas are highlighted and noted in the scenes/notes files as a reminder.
I've also been cleaning up the grammar, etc in Book 1/"No Regrets" again, and lining things up more with Book 2's plot, facts, etc so it's not much of a shock to the reader about different things in relation to either story and some facts about all of the characters, how they know each other and so on. I've had to add a few things here and there into "No Regrets" but that's nothing compared to having to do the entire thing over, and I'm glad I'm catching things now before I send it out to publishers. I'm also glad I'm NOT on a deadline right now! I did see just this morning that I "should" add a teeny bit of info in the epilogue to line things up even more with Book 2, and I will probably do that tomorrow, when I do not have Doctor Who on the TV to distract me!
Friday was another 4500 word day, and the gap between where I am in the main file and the big splice is closing in fast.
I will have two and a half writing days this coming week, and I'm hoping to get closer to doing that huge splice. At this moment, that part is about 39 pages long, but I have a few additions to make, to make things line up better with the main storyline and some other things that came up in the last couple of weeks when I was writing by the seat of my jeans!
For those in Canada, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those in the United States, have a wonderful Columbus Day weekend.
I'll be back with another update when things progress more in the writing.
I was having problems getting part of the "aftermath" of the big discovery written up. I wasn't sure how to lead off into it, and I wasn't sure exactly how to have two very special characters react to the news that had been years in the making. So, I thought about it for a while and just "winged" it, like I do sometimes when I'm writing, and before I knew it, I had it written and was on the next scene.
Chapter 36 was wrapped up, Chapter 37 started, and the story is now in the "calm before the super-storm" area, and the build up to the big "UH OH" part is rolling along in the sidelines. The reader will know something is going to happen, but not what, and it won't be a huge surprise for them when they finally get to that part.
I did see I have to add something in, something that is more in line with a character's personality than what it is. I'll be adding that in during my editing time later this week, and tweaking the "UH OH" part (what's written in it so far) so it's just about ready to be spliced in. I've been working on getting that ready but between everything happening here, and with our crazy schedules, it's been tough finding time to get things done without using some of my actual writing time... Since I want to keep as much of that as possible, I've been trying to work on things while Son is quiet and Hubby is at work. Sometimes it works, other times, forget it. *SIGH* I have noticed a few spots in both the main manuscript file and the "super-storm" file that need to be tweaked, 86'ed or changed/rewritten, and will be doing that as things progress, or in Draft Two of this one. All areas are highlighted and noted in the scenes/notes files as a reminder.
I've also been cleaning up the grammar, etc in Book 1/"No Regrets" again, and lining things up more with Book 2's plot, facts, etc so it's not much of a shock to the reader about different things in relation to either story and some facts about all of the characters, how they know each other and so on. I've had to add a few things here and there into "No Regrets" but that's nothing compared to having to do the entire thing over, and I'm glad I'm catching things now before I send it out to publishers. I'm also glad I'm NOT on a deadline right now! I did see just this morning that I "should" add a teeny bit of info in the epilogue to line things up even more with Book 2, and I will probably do that tomorrow, when I do not have Doctor Who on the TV to distract me!
Friday was another 4500 word day, and the gap between where I am in the main file and the big splice is closing in fast.
I will have two and a half writing days this coming week, and I'm hoping to get closer to doing that huge splice. At this moment, that part is about 39 pages long, but I have a few additions to make, to make things line up better with the main storyline and some other things that came up in the last couple of weeks when I was writing by the seat of my jeans!
For those in Canada, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those in the United States, have a wonderful Columbus Day weekend.
I'll be back with another update when things progress more in the writing.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Writing Along Like A Squirrel on Speed...
The week isn't done yet and things are really moving fast in my writing world...
Monday and Tuesday were writing days. My husband had to work both day shifts, and since last Friday was an inservice for students in our district - which meant no writing for me - I wanted to get back into working on Book 2 of my duology.
After a quick reread/edit to refresh the memory on Monday, I dove into it and before I knew it, it was time to go to the bus stop. When I did a word count on that day's work, it was almost five thousand words! Yes, things were flowing freely that day, and I think my creative energy was the highest it's been since I was working on No Regrets/Book 1 last year this time.
Tuesday was just like Monday, but even more creative. I got over 5,000 words added that day!
However, after having two days in a row that were ultra productive, it was taking me a long time to get out of the writing fog on Tuesday and I couldn't concentrate well enough to do a full edit on both days' work. I wasn't in any shape to be online or around others either, so I wound up having to go offline early that day and just relax.
It was still there yesterday and I was offline before 1 p.m. my time. I caught up on some sleep, and despite feeling a little better, that writing fog was still there. I took the day off from even looking at any parts of Book 2 or any manuscripts at all. It was either do that or burn out again, and I really paid up for those two days by being a space cadet yesterday.
Today, I finally got around to doing the full reread/detailed edit on what I wrote up so far this week, and so far so good. It's solid, and Draft One Worthy as it stands now. Things may be changed here and there in Draft 2 and subsequent drafts but it's working for now.
Since I'm also getting closer and closer to splicing in that UH OH idea my beloved mentor gave me, I decided a reread/major tweaking in that was needed. I now know how to lead into it, so that's been tossed in. Some things that have already been confirmed or said earlier on in the main file were deleted/condensed, some stuff was added and others changed to line up with everything else. So far, what's written up for that part so far is looking good and hopefully I won't have to do much more to it before and after it's spliced in. It's not completed yet, although I do know how things work out, but that's okay, it'll give me something to do once it's spliced in. I also have to do the aftermath and the grand finale, and then get things so tightly tied up in the epilogue that I can NOT write any more books in this series.
As much as I love the characters and really don't want to say good bye to any of them, I don't want to write only stuff about that particular family and would like to have other books on my resume other than ones about that particular group. I want to do at least one book that has NOTHING to do with these two, if not more than that. I don't have any new ideas at the moment, but then again, I am very focused on getting Book 2 finished and getting No Regrets/Book 1 ready for publishers right now. New ideas will come in time, or maybe I'll get lucky and be able to get moving in RH's overhaul/rewrite again. That story is very complicated, almost as bad as Book 2 by times, and I wouldn't mind getting it finished and out there sometime, even if I wind up going the vanity press route with it in the future. It's quite a bit rougher in nature than my duology, and Book 2 is pretty rough on its own. The subject matter of RH can be considered controversial, and may be upsetting to some viewers, but in other ways, it's not as bad as other books out there when it comes to being "rough" or "too hard hitting" so to speak.
Ugh, I'll just have to see how things go when Book 2 is done. I have a few things planned in the creative realm so I don't go so nuts this time like I did when I wrapped up Draft 1 of "No Regrets"/Book 1 last year... I was driving myself crazy, and I pitied anyone who saw me losing it full force - notably my mentor, some of the gang in Sanctuary, and a few other ultra close friends. "Hummingbird on speed" isn't even close to describing how I was feeling after Book 1's first draft was done and during its initial perk cycle! I am NOT going to be making another ten dreamcatchers... I refuse to go that route again, my poor hands cannot take it! I wouldn't mind doing some photography while I'm recharging the writing batteries, like maybe designing a cover photo for Book 4 of the Keyholder's Castle series for when Sandra has that ready for publication... HINT HINT! (She knows she has my services free of charge at any time, and knows how much I love photography and designing things like that!) Heck I may even look at doing original photos for my own work, whether I get on with a publishing house or not. I have an idea for Book 1's cover now, and would like to use it somehow... Heh.
Anyway, tomorrow is another writing day for me, and if I can get another 2,000 words added, I'll be a happy girl. Tired too, but that's okay. I am an author, or at least an aspiring one!, and if doing what I love makes me tired, who cares! I'm doing what I love, that's the main thing!
Have a great Thursday everyone!
Monday and Tuesday were writing days. My husband had to work both day shifts, and since last Friday was an inservice for students in our district - which meant no writing for me - I wanted to get back into working on Book 2 of my duology.
After a quick reread/edit to refresh the memory on Monday, I dove into it and before I knew it, it was time to go to the bus stop. When I did a word count on that day's work, it was almost five thousand words! Yes, things were flowing freely that day, and I think my creative energy was the highest it's been since I was working on No Regrets/Book 1 last year this time.
Tuesday was just like Monday, but even more creative. I got over 5,000 words added that day!
However, after having two days in a row that were ultra productive, it was taking me a long time to get out of the writing fog on Tuesday and I couldn't concentrate well enough to do a full edit on both days' work. I wasn't in any shape to be online or around others either, so I wound up having to go offline early that day and just relax.
It was still there yesterday and I was offline before 1 p.m. my time. I caught up on some sleep, and despite feeling a little better, that writing fog was still there. I took the day off from even looking at any parts of Book 2 or any manuscripts at all. It was either do that or burn out again, and I really paid up for those two days by being a space cadet yesterday.
Today, I finally got around to doing the full reread/detailed edit on what I wrote up so far this week, and so far so good. It's solid, and Draft One Worthy as it stands now. Things may be changed here and there in Draft 2 and subsequent drafts but it's working for now.
Since I'm also getting closer and closer to splicing in that UH OH idea my beloved mentor gave me, I decided a reread/major tweaking in that was needed. I now know how to lead into it, so that's been tossed in. Some things that have already been confirmed or said earlier on in the main file were deleted/condensed, some stuff was added and others changed to line up with everything else. So far, what's written up for that part so far is looking good and hopefully I won't have to do much more to it before and after it's spliced in. It's not completed yet, although I do know how things work out, but that's okay, it'll give me something to do once it's spliced in. I also have to do the aftermath and the grand finale, and then get things so tightly tied up in the epilogue that I can NOT write any more books in this series.
As much as I love the characters and really don't want to say good bye to any of them, I don't want to write only stuff about that particular family and would like to have other books on my resume other than ones about that particular group. I want to do at least one book that has NOTHING to do with these two, if not more than that. I don't have any new ideas at the moment, but then again, I am very focused on getting Book 2 finished and getting No Regrets/Book 1 ready for publishers right now. New ideas will come in time, or maybe I'll get lucky and be able to get moving in RH's overhaul/rewrite again. That story is very complicated, almost as bad as Book 2 by times, and I wouldn't mind getting it finished and out there sometime, even if I wind up going the vanity press route with it in the future. It's quite a bit rougher in nature than my duology, and Book 2 is pretty rough on its own. The subject matter of RH can be considered controversial, and may be upsetting to some viewers, but in other ways, it's not as bad as other books out there when it comes to being "rough" or "too hard hitting" so to speak.
Ugh, I'll just have to see how things go when Book 2 is done. I have a few things planned in the creative realm so I don't go so nuts this time like I did when I wrapped up Draft 1 of "No Regrets"/Book 1 last year... I was driving myself crazy, and I pitied anyone who saw me losing it full force - notably my mentor, some of the gang in Sanctuary, and a few other ultra close friends. "Hummingbird on speed" isn't even close to describing how I was feeling after Book 1's first draft was done and during its initial perk cycle! I am NOT going to be making another ten dreamcatchers... I refuse to go that route again, my poor hands cannot take it! I wouldn't mind doing some photography while I'm recharging the writing batteries, like maybe designing a cover photo for Book 4 of the Keyholder's Castle series for when Sandra has that ready for publication... HINT HINT! (She knows she has my services free of charge at any time, and knows how much I love photography and designing things like that!) Heck I may even look at doing original photos for my own work, whether I get on with a publishing house or not. I have an idea for Book 1's cover now, and would like to use it somehow... Heh.
Anyway, tomorrow is another writing day for me, and if I can get another 2,000 words added, I'll be a happy girl. Tired too, but that's okay. I am an author, or at least an aspiring one!, and if doing what I love makes me tired, who cares! I'm doing what I love, that's the main thing!
Have a great Thursday everyone!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
No Official Writing Day? No Problem!
Friday is a school inservice and Hubby didn't work any day shifts during the days that Son was in school this week, but it was still a productive week for me writing wise.
Monday, I added over 3000 words to Chapter 32. However, after looking it over and realizing nothing new really came out of that part until almost the very end of it, I decided it needed to be condensed or removed. It was dragging things down a little and I was worried the reader may get bored. So after contemplating for a while, I decided to condense it into a few paragraphs with a few key points highlighted instead. It went from over 7 pages down to one and a half after the condensing. The reader will still know what happened but only the "quick version" of it and the story will progress a little faster in that spot.
Chapter 32 continues with a little humor, then more serious scenes. I'm really starting to build up to the big UH OH my dear friend and mentor, Sandra, shot at me back in the spring and if I can do it JUST SO, I may have ten chapters or less to add into the gap before the big splice. Yes, I have a draft of the UH OH part written up already, although it's not completed and needs a tonne of tweaking to fit in with the rest of the story. I started writing that up in mid-March, and I don't think I had up to Chapter 10 in the main manuscript at that point so I wasn't sure about a lot of things then, like how the leading man interacts with certain members of the leading lady's family and other stuff. I have a lot of work to do just to get the UH OH part up to snuff, and that's an understatement. Thank the stars I am not on a deadline, I'll say that much!
I managed to wrap up Chapter 32, and get into Chapter 33. That's about one third to halfway finished at this point. Things are "condensed" a little in that chapter by times too, because if I wrote up everything that was being said, etc, the reader would get bored. It's another "going over" what they found out so far with the mystery of the book, and although some key points are shown, I thought it was best to keep it short and simple and keep moving onward.
I had been prepared to have only editing time this week, but with circumstances and my husband getting called into work on two days, I managed to get some writing time in and I'm grateful for it. I was ready to start chomping on the monitor again, but luckily, I didn't have to.
The downside of all of the extra writing time is that my brain feels like it went through the rinse cycle, my eyes feel like they're going to start bleeding in protest at any time, and the CTS has been acting up, big time. I don't have any more writing time ahead until next week sometime, so I'm going to take the weekend off from adding anything new, and just edit, proof and relax for a few hours. I need a short break from it, just a few days, due to the emotional intensity of the last couple of chapters and the fact I don't want to get burned out. Last year this time, things were moving quickly with "No Regrets" and although I was a lot further along in that story this time last year than I am with Book 2 now, Book 2 is sucking me in almost as much as "No Regrets" was in the last weeks before Draft 1 of that story was finished. In some ways, that's a good thing, in others - notably due to the fact I have limited writing time! - not so good.
Then, on the other hand, maybe it's a darn good thing I'm only able to write part time, so I do NOT burn myself out or make myself sick?
Yes, I'm being the eternal optimist, and I think my sunny nature is showing again. *laughs*
Have a great weekend everyone! If you're a CSI addict like I am, I hope you enjoyed the Season 14 premiere last night. I did!
Monday, I added over 3000 words to Chapter 32. However, after looking it over and realizing nothing new really came out of that part until almost the very end of it, I decided it needed to be condensed or removed. It was dragging things down a little and I was worried the reader may get bored. So after contemplating for a while, I decided to condense it into a few paragraphs with a few key points highlighted instead. It went from over 7 pages down to one and a half after the condensing. The reader will still know what happened but only the "quick version" of it and the story will progress a little faster in that spot.
Chapter 32 continues with a little humor, then more serious scenes. I'm really starting to build up to the big UH OH my dear friend and mentor, Sandra, shot at me back in the spring and if I can do it JUST SO, I may have ten chapters or less to add into the gap before the big splice. Yes, I have a draft of the UH OH part written up already, although it's not completed and needs a tonne of tweaking to fit in with the rest of the story. I started writing that up in mid-March, and I don't think I had up to Chapter 10 in the main manuscript at that point so I wasn't sure about a lot of things then, like how the leading man interacts with certain members of the leading lady's family and other stuff. I have a lot of work to do just to get the UH OH part up to snuff, and that's an understatement. Thank the stars I am not on a deadline, I'll say that much!
I managed to wrap up Chapter 32, and get into Chapter 33. That's about one third to halfway finished at this point. Things are "condensed" a little in that chapter by times too, because if I wrote up everything that was being said, etc, the reader would get bored. It's another "going over" what they found out so far with the mystery of the book, and although some key points are shown, I thought it was best to keep it short and simple and keep moving onward.
I had been prepared to have only editing time this week, but with circumstances and my husband getting called into work on two days, I managed to get some writing time in and I'm grateful for it. I was ready to start chomping on the monitor again, but luckily, I didn't have to.
The downside of all of the extra writing time is that my brain feels like it went through the rinse cycle, my eyes feel like they're going to start bleeding in protest at any time, and the CTS has been acting up, big time. I don't have any more writing time ahead until next week sometime, so I'm going to take the weekend off from adding anything new, and just edit, proof and relax for a few hours. I need a short break from it, just a few days, due to the emotional intensity of the last couple of chapters and the fact I don't want to get burned out. Last year this time, things were moving quickly with "No Regrets" and although I was a lot further along in that story this time last year than I am with Book 2 now, Book 2 is sucking me in almost as much as "No Regrets" was in the last weeks before Draft 1 of that story was finished. In some ways, that's a good thing, in others - notably due to the fact I have limited writing time! - not so good.
Then, on the other hand, maybe it's a darn good thing I'm only able to write part time, so I do NOT burn myself out or make myself sick?
Yes, I'm being the eternal optimist, and I think my sunny nature is showing again. *laughs*
Have a great weekend everyone! If you're a CSI addict like I am, I hope you enjoyed the Season 14 premiere last night. I did!
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Another Rollercoaster Ride....
Another writing frenzy has passed and things are now progressing very smoothly, and quickly, in Book 2 of my duology.
Friday was another one of the shorter writing days for me, and of course, I dove into it pretty much before Hubby was out of the driveway on his way to work. I knew which way I was going with it, the revelation that comes out in Chapter 30, and the overall reaction to it.
I knew how one character was going to react so I wrote that up first. However, I wasn't sure if showing another character's reaction would be okay or not. I was scared of slowing down the story, but after thinking about it, I decided to toss it in and include something else, something that fits in perfectly with the discovery and everything else that has been happening up to this point.
It took a lot out of me, because of the intensity and emotional nature of the chapter, but I got it finished by the time I had to go get Son from the bus stop and it looked good. I did the initial reread/edit, made sure everything was in line with everything else, and gave it a few more "once overs" while I chatted with my mentor in her forum.
I sent the entire chapter to her, and she read it while she tried not to cry. Yes, it's that much of a roller coaster ride and a twist some people may not expect, but in some ways it's a good one. It's also a twist that lines up with the big "SAY WHAT?" that will be revealed at the end of the "UH OH" gem that she shot at me back in March. I'm probably going to have a few people ticked off at me for it, but others probably won't mind it when they see how things came about, etc.
As it stands now, Chapter 31 won't need much tweaking, even in later drafts. Yes, it's that powerful, and I guess that well done. I'm shocked it reached my insanely high standards for even a first draft, let alone later drafts! It isn't often that it happens like that, but I guess I can do it once in a while, especially stuff that this powerful/emotional, etc. I'm happy with it.
Now, if I can only bring the rest of the draft up that high before it goes out to publishers in time... *laughs*
Have a great weekend everyone! If you're a Whovian in Canada, like I am, there's a Doctor Who marathon on our sci-fi channel. I will be enjoying that while I'm doing housework, and of course, editing!
Friday was another one of the shorter writing days for me, and of course, I dove into it pretty much before Hubby was out of the driveway on his way to work. I knew which way I was going with it, the revelation that comes out in Chapter 30, and the overall reaction to it.
I knew how one character was going to react so I wrote that up first. However, I wasn't sure if showing another character's reaction would be okay or not. I was scared of slowing down the story, but after thinking about it, I decided to toss it in and include something else, something that fits in perfectly with the discovery and everything else that has been happening up to this point.
It took a lot out of me, because of the intensity and emotional nature of the chapter, but I got it finished by the time I had to go get Son from the bus stop and it looked good. I did the initial reread/edit, made sure everything was in line with everything else, and gave it a few more "once overs" while I chatted with my mentor in her forum.
I sent the entire chapter to her, and she read it while she tried not to cry. Yes, it's that much of a roller coaster ride and a twist some people may not expect, but in some ways it's a good one. It's also a twist that lines up with the big "SAY WHAT?" that will be revealed at the end of the "UH OH" gem that she shot at me back in March. I'm probably going to have a few people ticked off at me for it, but others probably won't mind it when they see how things came about, etc.
As it stands now, Chapter 31 won't need much tweaking, even in later drafts. Yes, it's that powerful, and I guess that well done. I'm shocked it reached my insanely high standards for even a first draft, let alone later drafts! It isn't often that it happens like that, but I guess I can do it once in a while, especially stuff that this powerful/emotional, etc. I'm happy with it.
Now, if I can only bring the rest of the draft up that high before it goes out to publishers in time... *laughs*
Have a great weekend everyone! If you're a Whovian in Canada, like I am, there's a Doctor Who marathon on our sci-fi channel. I will be enjoying that while I'm doing housework, and of course, editing!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Moving at the Speed of Light - Again!
Yesterday was another writing day for me and I dove into it full force.
Hubby only worked from 9 to 3 yesterday but sometimes I find those shorter writing days are the most productive and I wind up getting some great ideas during the shorter writing time.
I knew how I was going to wrap up Chapter 30, it's another spot where more clues about the mystery in this story were answered, but a few more unanswered questions popped up at the same time. I know what the big "SAY WHAT?" will be at the end of the main part of the story is, but I wasn't sure exactly how to build up to it a little more or add to it to make the reader "get" it and the reasons why things went the way they did.
Well, while I was working yesterday, an idea for another twist came to me and on a whim, I started working with it. It's one I was NOT expecting but it's logical. It's something I should have thought of before but didn't and I'm glad it came to me now in Draft 1 so I could add it in without having to tweak the rest of the draft! *laughs*
The next thing I knew, the alarm for afternoon bus time was going off and I had seven pages of new stuff added to Book 2. There's a lot of dialogue in it though so it's only about 3650 words at this time. Chapter 30 was finished. The scene at the end of it is a lot longer than I had originally planned, so I may change where the chapter breaks are and put that scene in at the start of Chapter 31. The subject matter between that and the (currently) last scene of Chapter 30 are related so it would work perfectly fine. The leading lady gets a bit of a shock but in a way, it's a good thing and she'll bounce back with flying colors after things sink in. That's all I'm saying. *wink!*
The foundation is solid even if it needs polishing and maybe a few additions here and there. It's going to work, and hopefully the reader will be as perplexed and as curious to find out what was going on with certain things as the characters are!
"No Regrets" is currently in another perk cycle and I made a LOT of corrections to it. It had so many missing words or missing commas in spots, and I've tweaked it a little more to line up with Book 2 better. Again, not that much, but just enough so that readers can see the links/connections between the two stories. Maybe it's a good thing that I haven't sent "No Regrets" out yet, so I could have everything lined up perfectly. Now if I could just get the synopsis for it done perfectly...
I have another writing day coming later this week, and I plan on adding a bit to the new twist, but not too much. I have to get more added to the build up to the gem that Sandra (Durham, author of the Keyholder's Castle series) shot at me a few months back too. As it is, this new manuscript/book is on track to beat "No Regrets" in word count... I may wind up doing a little "culling/86ing" here and there, and well, I do admit I haven't taken that stuff out of Chapter 5 yet that I think gives too much away and drags the story down a bit. I've been too darn focused on getting "No Regrets" ready for publishers and working on getting the gap between where I am in Book 2's first draft and the gem idea closed, and real life (yes, I'm still trying to learn Windows 8 - it's a complicated operating system compared to Vista sometimes!) I will say that I do like how you can hover the mouse pointer over something on the task bar and it shows you ALL open windows for the program/application... Hehehehehe.... That's a nifty and useful thing!
I'll post another update as things happen here. Have a great week, everyone!
Hubby only worked from 9 to 3 yesterday but sometimes I find those shorter writing days are the most productive and I wind up getting some great ideas during the shorter writing time.
I knew how I was going to wrap up Chapter 30, it's another spot where more clues about the mystery in this story were answered, but a few more unanswered questions popped up at the same time. I know what the big "SAY WHAT?" will be at the end of the main part of the story is, but I wasn't sure exactly how to build up to it a little more or add to it to make the reader "get" it and the reasons why things went the way they did.
Well, while I was working yesterday, an idea for another twist came to me and on a whim, I started working with it. It's one I was NOT expecting but it's logical. It's something I should have thought of before but didn't and I'm glad it came to me now in Draft 1 so I could add it in without having to tweak the rest of the draft! *laughs*
The next thing I knew, the alarm for afternoon bus time was going off and I had seven pages of new stuff added to Book 2. There's a lot of dialogue in it though so it's only about 3650 words at this time. Chapter 30 was finished. The scene at the end of it is a lot longer than I had originally planned, so I may change where the chapter breaks are and put that scene in at the start of Chapter 31. The subject matter between that and the (currently) last scene of Chapter 30 are related so it would work perfectly fine. The leading lady gets a bit of a shock but in a way, it's a good thing and she'll bounce back with flying colors after things sink in. That's all I'm saying. *wink!*
The foundation is solid even if it needs polishing and maybe a few additions here and there. It's going to work, and hopefully the reader will be as perplexed and as curious to find out what was going on with certain things as the characters are!
"No Regrets" is currently in another perk cycle and I made a LOT of corrections to it. It had so many missing words or missing commas in spots, and I've tweaked it a little more to line up with Book 2 better. Again, not that much, but just enough so that readers can see the links/connections between the two stories. Maybe it's a good thing that I haven't sent "No Regrets" out yet, so I could have everything lined up perfectly. Now if I could just get the synopsis for it done perfectly...
I have another writing day coming later this week, and I plan on adding a bit to the new twist, but not too much. I have to get more added to the build up to the gem that Sandra (Durham, author of the Keyholder's Castle series) shot at me a few months back too. As it is, this new manuscript/book is on track to beat "No Regrets" in word count... I may wind up doing a little "culling/86ing" here and there, and well, I do admit I haven't taken that stuff out of Chapter 5 yet that I think gives too much away and drags the story down a bit. I've been too darn focused on getting "No Regrets" ready for publishers and working on getting the gap between where I am in Book 2's first draft and the gem idea closed, and real life (yes, I'm still trying to learn Windows 8 - it's a complicated operating system compared to Vista sometimes!) I will say that I do like how you can hover the mouse pointer over something on the task bar and it shows you ALL open windows for the program/application... Hehehehehe.... That's a nifty and useful thing!
I'll post another update as things happen here. Have a great week, everyone!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Launch Day!
Today has been a great day...
It was the official launch day of my Author's page and updated author's profile, along with updating the look of my blog. Everything went smoothly and it looks great!
My author's page now has a banner with a photo (taken by me) of the shoreline in my area, and my theme, "Love is the music of the heart..." on it. It looks wonderful and I'm tickled about the new look!
The updated profile (owner of the page) has a banner using the same picture, but with a little surprise on it... A quote from Book 1!
As all of you can see, the blog is updated with a new scheme too... The photo I have as a background is the sky portion of the photo I used for the banners.
Everything looks great. I'm happy how it all falls into line and everything has the same theme... Sky and sea represent endless possibilities and that's what I'm hoping to show with the new look everywhere.
I also got a little writing done today... Hubby took Son shopping with him so I had some quiet time (first in a couple of weeks!) and I dove back into it. I did take out a scene in Chapter 29 that was dragging the story down and got back to the build up of the gem that Sandra shot at me back in March. I haven't done the initial edit yet (things have been crazy in Facebook, I'm getting notifications galore in both profiles!) but hope to get to it when things settle down here. What I wrote today reveals a little more to the mystery that the leading lady is trying to unravel... That's all I'm saying! I'm doing my best to only give away bits and pieces very slowly, but not too slowly! I don't want to bore the reader after all, but at the same time, I don't want to give it all away at once. The big "WOW!" will come during the gem idea and that won't be happening for a few more chapters at least!
It's been an awesome day and I'm flying high....
I'd like to thank everyone who has messaged me, commented on my posts, liked my posts and photos, etc and gave me love and support during the official launch of my Facebook author's page and profile today... I'm so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends and fans! Love you all!
(And thank you everyone who sent me birthday wishes! Y'all rock!)
Have a wonderful week everyone!
It was the official launch day of my Author's page and updated author's profile, along with updating the look of my blog. Everything went smoothly and it looks great!
My author's page now has a banner with a photo (taken by me) of the shoreline in my area, and my theme, "Love is the music of the heart..." on it. It looks wonderful and I'm tickled about the new look!
The updated profile (owner of the page) has a banner using the same picture, but with a little surprise on it... A quote from Book 1!
As all of you can see, the blog is updated with a new scheme too... The photo I have as a background is the sky portion of the photo I used for the banners.
Everything looks great. I'm happy how it all falls into line and everything has the same theme... Sky and sea represent endless possibilities and that's what I'm hoping to show with the new look everywhere.
I also got a little writing done today... Hubby took Son shopping with him so I had some quiet time (first in a couple of weeks!) and I dove back into it. I did take out a scene in Chapter 29 that was dragging the story down and got back to the build up of the gem that Sandra shot at me back in March. I haven't done the initial edit yet (things have been crazy in Facebook, I'm getting notifications galore in both profiles!) but hope to get to it when things settle down here. What I wrote today reveals a little more to the mystery that the leading lady is trying to unravel... That's all I'm saying! I'm doing my best to only give away bits and pieces very slowly, but not too slowly! I don't want to bore the reader after all, but at the same time, I don't want to give it all away at once. The big "WOW!" will come during the gem idea and that won't be happening for a few more chapters at least!
It's been an awesome day and I'm flying high....
I'd like to thank everyone who has messaged me, commented on my posts, liked my posts and photos, etc and gave me love and support during the official launch of my Facebook author's page and profile today... I'm so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends and fans! Love you all!
(And thank you everyone who sent me birthday wishes! Y'all rock!)
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Revisiting and Other Things...
I don't like revisiting certain things but sometimes it's necessary, as a reminder of how far I've come with different things or how little has changed...
As a lot of my regular readers know, I have several "dead" manuscripts that I had started in the past and will probably never be finished, due to me losing the story or everything in it wasn't logical, etc. I keep those manuscripts/ideas in a special folder for my own records, and just in case I had a good idea for them that I may use in another manuscript in the future.
Well, yesterday I was working on FP/Untitled 8 and I thought I may be able to use an idea from what was "Untitled 6". I looked at the original file and thought it would work, so I did a copy/paste into a new document and started reworking it for the current manuscript. I continued on in Chapter 13 after that and didn't think much of it.
HOWEVER...
Sometimes doing something like that can bite you in the behind. I had mentioned to my mentor via PM exactly what I had used for that spot and after thinking it over, I realized it was a little too "graphic" for my books... And probably for the audience I'm hoping to have for my work. I tend to keep things somewhat toned down in the amount of "over 18" stuff I have in my stories and although I am pretty descriptive in the erotic scenes, even this particular area was a little too much for my story.
I wound up doing a rewrite on the scene in between things, to make it less so.
I let it sit for a few minutes between things in real life and reread it.
It was worse than before, way too graphic for my books and hopefully future reading audience. *SIGH*
Another rework, and it still wasn't great, so I decided to scrap the entire idea and go with something a LOT more toned down.
It's better now, and I learned yet another lesson about my writing... Be careful of how graphic you want to get.
I thought I had learned it with that one scene I had written up for Untitled 6... The one that I was hoping to push the envelope with but wound up going into the realm of "NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION".
Yeah, that's the scene I was going to tweak and use for the new story... BIG MISTAKE! It didn't work whatsoever, and although the over 18 stuff in this book will be a little more "in your face" than the stuff in its predecessor (NR/Book 1), I didn't want to make it THAT bad.
Lesson learned--AGAIN... And I'm left wondering "WHAT THE DICKENS WAS I THINKING????"
It's the way I want it for a first draft now. It's a darn good thing I am NOT on a deadline for this one because with all of the rewrites, revisions, 86ing, etc, it's going to be a while before it hits Draft 2 stage, let alone ready to be sent out to any publishers!
I'm also working on some things that will be inserted into the main manuscript file now and then, when the time is right. I'm not saying what it is, but it is VERY relevant to the story itself and how a character finds out a lot of things about herself and the past. I got the idea for it the other night and I started working on it yesterday. It's slow work and not the easiest to write so I'm bouncing between that file, the main manuscript file and the build up to the grand finale file to keep myself from burning out. I have the first part of it written already so that will be ready when the main file is, which will be sometime soon.
NEWS:
This past Sunday (May 5th) my beloved Mentor, Sandra Durham, released the much anticipated third book in her Keyholder's Castle Series, "Destinies"!
I did purchase a copy of it and it's on my Kindle Cloud, along with a prescreening copy on my desktop. If anyone wishes to purchase Destinies, please click HERE!
Congratulations--AGAIN--Sandra!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
As a lot of my regular readers know, I have several "dead" manuscripts that I had started in the past and will probably never be finished, due to me losing the story or everything in it wasn't logical, etc. I keep those manuscripts/ideas in a special folder for my own records, and just in case I had a good idea for them that I may use in another manuscript in the future.
Well, yesterday I was working on FP/Untitled 8 and I thought I may be able to use an idea from what was "Untitled 6". I looked at the original file and thought it would work, so I did a copy/paste into a new document and started reworking it for the current manuscript. I continued on in Chapter 13 after that and didn't think much of it.
HOWEVER...
Sometimes doing something like that can bite you in the behind. I had mentioned to my mentor via PM exactly what I had used for that spot and after thinking it over, I realized it was a little too "graphic" for my books... And probably for the audience I'm hoping to have for my work. I tend to keep things somewhat toned down in the amount of "over 18" stuff I have in my stories and although I am pretty descriptive in the erotic scenes, even this particular area was a little too much for my story.
I wound up doing a rewrite on the scene in between things, to make it less so.
I let it sit for a few minutes between things in real life and reread it.
It was worse than before, way too graphic for my books and hopefully future reading audience. *SIGH*
Another rework, and it still wasn't great, so I decided to scrap the entire idea and go with something a LOT more toned down.
It's better now, and I learned yet another lesson about my writing... Be careful of how graphic you want to get.
I thought I had learned it with that one scene I had written up for Untitled 6... The one that I was hoping to push the envelope with but wound up going into the realm of "NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION".
Yeah, that's the scene I was going to tweak and use for the new story... BIG MISTAKE! It didn't work whatsoever, and although the over 18 stuff in this book will be a little more "in your face" than the stuff in its predecessor (NR/Book 1), I didn't want to make it THAT bad.
Lesson learned--AGAIN... And I'm left wondering "WHAT THE DICKENS WAS I THINKING????"
It's the way I want it for a first draft now. It's a darn good thing I am NOT on a deadline for this one because with all of the rewrites, revisions, 86ing, etc, it's going to be a while before it hits Draft 2 stage, let alone ready to be sent out to any publishers!
I'm also working on some things that will be inserted into the main manuscript file now and then, when the time is right. I'm not saying what it is, but it is VERY relevant to the story itself and how a character finds out a lot of things about herself and the past. I got the idea for it the other night and I started working on it yesterday. It's slow work and not the easiest to write so I'm bouncing between that file, the main manuscript file and the build up to the grand finale file to keep myself from burning out. I have the first part of it written already so that will be ready when the main file is, which will be sometime soon.
NEWS:
This past Sunday (May 5th) my beloved Mentor, Sandra Durham, released the much anticipated third book in her Keyholder's Castle Series, "Destinies"!
I did purchase a copy of it and it's on my Kindle Cloud, along with a prescreening copy on my desktop. If anyone wishes to purchase Destinies, please click HERE!
Congratulations--AGAIN--Sandra!
Have a wonderful day everyone!
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