I'm Back

OK, sorry people. I've been so busy my hair has been smoldering for four continuous days. For the love of god. My day job has been insane, my dad's getting a divorce, my sister is getting a divorce (am I the only one happily married these days??), and my friends are all having mini-crises. The phone won't stop ringing (did I mention I hate phones?). I haven't had two seconds to sit down and write anything. Not my book nor my blog. Bah. So much for a relaxing holiday!

*deep breath*

OK. Back to my real life now. Tonight I will sit down, reread a couple chapters of my book, and get cracking again. I shall not be thwarted, dammit. I shall finish this book as well as the next 50, so help me god.

And I shall start writing in this blog every day again. I always have something to say, just didn't have time to write it down. *bangs head on desk*

Hopeful Comments from an Editor

OK, got a rejection from an editor today, but it didn't feel like one exactly. She read the whole book and even sent the manuscript back. She said my writing is very strong (and she used the word "very"!), that my plot and hook are original, and that the book was entertaining. She said I need to work on making my characters more memorable and that she thought my book was a bit too magical.

I'm not exactly sure about what the "magical" part means. I mean, the book is magical, so why wouldn't it be magical? Is it possible to be too magical? Hmm. I'm not sure what to do about that comment.

On the other side, I will take another look at my characters and see what I can do to add more depth and interest. That's a critique I understand and can run with.

And I'm very pleased that she said my writing is strong and that my stuff is original. That's the part I worry about the most, so if I have that right, it seems I can't be too far off from success here! lol. I know no one who does happy dances over rejections, but I do. The editor is well-known from a large publishing house and took the time to read the whole thing and comment, so it feels like I'm getting close!

Hurray for me. :-)

Naming your book

I was dreaming last night (what a surprise) and was mulling over what to name my latest book. It has a very specific flavor, sort of like a vampire chick lit in space, so the title needs to reflect that. I finally came up with something. Thank goodness. It was driving me batty. I wanted something that distinguished myself from other vampire books, reflected the flavor, and was kind of catchy. lol. Not that I have a tall order there or anything.

So at present I am going with, "How to Tame a Vampire in 31 days". lol. I like it. I may change my mind, but I doubt it. My chapter headings are going to each start with a vampire taming tip that hints / relates to the events of that particular chapter. I am so happy with this.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was lovely and here I am back in the saddle already. Pah! Sometimes I hate being in the saddle. I'd rather be in a hammock with a pina colada. Ah well. Tonight I get to decorate the house for Christmas so that's what I'm bribing myself with. Work and write, then decorate the house.

Thanksgiving

I'm going to be out of pocket tomorrow as I suspect most people are, so I'll write today and be back to my regular schedule on Friday. The topic today is: What am I thankful for this year?

I'm thankful that my husband's friend decided to buy a new computer and give me his old one about a year and a half ago. This gave me no excuse not to write!

I am thankful I have my own office so I have a place to call my own and write.

I am thankful I have people who like my stuff and are willing to critique it.

I am thankful to the editors and agents who have asked for and read my work so far. I appreciate that they are giving me a chance!

I am thankful to my husband for being cool about the long hours I'm cooped up in my office writing. And for being so cool about leaving the dirty dishes for him. :-)

And most of all, I am thankful for being alive. Life is indeed precious, and I try not to take any moment for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and see you Friday...

Research

Today I added a link on the right, Cool Science, because I love websites like this. There's a never ending onslaught of interesting scientific articles distilled down for people like me. I get the best ideas from these places. You never know what plot twist or hook might occur to you while reading about photons!

Almost makes it feel like cheating, but who am I to ignore a resource?

I also love the Odd News section at Yahoo. Odd News They always have the craziest stories that help me come up with interesting ideas.

I frequent these places because I'm a big believer in coming up with a unique hook. Something that sets you apart from everybody else while still in a recognizable, hopefully sellable, vein. Research is your friend!

Onward and Upward

I am excited about all these new movies coming out. Need to see The Chronicles of Narnia because I grew up on the books. Need to see Memoirs of a Geisha. Need to see Brokeback Mountain. So many movies, so little time!

Got a ton of writing done this weekend, and also sent out more queries to agents. Feel like I accomplished a lot. Plus the weather was lovely yesterday which is rare for Colorado this time of year, so I sat outside and got some sun. My pale skin is shrieking in protest. I'm such a mole.

All in all, a lovely weekend. And Thanksgiving is coming. I suppose normal people think of it as a time for family and friends. Which I sort of do, but I'm mostly excited to have the extra time to write, ha ha.

I'm on a Roll

I'm having a good day today. I got past a part in my book that was throwing up stumbling blocks. It finally dawned on me how to make it cool so I wouldn't hate it, then I was able to finish that part and move on. So today I'm writing a part that is cracking me the hell up and it's flowing really well. At this rate I'll get out 25 pages today. Yay!

So I'm off to do that. Good luck everyone on their writing today. Get some pages out. Remember the Golden Rule: writing first, vacuuming later. :-)

Damn and Layering

Ah damn. Got another rejection today. This one from an agent. She didn't say I sucked, or make any suggestions or anything. She just said she didn't think she was the right agent for me and to keep sending it out because all it takes is one person to say yes. At least she let me down easy. :-)

On to the next person!

Today's topic was going to be layering your book, so I'll move on with that. I put several layers into my books. There's the "don't look down" draft, which tends to produce somewhat clicheed, simple writing with sparks of life. Then I go back and make it better, looking at characters, plot devices, people's reactions, dialogue, etc. This puts the book in good shape, but still in a rough form.

Then I go back and start layering. I layer in description in natural places so it doesn't feel like an info dump, layer in complex reactions, unexpected touches, good use of language to make things pop, etc. This is my favorite part. This is where my writing really starts to gel and where I start to fall in love with whatever current book I'm working on.

Then I polish the heck out of it, analyzing each sentence, each paragraph, each scene. Then of course copy edit, spell check, then I set it aside for a couple of weeks. After that, with a fresh eye, I read it one more time hard copy and fix anything I see. At that point it's as good as it's going to get for now so I start sending it out.

I've heard rumors of people who write slow and get the book out in more or less final format the first run. Argh. I don't know how they do it! Some things only occur to me after I've written the entire book. Some fixes only occur to me after a couple of drafts. My brain just needs to chew on a book one stage at a time, I guess. Writing a book is a surprisingly complex process. There's so many things to consider, there's no way I can get it out in one run. Maybe after 20 years of practice. :-)

Cel Phones and Talking to Yourself

This morning, while driving to work, I realized there's a handy thing about the current fad of having a hands-free cell phone in your car. I watch people sitting in their cars by themselves, talking to the air and there's no one in the car with them. I know they're talking on their cel, but it's funny to see.

Which brings me to my point: I can talk to myself all I want in my car and people will just assume that I'm talking on my hands-free cell phone. Never mind I don't own one. Now no one will look at me strangely at a red stop light. At least not for that!

lol. I love technology and all it's unexpected uses. :-)

Mrs. Giggles

OK, my new favorite person (in addition to Miss Snark) is Mrs. Giggles.

She's funny as hell, sarcastic, and isn't afraid to tell the truth. I'm pretty sure she scares the heck out of people and thinks it's funny. She rants about wanting stronger heroine's in romance novels, has a soft spot for Playstation, and thinks violence in video games is a gas. lol. I'm in love.

I can only hope that someday when I publish, she'll deign to trash my novel too. Ha ha.

Choosing a Topic For Your Book

OK, I was having a discussion last night with a friend about choosing a hook for your book. (ooh, that rhymes!) We were talking about the fine art of choosing something that inspires you and that you find interesting, but that's not so far beyond the pale that it isn't sellable. I suppose this depends on if you are targeting a particular book line or if you're writing a single title, but even single titles seem to be within a certain norm and if you're outside that norm it might be difficult to sell your book.

And god forbid you pick a topic that, while fun, has already been done a bunch and the editors and agents are tired of it. For instance, I hear there are some agents that refuse to have anything to do with plot lines that have cats in them because they're considered cliche at this point. This doesn't mean that a book with a cat character is doomed, but it is something to consider.

So what's a writer to do?

I write what I love to read. And I read what's popular, as well as what is up and coming so I can keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on. I don't plagarize or steal ideas, but I tend to have published books in mind when I write. But I also strive to make mine different somehow. Strive to take it in a new direction, or with a different voice. Something to distinguish myself without going so far beyond what's out there that it will never sell.

At least that's the plan. Having not yet sold a book, I suppose I'm not one to talk, lol. If any of these theories become reality, ya'll will be the first ones to know. :-)

Blogger is Wigging Out

Test. Blogland is going crazy today.

Double Post

Gah.

An Afternoon Off!

Ooh, today I get to take the afternoon off and go write. I'm so excited! It's so rare that I have four hours in a row to devote.

I'm working on a first draft right now. About half done. Funny how I used to think an 8-10 page term paper was SOOO LOOONG and now I write 225 pages and I'm impatient that I haven't gotten more done because my goal is 450, lol.

Anyway, the current scene I'm working on is pissing me off. It's because I haven't fleshed it out enough, so once I do that it will flow better. Still, I always have trouble getting past the middle of a book in the rough draft. I have no idea why. I pay particular attention to that part of the book, making sure nothing sags, there's enough plot, tension, etc. Still it's like pulling hens teeth to get through it the first time. Then I go back and read it and I'm like, "Well, that's actually pretty good." For pete's sake. Some days I have no ability to guage the quality of my writing. All I can do is write and hope it sounds good when I read it tomorrow. Or hope I can fix it!

Perhaps this is some sort of writer's fatigue. All I can do is keep plowing ahead. Besides, everything always looks better on a good night's sleep and a cup of java.

I'm a Rose!

Took one of those Quizilla thangs. This is what it thinks I am:

You are a Rose:

You are creative, sensual, passionate, and bold. You pour your heart into everything that you do. Alluring and gifted with strong sex appeal, you very easily draw people in with your animal magnetism.

The rose has always been a flower heavily loaded with symbolism. In general it symbolizes desire, passion, beauty, and enchantment.

______________________________

Edited to say: I am so in love with the woman in the picture. God. I definitely a hetero, but what a hottie. :-)

Critique Group

OK, so I joined the FF&P critique group today. Since it's 51 some odd people I'm not sure how it works, but I'll be watching so I can figure it out. I'm excited to read people's stuff and have them read mine. I love comments. Right or wrong, comments get me to think about my work in a new light. It's hard to critique your own work since I think you're often blind to your own faults and strengths.

Anyway, will be jazzed to figure out the system and be able to read other people's stuff too. I'm always interested to see what people come up with and think about. And I love to help people improve their own work.

No person is an island and we all need each other, that's for sure!

Why I Write

I've decided that people who write for a living are a different sort of breed. Why? Because you do a tremendous amount of work, mostly alone in an office, without any promise of public payback. Your work may never, ever see the light of day. This doesn't even mean your writing is necessarily bad. Maybe the right editor or agent hasn't seen it yet. But at any rate, there's no guarantee that your work will ever be anything but something you privately enjoy. So why do I write?

1. My day job is in an office environment. It's all rules, regulations, do this, don't do that, very regimented. Not my thing, really, though I'm quite good at being a chameleon so people don't know any different. When I go home at night and write, it feels like I'm doing what I was really meant to do. It feels like I'm living out a dream, being myself, letting my creativity free. All very good things that make up for the fact that I have to have a day job that doesn't do it for me.

2. I like the challenge of writing a story that will speak to other people. And it is indeed a challenge. But when I come up with something that a critique partner says, "Yeah, that really rocks," I cannot tell you how happy that makes me, lol. I'm a sucker for attention and a sucker for making a connection with people.

3. I absolutely love being able to take my fantasies, hang ups, sense of humor, etc. and get it all out in a story. It's all me, down on paper, in living color. I think some people would find that disconcerting, but apparently I have an exhibitionist side because I want myself out there for people to see. As I've gotten older, I've actually gotten to the point that I like myself and therefore like my stories and don't mind people reading them, critiqueing them, or even telling me when something sucks. Considering how much I wanted to be a wallflower when I was fifteen, this is some serious progress!

4. And last but not least, writing is therapy. Now, I'm not going to put deep, icky stuff down on paper, but there is something to be said for working through psychological issues through writing. I think it makes the story more authentic and compelling. As long as it's not too dark and depresses the hell out of people. At any rate, whatever is bothering me, whatever long running issues I have, tend to come out in my stories, and each time I get it out my hangups about a particular issue ease. Hell of a lot cheaper than paying a therapist, that's for sure!

So, considering all this, I'm hooked on writing for life no matter if I publish or not. Of course, I'm hell bent on getting my work out there and publishing, but it's gravy to me. The meat of it is getting to write.

Swearing

OK, today's topic is one near and dear to my heart: my love of F-bombs and all permutations thereof. Now, conventional wisdom says that swearing is something only uneducated people with small vocabularies do. Except I have a college degree and a massive vocabulary.

I blame my repressive, conservative Lutheran upbringing. Lutherans are lovely people, don't get me wrong, but when I left home and got my freedom, I exploded in a variety of ways, swearing included. If I drop something on my toe, the first words out of my mouth are not, "Oh gosh dang goodness gracious!". lol.

So how do I reconcile this in my writing without offending half the population of planet Earth? I use true swear words very sparingly, usually for comedic effect, and otherwise attempt to come up with creative ways to swear without actually saying a swear word. I think I'm raising it to an art form, actually. My husband also helps. I don't think there's a more vulgar person in existence (endearingly so), yet most of what comes out of his mouth is technically not a swear word. So I use him as a resource and even solicit his advice when I'm stuck on something. :-)

Anyway, I'm definitely not the squeaky clean sort, and even wallow in it. I always say the more shockingly vulgar something is, the funnier it is. So I write my first draft with all the swearing and naughtiness I want, and then I have to go back and tone it down a bit so I don't scare people, lol.

My poor, poor mother. If I kick the bucket and she ever gets ahold of one of these drafts, she'll be following me soon thereafter. Note to self: have husband hide this stuff if I die before he does.

In Living Color

OK, I'm back today and my skin hasn't melted off or anything. No zombies wandering the halls craving human flesh. How boring!

Had another breakthrough on my current book. I was trying to decide if my heroine is apart from my hero just a bit too much in the middle of the book and if it was making the story sag. I worked out a clever way to solve it, and I'm all proud of myself. I love it when that happens.

I was also thinking about use of color in writing. I'm very visual and very into colors. I didn't realize this until I started writing in earnest and saw that my use of color comes out quite a bit in my stories. Reminds me of dreaming in color, just while conscious and putting it down on paper. I need to know what color people's eyes are, hair is, including flashes of color that make an image pop, etc. or I have trouble visualizing a scene.

In fact, I like to use hyphens, which I think is somewhat unconventional, when describing something. Like "bronze-gold hair". Used sparingly and from the point of view of a character that it works with, I think it provides nice imagery.

My life is a movie

OK, had to post again today because where I work, there was a chemical spill and then it became a cloud. They evacuated the area for two miles and we're on lock down becuase they don't want us leaving the buildings and breath the air.

lol. Does this kind of crap only happen to me? Will I get brain cancer from this in 30 years? All valid, interesting questions.

I hope they let us go home tonight, lmao. But not to worry. The air smells OK in here. I will count my blessings and leave it at that. *snort*

Deep POV

I've been listening to a long running discussion about deep point of view and whether it is better to write with some distance or write as if you are the character experiencing everything first hand. Whether too much deep pov slows down the story or speeds it up.

My take is that it depends on your writing style and voice. Deep pov would be particularly useful if using the first person, which is not my forte. I also think that deep pov can be very compelling, but isn't the only way to write. I think maybe it's a fad right now or something so people are stuck on it. In my opinion, anything used too much is bad. Moderation in all things.

Anyway, here's a very good article by Pollyanna Williamson on deep pov. She pretty much reflects my take on it.

http://www.hbarwa.com/memberarticles/deeppointofview.htm

Edited to say that the link only seems to work if you copy and paste it into your browser. Dangit. I hate being technically challenged!

Worldbuilding

Was referred to an interesting work that Patricia Wrede came up with. It's a list of questions to ask yourself when building a new world for a book. http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm

Very cool! I'm a big fan of checklists, so I'll just add this to my pile of things to consider when writing my stories. Anything to help me not have to reinvent the wheel every time just to get a properly detailed, complex story out is a good thing.

Which leads me to my love of coming up with worlds that don't exist. I'm especially fond of anything future Earth, whether it's space or fantasy related. Everyday life is just too mundane for me most days. :-) The thought of actually having a psychic talent or there being magic in the world or getting to be on a spaceship brings tears to my eyes, lol. Next to that, driving to work in the morning just doesn't cut it, ha ha.

Promoting your Blog

I learned a new term today. "Link whoring".

lol. Apparently this is when you go to other people's blogs that are more widely read than yours and you comment on their posts and include your blog address in your closing. The idea is that if your post is interesting enough, people will click on your blog and go read it, thus increasing your readership.

This cracks me up. Then again, I'm shameless and will probably do it.

I have also included my blog address in my closing on the boards I post to and on my yahoo e-mail in hopes somebody will give a rat's ass. Probably not, but worth a shot.

Can't wait until my website is finished. Maybe that will bring more traffic to my blog.

Anyway, I got lots of good writing done last night. I was feeling inspired. My current book is cracking me up even as I write it, so that's probably a good sign. :-) I've been feisty and sarcastic the entire time. Apparently I'm in a mood.

The Value of Contests like FF&P

OK, so I think I've decided what I think about entering contests. It is valuable to me if the contest has the following attributes: someone actually reads the entire work or at least the first three chapters, they get to comment, they give you a score, and finalists get to be read by someone like an agent or editor.

Otherwise, what's the point?

I do love having complete strangers read my work and comment. Even if it is a negative comment it helps as long as they're being honest and not slamming me for the fun of it.

So far the best experience I've had is with the FF&P people (link on the right). They really put the time and energy into it to make the exercise worth quite a bit. And for a $20 entry fee it ends up being a bargain. Three people read your work and independantly critique you on a range of topics, like dialogue, world setting, grammar and punctuation, characters, etc. Very thorough. I'm sad they only run it once a year. :-)

Christine Feehan - Night Game.

I took the weekend off from doing my usual routine, which was nice. But now it is Monday, so here we go again.

I read Christine Feehan's new book, Night Game. Love it, loved it, loved it. The only part that bogs me down is when Lily gets too techy. Other than that, very cool book. Best in the series so far, I think. Ooh, Raoul is sexy. And the book cover rocks. I am so happy for her! She just gets better and better.

Had a great weekend. Got a lot of writing done. Played too much Playstation. Ratchet and Clank are like my verson of crack. Must. Stay. Away.

That's it. I'll get my head together and come up with a better entry tomorrow, lol.

Let's Hear it for Miss Snark

My new favorite blog belongs to an agent who writes under the name, "Miss Snark". I have no idea who she really is. I suspect people know and just aren't telling me. I'm always the last to know everything, lol. I'm just not one of the cool kids.

Whatever. She makes me so happy for the following reasons: I love honesty, sarcasm, and humor. Plus she is a veritable motherload of information. The kind of information that is difficult to track down. Thank the frickin' universe for people like her.

Anyway, I added the link to my favorite links list on the right. Go check it out. Read it every day and reap the benefits of her font of wisdom.

OK, maybe that's laying it on a bit thick, but I do love her.

Week from Hell

OK, I'm having a bad week. On top of being sick, I went back to work yesterday, my brain still wasn't working right, then I screwed up royally on something. Now I'm beating myself up about it because I feel terrible about it. What makes it worse is that I attempted to fix it on my own but that didn't work out so I had to own up to my mistake. Dangit. Dangit. Dangit.

Truly, the issue I screwed up on is not the end of the world, but I did have to apologize and on top of it I can't seem to shake it so I'm sitting here feeling bad. Can I go home now and go back to bed?

Gargh and Gag.

OK, back to the more important topic of writing, I think today's topic will be perfectionism. I'm a bit of a perfectionist in most areas. And when something isn't perfect, I beat myself up about it and sometimes even allow the mistake to become an obstacle to succeeding. Writing has forced me to let go of that a bit. You can't be perfect all the time, but as long as something's not published, you can always go back and fix it.

I had to actually learn to take a deep breath and allow myself to write crap because everybody's gotta start somewhere. It's a bit astonishing how difficult I find that to do, although it has gotten a bit easier with time.

Anyway, crappy day and it's only 9:22 in the morning. Somebody shoot me now. :-)

Liz Carlyle's, "One Little Sin"

OK, I just finished an English Regency romance book that I really liked by Liz Carlyle, "One Little Sin". I liked that her characters are really well thought out and aren't too sweet, to the point that certain moments in the book gave me pause (in a good way). The plot line was fun and I enjoyed her story. But what really shines about the book is her sex scenes. They were somewhat unconventional for a regency and very, well, human. And sexy. And hot.

In short, I loved them.

The downside was that the hero just couldn't get over certain obstacles and marry her already. That part dragged on a tad too long. But the rest of the book was just so damned fun that it barely blipped on my radar.

Anyway, that's my book recommendation for the day. I think I'm starting to like Regency romances that break the mold a bit and have more unconventional characters and unconventional sex. It's an interesting twist on an old favorite.

SICKER THAN A DOG

OOOHKAY. So last night I woke up at 2 a.m. with an upset stomach and it went downhill from there. Booyah. God I hate being sick. I'm a big baby, moaning and groaning and miserable. Pah.

Today I feel funky and woozy. Possibly hallucinating. lol. This does not help either my day job or my writing, dammit.

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. Worshiping a lobster pot and laying here like a limp rag is not my favorite thing in the world.