Sigh. So close, but being in the midst of a snowstorm is sucking my enthusiasm dry for finishing today. Looking at winter through a window is one thing. Driving in BC’s version of winter is something entirely different. The roads are slick, slippery, slushy messes, and I’m heading home early so I’ll beat the next freeze at dark.
Th-th-that’s all for today, folks.
Some of you may recall that The Girl Who Cried Squid (aka Krin, or Off Beat) became a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest back in spring. The results of the contest were announced Saturday at the annual conference, and my novel placed third in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Allegory category. The finalists are:1st:…
Today’s writing/ revising went really well. It’s amazing how much clearer I can think without a headache! In re-reading notes from my various critiquers, I think I’m on track to address all of the issues. Some of them still need to be wrapped up, of course, but I’ve been laying the groundwork for them. One…
It’s been so long since I got down to serious novel planning that I’ve almost forgotten how. Some writers have ideas jumping up and down, begging to be written. Mine are a little more recalcitrant. I’ve got several novel ideas that I’ve worked with a bit on and off for the past couple of years,…
Still moving right along. Metaphorically speaking, the sun just went down, and its always darkest just before the dawn. Poor Chloe and Dean. Hubby is feeling enough better that he left a bit ago for his apartment, hoping to be able to manage two twelve hour day shifts starting tomorrow. You may recall that he’d…
I would really like to learn to write cleaner first drafts. Revision should be for cleaning up sentence structure and clamping down on animated eyes. (My eyes can do many things: dance with joy, shoot daggers, and anything in between.) Revision should NOT be for re-creating the lead male character. In the month that I’ve…
2830 today, but there isn’t a snippet. I just squeezed the words under the time-wire and I’m not really fond of the chapter. I’m thinking too much telling, not enough showing, but figuring that out is a job for after November. Hope you are all faring well…
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Today’s count: 2593. Everything is so quiet in chat-land today with no word wars, no random links, no abstract discussions. Still, I’m happy with my wordcount and I’m expecting to cross the magical 50K line on Monday.
I had another good writing day today, for which I’m thankful. Starting to approach the grand finale for the book, currently estimated out at about 65K. Ish. I cut a couple of *future* scenes out of the outline today as I realized they didn’t have enough reason to exist. Anyway, everybody in the story is…
The Matchmaker world needs to be quite complex for a couple of reasons. First, I can see several novels taking place in it, so there needs to be plenty to explore. Second, each novel should be 100-150,000 words. That’s a lot of story, to the uninitiated. Longer than the average novel. Why? I figure if…
The first Urban Farm Fresh Romance, Secrets of Sunbeams releases soon, and I’ve had fans ask how I came to choose a setting for this series. I’d erased a large part of the map of northern Idaho for the original Farm Fresh Romances, but I wanted to play a bit closer to reality this time…
I’ve actually finally started revising False Perceptions. I’ve been doing everything BUT for the past few weeks. Not that the read through and the synopsis writing wasn’t helpful, but it wasn’t the same thing as opening a new file for chapter one and starting to type it in all over again. I have a couple…
Pick a genre, they say. Write what you know. Take a stand, grab your brand. Let people–readers–know what to expect. Sounds like solid advice, but I’m having trouble following it. I’ve focused on contemporary romance the past couple of years, thinking that with the same excellence in writing, it would be easier to sell a…
Today’s writing/ revising went really well. It’s amazing how much clearer I can think without a headache! In re-reading notes from my various critiquers, I think I’m on track to address all of the issues. Some of them still need to be wrapped up, of course, but I’ve been laying the groundwork for them. One…
Just checking to see if I, on Beta Blogger, can comment here. 🙂
Mir
Ah, thanks, Mir! I see different options in the comments window today even from a couple days back. Today, here in my own blog, I have the option of signing in with my Google account. A few days ago that wasn’t a visible option here. Thanks!
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Friday was 3195 and today, 2283. Still on par for a finish early next week. Here’s a teensy snippet:
I decided to take a chance, for it seemed one had been offered me. “Amuran seems…evil.”
She nodded slightly. “Perhaps more than you think.”
That flicker of hope died as though a cold wave had squelched it.
Ah, the killing of hope. Such a nasty thing, but so necessary with so much book yet to be written.
I didn’t have a lot of time to write today, though I did get a short scene down, and some sort of plan made. It’s going to be at least another thousand words or two before Shann and Taafa meet again, and I have a few *worse* things thought up for them in the meantime…
I never thought that *Marks of Repentance* (aka: Shann) would get this kind of a kick start in its first week. Things just clicked today, and I wound up with a total of nearly 4K, bringing the total to date to a spit shy of 18K. I might as well go for the 21K pip…
I just found Flogging the Quill thanks to Pat Loomis. This entry Story as River is about the right way to start a story, and is very interesting. Check it out!
I nipped this off of Tambo’s blog and just thought it was way too funny to NOT share with all of you: Oh, wait. First we must have a commercial. Tambo is Tamara Siler Jones, whose forensic fantasy Ghosts in the Snow came out last November I think. It’s doing very well. Okay, then, here’s…
Once upon a time I posted some writing goals for 2010. So, believe it or not, we’re now at the end of that year. Wow! It went very quickly. How did I do on my goals? Writing: Two complete first draft novels, currently expected to be the first Green Acres novel and a category length…
I am thrilled to report that Jim was finally able to get enough pressure in the water line last night to blow out the gunk that was clogging it. The cows now have proper water pressure at their trough, and can drink their fill much easier. He wound up playing cop for awhile, keeping them…
I cleared 30K today! **Happy Dance** Today’s chapter came in at 2457.
The fairy kittens are recovering from being accidentally drugged:
I picked up Pico and dropped her; her wings fluttered out and she hovered in front of my face, indignant at the mistreatment. Good. She could fly. I repeated the process with Boots and Puff, shushing their squawks.
“It’s time to head for home,” I whispered to the fairies.
Once upon a time I posted some writing goals for 2010. So, believe it or not, we’re now at the end of that year. Wow! It went very quickly. How did I do on my goals? Writing: Two complete first draft novels, currently expected to be the first Green Acres novel and a category length…
Just a short note today on plotting. I’ve got a few novels (seven complete) under my belt, and I’ve tried the whole range of styles from seat-of-the-pants to uber-plotted. This time, I’m trying once again to find a balance. Thanks to Cheryl Wyatt, author of five romance novels published by Steeple Hill (the inspirational arm…
So I’m pretty good at procrastinating, altogether. I’m still playing with my shoot-from-the-hip novel, Connect the Dot, on the Palm most mornings at work. Poor girl. She’s in over her head. And I’ve made progress on Marks also. But in the spirit of many hands making light work, I’ve been working hard with Maripat in…
It seems I make them just to break them. A couple days ago I found out about a contest for unpublished Christian speculative fiction writers, thought about it (briefly!) and decided to give it a shot. Maybe it was just that my subconscious wanted to play with Marks of Repentance more than it wanted to…
I finally hit a sweet spot on the revision! I don’t know how long it will last, but I thoroughly enjoyed tidying up chapter seven today. I know there are rocky spaces up ahead again, but for today, I rejoice. Customers were polite enough today to allow me time to work on the 2yn assignment…
Isn’t it interesting how ideas floating around in the subconscious of our netherland bump into each other, hang on, and attract more? Yeah, I’m talking about my nano novel which is starting to take some shape. Which is good, because we start writing in just twenty days. So, my mom gets Reader’s Digest and passes…
The story streamed well today, but I can’t find a snippet that makes any sort of sense at all without context. Today’s words came in at 3173. I’m happy.
Ever heard of a blog carnival? If you have, you’re ahead of me. Well, that is to say, I HAVE heard of it, but just in the past couple of days. Pat Loomis will be hosting one on Tuesday, Feb 15. In it, she will be pointing folks to various blogs, including mine; we’ll be…
Okay, so I’m not really rolling again yet. I tried to convince myself that adding the Pidaal character and beefing the subplot here would not change the story intrinsically, but it’s not working. Really I was trying to avoid re-outlining. I write much better with a road map, and I haven’t been able to convince…
Did you know that Barnes and Noble University offers free courses for writers and others? They run for about six weeks at a go as near as I can figure. I’ve just signed up for their Grammar Fitness course that starts in April. I figure that should make all my critiquers happy. The downside to…
Still moving right along. Metaphorically speaking, the sun just went down, and its always darkest just before the dawn. Poor Chloe and Dean. Hubby is feeling enough better that he left a bit ago for his apartment, hoping to be able to manage two twelve hour day shifts starting tomorrow. You may recall that he’d…
I’m approaching the finish line on my fifth novel, as I’m sure you’ve heard me whine about, I mean, mention, a lot lately. You’ve also heard me whine about the slogging that I am going through to get the story told. (Today came in just under 2k, which makes me very happy!) When I look…
After completing the store pricing yesterday, which I see I forgot to mention then, I was able to get a good start to *Marks of Repentance* today. I wrote online today, mostly with Mar when we both had time, and pulled Shann’s story from zero words to 3902. I am SO tired…but it feels good….
2574 new words today for a full nano total of 5683. Today’s snippet:
Three kittens. What an unimaginable luxury. My heart sank as I realized of course Mama wouldn’t let me keep them. I tried to think where I might hide them as I set the black one down on my chest beside the calico, who opened its eyes and licked the black one’s face. They needed names. No they didn’t. I couldn’t keep them. Tiny pinpricks poked my arm and I glanced at the gray one, who yawned and stretched, tail high in the air.
Something didn’t look quite right. I reached over to run my fingers through its fur and found something bony attached to its back. I must have startled the kitten, because it jumped in the air. And stayed there. The something strange and bony proved to be wings. I swallowed hard and stared, afraid that if I took my gaze off them for an instant they would disappear. Definitely wings. They fluttered and flapped, then tilted as the kitten returned to my bed. It stalked up my chest, wings sticking straight up in the air.
I should remember to breathe.
(Not promising one every day, by the way…)
It was looking hopeful there for awhile this morning. I wrote over 1800 words and I’m somewhere in the midst of the final chapter. Does that not sound like the perfect time for a peripheral migraine? Writing is not worth the headache. Not worth the chance of pushing it into a full scale one. I…
By that I mean, a writing conference is overwhelming. Last weekend I gathered with nearly 700 other writers for my third ACFW Conference. This year’s venue was the Hyatt at the Arch in St Louis, Missouri, a mere ‘block’ away from the Mississippi River. Something I learned from my first conference is that it’s worth…
I just had to pop in here and congratulate myself for finally finishing first draft of chapter eight of *Quest to be Queen*. 🙂 It came in at 9767 words, and even though it was a frustrating chapter to write in many ways, the bones are in there somewhere. So far the whole book is…
You probably know what your basic personality type is, and possibly your Myers-Briggs designation. How about your organizational personality type? A friend of mine linked to this article from Facebook the other day. Its author explains why some creative people have trouble getting things done. She says there are four organizational personality types: fantastical, structural,…
Guest Post by Camille Eide Christmas is a favorite time of year for many of us. The sights, sounds and holiday smells create a magical sense of warmth, of familiar traditions, and opportunities for special times with special people. My Christmas Romance, Savanna’s Gift, is set in a beautifully adorned rustic ski lodge in the…
I took Monday off work to accompany Jim on an out-of-town trip. It was really good for us to spend the day together. There is plenty to talk about as we have some major decisions to make in the next few days. It seems that for every direction we could go, the cons outweigh the…
I love the kitties! Send me one! 🙂
Er…Krin’s not so into sharing….
Of course I’m totally hooked between yesterday’s and today’s snippet. Please tell me it’s not going to be written and then languish in the spoof and never to be published pile! And please tell me I can crit it when it’s done!
Oh, I posted a snippet of my chick lit today!
me? a languishing pile? Tina, you are hurting me. I’ll have to check out your snippet. Is it on your blog? I was just there a bit ago, but I’ll go back, lol.
Whoa, Val, a kitten with wings? I’ll have to read more of this! And I’m so not a cat person (the dog, looking soulfully up at me, has curled her lip at my mention of them. I think she wants to know if they’ll play with her, heh, heh.)
Poor, Krin. I can’t dance either. Good snippets.
Thanks for the comments, Jaye and Maripat! The hound dog (fairies) in the novel aren’t impressed by the kittens either.
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You have snow? I don’t envy you the roads but I do envy the white stuff. Hope you had a safe drive home.
It’s been almost warm enough for shorts here in the south. I’m with Tina, I want the snow without the snowy roads. I love the hush that accompanies falling snow. And the sound of boots crunching. I hope we get a real snow this year since my kids are old enough to have fun in it.
You are truly crazy Val. Doing Nano and 2yn plus all your other projects. I commend you. I’ve started work on Sarisa again. God has blessed me with a semi-sound post partum mind. I didn’t realize how much I missed writing.
I understand about the roads – most of ours are just glare ice. There is only so much that sand and salt can do, unfortunately. It makes me thankful that I can shift manually in my car! That being said, most of our roads are straight, so I don’t envy your curly windy roads at all!
I hope that it’s warmer there than it is here – brrrr!!! A high of -20 C again today, and I have no idea what that is with the windchill. But it’s pretty cold!
Well, take care, and I hope that you’re able to push through to get those last 1000 words done! 🙂