I just can not believe that it's already the week of Thanksgiving. I've been so darn busy this month that the days kind of slipped away from me. I will be hosting Thanksgiving Dinner for my family, as well as Christmas Eve and Day this year. PLUS all of the normal "mommy duties" that are associated with the holiday season... gingerbread houses, Christmas cookies, wrapping gifts, finding the right gift for the in-laws (even though DH should be buying his parents' gifts) and then sitting down one day and remembering how much I miss my own dad during this time of year.
For some reason this year seems so much more hectic and busy than years gone by. Ooohhh, and I started working on my Christmas card list today too. You realize just how many friends you really have when you start making out Christmas cards. My hand was aching from addressing envelopes and I only made it through half of my list. But, I do love the holiday season.
My youngest daughter will be three in January and she is at the most perfect age for the holidays. At this age their little eyes are full of wonder and excitment of the unknown. I can not wait to see her expression when it's time to unwrap all of those colorful packages.
We will be putting up our tree and decorations Friday. Then we'll all get dressed up and sit in front of the fireplace and take our yearly family photo. I'm big on family photos. I have over a dozen full photo albums lining my bookcase from the last 13 years. I just can't imagine how many will be there when I'm old and grey. LOL!
OK, enough of the mushy, family stuff. Now onto the book stuff.
I am flowing nicely for NaNoWriMo. I should reach my 50K by the weekend if my children have mercy on my this week (the older two are out of school all week and, therefore, have all day to enjoy the tortured screams of their 2 yr old sister).
My cover artist is working away at the new cover for this book and I can't wait to see it. She is so talented!!
Hmmm, what else? Well, I have run out of my own copies of A Midnight Infatuation. People keep buying them up until I am no officially out. LOL. I'm totally not complaining, just making a mental reminder to order more stock.
I will be announcing a new contest at the end of this week. So be sure to check that out. It will run until Christmas Eve and the winner will be rewarded with a $20 Amazon gift certificate. Who doesn't love free stuff?
Oh, make sure that you sign up for my newsletter. I'll be sending it out around Dec 1st. You'll find tips on cooking that perfect Christmas ham, creating your own wrapping paper, deciding between paper and e-cards and even a few crafts. I'll also be announcing my SUCCESS or failure of NaNoWriMo and maybe we'll be lucky enough to debute the new cover of A Birth at Dawn: Book 2 of the Alex & Fiona Series.
Ok, I guess that's enough rambling for today. I feel badly when I log on here and realize it has been a week since my last update, so I end up over-compensating. Hopefully things will go back to normal after November is over. :-)
Good night & have a happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Still going strong...
I'm still here, and alive. LOL. I have been busy writing my NaNoWriMo novel lately. I've discovered a nice surprise and a not so nice surprise.
First, the nice surprise is that I write much faster when I'm wearing headphones and blasting heavy metal into my brain. It blocks out all of the surrounding people, sounds and distractions. Why didn't I think of that all those months ago when I was writing A Midnight Infatuation?
Second, the not so nice surprise is that the letter "P" is trying to go out on my laptop keyboard. You have to press it harder than I normally do and therefore I end up with a whole lot of words missing their P's. I find that very annoying.
Other than that, I'm doing quite well. I should hit 20,000 words today in A Birth at Dawn, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens during the rest of my day, of course. I even have dinner planned out so that I won't have to spend more than fifteen minutes throwing it together.
So why am I on here and not writing, you ask? Well, a girl needs a break from her vampires and werewolves every so many chapters (<--I had to backspace to add that p). You have to step back and make sure that your beloved characters are going in the direction that you want them to be going in. Sometimes they surprise us and, no matter how many outlines we create ahead of time, they end up going where THEY want to go.
I absolutely LOVE when my characters take over the writing. For those of you who have never experienced this, it is AMAZING. You finish a scene and then look back over it in awe. Like, did I REALLY write that? That came from me? WOW!
All books have a natural flow about them. Soft scenes mixed with hard scenes. Funny scenes toying with sad scenes. Intense scenes mingling with light-heartened scenes. All of these add to the overall feel of the story. Just like real life. You have your up days and your down days, your happy days and your sad days, your days filled with nothing but excitment and the days where you just know you will die from the boredom. Books are the same way.
I thoroughly enjoy writing the sex scenes in my books. They are fun and exciting and provocative. But, I enjoy writing the action scenes even more. The more intense and fast-paced they are the better. My fingers move just as quickly over the keyboard as the action flows in the story. It seems that the more intense the action, the faster I write and the faster the scenes flow through my brain.
But, a book can't be nothing but sex and excitement. You have to have some backstory; reasons for the action, love and decisions for the sex. Those parts are the hardest for me to write. I know what goes there and I know what I want to say, but I tend to write a lot slower during those moments. They aren't exciting. They are informative. I know all about my characters, but I have to let the readers know about them. If only every book came with the knowledge that I already have of my characters. Then I could just write sex and action all the time. LOL!!
Ok, that's enough of a break I suppose (<-- I had to go back and add one of those Ps too). I better get back to work, after getting my demanding toddler something to drink.
Best wishes to everyone who participating in this exciting endeavour.
First, the nice surprise is that I write much faster when I'm wearing headphones and blasting heavy metal into my brain. It blocks out all of the surrounding people, sounds and distractions. Why didn't I think of that all those months ago when I was writing A Midnight Infatuation?
Second, the not so nice surprise is that the letter "P" is trying to go out on my laptop keyboard. You have to press it harder than I normally do and therefore I end up with a whole lot of words missing their P's. I find that very annoying.
Other than that, I'm doing quite well. I should hit 20,000 words today in A Birth at Dawn, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens during the rest of my day, of course. I even have dinner planned out so that I won't have to spend more than fifteen minutes throwing it together.
So why am I on here and not writing, you ask? Well, a girl needs a break from her vampires and werewolves every so many chapters (<--I had to backspace to add that p). You have to step back and make sure that your beloved characters are going in the direction that you want them to be going in. Sometimes they surprise us and, no matter how many outlines we create ahead of time, they end up going where THEY want to go.
I absolutely LOVE when my characters take over the writing. For those of you who have never experienced this, it is AMAZING. You finish a scene and then look back over it in awe. Like, did I REALLY write that? That came from me? WOW!
All books have a natural flow about them. Soft scenes mixed with hard scenes. Funny scenes toying with sad scenes. Intense scenes mingling with light-heartened scenes. All of these add to the overall feel of the story. Just like real life. You have your up days and your down days, your happy days and your sad days, your days filled with nothing but excitment and the days where you just know you will die from the boredom. Books are the same way.
I thoroughly enjoy writing the sex scenes in my books. They are fun and exciting and provocative. But, I enjoy writing the action scenes even more. The more intense and fast-paced they are the better. My fingers move just as quickly over the keyboard as the action flows in the story. It seems that the more intense the action, the faster I write and the faster the scenes flow through my brain.
But, a book can't be nothing but sex and excitement. You have to have some backstory; reasons for the action, love and decisions for the sex. Those parts are the hardest for me to write. I know what goes there and I know what I want to say, but I tend to write a lot slower during those moments. They aren't exciting. They are informative. I know all about my characters, but I have to let the readers know about them. If only every book came with the knowledge that I already have of my characters. Then I could just write sex and action all the time. LOL!!
Ok, that's enough of a break I suppose (<-- I had to go back and add one of those Ps too). I better get back to work, after getting my demanding toddler something to drink.
Best wishes to everyone who participating in this exciting endeavour.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
My Apologies...
Wow, it's already Wednesday evening and I haven't posted on here since Sunday. I do sincerely apologize to all of my loyal readers out there. I hope that you will forgive me. :-)
It has been a busy week and it's only Hump Day. I've dealt with all of the normal wife and mommy duties that pile up on me everyday, but I've also been working on my NaNoWriMo novel--which is subsequently also Book Two to my Fiona & Alex series. There's a wedding in the works and then everything erupts into craziness. This will be a great "episode" to their lives together.
If you haven't already purchased your own copy of Book One: A Midnight Infatuation, then you better jump on it. You'll want to read it before reading Book Two: A Birth at Dawn. They will fit together like a great pair of gloves. :-)
Speaking of Book Two, I am quickly coming up on 10,000 words of the 50,000 I'm aiming for by the end of November. I'm about 1,000 words behind the daily average for seven days into the contest, but I'll make up for that plus some if tomorrow I have as great a writing day as I did today. This is certainly an interesting and exciting contest. I keep looking at my word count over and over again. I have to remind myself to STOP and just write.
Oh and don't let me get started on the editing. NaNoWriMo is only for writing. You should waste your time editing or rewriting. You're suppose to write and only write--editing is for after the contest is over. Unfortunately, it is very hard to NOT edit as you're writing. I've already taken out particular scenes and then had to remind myself not to do that anymore. Editing is for December. Editing is for December. Say it with me, editing is for December! LOL!
Alrighty then, dinner is done, the kids need to eat and take baths, the hubby will be home from work in a few minutes and I'm the only person who can pull everything together... apparently. Soooo, I will go now and get busy and hopefully I can finish up some more writing after the girls go to bed later.
Have a great evening!
It has been a busy week and it's only Hump Day. I've dealt with all of the normal wife and mommy duties that pile up on me everyday, but I've also been working on my NaNoWriMo novel--which is subsequently also Book Two to my Fiona & Alex series. There's a wedding in the works and then everything erupts into craziness. This will be a great "episode" to their lives together.
If you haven't already purchased your own copy of Book One: A Midnight Infatuation, then you better jump on it. You'll want to read it before reading Book Two: A Birth at Dawn. They will fit together like a great pair of gloves. :-)
Speaking of Book Two, I am quickly coming up on 10,000 words of the 50,000 I'm aiming for by the end of November. I'm about 1,000 words behind the daily average for seven days into the contest, but I'll make up for that plus some if tomorrow I have as great a writing day as I did today. This is certainly an interesting and exciting contest. I keep looking at my word count over and over again. I have to remind myself to STOP and just write.
Oh and don't let me get started on the editing. NaNoWriMo is only for writing. You should waste your time editing or rewriting. You're suppose to write and only write--editing is for after the contest is over. Unfortunately, it is very hard to NOT edit as you're writing. I've already taken out particular scenes and then had to remind myself not to do that anymore. Editing is for December. Editing is for December. Say it with me, editing is for December! LOL!
Alrighty then, dinner is done, the kids need to eat and take baths, the hubby will be home from work in a few minutes and I'm the only person who can pull everything together... apparently. Soooo, I will go now and get busy and hopefully I can finish up some more writing after the girls go to bed later.
Have a great evening!
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