NaNoWriMo Time (i.e. Why you won't see me in November!)

NaNoWriMo

Welcome to NaNoWriMo Eve! We are hours away from one of the biggest writing competitions/challenges in the world (at least in my opinion).

I started taking part in National Novel Writing Month back in 2011. Four of my novels were NaNo novels! However, this will be my first year attempting the competition while also working a public job. EEK! I'm a little concerned, to say the least.

For those of you who may not know about NaNoWriMo let me share a little info. In this competition writers are challenged to write 50,000 words in only 30 days. That's writing an entire novel between November 1st and November 30th. Now, if you break it down, you're looking at 1,667 words per day... EVERY DAY.  And they will NOT be good words. LOL! You can't edit, research, rewrite, or in any way improve your story. It's all about getting words on paper (i.e. computer screen). November will be a month of simply pulling your hair out while attempting to remember words... any words... all the words!

Sooooo, if you start to wonder where I'm off to in November just remember that I'm probably chugging coffee, Diet Mountain Dew, and anything sugar-filled in order to scratch out some sort of decent wordcount after my day job, on a daily basis.

Feel free to send me any and all of the Starbucks White Chocolate Mochas! Hot or cold, I don't care. :D

Wish me luck, and I hope you all have a wonderful month. See you in December!!

NaNoWriMo has arrived, again!

Here it is, ladies and gents! National Novel Writing Month has arrived yet again. Every year thousands of authors, would-be authors, and interested parties join the masses in an attempt to crank out at least 50,000 words in only 30 days. They don't have to be good words, nor do they have to ever see the light of day, but you are supposed to have 50,000 of them before December 1st rears its ugly head.

Even with everything going on in my life right now (i.e. Cancer Sucks!!), I have great intentions to make that 50K mark by the end of the month. I've done it several times over the years and I know I can do it again. Not to mention, I really need to get this novel's first draft done before the end of the year. It's driving me crazy that I haven't been able to finish it already and I refuse to let 2015 go by without a finished book under my metaphorical belt (I rarely wear belts).

If you're on NaNoWriMo and would like to connect, here's my page link: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/christiesilvers

Feel free to add me as a friend & maybe we can keep each other cheered on. Though it's unlikely you'll hear much cheering while everyone is banging their heads on keyboards trying to remember what a sentence is.

My WIP for this month is Bloody Sorrow (tentatively titled), and is the first book in the new series I'm working on. I'm not very far into it so adding another 50,000 words will definitely help the situation... A LOT!

Fingers crossed & high fives to everyone participating. Remember that there are no losers when you're actually writing. And that's what this month is all about... writing 'til your fingers bleed and your brain has turned to mush. LOL.  Oh, and you only need 1,667 words a day to reach the 50K mark. I know you can do it!


P.S. I adjusted the word count bar on the right of the page to reflect the words I've already written and added them to the 50K I have left to write.   ------->>>>

I don't mind not knowing.

For someone who always plans, plans and plans everything I can posibly plan, writing is the one place where I don't mind not knowing where I'm going.  I really don't know where a story will go, or how it will end.  I'll find out when I get there.  The ending will arrive when it arrives.  I can't know where the characters are going until they go there and tell me about it.

That's the fun of writing like I do.  I get to sit back and let the story go where it may. 

I am sooooo glad that NaNoWriMo is nearly over.  I'm coming up on the 50,000 word goal for November, but the story is all rushed and... well, to be honest... It's crap!  Yes, yes, you've heard me say that all first drafts are rubbish, and they are, but I hate rushing a story just for the sake of a word count.  I like to let it linger, ferment, season over time as I get to know the characters and what they're up to.

I go into a story knowing just a small amount about what will happen, the jist of the story, I suppose.  Most of the time the idea starts out as a handwritten note consisting of a few sentences to a couple of paragraphs... and that's it.  I work from that and weave something out of those small snippets of the characters' futures.

Basically, I'm whining about the fact that once this month is over, the story I'm working on right now will have to be rewritten in its entirety just so that I can go slower, make more out of it, and fix the bullshit that's only there because it came to me and I didn't have the time to turn it into something good. 

Yep, I'm feeling very unhappy with the overall flow of the story right now. 

There are some scenes that I absolutely love.  Those will be kept, of course.  However, there are a lot of scenes that I abhor!  Those will be deleted, changed, cut, burned, castrated, and stomped to bits and pieces while I cackle in that evil take-over-the-world kind of way.  Hey!  Come to think of it, that actually sounds kind of fun!

In the end, I think that I'll link myself to this entry so that next year I can look back on it and remember why I didn't want to do NaNoWriMo to begin with this year and will make sure that Tim reminds me to refuse next year.

I like the writer that I am and will stop screwing up my process every time the month of November rolls around.  That's it, after I meet goal this year, I'm warding off NaNoWriMo.  Thanks for the ride, but I'm done.

I hope you all have a glorious Thanksgiving Day yesterday.  We all ate too much, had loads of fun, and even put up our Christmas tree.  I will NOT be out in the Black Friday mess today.  If you read this blog regularly you know that I hate crowds.  I'll be right here, doing my daily word count, wrapping gifts, and enjoying the time with my family.  No deal is good enough for me to leave that!  LOL.
Have a great Friday!

Ooops! I missed Monday.

Morning, morning, morning!  Tuesday started with me hitting the snooze button twice before realizing that I'd already hit it once.  When I finally crawled out of bed I discovered that my cell phone was dead and a text message I'd sent to Facebook at 4pm yesterday showed up at 1am last night.  LOL.  No, I was not picking up the oldest, nor was Tim seasoning salmon to grill at 1am.

Yesterday was quite the laid back day around here.  I suppose I could have found a few minutes to blog, but I was wrapped up with Tim, doing laundry, and just enjoying the sunshine while I could.  After picking the kids up, we grilled out dinner and then when the youngest went to bed I plugged my ears and wrote for two hours.

It was just a simply day around here.

Oh, and after four days in the ICU Tim's mom was moved out into a regular hospital room yesterday.  They say she's doing better and her oxygen levels are back up.  She says she's determined to quit the smoking, and I hope that's th truth.  However, we heard that when they put on portable oxygen a year ago.  They'll both have to do it for either of them to succeed.  Hopefully they'll do it this time.

Today...  Well today I will be doing my NaNo writing early in the day so that I can watch V when it comes on tonight.  The NaNo story is coming along nicely, though it certainly won't be done when it hits 50,000 words.  I'm only on chapter 9 after all.

Speaking of my work, I received another glowing review from a reader of A Midnight Infatuation yesterday (shout to Sherie!).  I love when readers let me know how much they're enjoying the books.  It definitely makes my day worthwhile.  :-)  Writers are only human and we want to know that our work is enjoyed by others.

Okay, Tim is about to take the kids to school.  I better go make the youngest some breakfast.  I hope you have a beautiful day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow. 

Tuesday! It'll be a good day.

Good morning!  We have been blessed with the ability to wake up to yet another Tuesday.  Be happy!

It's cloudy and rainy here in north Georgia, but I'm feeling frisky and energetic this morning.  It's just past 8 am and I've washed two loads of laundry, fed the youngest and took a shower.  I still need to eat something myself, but not sure what I want yet.  Tim took the big girls to school for me, so that was nice.  :-)

Yesterday turned out to be a good writing day, even though it felt like I was running the roads all day.  So many things to do in one little day just make it feel rushed and overwhelming.  Luckily I'm a stubborn Capricorn that knows how to get things done.  ;-)

Today will be a smoother day, with less running around.  I'll be able to have another good writing day.  The story is finally picking up speed for me.  Took three chapters, but hey, that's what edits and rewrites are for AFTER the story is on my virtual paper.  LOL.  Right now it's all about just getting the story, from beginning to end, written down and out of my head.  Later I'll come back to add scenes, change scenes, delete scenes, rewrite those things Liz said to Chad when they were rolling around on the ground, delete what Cole said about Hamish, and numerous/millions of other things that'll need to be done and un-done.

Yeah, edits will be a bitch on this one, but it'll be well worth it in the end.  I hate edits!  Nonetheless, they improve any story one hundred fold from its first daft state.  No one but the writer should ever, EVER lay eyes on a first draft of anything... much less a story.  Nooooo!!  Never do that!  It's death to any story when you show the first draft to someone.  You know it's bad, all first drafts are bad, there can be no exception to this rule.  Just don't do it.  And certainly don't ask to see mine 'cause I'll adamantly refuse your request.

Well, I guess I better change out of my shorts and tank top and into something appropriate for November.  Tim wants to go buy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when the game store opens.  He's been talking about it for a couple of weeks, so it has been planned. 

I doubted he'd get it since it's $60, but he made some extra cash helping his dad and I always make him trade in an old game when he wants a new one.  So he should have plenty of money to get it without asking me for more.  LOL.  Gotta train those husbands like you do the kids sometimes.  We'll hit our 16th anniversary after the first of the year, so no, the training never ends.

But at least that'll keep him busy while I'm working today.  Woohoo!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!  Make the best of it and you'll be a happier person.

Hot Vampires! Who's your favorite?

Happy Friday morning ladies and gents!  It's finally the weekend.  Woohoo!  My mom will be taking the kids tonight and we'll be enjoying a peaceful evening.  Then tomorrow we get to sleep late.  I like sleeping late.  I hate the sound of my alarm clock Monday through Friday.  That sucker scares me half to death every single morning.

I don't have much more than writing planned for today.  I got an e-mail from DS wanting me to write more articles, but I don't "do" articles during NaNoWriMo.  I like to focus solely on my story without having my attention spread out over web content as well.  I love my fiction!  Articles are just there to make some extra cash when I'm not having to process a fiction story.

When I work on my novels I like to think about them all day.  Even when I'm not writing, the story is going through my mind; I'm working through scenes, conversations, locations, etc.  I might be watching television, folding laundry, giving the youngest a bath, but I'm rolling the story over and over in my head.  If I start writing an article about gardening, well, that just throws my story thoughts right out the window for a while.  It ruins my work flow.

This is why I only write articles when I'm editing or doing rewrites.  If I'm working on a story from scratch I just can't do articles.  I've learned this about myself over the years and figure I should just stick with what works best for me.  :-)

Now, back to the title of this blog.  Hmmm, hot vampires!  I love hot vampires.  Hot vampires are what makes the movies and books worth watching and reading.  Hot vampires are the ones that make you wanna swoon and offer up your own neck for their use.  Mmmm, the world would be awfully boring without hot vampires.  Hell, my books would be pointless without hot vampires!!  LOL!

Yesterday a friend shared 20 Hottest Vampires of All Time.  Stop by and check out.  Do you agree with the findings?  Do you have suggestions for others?  I like the list, but would totally reorder it to my own liking.

Before I go, I wanted to share that I got some fabulously potential good news yesterday.  It's pretty big for me, but it's a done deal.  It may not even pan out at all.  But if it does I'll be shouting it from the rooftops & you guys will be some of the firsts to know.  However, at this time I'm asking for everyone to cross their fingers and toes, and to think happy thoughts for me.  I believe in karma; if you send goodness out into the universe it'll come back to you tenfold.  Most of you know that about me.  Fingers crossed!

Have a great day!

On your mark, get set, WRITE!!!

Welcome to Sunday, and November 1st!  Today is the day that the National Novel Writing Month begins.  Woohoo!  I'm super excited about this month and hope to have the first draft of the next Liz Baker story completed by November 30th (preferably sooner).

I won't be able to get started on my word count until we return from visiting the in-laws today.  However, I do have loads of notes, ideas, and thoughts on paper, in the computer file, and stored away in my head.  I have the book's computer file all set and ready for the story to begin.  It's open and sitting here on my desktop so that I'll be able to jump right in when we get home.  Woohoo!

Okay, so last night was Halloween.  We took the kids and Rex the Super Pup out to forage for sweet things to eat. It was sooooo crowded in the neighborhood that we go to (my grandmother's), and we got rained on.  Blah!  Therefore, I was thoroughly thrilled that their candy buckets ended up full to the tippy top after only 8 houses.   Yay! 

After that we loaded them back into the van and partook in the 50 cent corndog deal at Sonic for their late dinner.  It's not everyday that you can feed three children for only $7 (including fries).  Tim & I had Subway.  Yum!

Rex the Super Pup had a decent time.  He freaked out when he met my mom's chihuahua, but that only lasted a moment and then he was intrigued by this other dog so close in size.  LOL.  However, he was happy when we returned home and he was back on his own turf.

Well, I'm off.  We need to get ready for Tim's parents and the back home for me to get started on NaNoWriMo. Once I get the word count widget on here (on the left), you'll probably notice that some days will be low in word count and others will be extremely high.  My ideas come in spurts--some are small and some are gigantic.  :-)

Have a great Sunday and try not to get a tummy ache from all the candy you collected last night.

Happy Halloween!

It's that day of the year again.  The day that we all dress up like ghouls and goblins, witches and wizards, princesses and fairies, oh and let's not forget the wenches, nurses, and of course, Dorothy!  ;-)  Then we head out to forage (beg) for chocolately morsels--and no, tootsie rolls don't count.  Blech!

It's Halloween!

I've always enjoyed this day.  I get to dress up (not always publicly), paint my nails black (like I wait for Halloween for that), and enjoy the darkness of All Hallows' Eve.  The girls have so much fun and rack up on so much candy that I end up having throw some out or give it away around Thanksgiving. 

Here in the last few years, Halloween also marks the last day of wild abandon before I dedicate the entire month of November to my next novel.  Yesterday I spent an hour just brainstorming and working on character descriptions and names.  Those of you on my Facebook page may have seen my request for older Scottish men names.  Thanks a bundle to those who offered up suggestions and/or links to aid in my quest. 

I really am excited for the new project, and the rush to get the first draft onto "virtual" paper is something that I can't resist.  I like having a deadline, it focuses my attention and pushes me.  Tim hates it, but he's come to accept my time spent.  Now if I could just get him to quit tempting me away from my work every time I get into a good flow.  LOL.

Well, I'm off to do laundry and get things ready for trick-or-treating tonight.  The girls will be dressed as a butterfly, devil, and demon hunter.  I'll share a pic when I get time tomorrow.  :-)

Happy Haunting!



P.S.  The background will go back to normal tomorrow.  ;-)

Only 1 Week Away

Morning folks.  How has your weekend been?  It has been a peaceful, quiet weekend around here.  The sun keeps fluttering in and out of the clouds.  We'll get glimpses of bright loveliness and then it's gone again.

Yesterday was spent here at home.  Mom brought the kids home around 11 a.m. that day.  Then the girls and I spent the day baking, cleaning, watching movies, playing outside, and just hanging out. 

Tim's been dealing with some sort of stomach issue for the last couple of days.  I had him piled up in bed yesterday.  He's as bad (or worse) than the children when it comes to being sick.  He whines and pouts and complains.  That's mainly why I shoved him into the bedroom and out of my way.  LOL!

I received more good words about Time For Death yesterday.  "...you drive the reader in a tense manner in a huge way..."  I absoutely LOVE hearing things like that.  She went on about certain book details that she likes (that I won't post here), and then I got this, "You are an amazing novelist!!!"  Awwwwww!  I love you too!

I have no real plans for today.  Tim's still not feeling well, so it'll be another at-home day.  That's okay though, I may just go get some pumpkins and let the kids carve them.  I'm actually enjoying these peaceful days before the storm of November arrives.  Today marks exactly 1 week until NaNoWriMo begins.  I'm definitely ready to get started on book 2 of my Liz Baker series.  Hell, I already have notes for book 3, too.

Once the contest starts I'll add a word count graphic to the blog.  You'll be able to see how many words I have done and how much closer I am to the 50,000 word goal.  This is my third year doing the contest, and I reached goal early for both previous years.  Hopefully I can again this year.

A Birth at Dawn was the book I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2007.  Then in 2008, I wrote the first draft of Time For Death.  This year's book will be Time For Battle (unless I change the title). 

Okay, I'm off.  Have a good Sunday!




*Photo: Taken by me Oct. 2008.*

Friday Run Around

Good Friday morning!  I'm so glad it's Friday.  I've been looking forward to the weekend.  Next Monday the kids are even out of school, so we get to sleep late for 3 days this weekend.  Yay!

Today Tim and I have to do our Friday run around.  We have errands (read: groceries, groceries, groceries) to run.  I've finally convinced Tim that my weekly errand day works out so much better than him wanting to go to town 4x a week.  My way has been working (and saving gas) for all these years.  I must be doing something right.  LOL!

Today I have only 2 more chapters to edit.  Woohoo!!  Then this evening I'll start finishing off the ending and then VOILA!  I'll print it all out again so I can just sit back and read it.  Yay me!!  I love it!  I think Tim's even happy for me to get this one finished, and not complaining about having time to finish it.  LOL.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have some good reviews from my test readers to share with you.  Then it'll be time for NaNoWriMo... and the next book.  I'm calling this series the Liz Baker saga.  We'll see how that goes.  LOL.

Okay, I'm off for the day.  I hope you enjoy your Friday and have a fantastic weekend.


*Image:  MisMade*

Another fabulous day in the works.

Morning all!  Welcome to Tuesday.  Today is going to be another fabulous day around here.  Why?  Because I said so!  Yes, that's the Mom in me showing through. LOL!

Yesterday I stated that this would be a great, productive week, and I was absolutely correct.  Yesterday was one of the most productive days I've had in a while.  I ended up writing 2 articles, editing 3 book chapters, doing numerous household chores, throwing dinner into the Crock-Pot, and even spending time with the kids and Tim.  The day ended with me feeling very accomplished and looking forward to today.

Today will be another good day, but we have a meeting to attend at 8:30am before I can get to my own work.  I'm hoping to be back home by 9:30 or 10 am, and then I can get started on today's article and book edits.  *Fingers Crossed*  Determination makes all the difference when it comes to getting work done and living by a positive attitude and outlook.  :-)

I realized yesterday that it's nearly time to start thinking about this year's NaNoWriMo contest.  Ack!  I can't believe it's nearly November.  I'm not sure that I want to even consider it this year.  But if I don't do it I'll wish I had.  I already have a 2 year winning streak and would hate to miss year 3. 

My biggest concern is getting Time For Death finished before beginning another big project.  I'm a one project at a time kind of woman.  I like to finish one before starting another.  However, if I get Time For Death done, then I'll be ready to start book two in this new series, and NaNo would be a great time to start it.  Eek!  So much to consider!

Ask me again in exactly 1 month and I promise to have a yes or no answer for ya.  LOL.  :-)

Well it's time for me to go get changed and take the kids to school.  Have a great day!



*Photo was taken by me one morning in 2007*

Coming along, slowly but surely.

I've been hard at work on "Time For Death" this week. My NaNo numbers are moving right along, and the story is as well. I'm about to start work on chapter 9 and there's already been more action than I should list (wouldn't want to give it all away). Just know that there's sex, murder, more sex, lust, suspense, blood, more sex... LOL!!

I'm really liking the direction the story has taken. I know what the ending will be (I always know the ending ahead of time), but I like to let the characters lead the way in getting to that ending. I never know which way they will go, who they will meet, or what they will enjoy until they let me know.

Liz has turned out to be one cocky gal that enjoys nail polish, high-heeled boots, corsets, sex, and isn't a skinny minnie. She's tall, curvy, and voluptuous... and loves it!

Okay, that's enough rambling about her.

Next week is my guest appearance on Coffee Thoughts. I'll be giving away a book sometime during the day. I hope that you'll all stop by. I'll post a reminder as the day draws closer.

I'm off. You all have a fantastic Thursday! I'll be here trying to reach 22,000 words. LOL!

.

It's a new week. Time for new goals.

Soooo, last week's writing goal was a bit short... like 3,000 short. *blush* Shame on me.

However, it's a new week and therefore, time for new goals!

I did a lot of playing catch-up over the weekend wih my word count and finally got up into the 10,000 range. I'm hoping to be around 25,000 by the end of the week. We'll see. For now, I'm going to aim for 3,000 words today and then go from there.

Luckily, the story is really picking up now. There's already been sex in a cemetery, a car wreck, a mysterious man, and a murdered night nurse. And that's only the first four chapters! LOL! This is the part I love, once the introduction of characters is out of the way and all the good stuff gets started. That should help the word count tremendously. :-)

Now if I could get the three year old to stop begging for food even though she just ate breakfast. LOL!

On a personal note, Tim is doing a great job refinishing the bedroom dresser. The color is looking fantastic and will be a perfect match for the new decor in there. We still have one wall left to paint, as we didn't even pick up the brushes over the weekend. My new Egyptian Cotton sheets arrived Saturday and they are to die for. Love them!

Okay, that's it for today. It's time to throw some more food at the eating demon so that I can get started on today's work load. Have a fabulous Monday!

.

The day after Halloween.

Last night the girls had a great time. We took them trick-or-treating in their Halloween best and they raked in the candy. Today, well today has been all about seeing just how much of that Halloween candy they can devour in a 24 hour time frame. LOL! I finally had to cut them off after dinner this evening.

Today is November 1st. I've taken care of today's NaNoWriMo word count, went shopping for painting supplies (for my bedroom) and I'm on the 4th and 5th loads of laundry today. Oh, and we took the kids out for lunch today. It has been a long day.

My NaNo count is pretty good for day 1 and for it being a Saturday. Tomorrow's count will be bad though. I have to go visit the inlaws and then go make a bank deposit via the ATM 20 minutes away. Luckily I will have all the laundry done, but the kids will be busy in a competition to see who can interrupt my writing the most. I can't write anything sensible when they interrupt me one right after the other, over and over again.

So anyway, today's word count was good, but that's only to make up for how bad tomorrow's will be (if any).

Okay, I'm off for tonight, but I'll leave you with the picture of my three girls last night. We had a zombie bride, a vampire witch, and Tinkerbell (though mommy forgot to put her wings on).

It's almost Halloween!

I've been enjoying these last few days as I know they will be the last peaceful ones for a while. Halloween starts the busiest time of year for me. One holiday or birthday right after the next. Christmas shopping that needs to be finished (though I'm almost half-way finished. YAY!).

Even with all of the challenges lying in wait for me, I do like Halloween. Well, let me rephrase that and say that I love the sights, sounds, costumes, and overall "feel" of Halloween. However, I do not enjoy taking the girls trick-or-treating. I don't like being out in large crowds, in the dark, with three little girls.

The girls get so overexcited that they run at 200% and I'm being pulled along behind them, wishing I was warm at home.

Some years Halloween still has warm weather. You'll be sweating and wishing it was cooler. Then other years it's so cold that you have to put clothes under the costumes and coats over them. It appears that this year is going to be a cold year (I woke up to 28 degrees this morning). Did I mention that I don't like cold weather?

I do enjoy dressing the girls up in their costumes, painting faces, and pretending that they scare me. Some years I dress up and some years I don't bother. This is a "don't bother" year. Here's last year's costume though.



I thought about dressing up this year, but I'm not interested in being cold or having to cover up a nice costume with a jacket. Maybe next year.

Luckily, once Halloween is over I can lose myself in the world of NaNoWriMo. I'm so ready to get the new book underway and occupy my free time with it. My new main character, Lizabeth, is waiting not-so-patiently for me to show her some attention. LOL!

So, if you don't hear from me, just know that I'm probably barricaded in my bedroom with nothing but a bottle of water and the laptop. LOL

Have a great day and I hope you're warmer than I am. :-)

.

It's almost up.

I've been keeping a close eye on the progression of A Twilight Abduction into the online bookselling systems. The book now has it's own Amazon.com page, though there's no information or price, and it says that the book has "limited availability." Shouldn't be much longer now! Woohoo! Seems like the Halloween release is still right on schedule!

Gosh, I just can't believe how quickly this year has rushed by. It will be November next weekend. Just crazy!

Speaking of November. Some of you may have noticed the new, blue NaNoWriMo banner over there ------>

Yep, I'll be doing the contest again this year. That banner is *suppose* to keep updated word counts for me. I say suppose, because I've never used it and have no idea how well it works. Nevertheless, keep an eye on it come November 1st to see if I'm making the grade or falling behind. Last year I finished nearly a week early; I'm hoping to do the same this year.

My NaNo book will be something completely different. Alex & Fiona are taking a break and my new friend Lizbeth May Baker will be taking over. I'm looking forward to learning all about her and writing down her adventures with a new bloodsucking fiend. ;-)

Alrighty, I'm off. The hubby is almost home and dinner is nearly done in the Crock-Pot. I need to wrangle the children into the house for some washing up and get them settled to eat dinner. I hope you havea fabulous week!

.

Let the weekend begin!

Woohoo! It's finally Friday. This has been one long, dragging week for me. You'd think that I'd enjoy it because as soon as Halloween hits, my life will move into uproaring, crazy busy mode. LOL!

As a little notice: The website will be down for about an hour on October 24th, sometime between the hours of 1am - 7am EST. Thought I'd throw that out there so no one wonders what's up. Since it'll be in the middle of the night, hopefully no one will notice. :-)

Okay, back to my schedule. Today has been cold, rainy, and dreary. I don't mind it for a day or two, but more than three days will start to get to me. So fingers crossed that it's only for a few days and Monday will bring the sun back into focus.

I don't have any plans for the weekend. The oldest thinks that it's boring to stay home all weekend, but we'll see what she says when she's in her 30's and a weekend home is appealing. LOL.

Today marks 2 weeks until Halloween, and the day that A Twilight Abduction officially releases. I'm very excited! The pre-orders have been wonderful and I hope that the orders after the release will be just as great, and more so!

Then on November 1st, the big book sale will start on my website. Buyers will be able to purchase all three of the Alex & Fiona books for one low price.

November 1st also marks the start of NaNoWriMo... National Novel Writing Month. I'll be participating in the NaNo contest again this year (50K words in 30days). Hopefully I'll win again like last year. :-)

November 19th is the day I'll be guest blogging on CoffeeTimeRomance.com's blog, Coffee Thoughts.

Then throw in Thanksgiving Day! I'll be cooking and hosting the family Thanksgiving meal again this year, so that'll be a busy day with absolutely no writing time on the agenda. LOL

And all of that is just for November. December is almost as busy, and it leads right into January!

Now that I've rambled your eyes off with my insanity, I'll let you escape gracefully. Have a great weekend!!

.

Good morning!

Even though today is Tuesday, it's the start of a new week for me. The big girls went back to school today and the house is as it should be.

My youngest ended up with a strange fever right after lunchtime yesterday. She was sick the rest of the day. This morning, the fever's gone. I have no idea what that was all about, but I'm glad it's done now.

Yesterday morning I had to go out and buy a new printer. My 5 yr old $30 HP printer went kaput last week. It was giving me errors left and right and wouldn't print anything... it wouldn't even attempt to print. So, I had to break down and buy a new one.

I've been wanting an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier, so I took this opportunity to get one. I ended up with a very nice HP one (since the last one lasted 5yrs, I might as well go with a HP again, lol). It was very easy to set up, though the software install too freakin' forever. It prints beautifully and scans just as well. I was set up and ready for printing in about 20 mins... for the desktop computer that it was hooked to anyway.

I took me the rest of the day to get it to work with my network so that my laptop could use it too! UGH! Ridiculous! It was literally half an hour from the start of dinner when I finally got it to work properly. I've never had such problems with something as simple as a printer. Craziness I tell ya!

Anyway, it's all done now and I'm back in business. I had so many receipts sitting in my email program that needed to be printed out for filing. Now those are cleared out and I'm happy again.

Okay, I better get to work. I have more character development and story outline work to tend to before I start my next book soon. I'll be doing NaNoWriMo again this year, so the actual book writing will have to wait until November 1st. Until then, I'll just spend as much time as possible getting to know my leading character. She's quite the sassy one already!

Have a great day!

.

A Midnight Infatuation & A Birth at Dawn

I thought I'd post about my two paranormal romance novels today. These books are my babies as well as my first series. In addition to this post, you may be interested in an interview I previously did titled, Christie Silvers Discusses A MidnightInfatuation by Cailin Yates.


A Midnight Infatuation is the first in the Alex & Fiona series.

Alexander is a 150 year old vampire with a lust for blood. But, the blood isn't all that he enjoys. He thoroughly delights in the act of taking blood from an unwilling victim. The ear-piercing screams are like music to his undead ears. That is, until he met HER!

Fiona is a 30 year old werewolf. She's just like any other modern-day woman that you would meet in the teller line at your local bank. She has to deal with her annoying family, numerous failed relationships--including one where she found her boyfriend in bed with HIS boyfriend--and pressure to marry from everyone around her.

Alex becomes instantly infatuated with the lovely Fiona and is very intrigued by the unusual scent that emanates from her. His infatuation becomes very useful when Fiona's pack decides to instigate their "Fight or Wed" law; which in turn leaves Fiona lying on a forest floor bleeding profusely. Alex is forced to do what vampires do... turn her! With Fiona's pack hot on their trail, what will become of this unusual pair? Will they be able to avoid Fiona's pack of vicious revenge-seeking werewolves? Will Fiona be able to look past Alex's undead demeanor?

You'll have to read A Midnight Infatuation to find out!

-------------------------------------------------

Up next you have the second book in this series, A Birth at Dawn. This book was my winner for the 2007 NaNoWriMo contest.


The big day is fast approaching. All of the arrangements have been made, the cake and flowers have been ordered and the invitations have been mailed. The only thing left to do is to find the perfect dress. But, once that's done, Fiona feels like someone is watching her. Who could it be? The wolf pack wouldn't dare try anything again.

Once the big day arrives, both she and Alex have the feeling that a terrible storm is coming... and fast! All they want to do is make it through their wedding day with no interruptions. Unfortunately, there is a familiar scent in the air during the ceremony. A scent that they both hoped they would not detect for a long while.

When Fiona's honeymoon is interrupted because of a vanishing groom with nothing but a broken lamp and a drop of blood left behind for clues, she must find out what has happened and rescue her beloved from an undesirable fate.

What will happen to Alex? Will Fiona get to him in time? And what about Isabella?

-------------------------------------------------

These two books are just the beginning for Alex & Fiona. I am currently working on book 3 in this series, titled A Twilight Abduction. This book is scheduled for release in October 2008. After that, life will take me where their stories lead. We'll have to wait and see.


You can find all of my books on my website (in autographed form), on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc. You can find numerous links on the left side of the blog here. :-) On my website, you can also find excerpts from both books and even the book trailers for each (they are like mini-commercials, but about books, lol). http://www.christiesilvers.com/


Tomorrow I will discuss Toddler Logic: 50 Things That Your Toddler Wants You to Know.