Friday, July 16, 2010

Friday's at the Piedmont Grille

And here it is once again, the lovely ending to a lovely week.

I've been working steadily on Genna & Tony this week. I've written a few more scenes. I had an amazing breakthrough and have just been going nuts. (Wait until you see what happens! Holy Crap sometimes I think I'm brilliant!) I'm also going to go back to the beginning and edit because I think it needs to be done before I write the big fight scene between Pete and Tony. Yep, you heard me, Pete and Tony will engage in fisticuffs outside Billy's Beach Bar the night of 4th of July. Oh what fun!

I also wanted to say, that I do apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings when I said I didn't think 2000 words a day was much for me. I don't mean to disparage anyone and how they write or what their word count is. For most of the summer I haven't written anything. So shame on me. If I had, I could have finished the book by now. I tend to write in scenes and can't stop until it's finished. That's why my word count is usually in the 2k arena. We all write differently and if I've made anyone feel less than, I am profoundly sorry.

Also, for those of you who are Jane Austen fans, I found this book THE THIRD SISTER by Julia Barret about Margaret Dashwood. I don't normally do book reviews or recommend anything other than writing craft books but I found this book to be so well conceived, and so authentically Austen-ish in its prose that I had to tout its glory. Margaret, as you all know, is the youngest of the three Dashwood sisters and has only minimal appearance in the book and movie. This story is just so delightful and tells so much about her life and what it was like to indeed, be the third sister, I couldn't put it down. Now, this also reads like Austen, which is heavy handed, and hard to get through, fighting all the language barriers, but well worth it if you ever wanted to know what happened to Margaret. Just a quick passage --

Could a circumstance prove more blissful for any mother? Not only had she seen her youngest escape the perfidy that threatened, but now this: the darling girl was ardently sought and won by her own preserver! In all of Devonshire, there might be encountered a no more complacent lady.

Huh? If I didn't know what had previously happened, I would have thought her new found beau was a jar of jam. Preserver indeed!

But oh happiness yesterday as I went shopping at the big Red Circle store with Monster Baby. I found a BBC/Masterpiece Classic DVD of Persuasion for $5-. I must confess I was giddy when I reverently took it out of its case and sat in rapture for 90 minutes (minus the constant interuption from MB and the feeding of the dogs). I will get to it again tonight. There is nothing like Jane Austen on film.

Summer is holding a contest for finishing her WIP. Go check it out.

Suzi McGowen had the most billiant idea about promoting books the other day. You must go now and read it. I think we could start a whole new trend.

And the best news of all!!! I have finally found pictures for all my characters in REMEMBERING YOU. the Genna & Tony story. I will post these next Wednesday in lieu of my regular something-something post. I am so excited and I hope you all stop by to see who will be playing them. I hope and pray my devoted fans will not be disappointed in my choices in Tony and Pete. As for Uncle Sally and Aunt Fortuna, you will be pleasantly surprised I think.

And so, that is my news for the week. If you haven't scrolled down to last Sunday's awards post to see if you're there, please do so. I'd hate for you to miss it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I'll see you all on Monday! Get some writing done.

26 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I live for those breakthrough moments.
And were people really offended?

JE said...

I'm wondering the same thing as Alex. Everyone is different. Some people can crank out 5k or more in very little time. Some people don't.

Have a wonderful weekend yourself! I won't be getting any writing done, but editing is in my future! Bleh. ;-)

~JD

Susan Fields said...

So glad to hear about your breakthrough - times like that make the hard times worth it. Have a wonderful weekend!

Anne Gallagher said...

Alex -- I must have offended somebody, I have two less followers.

Justine -- I don't write every day, but the days I do write I try and get as much done as I can.

Susan -- It's a wonderful thing when it all comes together. Have a great weekend.

Summer Frey said...

2k is a very good "average" day for me--a really super amazing day is more like 7-8k; however, I KNOW that I'm a really slow writer (in my mind), so it's never bothered me to see how fast others may or may not be.

Two fewer followers just means more of you for the rest of us!

And I'm so excited to see the photos you picked out! I'm still trying to do that for my latest...

DL Hammons said...

I have never tracked how many words I've written in a given day. I don't write on a schedule and could care less how I compare to anyone else. My only rule is to write something EVERYDAY...past that its a fair game. :)

Have a great weekend!

Sarah Ahiers said...

oooh fisticuffs! excellent
i, too, can do 2k a day. i attribute that to why i'm so successful at nano.
everyone has their own pace. I have to do a boat load of spell check if i type fast

Anne Gallagher said...

Summer -- "more of you for the rest of us." That really made my day. And I think the pics are AMAZING.

DL -- I just feel bad that's all. Happy Weekend to you.

Sarah -- Spell check is my best friend. And yes, fisticuffs. I can't wait myself.

Christi Goddard said...

I've written zilch for over two weeks. In fact, I don't do much of anything. Just kind of linger around...

Matthew MacNish said...

I think followers just drop off sometimes because their accounts expire or something like that. Of course it's possible they left on purpose but I don't think it's likely.

Anyway you have a great weekend too Anne!

Bossy Betty said...

Holy Crap! I think you are brilliant too!!! Love your enthusiasm and optimism! Have a great weekend!

Lola Sharp said...

Ohhhh, don't you just love writing breakthroughs?!

And...a fight scene? YES!

I am looking forward to seeing how you 'cast' your characters next week.

Have a wonderful...cool...weekend, my friend.
Love,
Lola

The Words Crafter said...

Woohoo, congratulations on the breakthrough. Will we get to see the fight? I'm working on just putting down the scenes right now...I try to do that when I'm stuck...I can't imagine anyone getting offended over something like word count. Now, if you'd said anyone that writes less than 2k a day should go drown themselves in troll spit, well...maybe, like me, they're freshmen writers and figured that if they're going to do 2k, they wouldn't have time to follow/comment/reply/blog...? Funny you should find a book about Margaret. I watched the movie (again) this past weekend and mentioned that it would be interesting to see what happened to her. I'm going to have to add this to the list of books I need to read...thanks very much for the info about it. Hope you have a great weekend!

Anne Gallagher said...

Christi -- I think that's only because you're in query mode. I can't write when I am.

Matthew -- Thank you Matthew. That's very sweet of you to say.

Betty -- Thanks for thinking I'm brilliant too. I can't wait for you to see what it is. I get all goose-bumpy thinking about it.

Lola -- YES! A Big Bad Brawl Outside Of Billy's Beach Bar with Blood and Beer Bottles. Totally into B's today. Have a lovely weekend yourself. xoxoxoxo

Becky -- I think if you like Austen you'll like this book. I couldn't see them making a movie out of it, but if you've seen S & S you can totally get it.

Al said...

No offence taken.
I didn't have a problem with "preserver", but we don't often use the word in the jam context.

Anne Gallagher said...

Al -- Do you not have strawberry preserves down under? Is there not a "preserver of berries"?

Shelley Sly said...

Aaahh! I can't WAIT for the pictures and for the fight scene! You have me hooked!!

Don't worry about minus two followers. Their loss; they're missing out on a fabulous story!

notesfromnadir said...

Writing 2,000 words is great but so is writing 1,000. It all depends on what you're writing & how you're motivated to write. In fact, some days you won't write anything. Just do your best!

Wendy S Marcus said...

I LOVE breakthroughs! Congrats on yours!

Anne Gallagher said...

Shelley -- It's exciting and I can't wait for you to see all.

Lisa -- You're absolutely right of course. It's all about your own personal agenda and I need to adjust mine.

Wendy -- Thank you, I'm very excited about it.

Katie said...

I LOVE S&S! That book sounds awesome! E. was always my favorite character, but I think a book about Margaret would be fabulous! I'm always up for an Austen retelling. Thanks for the recommendation. :)

Cruella Collett said...

Hehe, I know the feeling of "sometimes I think I am brilliant!". Of course in my case it often is accompanied by "sometimes I think my writing is worth it's weight in BP and Toyota stocks", so in average I may have a somewhat realistic image.

As for words per day - I can't speak for anyone else, of course, but I wouldn't dream of being offended by someone else's massive wordcount. Jealous? Yup! Happy-for-you-but-wish-it-were-me? Uhm, yeah.... But offended? Why? We all have different ways of writing, different pace, and different styles. In the end the only thing that matters is if we produce something we like or not. I couldn't do that at 2000 words per day in the long run (some days, absolutely, but not every day), but if you can I am in awe. It's brilliant! :)

Have a great weekend!

Elliot Grace said...

...I had my wife read your post, for she so enjoyed "The Third Sister," that anything with mention of it in passage, brings a smile to her face. Its not my favored genre, but apparently I'm missing something quite grand...

Enjoy your weekend, Anne. (Despite the heat:)

Unknown said...

I think you are super brilliant!!! I'm also super excited about the new scene, and the fight scene with Pete and Tony! I'm so game!!!

I hope you are thoroughly enjoying your weekend :) Stay cool!

sarahjayne smythe said...

A fight scene and pictures of the cast of characters? Woot! I can hardly wait for such goodness. I'm so impressed with your progress and I'm thrilled I get to follow it. :)

Anne Gallagher said...

KM -- My pleasure. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Cruella -- Certain people take offence at certain things. It's the way of the world.

Elliot -- I'm glad your wife liked it as much as I. Sometimes it's hard to find other Austen fans.

Jen -- Thanks. I hope no one is disappointed with what I've written. We'll see.

Sarah Jayne -- Sweet as cotton candy you are. I can't wait for you to see the pics. I think you'll be impressed.