Well my lovelies, as you know I've been working like a crazy woman on REMEMBERING YOU, my story about Genna & Tony with a little side of Pete thrown in for good measure.
I've now edited up to what I have written (Wednesday was a very long day at the computer) and have only two more scenes in the first act, and two more scenes in the second to write and then we shall start on the third.
As you all know, my goal is to have this baby wrapped up by the end of August, if not sooner and then out to query by the first of September (large goal I know). Personal reasons dictate my insanity, therefore, I have a request.
I am looking for 3 or 4 beta readers. I need someone who is top notch at POV (because I totally suck) and possibly a punctutation geek as well. (I think I know where comma's go but one of my dearest friends just pointed out to me, I don't.) As you've seen, I'm pretty good at dialogue and scene setting, but it's really the POV that kills me. I head hop and lose my way, slip from 2nd into omnicient 3rd and I just can't see it. (I'm writing it, which is hard enough.)
So if there's any one out there who'd like to help me out, shoot me an email at piedmontwriter@gmail.com. I know this is going to sound kind of snotty but please don't email if you just want to read the book. I really need help with this and I really need it to be finished by the end of August. I need someone with a fast turn around time so I can write and edit at the same time.
And also, I just thought I'd let you know, I won't be posting, (I don't think) for the next little while. I may throw out a post for my stalwart G&T fans but that's about it. I need to get it finished.
So, that's it. If you can help me out, I'd love to hear from you. Happy Weekend.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Something - Something
Back to the drama. Today's installment is the first date between Genna & Pete. Let's see what happens, shall we?
Disclaimer -- Rating R - strong language and as always, this is a first draft.
This post will only be up for two days.
****************
Sorry this post has been removed by the author.
Disclaimer -- Rating R - strong language and as always, this is a first draft.
This post will only be up for two days.
****************
Sorry this post has been removed by the author.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Crazy Weekend
Good Morning everyone. I hope your weekends were fantastic and you had fun and didn't sweat. Oh. My. God. Will anyone hate me if I said I wish it would snow? It is just too hot now. And it's not even August.
Thanks to you who wished me well with this latest partial request. I'm not sure what to make of it myself, it's a weird little story, but I'll keep you posted.
Any-hooo, the people next door to us got a puppy who sleeps outside. Because I sleep with my windows open, I hear the puppy crying all night long. (Poor thing, I feel so bad for him.) Anyway, I got up at ungodly hours and started writing. Six thousand and some words poured out of me on Saturday. I got another 4K done on Sunday. I'm at 50K now and so excited I could pee my pants. Of course, this is without revisions and it's only a first draft but it's there.
I've settled Robby and Lauren's problems.
I've set-up the major conflict between Tony and Pete (which is awesome, if I do say so myself).
I've laid some more ground work to make Genna doubt Tony really is the jerkface that everyone thinks he is (which, yeah, if you read it, you'd be wondering about Tony too, especially after what Angie told her.)
I've almost gotten Angie and Michael back together (No small feat considering what a bitch Angie is).
And did I mention I gave Genna a totally different reason for coming home? A reason that will tear her absolutely in two when she has to make the decision to leave.
And that's about it. What did you do over the weekend? Any requests for partials or fulls? Any writing done? Any fun to be had? I live vicariously through you.
Thanks to you who wished me well with this latest partial request. I'm not sure what to make of it myself, it's a weird little story, but I'll keep you posted.
Any-hooo, the people next door to us got a puppy who sleeps outside. Because I sleep with my windows open, I hear the puppy crying all night long. (Poor thing, I feel so bad for him.) Anyway, I got up at ungodly hours and started writing. Six thousand and some words poured out of me on Saturday. I got another 4K done on Sunday. I'm at 50K now and so excited I could pee my pants. Of course, this is without revisions and it's only a first draft but it's there.
I've settled Robby and Lauren's problems.
I've set-up the major conflict between Tony and Pete (which is awesome, if I do say so myself).
I've laid some more ground work to make Genna doubt Tony really is the jerkface that everyone thinks he is (which, yeah, if you read it, you'd be wondering about Tony too, especially after what Angie told her.)
I've almost gotten Angie and Michael back together (No small feat considering what a bitch Angie is).
And did I mention I gave Genna a totally different reason for coming home? A reason that will tear her absolutely in two when she has to make the decision to leave.
And that's about it. What did you do over the weekend? Any requests for partials or fulls? Any writing done? Any fun to be had? I live vicariously through you.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday's at the Piedmont Grille
Good morning. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures I posted of my characters for REMEMBERING YOU. It was exciting to find them all. Finally.
I've been working steadily on editing and revising the first act.
I've also added two more scenes and 3000 more words so I'm a little over 42K now. Halfway there. One month to go.
I also got another request for MASQUERADE, and for those of you who answered my pdf question, I had to go with the download, my computer didn't have the convert button. So thanks, Stacy, for that info.
Fun stuff, this writing business. I learn something new every day.
What did you learn this week??
Lovely Jayne Ferst is having a spectacular contest until August 8 on sending out her first query. Go here to check out the prizes! Cool Agatha Christie!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
I've been working steadily on editing and revising the first act.
I've also added two more scenes and 3000 more words so I'm a little over 42K now. Halfway there. One month to go.
I also got another request for MASQUERADE, and for those of you who answered my pdf question, I had to go with the download, my computer didn't have the convert button. So thanks, Stacy, for that info.
Fun stuff, this writing business. I learn something new every day.
What did you learn this week??
Lovely Jayne Ferst is having a spectacular contest until August 8 on sending out her first query. Go here to check out the prizes! Cool Agatha Christie!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Genna & Tony -- PICS!
Yay! I did it. I finally found pictures of Genna & Tony and the rest of the characters from REMEMBERING YOU. I must say I couldn't have done it without the help of Monster Baby's movies. Tony just appeared magically, right before my eyes. I found Uncle Sally a few weeks ago and I've had Genna for months. Then BLAM, everyone else just fell right into place. So here we go.
First, here are Angie and her husband Michael.
Next up are Robby and his plaid 'n pearl wearing girlfriend Lauren.
Here are Uncle Sally and Aunt Fortuna at their 40th wedding anniversary party. Aren't they cute?
Here is Pete. You should see him in his uniform. MMMMM.
And the piece de resistance Genna & Tony.
So what do you think? Did I hit the mark or do you all have your own ideas?
First, here are Angie and her husband Michael.
Next up are Robby and his plaid 'n pearl wearing girlfriend Lauren.
Here are Uncle Sally and Aunt Fortuna at their 40th wedding anniversary party. Aren't they cute?
Here is Pete. You should see him in his uniform. MMMMM.
And the piece de resistance Genna & Tony.
So what do you think? Did I hit the mark or do you all have your own ideas?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Question
Okay, I have a question -- does anyone know how to format a word.doc into a pdf. file? I had a request from a publisher and they want it in pdf.
Thanks muchly.
Thanks muchly.
Edit Babbling
I've edited the first Act. I felt I needed to do that before I even started on the fight scene. I also found I need to add another scene sometime in the first Thursday/Friday area because there's no mention of how Genna feels after her lacivious behaviour with Tony. So how could she know what to do with Pete, if she hasn't said what she's going to do with Tony?
I've also broken down the chapters into days. Some days are shorter than others, some days are really long. Like Tuesday for example, the day she arrives. There are 3 scenes which add up to almost 30 pages, but I do have my little ****** breaks in there. I have to see what it looks like when it's all done. I really don't want to have chapters per se, I like the idea of days, as this novel is only 21 days out of Genna's life. I may break the scenes into chapters like this "Tuesday 23 June Morning" "Tuesday 23 June Afternoon" "Tuesday 23 June Evening" I don't know though. I have to see how it looks.
I also put the sex where it naturally should go and had to rewrite most of the rest of the act. Once I get Genna's reaction to the sex, then I need to move the conversation she has with Tony on Saturday night, out of where it is because that would lend so much more credibility to the conversation she has with Angie in the second act. If I put it on Thursday or Friday, it would work because...
I've also had second thoughts about the party at the bar. It really doesn't move the story forward, it's mainly filler but was the lead up to Tony's confession. I'll have to see what I can do to make it better. If I move the conversation maybe I can have Tony to show up anyway and cause all kinds of other problems. hee hee Am I brilliant or what?
I've also changed Genna's reason for coming home. I can't tell you what it is but it adds a whole other dimension to her angst. Yay me! It blends right into the story arc perfectly and I think will make her torment at the end so much greater.
I've also had second thoughts about the flashback scene. I may move that to the prologue but as you know prologues are dead, but then again so are flashbacks. But it really needs to be in there. Somewhere. It would really work as the prologue (Well, I would call it "chapter one") and it would really set the basis for the whole book, HOWEVER it would screw up the flashback. Decisions decisions.
I'm hoping to get to Act 2 this week. It's going to be harder because I've changed so many things around, reasons and actions of secondary characters that cause Genna to react differently. But I also want to finish up Act One before I start anything on Act Two. I found a few 'holes' that need to be fixed, which could be easy as everyone goes on vacation the first two weeks in July in Rhode Island so it might be easier than I expect. We'll see.
So there is my edit babbling. I know it doesn't make any sense to you but at least it's written down and I can be held accountable now. If I can finish all the editing/revising before the end of the week I'll be good to go to finish the book by the end of August. Then comes the fun part. Beta Reader anyone?
And just so you know, I found a woman on the blogs who wrote 46,000 words in 20 days. She had an idea for a story a month ago. She put it on her blog. She just posted yesterday she's halfway through. And it's not YA. And it's not Natalie.
I also finished another craft book I picked up two weeks ago.
EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES by Lynne Truss. Is a wild ride on the puncuation trip. I love her quirky British humour and now I understand why I have to write words like humor with a 'u'. I guess I'm secretly a Brit at heart. If you get a chance, read this book. It's not Strunk & White by any means but it does what it's supposed to do. Teach about the dreaded puncuation...lol.
And don't forget to stop by Wednesday for my character pics for REMEMBERING YOU.
Have a great Monday!!!
I've also broken down the chapters into days. Some days are shorter than others, some days are really long. Like Tuesday for example, the day she arrives. There are 3 scenes which add up to almost 30 pages, but I do have my little ****** breaks in there. I have to see what it looks like when it's all done. I really don't want to have chapters per se, I like the idea of days, as this novel is only 21 days out of Genna's life. I may break the scenes into chapters like this "Tuesday 23 June Morning" "Tuesday 23 June Afternoon" "Tuesday 23 June Evening" I don't know though. I have to see how it looks.
I also put the sex where it naturally should go and had to rewrite most of the rest of the act. Once I get Genna's reaction to the sex, then I need to move the conversation she has with Tony on Saturday night, out of where it is because that would lend so much more credibility to the conversation she has with Angie in the second act. If I put it on Thursday or Friday, it would work because...
I've also had second thoughts about the party at the bar. It really doesn't move the story forward, it's mainly filler but was the lead up to Tony's confession. I'll have to see what I can do to make it better. If I move the conversation maybe I can have Tony to show up anyway and cause all kinds of other problems. hee hee Am I brilliant or what?
I've also changed Genna's reason for coming home. I can't tell you what it is but it adds a whole other dimension to her angst. Yay me! It blends right into the story arc perfectly and I think will make her torment at the end so much greater.
I've also had second thoughts about the flashback scene. I may move that to the prologue but as you know prologues are dead, but then again so are flashbacks. But it really needs to be in there. Somewhere. It would really work as the prologue (Well, I would call it "chapter one") and it would really set the basis for the whole book, HOWEVER it would screw up the flashback. Decisions decisions.
I'm hoping to get to Act 2 this week. It's going to be harder because I've changed so many things around, reasons and actions of secondary characters that cause Genna to react differently. But I also want to finish up Act One before I start anything on Act Two. I found a few 'holes' that need to be fixed, which could be easy as everyone goes on vacation the first two weeks in July in Rhode Island so it might be easier than I expect. We'll see.
So there is my edit babbling. I know it doesn't make any sense to you but at least it's written down and I can be held accountable now. If I can finish all the editing/revising before the end of the week I'll be good to go to finish the book by the end of August. Then comes the fun part. Beta Reader anyone?
And just so you know, I found a woman on the blogs who wrote 46,000 words in 20 days. She had an idea for a story a month ago. She put it on her blog. She just posted yesterday she's halfway through. And it's not YA. And it's not Natalie.
I also finished another craft book I picked up two weeks ago.
EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES by Lynne Truss. Is a wild ride on the puncuation trip. I love her quirky British humour and now I understand why I have to write words like humor with a 'u'. I guess I'm secretly a Brit at heart. If you get a chance, read this book. It's not Strunk & White by any means but it does what it's supposed to do. Teach about the dreaded puncuation...lol.
And don't forget to stop by Wednesday for my character pics for REMEMBERING YOU.
Have a great Monday!!!
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Something - Something
So, here is the scene from Tony's POV of the night when he first meets Genna 15 years ago. It's not going in the book so it's more or less a character study. I needed to write it to find Tony's motivation for his love for Genna.
And I think I figured out that it is the weather that is messing with me. Monday morning it was cloudy and I wrote 3000 words. Yesterday, still cloudy and I came up with 2200 more. Usually I can't write unless the sun is shining. I guess I'm just wacked. (More on this phenomenon Friday.)
Rating -- PG 13
Disclaimer -- This post will only be up for 2 days.
*********
Sorry this post has been removed by the author.
And I think I figured out that it is the weather that is messing with me. Monday morning it was cloudy and I wrote 3000 words. Yesterday, still cloudy and I came up with 2200 more. Usually I can't write unless the sun is shining. I guess I'm just wacked. (More on this phenomenon Friday.)
Rating -- PG 13
Disclaimer -- This post will only be up for 2 days.
*********
Sorry this post has been removed by the author.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Whew!
Good Monday Morning, gentle readers. I'm back. I think. Well, I've been back for a couple of days now, but with my cousin in town, and the traveling I've been doing, I feel like I've been gone for months.
I spent most of the early weekend catching up on blogs and following new friends (and for those of you I haven't followed back, please leave me your address in the comments so I may).
I want to say Thank You and say Welcome to all my new friends: Natascha, Lisa K., Stacy, C.R., dirtywhitecandy, Uma, Jennifer, Writing Nut, Liza, February, Nicole, Dawn, Cynthia, Meoldy, Olivia, Chazda, Theresa, Barbara, Jamie and Angela. Wowee, I can't believe I even found new friends while I was away. There's a pot of coffee and a buffet in the dining room, and the pool is open from 9-5, bathing suits are required (sorry). Feel free to grab a cup and hang with us, there's always something to talk about.
And if you missed my awards post over the weekend be sure to scroll down and see if you're there. Because I've got some heavy duty linkage going on and I don't want to waste it. Especially those of you who are new to my blog.
Al from Publish or Perish is having a fantab contest, he's giving away piccies from his blog and if you haven't checked out how wonderful they are you're missing a trip Down Under!
Now as most of you know, I've been having thoughts about retiring MASQUERADE from the querying trenches. I still have two partial requests out on it and of course, will probably not hear back for some time. While on vacation I decided (I'm almost positive) I am going to set it aside for the time being. I've heard from my alpha readers and I know what I have to do to "fix" it, not that there's anything "wrong" with it, but I know it's not marketable as is. (Well, truthfully for the market I want to sell it to.) Now that's not a bad thing, I just don't have it in me to rework it right now. It's a time consuming task and after all the rewrites I've already done, I'm just sick of it. Sure it's a good book, and I'll always love it, and I know once you get past chapter 4, it's a great book, but the beginning, although not totally sucky, just isn't what it could be. So she's going under the bed for now.
I also want to say the heat down here is totally kicking my ass. I can't form a coherent thought to save my soul. Genna is languishing at an open air bistro on the bay with Pete and I just can't seem to write the rest of the conversation. Oh how I want to. I need to move on, I need to find out what the doctor said about Aunt Fortuna, I need to find out what Robby decided about Lauren and the baby (oops, didn't know about that did you?) I need to find out when Tony is going to show up again. But I just can't seem to get 'er done. I even joined the Summer Novel challenge. Everyone else has already finished with their WIP but me.
Now I know 2000 words a day isn't much. I've done it before. Hell, I've even been known to write 5K a day. 14k in one weekend once. I don't know if it's the summer, or the heat, or the fact MB is in the background singing to any of her new movies and I can't concentrate, or if it's just me.
I know there are other writers out there who are sort of in the same sticky wicket that I am. I am not alone. Which is nice, in a way, but not. Now some say, just sit down and write. Every day. Others say -- take a break, do something else. I'm all for taking a break but I've been breaking for so long I feel I'm stopped. Which I am.
And it's not a block. I think I'm just overwhelmed with my choices. Going into Genna & Tony, I had a clear cut picture of what the book was going to be, how it was going to look, and the ending. Now, because of some of the choices I've made, I'm going off in all kinds of directions and the outline has been thrown out the window.
Aunt Fortuna is one of my main sticking points. She's told me she doesn't want Alzheimer's (and I can't blame her one bit) but I also know someone else has used the other diagnosis Lydia kindly gave me. I don't want to plagiarize. So I think Aunt Fortuna is going to have a heart attack instead. But when, and where, and will Pete still show up at the right time? See what I mean?
And now Robby has told Genna Lauren is pregnant. Why? Do I really want to have that happen? Does it move the story forward or is it just filler? And what the hell am I going to do about Tony? He and Genna had sex but I can't put the scene where I want because it would screw up the timeline I've made, and if I put it anywhere else, it doesn't make sense. And do I really want to make him the bad guy? He does love her. He always has. And she's been in love with him since she was 14. So now what????
It's funny, I'm always saying I love angst -- I guess I should rephrase that now -- I love angst when it's happening to someone else, not me.
Stay tuned for Wednesday...I wrote the scene from Tony's POV of the night when he first meets Genna that I'm going to post. Maybe after you read it, you'll understand why I'm/Genna's having such a hard time deciding between Pete and Tony.
I spent most of the early weekend catching up on blogs and following new friends (and for those of you I haven't followed back, please leave me your address in the comments so I may).
I want to say Thank You and say Welcome to all my new friends: Natascha, Lisa K., Stacy, C.R., dirtywhitecandy, Uma, Jennifer, Writing Nut, Liza, February, Nicole, Dawn, Cynthia, Meoldy, Olivia, Chazda, Theresa, Barbara, Jamie and Angela. Wowee, I can't believe I even found new friends while I was away. There's a pot of coffee and a buffet in the dining room, and the pool is open from 9-5, bathing suits are required (sorry). Feel free to grab a cup and hang with us, there's always something to talk about.
And if you missed my awards post over the weekend be sure to scroll down and see if you're there. Because I've got some heavy duty linkage going on and I don't want to waste it. Especially those of you who are new to my blog.
Al from Publish or Perish is having a fantab contest, he's giving away piccies from his blog and if you haven't checked out how wonderful they are you're missing a trip Down Under!
Now as most of you know, I've been having thoughts about retiring MASQUERADE from the querying trenches. I still have two partial requests out on it and of course, will probably not hear back for some time. While on vacation I decided (I'm almost positive) I am going to set it aside for the time being. I've heard from my alpha readers and I know what I have to do to "fix" it, not that there's anything "wrong" with it, but I know it's not marketable as is. (Well, truthfully for the market I want to sell it to.) Now that's not a bad thing, I just don't have it in me to rework it right now. It's a time consuming task and after all the rewrites I've already done, I'm just sick of it. Sure it's a good book, and I'll always love it, and I know once you get past chapter 4, it's a great book, but the beginning, although not totally sucky, just isn't what it could be. So she's going under the bed for now.
I also want to say the heat down here is totally kicking my ass. I can't form a coherent thought to save my soul. Genna is languishing at an open air bistro on the bay with Pete and I just can't seem to write the rest of the conversation. Oh how I want to. I need to move on, I need to find out what the doctor said about Aunt Fortuna, I need to find out what Robby decided about Lauren and the baby (oops, didn't know about that did you?) I need to find out when Tony is going to show up again. But I just can't seem to get 'er done. I even joined the Summer Novel challenge. Everyone else has already finished with their WIP but me.
Now I know 2000 words a day isn't much. I've done it before. Hell, I've even been known to write 5K a day. 14k in one weekend once. I don't know if it's the summer, or the heat, or the fact MB is in the background singing to any of her new movies and I can't concentrate, or if it's just me.
I know there are other writers out there who are sort of in the same sticky wicket that I am. I am not alone. Which is nice, in a way, but not. Now some say, just sit down and write. Every day. Others say -- take a break, do something else. I'm all for taking a break but I've been breaking for so long I feel I'm stopped. Which I am.
And it's not a block. I think I'm just overwhelmed with my choices. Going into Genna & Tony, I had a clear cut picture of what the book was going to be, how it was going to look, and the ending. Now, because of some of the choices I've made, I'm going off in all kinds of directions and the outline has been thrown out the window.
Aunt Fortuna is one of my main sticking points. She's told me she doesn't want Alzheimer's (and I can't blame her one bit) but I also know someone else has used the other diagnosis Lydia kindly gave me. I don't want to plagiarize. So I think Aunt Fortuna is going to have a heart attack instead. But when, and where, and will Pete still show up at the right time? See what I mean?
And now Robby has told Genna Lauren is pregnant. Why? Do I really want to have that happen? Does it move the story forward or is it just filler? And what the hell am I going to do about Tony? He and Genna had sex but I can't put the scene where I want because it would screw up the timeline I've made, and if I put it anywhere else, it doesn't make sense. And do I really want to make him the bad guy? He does love her. He always has. And she's been in love with him since she was 14. So now what????
It's funny, I'm always saying I love angst -- I guess I should rephrase that now -- I love angst when it's happening to someone else, not me.
Stay tuned for Wednesday...I wrote the scene from Tony's POV of the night when he first meets Genna that I'm going to post. Maybe after you read it, you'll understand why I'm/Genna's having such a hard time deciding between Pete and Tony.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Awards!
I've received some awards these last few weeks and have been hoarding again. Shame on me. I even received some while I was away so that was very nice to come home to.
I'll dispense with the flummery and get started right away.
I received this lovely award from Lydia Kang The Word is my Oyster. I would like to bestow this upon :
Stina Lindenblatt
Shelley Sly
Dominique
Sarah Ahiers
Bish Denham
Elana Johnson
Susan Fields
Crystal Cook
Jennifer Daiker
Portia Sisco
I also received this beauty from Nicole. I thought it appropriate I pass this on to some "freshman" writers I know. (I really loathe the term 'newbie' so I'm going to refrain from using it and call them freshman instead.) And I'm calling them freshman because they have less than 50 followers.
Becoming a Writer
Chocolate Sedations in Writing
I Am An Authoress
Major Musings
R.Mac Wheeler
The Rainy Day Wanderer
Ariel Swan
Stacy's Rantings
My Writing and Research Notebook
Ducks out of a Row
Digging out of Distraction
Empty Refrigerator
And lastly, I received the Versatile Blogger award from (get ready) 4 different people - Samuel, Cynthia, Christine, and Dominique.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Now the rules are pretty simple, link back and thank the people who gave you this award, (which I've got some heavy duty linkage going on) and share 7 things about yourself.
Here goes...
1) I can tie a cherry stem with my teeth.
2) I still cry during most of Monster Baby's movies, even though I've seen them eight thousand times.
3) I've had to dye my hair since I've been 17. Premature gray is not fun on a high school graduate. I've always tried to be a red-head to go along with #7.
4) I don't kill bugs, I try to get them to stick to toilet paper and throw them outside. Well, except for the ones who look like they might be dangerous.
5) I don't travel well. As much as I like to go to new places, I have jet leg for days afterward. Even if I don't fly, even if I'm in the same time zone.
6) I wear bi-focals now.
7) I'm a Taurus, a Tiger and Irish so my stubborn streak is immediately recognizable. I'm not as versatile as I'd like.
Okay, I'd like to recognize these fine bloggers as being "Versatile".
Stephanie Thornton
Gina Maxwell
Lovely Lola
VR Barkowski
Summer
Hannah
E.Elle
Laurel
Now please, if you don't know any of these wonderful friends, please go and introduce yourself, especially to the freshman writers.
I'll dispense with the flummery and get started right away.
I received this lovely award from Lydia Kang The Word is my Oyster. I would like to bestow this upon :
Stina Lindenblatt
Shelley Sly
Dominique
Sarah Ahiers
Bish Denham
Elana Johnson
Susan Fields
Crystal Cook
Jennifer Daiker
Portia Sisco
I also received this beauty from Nicole. I thought it appropriate I pass this on to some "freshman" writers I know. (I really loathe the term 'newbie' so I'm going to refrain from using it and call them freshman instead.) And I'm calling them freshman because they have less than 50 followers.
Becoming a Writer
Chocolate Sedations in Writing
I Am An Authoress
Major Musings
R.Mac Wheeler
The Rainy Day Wanderer
Ariel Swan
Stacy's Rantings
My Writing and Research Notebook
Ducks out of a Row
Digging out of Distraction
Empty Refrigerator
And lastly, I received the Versatile Blogger award from (get ready) 4 different people - Samuel, Cynthia, Christine, and Dominique.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Now the rules are pretty simple, link back and thank the people who gave you this award, (which I've got some heavy duty linkage going on) and share 7 things about yourself.
Here goes...
1) I can tie a cherry stem with my teeth.
2) I still cry during most of Monster Baby's movies, even though I've seen them eight thousand times.
3) I've had to dye my hair since I've been 17. Premature gray is not fun on a high school graduate. I've always tried to be a red-head to go along with #7.
4) I don't kill bugs, I try to get them to stick to toilet paper and throw them outside. Well, except for the ones who look like they might be dangerous.
5) I don't travel well. As much as I like to go to new places, I have jet leg for days afterward. Even if I don't fly, even if I'm in the same time zone.
6) I wear bi-focals now.
7) I'm a Taurus, a Tiger and Irish so my stubborn streak is immediately recognizable. I'm not as versatile as I'd like.
Okay, I'd like to recognize these fine bloggers as being "Versatile".
Stephanie Thornton
Gina Maxwell
Lovely Lola
VR Barkowski
Summer
Hannah
E.Elle
Laurel
Now please, if you don't know any of these wonderful friends, please go and introduce yourself, especially to the freshman writers.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday's at the Piedmont Grille
Good morning my lovelies. I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I have so much to say but not enough time. My cousin Diane drove back with us and Monster Baby and I have been spending all our time at Yo-Yo and Puppa's (my parents).
I have awards to give out, new friends to introduce you to, some serious questions to ask, discussions to discuss... but I guess it will have to wait until next week.
I'm also trying to figure out a new and improved blogging schedule because even though I'm on a M-W-F schedule, this too, is just not working for me. I can't decide whether to blog sporadically, on a schedule or just not blog at all. (But you know I can't do that. It's impossible for me to not talk.) I guess we'll just have to see.
But for now, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm heading down to Charlotte in about an hour, to see my cousin and meet his wife for the first time.
Stay cool and get some writing done. God knows I haven't and it's killing me.
I have awards to give out, new friends to introduce you to, some serious questions to ask, discussions to discuss... but I guess it will have to wait until next week.
I'm also trying to figure out a new and improved blogging schedule because even though I'm on a M-W-F schedule, this too, is just not working for me. I can't decide whether to blog sporadically, on a schedule or just not blog at all. (But you know I can't do that. It's impossible for me to not talk.) I guess we'll just have to see.
But for now, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm heading down to Charlotte in about an hour, to see my cousin and meet his wife for the first time.
Stay cool and get some writing done. God knows I haven't and it's killing me.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I'm Back!
Oh my darlings, how much I've missed you all! I have so much to say but of course I need a vacation from my vacation.
The beach was just as I remembered, the family a little older, Monster Baby the life of every party. We had a wonderful time, unfortunately not enough time to do and see everything.
I'm exhausted and excited about talking to you all again, I have so many things to tell you but I need to rest. The trip back was as it should be, cooped up in a car for 16 hours and my body is in need of a long relaxing bath and then sleep.
I promise I'll be around very soon -- how much do I have to catch up on -- so many blogs, so little time.
I can't thank you enough for all your comments and thoughts still coming in about my 5 Stages of Querying article. It made the return home that much more special.
So I just wanted to let you all know I'm back and I love you and miss you and I'll talk to you all very very soon. I hope your holiday was fantastic!
11:01 AM Have been wandering around the blogs for a little while and OMG I have so much to catch up on. It'll take me awhile to read you all and I might not comment but I just wanted to let you know, I'm back, and thank you all so much for the warm welcome. It's nice to know I've been missed.
The beach was just as I remembered, the family a little older, Monster Baby the life of every party. We had a wonderful time, unfortunately not enough time to do and see everything.
I'm exhausted and excited about talking to you all again, I have so many things to tell you but I need to rest. The trip back was as it should be, cooped up in a car for 16 hours and my body is in need of a long relaxing bath and then sleep.
I promise I'll be around very soon -- how much do I have to catch up on -- so many blogs, so little time.
I can't thank you enough for all your comments and thoughts still coming in about my 5 Stages of Querying article. It made the return home that much more special.
So I just wanted to let you all know I'm back and I love you and miss you and I'll talk to you all very very soon. I hope your holiday was fantastic!
11:01 AM Have been wandering around the blogs for a little while and OMG I have so much to catch up on. It'll take me awhile to read you all and I might not comment but I just wanted to let you know, I'm back, and thank you all so much for the warm welcome. It's nice to know I've been missed.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Leaving on a Jet Plane
Thanks to everyone who stopped by Pitch Slapped for my interview. It was a great time. I hope you enjoyed it. Or stop by and see Bru, she's really great. If you missed it, I put in under the "Special Links" page on my sidebar. Yes, I'm just going crazy adding stuff to my blog.
And thanks to everyone who commented on my decision yesterday. I still don't know what I'm going to do but wait, seems to be the consensus.
And now my lovelies, I will tuning off the blogosphere because, yay, I'm going home for vacation. Monster Baby and I are leaving on a jet plane very early tomorrow morning and won't be back until my mother decides when to come back. (We're driving back with her and my cousin. Oh yay, how much fun will that be? 12 hours in a car with Monster Baby who only knows the first 3 lines of Mary had a little lamb (long story.) Probably around the 7th. However, it's anyone's guess. My internet access will be sketchy at best, and besides, it's only a few days. You won't miss me that much.
Have a great 4th of July! I'll miss you all. Stay safe and don't forget, pets really don't like fireworks so if you can bring them inside, please do.
And thanks to everyone who commented on my decision yesterday. I still don't know what I'm going to do but wait, seems to be the consensus.
And now my lovelies, I will tuning off the blogosphere because, yay, I'm going home for vacation. Monster Baby and I are leaving on a jet plane very early tomorrow morning and won't be back until my mother decides when to come back. (We're driving back with her and my cousin. Oh yay, how much fun will that be? 12 hours in a car with Monster Baby who only knows the first 3 lines of Mary had a little lamb (long story.) Probably around the 7th. However, it's anyone's guess. My internet access will be sketchy at best, and besides, it's only a few days. You won't miss me that much.
Have a great 4th of July! I'll miss you all. Stay safe and don't forget, pets really don't like fireworks so if you can bring them inside, please do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)