Mish-mash

My mom sent me this link, and although it looks really cool, I need a hint. I can't figure out where to start. So if someone tries this, please post me a hint. Probably I'll be terrible at it--I'm not a huge fan of most dark movies, but I'd like to give it a try.

Today was a refreshing change of pace from our recent days in the mid to upper eighties. It was overcast and in the mid-seventies (woo-hoo!) and we spent a lovely day at the zoo. Well, pleasant. Okay, tolerable. But attitudes improved dramatically after the requisite popcorn snack and lemonade, and further still after stuffed animals were purchased (by Gramma) in the gift shop. My older son got an okapi, and my little one got a huge hairy tarantula. (He's actually sort of cute).

I got absolutely no writing done today, but I am feeling pretty good about having sent off the first 35 pages of my WIP to be critiqued and scored by contest judges. I don't have to think about it again until late December (when finalists are announced), and I'm going to make it my goal to get this book done by then. I need an extention of the Fast Draft mentality, and then I need swift, clean editing without my usual second-guessing. The gauntlet has been thrown down...

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Wish I Could Do...


1. Play tennis
2. Play the piano
3. Read music
4. Ballroom dance
5. Write a tight 1st draft
6. Understand a simple sewing pattern
7. Talk to strangers (comfortably)
8. Design something...anything.
9. Appreciate low-calorie desserts
10. Travel (more often, more places)
11. Public-speaking
12. Split my time between a summer house and a winter house
13. Understand what makes people behave the way they do



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Crazy Legs

My legs feel shaky tonight. First of all, I've just started riding my bike again (after a long time off of it), and I'm pulling my four-year-old in a trailer. It's not so bad but not what I'm used to. So after we make a few loops around our neighborhood (& I shower), we head off (in our car) to meet some other moms and kids at the new kid hangout, which is basically just rooms full of those inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and bouncers.

My little one played for 2 1/2 hours while all the moms stood or sat around and talked. One mom went up on the slide with her toddler and slid down, but no one else. But then, after all the stangers left (moms and kids), I decided, what the heck! and went in to bounce. It was a blast, but sort of exhausting. I did the slide a few times, careening into the barrier at the bottom, but then primly put my shoes back on and went back to being a mom. We got home with just enough time for me to pull out the bike and trailer again, speed over to the elementary school, and pick up my older son. On the way home I was pulling almost 80 lbs, not counting the trailer.

I had (am having) a bit of a delayed reaction to the extra exercise. About thiry minutes after I got home, it was like I couldn't concentrate on anything. I felt shaky and wobbly and winded. Needless to say, not much writing got done today. I did get about a page, but that seems like a total let down after Fast Draft. Will try again tomorrow and also attempt a final edit of my first 35 pages.

Hiatus

This is not the way it's supposed to work--I know. But I'm taking a couple of days hiatus from Fast Draft to prep my first 35 pages for a contest. I know, I know, contests and I have a checkered past, but not having critique partners, I just can't seem to resist the opportunity for feedback (read criticisms), not to mention the possibility to place and get my work before an agent/editor without the need for the dreaded pitch.

So, today I worked on tidying up, trimming, editing, etc. I also thought a bit about the part of the manuscript I've been working on for FD. I feels strange not to be sneaking back to it every spare minute. Strange, and SOOOO liberating!

Don't get me wrong, I'm really liking the Fast Draft process, but it's just exhausting. However, I'm newly motivated: I'll need to finish the Fast Draft and then try to edit quickly and efficiently (ha!) so...just in case...the manuscript will be almost ready at the end of the year when contest finalists are announced.

I know what I'm asking Santa for!

Day Eight

New pages today: 12
Total page count: 100 pages!!

Yay! I pushed back through the jungle of internal editing and actually upped my pages today! Whew! Another prime writing day tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers...

Really nothing has been going on with me for the last week plus. I've been devoting most of my free time and mental capacity to my WIP. However, I thought I'd share this sweet little story...

My little one and I have been listening to Michael Buble in the car (he only likes the fast songs), and today we finally made it to the end of the CD and I've Got You Under My Skin. So he asks me what 'under your skin' means. I tell him it means you're thinking about someone alot and maybe it's sort of bothering you a little it. (Like I have this Fast Draft under my skin). There's a quiet moment, and then he says, "So do you got daddy under your skin." I just smiled and said, "A little bit."

And to borrow a Galaxy Quest quote I saw on Amanda Ashby's site (somewhere...): 'Never Give Up! Never Surrender!' What a perfect motto for Fast Draft.

Day Seven

This was basically a day off. With church, a headache, a much-needed nap, and the only bit of reading I've done in almost a week, I only managed 6 pages.

But I'm ready to go for tomorrow. The part I'm working on now is causing me a bit of trouble. I can feel myself over-thinking it. So tomorrow, I'm going to try to skip to the end and write the ending. We'll see how that works.

Hard to envision another week of this, but I'm really going to try... My husband is ready for it to be over!

Total page count: 88 pages.

Day Six

Page Count for today: 11 pages
Total Page Count: 82 pages

I'm actually impressed with my count today. Weekends are tough me. Lots of family time, chores, errands, etc. So this is good. Today was a success. If I can do this many tomorrow I'll be inspired!

But next week, I really need to turn on the power, because I really, really want to have a full first draft at the the end of the two weeks. The gauntlet has been thrown down--it's up to me to pick it up. Or at least get close enough to pick it up a few days later...

I'm off to bed (it's 11:00)...looks like I'll beat my six year old, who, having just thrown up in his bed, is taking full advantage and watching Pink Panther with his dad. Tomorrow should be fun...

Day Five

Got a little too involved in my pages today. My fingers weren't tripping over the keys so much as my mind was tripping over ideas. My head was in the story today, really picturing it, and I felt like a puppeteer, pouring over movements instead of just getting a general storyline down.

So...I only did 9 pages today. I'm a little bummed, but I figure it's still more than a do in a normal day--by far. I'm doing my best, so I should be happy. I'll try for more this weekend. It all comes down my husband...

Current total: 71 pages!

Day Four

Writing Total for Today: 16 pages
Writing Total for all 4 Days: 62 pages!!!

Still going, but still finding it hard to turn off my IE. When I can do it, it's great, but sometimes I hit a snag, and I just can't step away from a bad sentence. Also I do much better if I write for awhile and then take a break and come back fresh. (Actually read tonight in one of the emails Candace sent to the class that she recommends five pages at a time). My trouble is, I don't get that many opportunities to run back to the computer for an hour or an hour and a half at a time. I'll keep trying though...

Sent my books to Iraq today, and to send nine books cost me only $3.51! This is my little reminder for you all to send books!

Also, if you haven't read it (although I'm sure many of you have), Diana Peterfreund has a great blog today about the best way to go about getting published. Very informative.

Day Three

Another slow day. I'm tired, but I'm happy.
Only 12 pages today--kind of a let-down after yesterday but still tons more than I normally do. I'm not gonna worry about it. Tomorrow is another good writing day, and I'm really going to try again for 20...or more! That's the spirit, right?

Was writing yesterday about the potential for strange dreams during Fast Draft. My little one woke me up four times last night. This morning he told me he was dreaming he didn't have any lips! That would freak me out too!

On to another day of productive writing for all of us...

Day Two

I had waaay more time today, but it almost seemed harder to me. Still had problems with my internal editor. I actually had to MAKE myself stop nit-picking over dialogue I just didn't like. Chances are I'll change it five or ten times before I'm satified anyway, so might as well just get something down. I also felt it was harder to work for such a long stretch. I worked for four hours straight, then an hour and a half, then a little over an hour.

Today's final count: 21 pages. I'm very proud, but seriously don't know how long I can keep this up. Maybe I'm overthinking. Maybe, like some of the other writers in the group I shouldn't try to pre-plan and be ready to write, I should just see where things go. Who knows.

There was mention on the loop about difficulty falling asleep and trouble sleeping after writing intensively like this. Some said they were working out plot points in their dreams. Well, I definitely had trouble sleeping, but it was because I couldn't shake this dream I was having that my sons were doing some craft project and just couldn't make it work the way they wanted. Evidently neither could I because I kept waking up, trying to refocus my dream.

Will try again tomorrow! I do recommend everyone try it, even it it's just for a couple of days. It's been really kinda brutal but a good experience. Maybe the best is yet to come...

Day One

Well, I didn't hit my 20 pages. I really didn't know what to expect, and I had a little trouble turning off the internal editor, but I really tried to just let go.
I worked for about an hour and a half in the afternoon while my kids were playing video games and then another hour and a half after they went to bed after I had dinner. I'm going to stop now so I'm fresh for tomorrow. Tomorrow is one of my writing days. The little one is in Mother's Day Out from 9-2, so minus pick-up and drop-off time, I get about four hours, give or take. Then I can squeeze in more time after dinner tomorrow too, so I'm hoping to make up for being short today.

Today I wrote a little over 13 pages! And I actually think I'll be able to use a decent amount! I'm still hoping for that stream of consciousness stuff that slowly morphs from drivel to brilliant, but I'll take whatever I can get.

Either way, I wrote 13 pages that I can fix and tweak and edit. That's definitely something!

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes! I really appreciate the support!

Final Countdown

This is my last day before the official beginning of 'Fast Draft', and I feel like I'm rushing to finish up a bunch of little things. I really have no idea how it's going to go. I don't know how hard writing 20 pages will be if you're not trying to edit. I think I'm probably going to end up overanalyzing this because I really want to get some workable writing out of this exercise. But I'm going to try to free my mind and just keep my fingers on the keyboard. Today I'll be jotting down some notes, just to make sure I have a general feeling of what's supposed to happen next in the story. And tomorrow...we'll see.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how best to keep track of books coming out next year, some almost a year away, and I haven't come up with anything good yet. I'd likely lose a Post-It note (or get irritated when it multiplied into ten), and I suppose there's always my Amazon Wish List, but I don't much like that either. Maybe I'll start keeping track with a list on the blog...

One in particular I'm looking forward to is Colleen Gleason's And The Rest Falls Away, Jan '07. Check out her stunning trailer here. Also Tasha Alexander's sequel to And Only to Deceive, A Poisoned Season, coming out April '07.

Mmmm...Autumn

Despite it's being in the mid-90's here, I'm starting to get into the spirit of autumn. And since we don't have the cool weather, the changing leaves, or any of that good stuff, we have to make due with food. I'm stocked up on candy corn, well really the 'Autumn Mix' with the chocolate corn and little mellowcreme pumpkins, I've been scoping out Halloween costumes with my little one, and I've been making Molasses Crinkles--my absolute favorite fall cookie. Plus I bought a bag of those tiny little Granny Smith apples. Now I know why they were $1.99 for five pounds--those things are SOUR! All I need now is to break out the Halloween decorations. But it seems a little early...and a little sweaty...


Watched Millions last night and thought it was very cute. It is a British film that is unique and funny and just plain fun. My husband fell asleep half way in, but woke up again about twenty minutes later with a second wind and finished watching with me. He liked it too.

I will be posting my 'Fast Draft' progress over the next few weeks, but probably not much else...except maybe some complaints and whining. So either stick around or come back in two weeks (please).

Writing Experiment

Next Monday I'm planning to start writing a 'Fast Draft' as part of an online class being offered for free by Candace Havens. Certainly I've come across Book-In-A-Month and other similar writing techniques to turn off your internal editor just to get words on the page, but I never really thought the idea would work for me. My first draft is generally awful--at least in my opinion. I suppose I have to get the words on the page to really get started with my writing strength, which is revising something to within an inch of it's life. In high school, when I was writing drafts on paper, they were almost illegible. So many cross-outs, arrows, rewrites that it was difficult for me to write the final draft from such a mess.

I've always been frustrated by how slow I write and how many iterations it takes me to get a final draft I'm satisfied with. And I've always been a little nervous about what I'll do if I ever get a publishing contract. Self-publishing was great in that respect--no deadlines, no contracts--I could write when and how much I wanted. But now my boys are getting older; both will be in school full time next year, and I have the opportunity to try to make my writing a job. So I need to figure something out and make some changes.

About a week and a half ago, I saw Candace's offer for the class, and I guess my perspective has changed drastically, because I immediately thought, Why not give it a try? So I signed up, and starting next week, I'm supposed to write 20 pages a day for two weeks. (I like the smaller time committment too--shorter than BIAM). So we'll see...

I'm not starting a new project. I'm about 100 pages into the one I'm working on now, so I'm just going to try to push it to the end and hope I end up with some material I can use.

Candace says that something amazing happens when you're just writing at that pace without rereading, without editing. She says that there's often better continuity (which I get), and sometimes strange, wonderful, mysterious things happen: brilliant prose emerges from the wreckage of unedited work to delight and astound. I'm hoping for a good dose of that too.
Catherine Avril Morris is tracking her progress on a similar project. Anyone else??

13 Favorite Foods

Thirteen Favorite Foods!

1. Chips and salsa
2. Brownies
3. Shrimp Cocktail
4. Sourdough Bread
5. Wedding Cake
6. Texas Barbeque
7. Key Lime Pie
8. Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
9. Fish Tacos
10. Gyros
11. Greek Salad
12. Cheese Enchiladas
13. Tomato Basil Soup

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Books for the Troops

As discovered on Trish Ryan's blog...who stumbled over it on JA Konrath's blog...
Evidently America's troops over in Iraq are in dire need of entertainment. Konrath has a friend over there and would like to inundate his base with books. To encourage participation, he's offering a prize for the person who sends the most books over.

I got to thinking...I'm a self-published author, with plenty of books on hand. I'll send a bunch. But then I thought, How many copies of the same book could they need over there? and then, How many romance readers are stationed over there? Of course there are some, but well, who knows?

I'm definitely planning on sending some copies. Just have to decide how many. I'm going to try to pick through my keepers and add a few others in too, but wouldn't you know it...they're romances too!

Here's the address of Kornrath's buddy:

SFC Douglas Hansen
C Co / 163 MI Bn
COB Speicher
APO AE 09393

Checked with the post office: if you're only sending books, you can ship them 'Media Mail' and it will be much cheaper. Also, according to Konrath, postage is charged at the domestic shipping rate, and the military takes care of the rest.

So no excuses! Ship some books over there!

9/11 Remembered

I always remember important dates several days ahead of time and then forget the significance completely on the actual day. Unless there are reminders. On September 8, I heard something or read something that reminded me of the upcoming anniversary of 9/11. I thought about the tragedy for a while, remembering, always thinking of the families, wondering how they're doing now. Then it slipped from my mind. Yesterday at church, the musical selections were all tributes to that horrific time in our history. I only remember two: America the Beautiful and Let There Be Peace On Earth, still so poignant in today's terrorist-fraught times. Also the homily (sermon) touched on it, and I was glad to remember. I'm one of those people who doesn't want to hear about all the hate, evil, violence and ickiness in the world. I want to be aware, but I don't want to hear about it. Somehow, this is different.

And it will always be different.

I get goosebumps thinking about all the heros surrounding the tragedy. How many people overcame their own shock, fear, and grief to help others. In such uncertain times, it's unbelievably comforting to know that people can still come to together to help strangers in terrifyingly unexpected circumstances. Certainly police men and firemen are used to emergency situations (they are heroes everyday), but this was unlike any other emergency. Hopefully we will never have to deal with anything like it ever again.

It amazes me that people can have such hate for an entire country of people they don't even know. Innocent victims. It scares me that these terrorists are still planning to hit us again, and it comforts me tremendously to know that we have people who are doing everything they possibly can to prevent another attack. They are heroes too.

P.S.

Admittedly I'm a bit late with the Thursday Thirteen, but I really liked the idea of it and wanted to give it a try. I do realize it's not Thursday...

Thursday Thirteen--An Experiment

Thirteen Places I'd Like To Visit Before I Die!

1. Greece
2. Scotland (again)
3. Nova Scotia
4. Maine
5. New Zealand
6. Italy
7. France
8. Oregon
9. Virgin Islands
10. Hawaii
11. Sweden
12. Ireland
13. Banff

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Distractions

Ever since yesterday, my mind has been replaying the lyrics for 'Breakout' by Swing Out Sister in my mind--a song I haven't heard or thought about since highschool. Now, with my own posted aspirations to be a breakout novelist (hee hee), they're haunting me.

'when explanations make no sense
when every answer's wrong
you're fighting with less confidence
all expectations gone
the time has come to make or break
move on don't hesitate
breakout...'

I don't really have any aspirations to be a breakout novelist. I just want to be a good novelist with happy readers. I like to think I write humourous stuff--I want to write humourous stuff. How many breakout novels are humorous? How many are genre fiction? That's what I read (almost exclusively), that's what I want to write. So I'll be content to have an adoring cult-following.

So as I'm slowly slogging along on my hysterically funny (IMHO) WIP, I'm also actively, mentally harvesting ideas for other books. I feel like I should write them all down but also don't want to spend all that time focused on books that may never be more than a single sentence premise. Because if I write the premise, I'll feel compelled to add details and anecdotes ad nauseum. I wonder if this process is distracting me, if I should consciously try to focus my thoughts on the WIP. It could definitely use some concentration. I should just buckle down, finish this thing and start something new. Ahhh...but I've got a disease...it's called 'the edits'. I'm a victim.

There sure are LOTS of us...

It just struck me yesterday (so I'm slow) how very many wannabe authors there are in this world--even in my own personal little view of it. I don't actually know any personal acquaintances (outside my writers' groups) that want to be authors, but there are certainly plenty of people willing to admit, "Yeah, I've always kinda wanted to write a book..." They get that faraway look in their eyes when you tell them you're an author. But it doesn't seem serious. None of them really have any intention of actually acting on that desire. At least not right now.

I'm talking about all the writers that blog, all the writers on loops, all RWA members (and members of other writers' associations), all the loners, and all those writers that just seem to appear out of nowhere--the breakouts. Talk about competition. It's more than a little disheartening if you want to go the traditional route to publishing. Even if you want to self-publish, you've gotta find distribution channels and then promote like crazy just to get your name to be noticed! I'm going to try not to think about it and think like a breakout author.

I'd like to do a little experiment when I get a little bit of time: sort of a Kevin Bacon 'Degrees of Separation' sorta thing. I'll pick a blog, read it, randomly select a commenter and follow the links to their blog, and keep going until I make it back to the original blog. Wonder if it will work...

Marathon Reading Weekend

Well, you don't come across a 500 page book everyday--at least not one you're willing to read...but I did, and it was stupendous! I actually first read about Twilight by Stephenie Meyer on Romancing the Blog. I think Misa Ramirez was hyping it, and then plenty of commenters were adding their agreement. So...obviously I checked it out. Figuratively and literally. The first time I checked it out from the library, I started reading but was already in the middle of another book. I couldn't renew it because someone else wanted it--but I really didn't want to let it go.

This week, Tuesday, I got it back, and I've been tenaciously working my way through. I don't believe I've ever read a vampire romance (and I never really had the desire to), but this one I devoured. First of all the heroine is a teen and rather mysterious--I'm thinking there are still some mysteries surrounding her that maybe will get cleared up in the sequel, New Moon, which was released Aug 21. (My library does not yet have a copy). Secondly, she falls in love with a vampire who finds her 'scent' overwhelmingly appealing, and it's all he can do not to feast on her! And third, they somehow fall in love and have to deal with the difficulties that entails (along with a few other bumps in the road). I can't say enough! I highly, highly recommend this book.

I also recommend visiting Ms. Meyer's website. She has a lot of extras posted that are very fun and interesting as well. Apparently MTVfilms, Paramount, and Maverick films have bought the movie rights, and I hope they follow through. This could be an edge-of-your-seat thriller...with a side of romance.

Whew...now on to the next book on my TBR stack: Dress Rehearsal by Jennifer O'Connell.

And no, I haven't worked on my WIP since Friday. But I've thought about it a lot...

Goodbye to 'Freak Girl'

Yay! Hooray! Freak Girl is but a memory now... I returned to the salon yesterday to get my highlights subdued, and now I feel much, much better about things. It was a different colorist, and she made me MUCH more comfortable. She showed me little swatches of hair color, told me which one was mine and asked me to pick what I wanted. Simple, right? Sounds like something the other colorist should have done... Now I basically have my own color back, but brighter and shinier. I'm happy.

But there's a catch. She did tell me that the toner will wear off and that the 'Freak Girl' coloring will come back. Maybe the same, maybe more subdued, but it will come back just the same. So I guess I'll have to go in again to get more toner applied.

This whole highlighting process just seems like one big hassle. I'd planned to just buy a do-it-yourself kit from Target and go it alone, but my husband thought it would be better to stick with the professionals. Well the 'professionals' cost me 10-15X as much! And probably four times as long. There's definitely something to be said for doing it yourself!

Still...one less thing to worry over.

The Lure of E-books

I've been wondering about e-book readers for a long time. You hear about the e-book revolution (on a small scale), but I've never even actually held a reader before. I've bought a couple of ebooks when I was converting my own book into e-book format--just to make sure I got everything right. And I read a few pages just sitting at the computer, but when I read I like to get really comfortable. Usually I'm lying down or cuddled into a comfy chair. My ergonomic office chair doesn't really set the mood. So...I've been considering asking for an ebook reader for Christmas. That will entail a trip to Fry's (or the like) to examine and test out a whole slew of them, but I think in the long run, I could really get used to having one.

Don't get me wrong--I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have tangible (paperback!) books in my hands and on my shelves, but there are great arguments to reading e-books as well. One of which is all these books from small presses that either don't make it into print or look slightly odd when they do. I admit it! I need a great cover. I'm one of those 'judge a book by its cover' people. And I'm rarely wrong--I know what I like. But...WITH NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS...I don't like many small press covers. They just look weird to me. But with an ebook reader, the covers are sort of superfluous, which works out perfectly.

One e-book I'd love to read, and I probably could read it on the computer simply because it's only 14 pages, is Amanda Brice's She's Got Legs. It's gotten great reviews, and Amanda has a very funny outlook on life. I love discovering new authors, and particularly love finding them right at the beginning of great careers. I think Ms. Brice is one of these, so check her out before goes big! (And the cover passes muster too).