Only Time Will Tell

It's been one hectic journey since the day I decided to take the next step in my writing career.  Talk about ups and downs.  I now understand why we go to school when we're young.  This tired brain of mine just refuses to learn like it used to.  Who was it that said, 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks'?  I'm beginning to think they were right on target with that!  This was one giant learning curve.  I know just enough about html codes to get myself in major trouble.  Let me put it this way.  Until my dear younger brother, who is the computer genius, told me otherwise, I thought html was an abbreviation for hotmail.  Go ahead.  Laugh.  He still does. :)

All this excited gibber to say:  If I've done everything right, (crossing everything I got) you should be able to find your copy of "Faithful Deceptions" both on Amazon and Barnes & Noble as an ebook.  The print copy is still in the works, but I should have that worked out by the middle of March. Again with the fingers crossed.

Wow!  I can barely stand the excitement of knowing someone can actually pick up my book and read it.  What a wonderful feeling and totally scary thought all wrapped up into one.

Only time will tell what the outcome will be.

Thanks for all the support and encourement!  I could never have taken my dream this far without all the great writers and friends I've made along the way.  You guys ROCK!

Links to make it easy:

AMAZON - For Kindle

BARNES & NOBLE - For Nook

Off to do some more happy dancing! LOL

New Beginnings

January.  It is still January, right? 

2011 is off to a zipping start.  We've already taken a short vacation with the kids, had a colorguard tournament, tennis tournament and high school finals for the first semester.  Ugh.  I'm exhausted. LOL

I'm also busy working out all the kinks on a new exciting venture.  I've been reading alot of books on how to deal with failure and the need to take risks in order to succeed.  No more sitting back and wondering what would happen "if".  I'm actually going to take that next step and see.  Yikes! I'm excited and terrified all at the same time.  Struggling through the blasted learning curve at the moment, but once the initial shock wears off I'll be good to go.

Hoping to have the big reveal ready by April.  There, I put it out there.  A deadline.  Yep.  Now it's set in stone. :)

Best of luck to everyone in 2011!  Here's to looking back at the end of the year and saying, "I'm so glad I took that risk."

Avoid the Slush at All Costs

In my efforts to procrastinate this week, I came across a book I started reading last year by Jack Bickham. “The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)”. Chapter one is title “Don’t Make Excuses.” Gulp. This hits home with me on so many levels. “Writers write; everyone else makes excuses.” Well, that means if I’m a writer I must write. I’ve been doing pretty good with this ever since NaNoWriMo and have almost finished editing a book I plan to send out to a publisher the middle of January. The following are a few tips I’ve come across from several different sources along the way that I feel have made my work stronger.



1. Lead with a powerful scene, a witty exchange or a dazzling description.

2. Make sure the right person is telling the story.

3. Create the right amount of internal monologue.

4. Don't have too many characters.

5. Make sure the characters you do have don’t walk, talk and act the same.

6. Add texture to your story with echoes, allusions and metaphors.

7. Check to make sure every scene is necessary to move the story forward.

8. Be sure there is a sense of time and place in your story.

9. Make your dialogue lively. Listen to those around you, then use what you hear.

10. Up the ante where you can.



(Raising my glass of sparkling cider)  Here’s to avoiding the slush pile and reaching our publishing dreams!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

All or Nothing!

I can't believe how quickly this month went!  As if time doesn't fly fast enough, how about throwing in a goal of writing 50,000 words in thirty days.  I must be crazy.  It's been one wild and furious ride full of ups and downs and lots of times I thought I'd never get it done.  But after pushing myself to the outer limits of my sanity and staying up late, late, late, I did it!  And I even have a few hours to spare. LOL.  NaNoWriMo Rocks!

Although, I will forever wonder why the month of November was picked for this challenge, it won't stop be from trying again next year.  I guess that's exactly what it is.  A challenge or test of sorts.  If I can stick to sitting down every day to write and actually come up with a story that is workable during this hectic month, then there is no reason I can't do it any other time.  All it takes is a little extra dedication on my part, quite a bit of understanding from my wonderful family and lots and lots of caffeine.

The next few days will be a time of winding down, relaxing and recuperating after all that hard but satisfying work.  Oh, who the heck am I kidding?  I'll be doing all the laundry and ironing I've been putting off for the last thirty days.  And here I thought my kids might get tired of having to dig through the baskets to find their favorite shirts, pants or matching socks and actually fold the darn clothes.  Not.  LOL   But before catching up on all my mommy duties, I do intend to celebrate my success.  I think I'll treat myself by heading to the nearest bookstore to buy a great book from one of my favorite authors.  Reading for fun sounds awesome right about now.  :)

The Home Stretch

As you can tell by my colorful NaNo calendar, some days are better than others. LOL And I bet you're wondering why I'm making blog posts when I have so many words to write to reach that 50,000 word goal.

It's all good. Breaks actually help me get back on track and boost the imagination when it seems to get stuck while working on one project for too long. I've got so many different projects started it's not even funny. But usually one will catch my attention and I can't shake it. This is what clues me in to what I need to be working on at that moment.

NaNo is great in that it keeps me working on the same project for longer than a few weeks. But boy is it hard. And boy do those words seem to disappear close to the end. I'm having a hard time getting the old fingers to move in the right sequence, which leads to many misspelled words. I'll laugh when I go back through the manuscript later. And at some points I know I'll have a hard time trying to figure out just exactly what I was trying to say.

So it's back to work for me now. I'm so close and yet so far. But I'm having fun and that's just the icing on the cake!

Come on my fellow NaNo'ers! You can do it!!!

Why NaNoWriMo Works

That is, the reason it works for me. Two weeks down and a little more than two weeks to go. I’m trudging along, hoping to burn up the keys with my brilliance. But in truth most days are slow and grueling as I try to crank out those 1667 words.

* But during NaNo there are no excuses.

* I sit down everyday and write.

* Rules? What rules?

* Editing is a big No No.

* I have lots of buddies struggling right along with me.

* Being creative and thinking outside the box comes easier for me since I can ignore my internal editor or critic.

To sum it all up. The entire process is fun again. I have that magical feeling I experienced the very first time I sat down and started writing my first manuscript. The time before I learned about all the rules and how difficult the publishing part of the journey would be.

Now to hang on to this after Nano is finished. If I can get those words on the page during this month and still keep up with the rest of what life throws at me, there is no reason to believe I can’t.

Here's to the finish line, 50,000 words and a new writing routine!

NaNoWriMo is Here!

Second day of Nano and still going strong. LOL The first few days are easy to get those 1667 words. Then every day after that gets harder and harder. Is it excitement that gets the ball rolling, the thrill of starting something new and fresh maybe? What ever it is, I sure wish I could sustain it through the entire process. It's such a great rush!

Best of luck to all those trudging along with me!
Keep up the Great work and I'll see ya at the finish line!! :)

Deadline Approaching

Ack! Ever have one of those weeks when everything goes wrong and you can't find a single minute to spare? Well, why does it always happen when you have something really important to do? I'm working on getting my submissions out to the agents who requested them a few weeks back and I can't believe how many distractions have jumped up and screamed me first, me first!

For instance. Getting sick really stops you in your tracks. Not much you can do but take your medicine and pray it passes quickly. (okay, feeling much better now. thank goodness.)

Homework and projects must be done. No way around that. But this past week I even thought about calling the teachers and begging them on my hands and knees to give my kids a few extra days. LOL (it's Friday. No homework for the weekend. Yippee!)

And until my oldest turns 16 next year, I'm pretty much the only means of transportation for my three who are determined to going in as many different directions as they can find. (no way around this one.)

Throw in the dang dog, who decided the bag of candy looked like a great treat and is now not feeling very well, and I'm at my wits end.

Almost. I've taken several deep breaths and come to grips with it. If I don't make my self imposed deadline it won't be the end of the world. I am allowed to give myself a few more days. Besides, I still have 3 whole days to work through the last eight chapters of my manuscript and get it sent off. Reminds me of that Smokey and the Bandit song. I gotta a "long way to go and a short time to get there" (youtube link thanks to my good friend Will Simon!) It's doable. Yeah, I can do it. And then I'll be ready to start something new for NANO. Oh, I get exciting just thinking about sitting down to write without having to worry about editing a single page. Creating is my favorite part.

That's right. November 1 is coming fast. Hope your ready to join the masses this year and have a blast doing what you love!