Stage One – The Set Up
Chapter One -This sucks. First chapters are the worst. Hook? Hook? Gah! I hate hooks. I’m clearly hook-illiterate.
Chapter Two – Okay, maybe this isn’t quite so bad. New POV, the setting works, I’m getting into the story. And wow, I sorta like my characters.
Chapter Three – What was I thinking??? This is the most contrived piece of crap ever. And melodramatic? Argh. Sounds like a bad version of Days Of Our Lives. I’ll probably get sued.
Chapter Four – Push through, push through, just keep pushing.
Chapter Five – Getting into … Read more »

Has it really been a week since I last posted? Wow. I am a huge slacker. Enormous apologies. I’ll try to be better.

What have I been up to? Writing, what else? I suppose that’s a good enough excuse. 😉

Specifically, I’ve been putting together proposals for two different books. I have the chapters finally finished (hooray!), and about ready to go out to the CPs (be on the lookout CPs…your break has passed). Now I’m working on the dreaded suckopses.

Dreaded. Yes. Definitely. I hate them. With a passion. Since I’m a pantster, I generally write my synopses after… Read more »

Yeah, I know. You’re tired of hearing me talk about this one. Well, bear with me. I’m in a minor-crisis.

My agent sent my book out. It’s making the rounds. I’ll spare you the neurosis I’ve developed because of this and move on to the topic at hand: Connected Books.

I love connected books. I love series, but as an unpublished writer, I see nothing positive about pouring my heart and soul into a series that might never sell. I mean, if the first book doesn’t sell, you’re basically screwed, so why waste your time and effort writing subsequent books?… Read more »

And I’m not complaining.

I’ve got the writing bug. All the sudden. 15 pgs. Saturday, 10 pgs Sunday, 17 pgs Monday.

Of course, it would help if they were all in the same book, but since the two books are connected, I can deal with it.

Hmmm….Maybe that cyber whipping I gave Edie really worked.… Read more »

I’ve been reading some paranormals lately and something’s really suprised me. Almost every author I’ve read who writes paranormals makes reference to God in some form or another in their books. It’s never an in-your-face religious statement, but rather a passing comment. This doesn’t happen in RS’s. Not to say there’s never mention of God or religion in RS books, but generally, if God comes in to play, it’s usually because a character is ticked at God because someone they loved died or something bad happened to them in their past. But this isn’t true in paranormals.

Why? I’m guessing … Read more »

It’s Monday, and as such, it’s blog day. In case you didn’t know, Mondays are my day to post at Romance Worth Killing For, so head over and take a look. Also, The Mid-Willamette Valley RWA group blog is now up and going, and I had the pleasure of posting first. Who knew I had so much to say in one single day! (Not me, that’s for sure).

Because my topic ideas are drained at this point, I wanted to point out a few other blogs you definitely shouldn’t miss. Among them…

Be sure to hit Murder She Writes … Read more »

You know, I really don’t get this writing thing. I have small children, so my writing time is limited. I’ve got basically a two hour window in the early afternoon when one is in preschool and one is taking a nap where I can write during the day. The rest of the time my life is too crazy and noisy for me to concentrate. Most of my writing happens at night when the kids are in bed and the house is quiet, but some days I’m just too tired to think straight by then. I’m not complaining. We all do … Read more »

It’s official. My secret is out and, consequently, my anonymity is shot.

It’s no great surprise I’ve kept my writing quiet the past few years as I’ve sought publication. Like many of you, I’ve told close friends and family, but in general I didn’t want to deal with the plethora of questions from acquaintances and neighbors regarding my status. Have you published yet? Have you sold? What’s taking so long? Why are you continuing to write when you still haven’t made it? Writing is a very personal business, and it’s slow, and most people (I’d say 98% of the population) … Read more »