MUG Monday: Descent Snippet

It's been a while since I've posted a snippet of my writing, so I thought I'd share the opening of my YA SciFi WIP, Descent. This is just the first draft, so the opening will most likely change at some point, but for now, this is where it begins. :)

«««««

“Luke.” The name popped out of my mouth as I was about to shove in a forkful of eggs. I couldn’t stop a grin. “My name is Luke.”

Mrs. Bingham jumped out of her seat with a squeal. The tight, black curls covering her head remained oddly still, especially in contrast to the rest of her, which did a fair amount of shaking as she bounced up and down, clapping her hands. “Luke. Oh, I knew your name would fit you perfectly.” She yanked me out of my chair and into a tight hug. “I was just thinking you might be ready to start school. But now I’m sure of it.”

Of course. Now I was psychologically ready to reenter the world. Because that was my biggest problem—remembering my name. Never mind that everything else about me had been sucked into a mental black hole. Well, except for the flying, but I stopped bringing that up after the social worker decided I needed to spend more time with the counselor.

Ethan flounced into the kitchen and dropped into a chair. “What’s with all the noise? You finally win the lottery, Mrs. B?”

“Mom,” she said and gave him a fake scolding look. Ethan had been adopted by the Binghams over a year ago, but he still refused to call her Mom. Mrs. B nodded toward me with a smile. “Congratulate your brother, Ethan. He remembered his name.”

Ethan wasn’t my brother any more than Mrs. B was my mother, but anyone could tell that. Where Ethan was light, I was dark. And though we were both on the shorter side of tall, Ethan looked like a body builder—without spending any time in the gym—and I could hide behind a light pole. Or as Mrs. B put it, Ethan was football, and I was basketball. Even though neither of us played sports. Not that I remembered, anyway.

“Really? So you’re not John Doe? You think you know a person.” Ethan shook his head, but a smile crept onto his face. “Seriously, man. That’s awesome. So…” He stared at me. “Do I get to know your real name, or is that top secret too, like… that other thing?”

“Dude. Shut. Up,” I said and kicked him under the table.

“You still on that flying thing?” Mrs. B put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. “Maybe school’s not the best thing for you yet.”

“No.” I shot Ethan a glare. “I know I can’t fly.” With Mrs. B, sometimes it was easier to just tell her what she wanted to hear.

«««««

Thanks for reading!

And don't forget about my contest. It ends Saturday, so you still have a few days left to enter. :)

Totally Random Friday: New Stuff and Old Stuff

New Stuff:

I started writing my new story and I think I'm in lurve. :) I'm excited to tackle a male POV, but I'm even more excited to be writing again! It's YA sci-fi (of course), and I even have a title--DESCENT.

Maybe I'll get brave and post a snippet next week. We'll see. :)

Old Stuff:

Have you seen this awesome contest over at the Shooting Stars blog? They're giving away a 1913 copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales! How cool is that? You better hurry, though. Contest ends today at 5 p.m. MST.

And don't forget about this

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Any new stuff or old stuff you want to share?

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Finished!!!

I just typed "The End" on my rewrite! And not just because I felt like typing it. I really am done. Granted, some of my final words were written while I had a temperature of 101.5, so maybe it won't all be coherent. And I know my ending is awful and will need extensive editing and maybe even more rewriting, but right now, I don't care, because the hard part is done. I'm so excited! If I didn't feel like I'd been run over by the flu truck, I'd be doing a happy dance. Since I can't, I'll let this baby dance for me. He's better at it, anyway. :)

And (this is just me gloating now) my goal was to end at 75,000 to 80,000 words and I'm at just over 79,000. :) Yea!

Hope you're all having a fabulous Monday!

Blog Chain: Mistakes

Seems like I just did one of these... So, it's blog chain time again. Laura started this round. She asked:

Regarding your writing career, what’s the best mistake you’ve ever made and why?

I think, at this point, my best mistake would have to be querying too early. That probably doesn't sound like a very good mistake, but if I hadn't queried when I did, I don't know if I ever would've realized that draft wasn't good enough. And if I hadn't realized that, I never would've started over, and I'd still be trying to perfect a draft that would never be good enough. It had way too many problems. So, yes, the few rejections I got were painful, but one personalized rejection (even though it was only one sentence) was all it took to put me on the path I'm on now and put me just a little closer to being the writer I want to be.

So, what about all of you? What's your best mistake?

Cole is up tomorrow and be sure to head over to Shaun's blog to check out his awesome mistake.

I’m a Huge Chicken—And Not the Delicious Kind

Though I guess I probably wouldn’t want to be too delicious. ;)

WARNING: This post is served up with a large dose of crazy…

So I was making chicken the other night and thinking about my WIP—always thinking about the WIP—and I started wondering why I can’t finish the dang thing. I’ve been within 5000 words of finishing for over a week (within 10,000 words for close to a month, and more than halfway done for, like, for-ev-er). It’s really pathetic, especially since I know exactly how it’s going to go. None of that pantser business holding me back.

The ending is all mapped out, and I’m excited about it, but every time I sit down to write, I read through the last few paragraphs, raring to go, and then I just sit there, staring. And then my mind wanders and I click over to my email and Facebook and my Google Reader… You can see where this is going, right? So I thought maybe it was just distractions holding me back—that pesky procrastination. But as I thought about it more, I realized it’s just that I’m a big chicken.

I can’t believe I’m admitting this, because it’s so stupid, but the real reason I can’t finish my story is because I’m scared. Scared it won’t be good enough. Scared the ending is going to suck. Scared the last two years—writing it, revising it, scrapping the whole thing, and rewriting it from scratch—have all been a waste of time. Scared I'm just deluding myself that I can write at all.

Yes, I realize this is just my neurotic writer self shining through and I’m over-thinking the whole situation, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m still a huge chicken.

What is wrong with me!? Wait. Don’t answer that. ;)

Seriously though, I’m hoping that by getting it out of my head and sending it out into the ether, I’ll be able to let the stupid-ness go and just finish the dumb thing.

That was all. Thanks for listening to me whine.

So, what about all of you? Do you find that fear holds you back sometimes?

Blog Chain: What's Up? and a Snippet

It's blog chain time again! And I'm a slacker and almost forgot I was supposed to post today. :O My excuse? Um... I spent my life savings on school supplies today and was totally traumatized? Does that count? ;)

This chain was started by the fabulous Cole. She asked:

Are you querying? Gearing up to go on submission? Writing? Revising? I'd love to hear what's new with you. And if you'd like to share a snippet of your WIP, even better!
 
Technically, I'm drafting and revising, because the two are pretty much inseparable for me. And though I haven't written anything new in MSWord for several weeks, I do have a notebook I've been doing some scene mapping in. (I know! Me, outlining! Craziness! :)) I have the ending all mapped out, so once the kids go to Arizona on Saturday for a whole week, I think I can get the rest written. I'm so excited to be so close to finishing this draft. I'm dying to be querying this baby, and for me, revising is the easy part. Ask me about that in a few months and we'll see if my feelings about revising have changed. ;)
 
Now for my WIP snippet. I had a hard time finding something I hadn't posted yet that didn't give too much away and wasn't a million words long, but I think this scene is okay.
 
This is the end of chapter two of Embrol. If you're interested, you can read the first chapter here.
 
Just needs a little setup...
 
After a car accident, Olivia finds herself in a dream. Or maybe she's dead and now she's in Hell. Kole, demented bad guy, seems determined to convince her of the latter. She makes several failed attempts to wake up, but it isn’t until her mother's voice comes to her and tells her to focus on finding him that Olivia is finally able to escape. This is what happens next. (I hope that’s not too confusing. :))

**********

There was a tangible shift, and a warm breeze stirred my hair. A sweet, floral scent wafted up around me as I fell to the ground, leaves rustling around me. I stretched, surprised to find the bindings gone and the ache in my shoulders and back all but a dull memory. My fingers curled around the soft foliage beneath me. I smiled at my success, opening my eyes to stare up at a deep purple sky, illuminated by two moons. One was large and blue, the color of the Arizona sky at noon. The other overlapped it, dark red and much smaller—maybe a third the size of the first, similar to Earth’s moon.


Tall, blue stalks topped with strange, seven-petal flowers surrounded me. The light from the moons filtered through the translucent petals, casting shadows in a myriad of shades. Careful to keep the pressure off my broken arm, though that pain had faded as well, I rose to my feet and brushed my dress down, surprised to find it clean and unwrinkled.

The field of flowers stretched in every direction, but from this angle they reflected the light, giving the illusion I stood, waist deep, in the middle of a glistening sea. At the edge of the field, I could just make out what looked like three identical dome-shaped hills surrounded by odd-shaped trees.

Between me and the hills, something moved—a tall figure slowly making his way through the field. My brain screamed at me to run, but something held me there, nudging me forward, toward him. I resisted, taking small steps, searching for some way to escape. He stood well over six feet with broad shoulders and thick arms. At a distance, his features were barely distinguishable in the dim light, but the unruly curls covering his head shone like spun gold in the moonlight. As he came closer, he smiled, and his eyes caught the light. Familiar blue eyes. My angel.

“You’re here,” I whispered when he was close enough to hear.

He stopped directly in front me and lifted his hand. All thoughts of Kole and the preceding nightmare faded as warmth trickled into me from his fingertips, slightly rough but gentle on my face. I laid my hand over his, pressing his palm to my cheek. Heat and an almost overwhelming sense of fullness radiated from his touch. The world seemed brighter, though it was still night. Absently, I realized my broken arm moved freely, all traces of pain gone.

He leaned down and rested his forehead on mine. “Of course I’m here,” he said. “Just as I promised.”

Promised? Before I could ask what he meant, he raised his other hand to hold my face and pressed his lips firmly to mine. The heat from his touch held nothing next to the fire from that kiss. It was brief, only a few seconds, but my heart fluttered and my knees threatened to give out as he released my lips and lowered his hands to my shoulders.

I opened my mouth to protest the kiss, to tell him he had no right, but there was something so perfect about that moment, I couldn’t form the words.

“Olivia? You okay?” He wore the tiniest hint of a smile on his full lips, his eyes warm and inviting.

I could lose myself in those… I forced my gaze back to the flowers. “What is this place?”

“Hielos.” He said the strange word slowly. Hee-lohs. “Our home. You know that.”

I do? I studied the world around me. It felt familiar, like I should know it, but I was sure I’d never been here before. When my gaze returned to his face, he was watching me so intently, I couldn’t think. I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Is this Heaven?”

He laughed. “You’re messing with me, right…? Okay. I’ll play. No, it’s not Heaven, but sometimes, it feels that way, especially when you’re here.” His arms wrapped around me, pulling me tight to his chest. He smelled of spearmint and soap, and something I couldn’t put a name to—something deliciously unique to him. I took a deep breath, wishing I could bottle that scent and carry it with me always. He kissed the top of my head. “I wish you could stay.”

I wanted to stay, more than anything else, though I didn’t understand why. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You must go back.” He stepped away from me, his hands sliding down my arms to wrap his fingers around mine. “Time is running out.”

Memories of Kole and pain came rushing back. My fingers tightened on his, and I shook my head. “Please, I want to stay here with you.”

“You must go back.”

Tears sprang to my eyes. “I can’t.”

He smiled and leaned down, brushing my hair back to whisper in my ear. “It’s time, Olivia. Wake up.”

**********
Thanks for reading! So, what's up with you? Where are you in your writing process?

Be sure to check out what's up with Shaun. And I'm the last link in the chain this round, but Eric starts the new chain tomorrow. I'm sure he'll have something awesome to ask us. :)

WIP Wednesday

So, I've whined a bit over the last couple months about being stuck. Like really stuck. First it was because I didn't know how my story was supposed to end, and when I figured that out, it still didn't feel quite right. There were actually four endings I came up with before finally settling on the one I have now. And this is the first one that hasn't felt like something was lacking. So I knew the ending about a month ago. So what's been my problem?

Action scenes.

Well, and perfectionism, but discussing that could make this post excruciatingly long.

Action scenes are the hardest for me to write, and it was that niggling fear of failure that kept me from even wanting to look at it. I kept trying to write it in my head before sitting down at the computer--which I can do with pretty much any other scene--but this one just wouldn't form.

So last week I decided that I would have to sit down at the computer and force my way through it, regardless of how awful it turned out. And then I procrastinated. My Google Reader and I have been very cozy this past week. And very unproductive. Apparently, I needed an intervention.

It came yesterday. In the form of a very long power outage. Now, I know that doesn't really seem like a good thing and (as my friend, Tere, put it so perfectly) my kids threw sticks and bones at me from the other side of the cave to stave off boredom while I huddled around the glow of my fully-charged laptop. Seriously. Power outages are so not kid friendly.

Anyway. Without the distraction of email, blogs, and all things internet, I finally wrote that dreaded scene. And it is indeed awful, but it's done! Yea! It's so nice to actually have some progress to report. :)

What about all of you? How are your projects coming? Anything exciting to report or share?

Procrastination

I have several HUGE projects I should be working on, but of course, this is what got done instead. :) Though I did write 900 shiny new words last night. First new writing I've done in over a month. Woohoo!

Random Craziness

Somehow, I managed to reach 200 followers! I honestly never thought I'd get past 100, so this is awesome. And to show just how awesome I think all of you are, my lovely followers, a contest is coming. I just have to get a few things squared away first. So be sure to check back.

Also, is "Followers (202)" orange for all of you? Up until yesterday it matched the rest of my blog. I don't know why it changed, and it's driving me crazy that I can't change it back. Yes, this is something I'm obsessing over. Isn't that normal? ;)

In other good news, I finally figured out the end of my story. Yea! I sat down Wednesday night and wrote down a very rough outline thingy ;) and hopefully, I'll have the brain power to finish it up over the next week or so, which will put me right in line with my goal to have it finished by the end of the month. So no big deal that I took a break for a month, right?

And I have a job interview Monday morning. First job I've interviewed for since 2003, so I'm freaking out a little. Life's getting interesting. :)

Finally, in honor of my son turning twelve on Wednesday, I give you this. Twelve may not technically make him a teenager, but this is still freakishly accurate. Enjoy! :)



Have a great weekend, all!

WIP Wednesday—I'm a Quitter

I'm plugging back in early. If you want to know why, see this post. The current WIP and I need some time apart. I'm not quitting for good. Just taking a little break because I'm very close to taking a match to the whole project.

For the most part, unplugging was actually very productive. In the first eight days, I added 19,000 words to my WIP. (4200 of those words were all in one day!) Overall, not as much as I was hoping for, but I generally have pretty unrealistic expectations of myself. So the first week went well. The next five days? I whined about those yesterday, so I won't get into again. Just know that they were less productive than the first eight days. Though I will say that my total word count for the whole stretch was 20,541. This number makes me smile. :)

My conclusion? Unplugging for a week is good, but anything beyond that turns me into a crazy lady. I need my blogging outlet and to feel like I'm not all alone in this. I missed you guys!

What do you think? Unplugging—good or bad? Any progress to report? Any fabulous news to share?

Contest/blogfest linky post tomorrow. If you're having a contest or blogfest you'd like me to include, let me know. :)

Stuck

I'm writing this post just to write something, since I've barely been able to to squeeze out 1500 words over the last five days. And I literally had to force those out. Did I mention that they all suck too?

This isn't writer's block. This is scene block. I'm at the turning point in my story where it starts to build toward the climax, but I can't seem to figure out how to end this stupid scene. And how this scene ends determines the rest of the story, so I can't even skip ahead and work on something else.

I've restarted four times, but I'm still not happy with it. Of those 1500 words I mentioned earlier, I probably won't be keeping any of them, and it isn't a matter of word choice or not liking the writing. It just doesn't feel right. I can't tell if I'm just brain dead and burnout from how much effort I've been putting into this over the last couple of weeks or if something is seriously off in my plot.

Normally, I can discuss it with my husband and figure it out, but for some reason, I can't seem to articulate the problem. I don't even want to work on revising what I already have written, which I normally love to do. This is getting serious, people!

I'm considering plugging back in (this post doesn't count) and ignoring the beast for a week or two, and then trying again. But I want to be done. :( Done, done, done! (Yes, I'm stomping my foot like a toddler.)

The most annoying thing? I thought I had the plot solid, but I change one little thing... Argh!

Anyway.

So, how are all of you doing? :) Anything exciting happen while I was away? You all got book deals, didn't you? That always happens!

We Interrupt This Unplugging...

...for some neurotic ranting.

So the unplugging is going awesome. The words are flowing, and I feel like I have a good chance of finishing this rewrite by the end of the month. If you're my friend on Facebook, you already know this, since I've been feeling the need to brag share my progress. :) I'll put up a full report here when I'm officially plugged back in.

That being said, why is it that every time I go online to do a tiny bit of research or just give my brain a five-minute break, I keep finding all these similarities to my story floating around out there? I'm turning into a neurotic freak (more than usual), hyper-analyzing every little thing my characters do, or every step forward in the plot. Is this fresh enough? Is it riddled with cliches or overdone? Am I just wasting my time?

It's like the unfinished novel gremlins are just dying to get their grubby little hands on my baby. I think they sit next to me while I sleep and whisper insecurities in my ear, just hoping I'll let this thing go. If I still have all my hair (and it's not all gray) by the time I'm ready to query this baby, it'll be a miracle.

That is all. :)

WIP Wed... Wait. Um, Tuesday?

Since I've been invited to join a super cool blog chain, I'll be posting for that tomorrow. But I wanted to share something I discovered to help me with my procrastination issues. Now maybe I'm a little slow and all of you are already doing this. Feel free to shake your heads and walk away. :)

For the last WIP report I posted, I set a goal to write 1000 words a day. Which of course didn't happen, because I'm too distracted and not very good at following through on my goals in general. So over the last week I set some restrictions for myself to make sure I get my writing done first thing in the morning, and I started a log. Being such a numbers freak, you'd think I could've come up with this idea sooner. Apparently not. Always before, I just kept a rough idea of my progress in my head.

My log is very simple. Everyday, when I'm done writing, I write down my total word count. Then I subtract the previous day's total to figure out how many new words I wrote. It's a little ridiculous how excited I get over those numbers, especially when they're over 2000, but it's working, so that's all that matters.

Since my last WIP post, I've added close to 13,000 words--most of them in the last week. :)

What about you? Do you keep a log? Am I the last one to figure this out?

WIP Wednesday

First, the important stuff. :) Last week I posted about a contest over on The Bookshelf Muse blog—enter the first two lines of your novel for a chance to win a 2, 5, or 10 page critique. Winners were announced on Monday and I won first place! And this is after getting second place in a similar contest on YA Highway in January. So, I think I finally have my hook set and solid. Now, if I could just get the rest of the story to fall in line, I’ll be perfect. ;)

In other news, I actually have some progress to report. Over the last few weeks I’ve managed to glue all my random scenes together into what is now the first 36 pages of my story. Plus, I added an additional 5000 words. Not as much as I would’ve liked, but progress is progress, right?

I read somewhere recently that people who are very busy are more likely to find time to write. I can’t remember where I saw it, but I’m finding that it’s so true. Never before have I had so much free time, and never before have I found so many ways to procrastinate. I should have no problem churning out 1000 words per day minimum. Just last night I sat down and pounded out 500 words in about 10 minutes. Granted, I’d been thinking about that part of the scene for an hour while I cleaned the kitchen, but 1000 words a day is not an unrealistic goal.

So that’s what I’m challenging myself with. That should give me close 30,000 more words by the end of the month, and 60,000 if I push myself to double that. That would put me very close to done, and done is something I’m definitely ready to be. I’m getting anxious to work on another project I have brewing.

What about all of you? Do you find that you seek out more writing time when you’re busy? Or does endless amounts of free time sound like writer’s heaven?

WIP Wednesday

Thanks for all the great suggestions yesterday! You guys are awesome. The wheels are turning now and I have a few posts brewing, but nothing that's ready today. So I figured, why not do a WIP post, as per Dawn's suggestion. Thanks, Dawn!

I was looking back over my posts and noticed I haven't done one of these since mid-November. And that post was all about finishing my revisions and sending out queries. After receiving a couple of rejections, I realized that even though I'd done countless revisions, there wasn't any way to get that version of the story into shape just by doing revisions. So I decided to start over from scratch—same concept with better writing (I hope), stronger voice, and major plot changes to improve the characterization and tension throughout. 

This decision was made around the middle of December. Since then I've managed to squeeze out a measly 8000 words. And it's not like the very first draft where I had no clue where I was headed. I have a basic idea for the whole story in my head, I just can't seem to get it down on paper. Granted, I did have the move to deal with, but I also had a whole month without internet. I should've gotten a lot of writing done, right? In theory, yes.

BUT.

I'm finding that my process has a lot to do with stress and my need to use my writing to escape it. Since we've been here, my stress levels are much, much lower. Don't misunderstand—lack of stress is awesome—it's just another thing to adjust to since being here. You learn to live with something long enough, good or bad, it's going to take a while to adjust to living without it.

So I guess I'm figuring it out, and getting back into my regular blogging schedule will help, I think. It keeps the brainstorming going, which often leads to new ideas and solutions for plot issues that direct thinking can't always find. And reading all of your blogs sparks new ideas too.

What about all of you? Any progress to report? Any awesome news you want to share?

And if you'll kindly look to your right, you'll see that my followers have reached triple digits. I can't believe it! Be sure to check back Friday. I'm going to try and come up with something awesome to celebrate. Maybe even something involving flying monkeys. :)

Start at the Very Beginning

In The Sound of Music, Maria sang, “Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” A very good place, indeed. The question is, when is the very beginning and how do you know?

My novel, EMBROL, has had many beginnings. Way too many, and none of them have worked. I’ve wanted them to work, have rewritten, revised, and manipulated them trying to make them work. I’ve even talked myself into believing they were working, but they were all wrong. Why were they all wrong? Because I wasn’t starting at the very beginning, at the inciting incident.

The inciting incident is the moment when the main character’s life is changed so dramatically it yanks her out of her safe, happy world (literally or figuratively) and forces her on some type of journey (physical, emotional, or a combination of the two) to try to regain that safe happiness, though that goal may change as the character grows and develops throughout the story.

I thought my readers needed time to bond with my main character. That way, they would truly feel for her when her world fell to pieces. As a result, I had all this superfluous backstory that was really bogging down my first chapter.

So, even though I love those first scenes, I hit the delete button, setting them free. Well, maybe I banished them to the word graveyard on my hard drive instead, because I can’t really set them free. What if I need them later? Yeah, that hasn’t happened yet. Still, I save everything.

Now, with only a few paragraphs (versus several pages) of set up, my first pages get straight to the major turning point in my main character’s life, hopefully pulling the reader into the story right away, accomplishing what my previous beginnings have not. And of course, the changes I’ve made have triggered other changes later in the story. It’s a vicious cycle, but that’s another post.

So, how do you know where to start your story? Do you think the reader needs time to bond with the character or is it best to get right into the action?

WIP Wednesday - NaNo Complications

It's been a while since I've done one of these.

As many of you know, I've been working on my final round (haha) of revisions for like forever now, but for some reason, I just haven't been able to get motivated to get them done. So, last week I unplugged for NaNo, and suddenly, working on my revisions was very appealing—so appealing that I finally finished them. Woot! I even got a few queries sent out. Forward progress! Yea!

But that meant I didn't start on my NaNo project until Friday, so I'm a little behind on that. Even with as little time as I've spent on it, I've learned a few things about my writing process and why the just sit down and write methods that NaNo requires may not be the best methods for me.

I was surprised to find that I can make myself sit and pound out 3000 words in just a couple of hours and not stress too much about word choice. I've been able to convince myself that things like that can be fixed in revisions. Problem is, I've been writing scenes to get a better feel for my characters and their personalities, and I'm finding that I probably won't be keeping those scenes, or they need to change dramatically to fit the storyline.

Plus, after about 8000 words, I hit a wall. It seemed like everything that was happening was so boring, even though the potential was there for some really intense scenes. And my POV character was coming across as a huge jerk. So, I decided to do a little experiment.

I took one of the scenes that was bothering me and rewrote it from another character's perspective. It worked beautifully, creating so much more tension. Now I've decided to do alternating POV's, switching with each chapter.

So, what? Writer's do that all the time. What's so experimental about that?

Well, first, it's all in first person, so it's been challenging trying to keep the two voices seperate. Second, this other character has a huge secret that is going to be difficult keeping hidden if he's narrating.

So, basically, I've just made things much more complicated for myself when I'm already behind. But I feel like I can move forward again, so maybe it's not so bad. However it turns out, it will be a learning experience, if nothing else.

What about all of you? Any progress or anything to report? Just need to vent? NaNo is my worst nightmare because... ;D

Showing Off Her Nunchuck Skills

A while back, I posted a review of Elana Johnson's awesome new ebook, From the Query to the Call. I found out later that anyone who purchases that ebook, gets a query shredding from the Query Ninja herself, Miss ElanaJ.

So, I took my query that had already been through the wringer with some awesome help from Suzanne Palmieri and great advice over on Beth Revis's blog, and sent it over to Elana. She applied her ninja skills and helped me polish it up. Now it's all shiny and sparkly. That's what ninjas do, right? Make things shiny and sparkly? ;D

Head on over and check it out, if you'd like. I'd love to hear what you think.

Happy Tuesday!!

BTW: I know it's nunchaku, not nunchuck. My reasoning is long and boring. I'll spare you.

WIP Wednesday - Should be TWIP

For Train Wreck in Progress. Seriously, why do I do this to myself?

As I often like to do, just for kicks, I've taken on more than I have time for this week. So, a few things have slipped down on my priority list. Like blogging. Things should be back to normal by Monday, but my online presence may be a bit sporadic this week, in case you haven't noticed already.

Just a few things to report.

I entered the Secret Agent contest on Miss Snark's First Victim. It's basically the same 250ish word opening I posted here a while back with just a few minor changes. I'm entry #11, if you want to check it out. Just the idea is making me a little sick, but, at the same time, I'm so excited for the feedback. So, I'll be stressing about that all day.

Regarding my WIP--I was pretty sure my revisions were done, just needing one more sweep for typos and such. Then I got the brilliant idea to add a couple of short scenes to my last chapter and beef up one scene in the second to last chapter, adding almost 1800 words, and pushing my word count into the next tax bracket (no longer in the 80,000 range, now at the bottom of the 90,000 range). It's annoying me, but I think it wraps everything up a little better now.

I'll be back for sure on Friday with a review for Elana's new ebook that will be released next Monday. Be sure to swing by to check it out.

So, what's happening with all of you? Any news to report? Progress on your WIP?

I hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday

I know the title of this post implies I actually made progress this week, but I was very busy making badges, and um, um... Crap. Okay, okay. So, I've been a major procrastinator this week. It's been a bit frustrating, but I think I've figured out my problem. I'm going to have to sit down and write an actual outline for this one, hence, my procrastination.

I'm sure I could do an outline, but my desire to actually do it, is minimal, dropping it down on my priority list. I'm going to let that one simmer at the back of my mind for a while and focus on my first novel.

I sat down and wrote the first words of that one on Sept. 15th of last year. At that point, I was a tiny bit delusional about the publishing process, and I thought for sure I'd be published by now and making lots of money. Pretty funny, huh? Go ahead. I'll wait until the hysterical laughter subsides.

Are you done now, so I can continue? Anyway. So, the upcoming Sept. 15th marks the one year anniversary of me starting this whole process. Yes, I know. It was very smart of me to figure that out, so I could point it out to all of you. I'm feeling brilliant this morning. ;)

The point of this post is more to make me accountable than anything else, because I've set a goal. And if I don't share it with someone besides my husband, my chances of accomplishing it reduce significantly. My goal is to be done with the final round of revisions on Embrol and have a big batch of queries sent out by Sept. 15th. It will be difficult, but I don't think it's totally unreasonable.

So, how's it going for all of you? Making progress? Any goals you want to share? Any confessions about your delusions regarding publishing? :D