It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to

Well, today I celebrate the date of my birth. Once I left middle school, birthdays weren't a big deal to me. The best part of them is that people are forced to be extra nice. Oh the power.

But today, I've decided to make a birthday wish list. If any of you can grant these wishes, I will love you forever. Purely platonic of course, I'm married.

1) A trip to Scotland and England, or Greece and Italy. Hell, a Eurail pass and airfare would do ;-) Side note: Those Eurail passes aren't as cheap as they seem. The pass is one price then you got to pay a bunch more for a freaking reservation! You can't just hop on and off like the movies say, or at least that's what I gathered from their Web site. Okay, back to business.

2) A magic machine that pulls the remaining manuscript pages from my head, in full draft form the way I want to write them anyway - no editing required

3) An agent, a good one, ready to sign me with my newly completed MS. I'm not greedy, I can work for the editing contract and NYT Bestseller list ;-)

4) Lose 40 pounds overnight with no hangy skin issuse, yikes. Again, I'm not greedy. I can lose what's after the 40 on my own

5) Housebreak my dog, again, overnight

6) Cash - always a good thing. Lots of it would be nice, see wishes 1-5

I depart on this special day with a song. Gold stars to anyone who can name where it's from and who sang it. I couldn't find an audio clip to post.

Lisa, it's your birthday.
God bless you this day.
You gave me the gift of a little sister,
And I'm proud of you today.

Lisa, it's your birthday.
Happy birthday, Lisa.
Lisa, it's your birthday.
Happy birthday, Lisa.

I wish you love and good will.
I wish you peace and joy.

I wish you better than your heart desires.

And your first kiss from a boy.

Lisa, it's your birthday.
Happy birthday, Lisa.
Lisa, it's your birthday.
Happy birthday, Lisa.

New schedule

It's time to set some order in my life. My writing and weight-losing just ain't gettin' done. I've devised a new plan for my day. I will probably be on the verge of jumping off a bridge in two weeks, but we'll see.

5:30 a.m. (yeah, I know.) - Grumble that my alarm is going off and hiss at the dog for waking me up 30 minutes earlier by licking my forehead and biting my ear. Jump out of bed before Roxy pees on it or wakes the hubby up. I usually wake up at 7:15, so this will be an adjustment to say the least. Play with the dog, set up her kennel and have my heart broken at her whining please to stay with me and not be locked away.

6 a.m. - Grudgingly leave Roxy and my hubby and head to the town I work in.

6:30 a.m. - Meet three of my coworkers for some pain-filled cardio hell. Did I say hell? I meant fun. Thank goodness for iPods and books, or I would go C-R-A-Z-Y.

7:15 a.m. - Shower at the gym. Talk about low water pressure. At least it's nice and hot.

8 a.m. - Go to work.

Lunchtime - Read or work on my book. Or take a nap in the creepy room attached to the women's bathroom that has a chaise lounge.

5 p.m. - Go home.

5:30 p.m. - Walk through my front door, trying my hardest not to shower my Roxy with kisses. I have to lessen the impact of my departures and arrivals, so it's simply, "Hi, Roxy." Then after five minutes we play :-) Cook dinner, take Roxy on a walk and beg her to do her dirty work outside for once.

6:30 p.m. - Take a nap. You'll see why in a minute.

7:30ish... p.m. - Write and watch TV while I wait for the hubby to return home sometime over the next few hours. The nap allows me to stay up later and get up at the butt crack of dawn, with low ill effects. Hopefully. Hang out with Roxy and the hubby, then go to bed to repeat it all over again.

Now that I've written it out - mind you this exercise was for my own sick amusement - I don't have much time in there for writing. Dammit! Time to reevaluate. I may have to cut out the nap. Ouch. I'm a 7-8 hours of sleep person, not 4-5. No. Way. Jose.

And, I didn't meet my goal of having my first draft of "Cursed to Hate, Bound to Love" completed by my b-day tomorrow. Dang nabbit.

New puppy!

I got a puppy! Her name is Roxy and she is an adorable lhasa apso - three and a half months old. Half the time she's a total snugglebug, unhappy unless I'm holding her. The other half she's a bloodthirsty brat who's only content on biting the shit out of me. :-)

Waiting...

So I may have found a dog to adopt. Yay!!!! Except, I'm waiting for the woman to e-mail me back so I can go look at her. Argh! Why don't people sit on e-mail like I do? I mean jeez! :-) She's a lhasa apso, seven months old so she's already crate and potty trained. And she's already used to being in a crate during the workday. Whew. Fingers crossed it comes through - especially before I'm done with my vacation...

New puppy?

I might be getting a puppy! Happy dance! My lovely, adorable, fantastical hubby gave the go ahead :-) So, I'm jumping on the opportunity before he changes his mind. But damn is it hard to pick out a breed. There are several things I want in a dog, and when I think I found a breed to fit it, I read that it doesn't. But then I read that it's not always about the breed, it's about how they're trained.

I need a dog that can live in a multi-unit building; can be left alone for chunks of time (I work outside of the home, but may be able to keep the dog with someone near work to check on it a few times a day); isn't a big barker; small (preferably 10 pounds or smaller); doesn't need daily eye and ear cleaning preferably. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm looking at shih tzus, lhasa apsos primarily, but open to any other ideas. :-) Yay for pupppy!

Awwww, how sweet!

I was channel surfing and saw "Harlequin's Diamond Girl." Of course I had to watch it, or what was left of it. A category turned movie? Uh yeah, no way to resist. Honestly, it was pretty decent. And the ending was such an "awwww, how sweet" moment. Keep an eye out on the Lifetime Movie Network, quasi motivating for writing because you can follow the book conflict pretty well. I think it's based off a book by Diana Palmer or something like that.

I'm at 15k with my WIP. The problem is that 12k is the beginning of the book and the most recent 3k and counting is the end of the book. I knew how I wanted to start it and I knew what I wanted to happen when the climax started. But, uh, the middle, well, I dunno. So I figure once I have the beginning and last part I'll know how many words I need for the part I'm unsure of. We'll see how that goes... Does anyone else write like that? Or am I the only loon?

I'm getting some useful feedback on my five pages at Romance Divas. Comments have been that my voice is very strong, which I'm pleased about. I figure I can improve characters and plot, but voice seems more of a natural thing. Or at least that's what I'll tell myself to feel warm and fuzzy inside :-)

Has anyone seen that Nextel commercial where the two guys are dancing while a third is manning a boombox playing some 90s freak dance song? Then a guy walks in and starts barking out demands for information. The guy shuts off the boombox, the other two get on their nextel phones and find the info in like two seconds - then the dude turns the music back on and they can dance. I LOVE that commercial. No particular reason. And not sure why I blogged about it, but I love it. In times of hate, grief and sadness, that commercial brings me joy. :-)

Guess what? 44 hours until my nine days of vacation. Woo woo! 45.5 hours until the Fall Out Boy/All-American Rejects/Hawthorne Heights concert. Woo woo!

Vaca - ooooooooh yeah

What I'll refer to as BAWC, a.k.a. Big Ass Work Crisis, came to an end today. Which means...da dum de da...I can take vacation next week! Friday, April 7 at 5 p.m. to Monday, April 17 at 8 a.m. That's a lot of free time - exactly 231 hours.

You know what I can do in 231 hours? Pump out about 70k of my novel. You laugh. You scoff. You doubt. I know, I know. You think I'm crazy. Alas, I am not crazy. I am going to make the most of my week of freedom, thus just about finishing the first draft. By no means will it be a readable draft. It will be a starting point to begin the Edit from Hell.

My ultimate goal is to have the first draft finished by April 21 - my birthday. Then I can par-tay like there ain't no tomorrow. Ooooooh yeah. I can already taste my special concoction: orange juice, pineapple juice, granadine and everclear. Yup, everclear. I'm no lightweight my friend. A couple of those and I'm relaxed enough to dance and it saves me $ at the bars :-)

I encourage you all to stop in at Romance Divas and check out the Diva Workshop forum. A couple dozen folks submitted 1k of their WIP and you can post your comments. It's a great way for those of us who submitted to hear some feedback with immediate gratification and no damage to the pocketbook. There's also kick booty prizes for those who judge the entries - so sign up!

Lost my contest cherry

Today I submitted my first to my first contests - the Fire & Ice and Fool for Love First Chapter contests. I'm hoping to get some good feedback from the judges. One of the judges is an agent I want to query when I finish my MS. I'm looking forward to her comments because it will help me submit to her down the road...assuming that she doesn't hate it an blacklist me :-)

The last revising step I did was using the Microsoft Word function to search for some icky words like that, was, is, were, ly adverbs, etc. I couldn't believe how many times I used some of those words! Especially 'that'. Luckily I was able to get rid of a lot of them. Hopefully that will lessen the feedback on grammatical and word choice stuff and heightens the feedback on characters, plot, etc. The only frustrating thing is the long wait to get back the comments. It seems some of them take five or six months! Yikes!

Anna Genoese of Tor posted on her blog that she's looking for paranormal! Tor is one of the publishers I would like to target. She even said she will take queries for novels not finished :-) Sweet tempation! Unfortunately the slots are for December 2007 or December 2008. That seems like so far away! I know it takes a while before a book is published once it's contracted, but the idea of someone submitting now, waiting two months for a response, getting the contract and not seeing the book until December 2007.

Just thinking about that tells me that date of publishing would be an important contract item for me. Part of me also thinks it would be important to get a multi-book contract for my series, on the other hand I hear advances and royalties are more messed up on those. But that's just from what I see online, you never know how reliable that is. Let's all do some day dreaming. What would be idea contract items for you other than a huge advance, that's an obvious one. :-)

Questions in quads

Four jobs I've had
1) PR for a university
2) Reporter for a daily paper
3) Merchandise hostess at Disney World
4) Resident assistant in dorms

Four movies I can watch over and over again
1) Dracula 2000 (Gerard Butler + vampires = a pleasurable viewing experience)
2) Napoleon Dynomite
3) Cry Baby (Johnny Depp...need I say more?)
4) Wedding Crashers

Four places I've lived
1) Gresham, Ore.
2) Eugene, Ore.
3) Salem, Ore.
4) Lake Buena Vista, Fl.

Four current TV shoes I love
1) Grey's Anatomy
2) Sons and Daughters
3) Lost
4) The Apprentice

Four places I've vacationed
1) Hawaii (Kona is my fave!)
2) Key West, Fl.
3) Las Vegas
4) Oregon coast

Four of my favorite dishes
1) Fried rice (pork, vegetable or chicken)
2) Fettuccini Alfredo
3) Stroganoff (sp?)
4) Chicken strips

Four blogs I read everyday
1) Michelle Rowen
2) Miss Snark
3) Pub Rants
4) The Midnight Hour

Four places I'd rather be right now
1) World Showcase (U.K. pavillion) at Epcot in Disney World
2) Scotland, anywhere would do
3) Greece, again, anywhere would do that has ancient ruins
4) Kona, Hawaii

Courtesy of Michelle Rowen. Tag you're it, that's right - YOU!

Diving right in

I was feeling pretty good about the opening of my MS. I thought it dove right in to the conflict and set up the heroine and her best friend nicely. The hero and heroine meet on page 17, not too bad I thought. But the little beeotch on my right shoulder said, "Lisa, don't you think you should dive right into meeting the hero at the beginning? You should really rewrite the beginning, for the eighty millionth time." Then, the lovely voice said from my left shoulder, "You need to mail that contest entry tomorrow. Kristin Nelson is judging your category! You need to get some feedback and hearing from Kristin would be great! Just send it in."
While debating, I peruse Romance Divas (kick ass site, visit the forums!) and find a link to Deborah Hale's site where she has tons of helpful articles. The "Plunging In: How and Where to Start Your Story" article made up my mind for me. Damn it! I liked where I started my story, but the nagging got worse. I kept thinking that I would probably get a lost of feedback saying, "you should start more with the conflict." The idea of entering a contest, paying the fee and waiting a year for the feedback just to see that made me sick. I would rather read things I didn't have an idea about.

Damn it! I don't want to rewrite! Now there's probably no way to enter that contest in time. Entry is due on Saturday. Unless I write like a fiend tonight... Nope, impossible. The contest gives the option of "submitting a one to five page synopsis." I probably couldn't just forgo that...my synopsis is still in progress. Phooey. I really wanted to get feedback from Kristin, an agent I have at the top of my list.

1st or 3rd POV

I wish some things had a definitive answer in life. Such as first versus third person point of view. I swear it's one of the most frustrating things to think about when writing. On one hand, I constantly read about agents and editors and many authors saying that 3rd person is the only way to go. On the other hand, many of the books I read and enjoy (paranormal, specifically vamp ones) are written in 1st person. Especially when they are a series.
I began writing my MS in third and it just didn't seem right. I couldn't find the voice. It seemed more bland with less personality of the characters. I decided to give it a try in 1st and it seems to flow much better. I find that it's more humorous and there's more characterization. I get to know the heroine well because I'm writing in her voice. Then I get to know the hero through her, which I like.

Since I'm writing my book in a series and the romance is spread throughout, I also feel that 1st person frees me up a bit. When you dive into both character's heads, you learn their motivations faster (at least that's how it seems most of the time). But in first person, the reader would only learn the hero's motivations through what the heroine knows. And it allows me to throw in commentary where it would be awkward in 3rd.

Here is an example of my 3rd person version:"Let's go say hi to Bobby, he's working the bar." Jules grabbed the back of Bianca's arm, still tender from the earlier pinch. They walked toward the part of the bar where the intruiging man was sitting. Bianca took several deep breaths to avoid blushing from her embarassment of being caught staring at him.

Here is the current version in 1st person:“Let’s go say hi to Bobby, he’s working the bar.” Jules grabbed the back of my arm, which was still tender from her pinch I should add, and marched us toward the part of the bar where the über-hottie was sitting. I had to take several deep breaths to avoid blushing. Nothing was more embarrassing than being caught staring at someone, then having your half-wit friend take you straight over to where he was sitting. Talk about looking desperate.

Personally, I find the 1st person version more interesting. I feel it provides a bit more in relation to Bianca's personality because of the word choice, phrasing, etc. And it provides more information about Bianca and Jules' relationship.

If you disagree, I would love to hear it. If you think the 3rd works better, tell me why. If you prefer 1st, tell my why also. I would love some insight as to what people think. Do you think POV depends on genre, sub-genre, series or no series, etc?

Right now my biggest worry is finishing the book, feeling good about it, sending it to an agent and getting this as a response: "I liked the story and the characters, but I didn't like 1st person. I would have been more interested if it was in 3rd." Rewriting a 100k novel from 1st to 3rd? YIKES!

Russian Gypsy fortune telling

The great ladies at The Midnight Hour hosted Russian Gypsy Fortune Teller Naomi Neale this week. I was one of two lucky readers to win a reading by Naomi. Check it out!
I'm nervous about what the bridge and crayfish cards are referring to...I'll keep my eyes peeled for that. I'm going to assume that the sun, apple, castle cards are referring to a long and prosperous writing career :-) I'm also going to assume that the firewood card refers to the successful conclusion to my weight loss journey.

There's also a free contest at Romance Divas going on. Send in any five pages (single spaced!) of your manuscript and you'll receive feedback - for free. The best price. And no 6-8 month wait time on getting feedback or scores. I think I'm going to submit the first five pages of my MS to see if it succeeds at all in grabbing the reader's attention, setting up the story and keeping the reader interested.

To access the contest you need to register with Romance Divas. Go to the forums, click on the "diva chit-chat" board and the rules are in the "our next contest" thread.

The trip to D.C.

I made it home, safely, from my first trip to Washington D.C. It was a good trip, I had a lot of fun with the hubby. When we finally got in to town (about 8 p.m.) on Friday night, we checked into the Roach Motel, ate dinner at the hubby's favorite restaurant the Austin Grille and did a little touring.
My darling, lovely, wonderful husband assured me that everything was close together or could be easily reached by the fantastical and majestic Metro subway (it was close together in comparison to the distance between the world's continents I guess). So, I bought a new pair of shoes for the trip the night before we left. Yes ladies, you understand where I'm going with this. I had athletic shoes I had planned on wearing, but come on - I couldn't wear white, yellow and green athletic shoes with a cute pink top! So, I found a nice pair of brown shoes (my old ones had no soles left) that were marked half off $100, so I got them for $50. A great pair of walking shoes the salesman told me.

So, I figured that I wouldn't be doing that much walking so a new pair of good quality shoes would be fine. Ha! We walked to the White House, about twice as far than we expected. That was fine, I was in D.C. for Heaven's sakes. The half-wit security guard at the White House viewing area said "oh, the Lincoln Memorial is just a couple blocks that way." So, the hubby and I merrily trodge toward the Lincoln Memorial. He, an American history buff and huge fan of D.C. was anxious to show me the sites. Me, a happy wife, joyous that the hubby could show me around his favorite city. And curious to see the big, pretty buildings I always saw on tv.

We walk about 6 or 7 blocks and FINALLY got to Constitution Ave. Granted, this was about 11 p.m. (on St. Patty's day - lots of drunks) so it was fully dark. I looked way in the distance and say, "honey, is that the Lincoln Memorial waaaaaaaaay over there?" He said yes. I kept going, determined to see this damned building. After walking for-freaking-ever around a body of water and past some drunks, we finally make it to the building.

I was cold with numb ears, but hey - I was in D.C.! Tough it out sister! So we looked at the memorial and the hubby was probably getting annoyed with my constant comments like "I wish I could sit on his lap" or "wouldn't it be fun to stand up there and pretend to pick his nose?" He was trying to share the historical significance of the writings on the wall and I was acting like a five-year-old.

We're done looking around and I had finished snapping pictures of everything so we decide to ask the friendly security guard at the memorial where the nearest Metro stop was. "Take Foggy Bottom, it's just a couple of blocks that way." He pointed in a direction that covered a several block width, but we figured we would just keep moving and ask someone else.

A local narrowed the direction for us, but he was a bit drunk and we couldn't understand his specific instructions. So we approached a security guard booth at a parking garage. He, too, pointed in a general vicinity of the district saying "a few blocks that way." Riiiiiight.

We were pretty fed up so we grabbed a taxi to go back to the hotel (it was about 30 degrees outside, not up for much more walking). Upon arrival back at Roach Motel, there was an enlarged map on the wall outlining the Metro stations. Lo and behold, the Foggy Bottom station was just as far as our hotel was from Lincoln Memorial, but in the opposite direction! So my new shoes got a couple miles in on their first day.

I won't even talk about the next day...my poor hubby had to put up with a permanent scowl on my face when every step felt like I was walking on swords with no water to drink. But my new shoes now look and feel worn and weathered. Yes, I'm done whining. I wasn't grumpy just because my feet hurt, but we made such an effort to get to the Capitol/Supreme Court/Library of Congress area and the first two buildings were closed for tours! Luckily I found a fantastic little area near the Capitol (I'll post a picture tomorrow). We waited about 30 minutes in line to get in to the Library of Congress to then find out you can go into the viewing room unless you do their group tour, which didn't take off for another 45 minutes. Poor hubby, he really wanted to show me the neat buildings and I really wanted to see them. Especially the blood stain on the floor of the House of Reps, or is it the Senate, but I digress.

All in all I had a great time. It's a cool city, granted I barely left my hotel room outside of the conference after the hubby flew home Sunday. The conference was good, it was about media relations and it was interesting to hear what reporters had to say.

I accidentally packed a book I was trying to finish for a contest judging in the carry-on that was in the overhead bin. I was in the window seat in a row of people I didn't know, and they fell asleep. So, I didn't get my book. But it forced me to work on my story and I edited the first two chapters and added a couple of scenes. Hopefully it will be ready for a couple of upcoming contests.

I also updated my Web site a bit. I encourage you to stop by the links page and visit the WRITE-ONS! pages - a writing group working to finish our WIP's by August 1, led by the fantastic Michelle Rowen.

Hopefully I'll have some photos of my trip to post tomorrow.

iPod divinity

Stolen from Michelle Rowen's blog. :-)
Put your iPod/iTunes on shuffle. Say the following questions alout and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. No cheating!

1) How does the world see you?
"Hella Good" by No Doubt - ohhh yeah, but hella good at what? Hopefully writing... :-)

2) Will I have a happy life?
"Love Machine" by The Miracles - I take that as a resounding yes!

3) What do my friends think of me?
"Saturday Night" by Bay City Rollers - what? That I'm fun on a Saturday night or avoid me like the plague?

4) Do people secretly lust after me?
"Come on Home" by Franz Ferdinand - I that as a resounding yes too! Mrrowr!

5) How can I make myself happy?
"Let Me put My Love Into You" by AC/DC - uhh...umm...I'm getting my mind out of the gutter...

6) What should I do with my life?
"Larger than Life" by Backstreet Boys - very inspirational

7) Will I ever have children?
"Somebody Told Me" by The Killers - told me what damnit! Will I or won't I????

8) What is some good advice for me?
"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor - that's a little creepy...that song fit a little too well with the question...

9) How will I be remembered?
"A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by The Monkees - I'll interpret that as I'll be remembered along with my hubby, myself being the better half of course! :-)

10) What's my signature dancing song?
"Need You Tonight" by INXS - hell yes! That's almost as good as "Devil Inside," by the REAL INXS of course, not this new lead singer crap.

11) What's my current theme song?
"I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany - kick ass! I love this song. That or "Take on Me" by A-Ha will always be my theme song.

12) What do others think is my current theme song?
"Shopping for Blood" by Franz Ferdinand - I swear I'm a nice person!

13) What shall they play at my funeral?
"Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Boy - hahahaha! hahahahaha! That's too funny!

14) What type of men do I like?
"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age - Well, okay then.

15) How's my love life?
"Cry, Little Sister (theme from The Lost Boys)" by Gerard McMann - So, per questions 2 and 4 I'm a great lover, so if I am crying about my love life, who's fault is that? A-hem. :-)

These are too funny! And some fit the question a little too well... I wonder if iPod/iTunes questioning will become a new form of divinity...

Review: Laurell K. Hamilton's "Micah" & more

I tend to shy away from expressing any sort of disappointment or frustration with a book. I've been learning how hard and time consuming it is to write a book, so if I don't like it I can keep it to myself and try something else. It's someone's baby, you know?

I'm sorry but I just couldn't keep my mouth shut on this one. I read Laurell K. Hamilton's Micah. Let me begin by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Anita series, even the last couple. I read how awful they were, but I still liked them. I also really liked Micah and wanted to learn more about him. So imagine my excitement when I learned a book about him was coming out! I anticipated learning what was behind some of his looks and seeing if the other foot would drop in relation to his acceptance of Anita.

I was happy to learn how he became a lycanthrope and he opened up more about things that made him jealous. But that's it! I expected more to come out. The book was so short, it takes me longer to read stories in anthologies! And the way the publisher added a bazillion blank pages between chapters, probably to add length or something. Who knows...

But I was pretty disappointed. Now, I trust the Anita series enough to read Danse Macabre as soon as it comes out. However, I know I won't be looking forward to it with the same enthusiasm. I just have to keep telling myself that it has to be hard to satisfy such a large group of people after a dozen books, and a new husband *ahem*.

Then there's the excerpt from Danse Macabre in the back. Ronnie is such a bitch. She's been bugging the crap out of me for the past couple of books but that was the last straw.

Back to reality. I had three fillings today. I was so nervous about going to the dentist, one of my many medical fears. But it went well, lots of laughing gas :-) Two more fillings next week...

Looking forward to the weekend, I'm going to Washington D.C. for the first time for a conference. The hubby is coming with for the weekend. Good times.

I also decided to enter a few writing contests, four to be exact. All with deadlines throughout April so I need to get my butt in gear. I'm dreading the synopsis because it will force me to map out the rest of my book. :-(

My nemesis

My nemesis is coffee. I can't stand the stuff. Nauseating smell and even worse flavor. I honestly don't know why I live in the Pacific Northwest sometimes, there's a Starbucks on every corner it seems. People think I'm nuts for not drinking that murky concoction. I do PR during the day and write at night, I should be drinking coffe, shouldn't I? All those late nights and early mornings.

I got fed up with my resistance to a liquid that could give me instant energy so I bough creamer at the store yesterday. Cinnamon vanilla creamer to be exact. I figured that with a healthy cup or two of sugar would take away that nasty flavor. Plus I have a nifty coffee cup with my family crest etched in it. Perfect way to keep that energy flowing, right?

Here is the coffee I made this morning with my newfound dedication. Nice and light colored, full of creamer and sugar. Should be perfect for the beginning drinker, right?
















No. I wanted to throw up. The spice of the cinnamon taste led me to believe that it would be a pleasant experience, mixed with the sweetness of the sugar. But soon after swallowing my taste buds began stomping their angry feet at the bitter aftertase that took over.

Yup, that was me. Minus the short gray hair and man's body. You get the point, it was gross. So I guess that leaves me with old faithful:

The pièce de résistance. Diet Coke has never let me down. It rarely gives me a bite upon drinking, other than when the cannister needs replacing or it's expired. And the glorious flavor, in order of favorite: fountain, bottle, can. Yes, they do taste different.

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can get over my fear of coffee? I really need the energy kick in the a.m., mid-morning, early afternoon, afternoon, early evening, evening and night.

Bad Lisa, bad

I'm a very bad girl. Get your mind out of the gutter you perv. I meant I'm bad because I haven't blogged for a week! Jeez Louise. I do have a good excuse though, I was away for several days.
Anyhoo I'm back and stalling on my writing again. :-) Actually I'm doing ok in the MS department. I've got about 14k of draft zero. I hope to reach 20k by the end of the weekend so I can focus some time on revising the first couple of chapters. There are a couple of contests coming up that I thought I would give a try.

I'm also excited because I won a giveaway this week for a copy of Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward, courtesy of Paperback Writer. A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway for a copy of Blondes Have More Felons by Alesia Holliday. I'm stoked about that too and I still haven't used the $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble I won from Michelle Rowen. I can't decide what to use it on, I keep changing my mind :-) It's too precious to waste. I'm looking for a coupon, then I'll use it. I guess I can never complain that I don't win anything...Lucky Lisa - that's my new name.

I also watched an episode of Mindfreak yesterday. Damn I love that show. Criss Angel... :-) And an episode of Little Britain on BBC. Anyone ever see that? It's awesome. I love TV.

And The Libertine comes out tomorrow with Johnny Depp. Mrrroooooowr. I am pissed of though because I accidentaly deleted my "blog" folder from my favorites, so I'm trying to reconstruct the blogs I read daily in my favorites folder. It sucks and it's hard. Pooey.

-end of random thoughts-

Sterling progress, indeedI

I just have to begin by pointing out that at this moment I am watching both Timeline and Phantom of the Opera. It's fantastic - when Gerard Butler is no longer in the scene of one movie, I turn to the other, then back again. The cycle continues and it is indeed glorious.

Today was a wonderful day for writing. As I mentioned in my last post I did some plotting and outlining over the weekend. Today was the official start of the official "Write Along with Katie (MacAlister). When she begins a new book several of her fans post their writing progress along with hers. So I'm joining in and my daily goal is 1,500 words.

My muse, I have named her Persephone, was on a freaking roll today. I have logged over 6,000 words. Three days worth, woohoo! I need to get ahead too since I'm not sure how much I'll get done this weekend. I have a conference that entails drinking most of the night and sleeping most of the day. The conference itself is lame, it's the hospitality suites that are worth the trip. Not to mention it's at the beach. Who knows, maybe some Stoli's vodka and Everclear, mixed with a beachfront rental, will inspire some exciting prose.

Don't worry, if I do write drunk and if it's super silly - I'll be sure to share my drunken musings on Monday. Maybe I should give it a try... I know, I'll write a sex scene when I'm drunk. That should be interesting.

Back to my progress. Oh wait, Gerard just got clocked on the back of the head with a heavy sword. He's gone, back to Phantom...pausing while I change the channel...oh it's the lame guy. Anyway, back to my progress, again. Most of it was new writing, but some of it was rewriting of what I had before. Oh! There's Gerard and his sexy half face! Man, this other guy is a tool.

Jeez, this is distracting. So to sum it up 2,000 words of blogging later (sheesh), today was a good day for writing. Hopefully I can get a lot done tomorrow too. Now I'm going to go back and finish re-reading Katie MacAlister's "A Girl's Guide to Vampires." I've been taking notes on the plot points while reading it. I think it will help me pace my own novels. I'm going to give that a try with a few books.

But wait! You may be asking, "Lisa, what about the writing nook you built over the weekend that you were so excited about? I thought you were going to write there to get away from the tv. You dirty liar."

My response is, jeez, quick to judge, eh? Awww, Gerard just picked up the rose. Poor baby, I'll sooth his pain. Hubba hubba. ;-) Back to your snippy question. The chair gave me a killer backache yesterday, so I need to find a new on. And why are you on my case? I tripled my daily goal! Jeez louise! Just kidding, I need people like you to keep me on my toes.

Writing on track

My weekend was well spent. I got a lot of things done.

*I went through several drawers of random papers and filed them or threw them away so that I can prepare for taxes and organize the office
*I prepared a nifty writing nook in the office. I took a couple of those plastic drawer stands, the ones with three drawers, and laid a piece of wood across the top. A perfect makeshift table. I put my writing books there, writing supplies, charts, etc. Now I can write when I get home from work - away from the damn TV
*I finished Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams - done with the Anita Blake series. Oh wait, Micah comes out on Tuesday. Damn! Good news, I finally read Bitten & Smitten by Michelle Rowen. It's been waiting patiently for me to finish the Anita Blake series. I took advantage of the break until Micah and I devoured it. It was a fantastic book! I'm going to read it again in a couple weeks because I plan to make a plot chart of a few of my favorite books so I can get a good idea for pacing and plot movements.
*And most importantly - I got a good understanding and outline of my book going. I had already written about 10k, but I hit a wall with the plot. I knew where I needed it to end up, but I just couldn't get there. But now I think I got it.

Here's the new goal: first draft complete on April 21st. Not before, not after. That is my birthday and if I write 1,500 words per day I'll hit my 90k goal on that day. It's a Friday so I already had planned to go drinking with a couple of friends, now I can add celebrating the completion of the first draft. Sounds good to me, more reason to chug some vodka. Stoli's baby, yeah.

Some of my plot points have changed enough that I have to start over with the writing. But I think I can salvage a large chunk of it with a rewrite, so hopefully I can get ahead of the goal. I've got major turning points and plot things briefly outlined through the middle of the book. I figure that once I get a better idea of the story, characters, etc. plotting the second half will come easier.

Boy am I babbling tonight. I guess I just spent too much time thinking this weekend ;-)

Snarkling unscathed

A question I sent to Miss Snark made it on her blog today, and I made it through unscathed. No scoffing, laughing or general poking fun. Her response was pretty helpful. If you're interested, here 'tis.

I'm also super pumped to have been added to Michelle Rowen's sidebar! I recommend that EVERYONE read her blog, including her past postings. See my reasoning here.

I also got the program NewNovelist. It's pretty helpful for general information and notes about characters, locations, story events, etc. I like it because I can keep all the information in one place without 100 pages in Microsoft Word or a bazillion different files. I can easily click to the hero if I feel like adding witty things he would say, past experiences, etc. Me likey the program. Teehee, just had a memory of SNL's "you like-eh-da-sauce?" skit. I like the one with Kirstie Alley (sp?) where she's on her honeymoon or something and the guys are practically molesting her. Good times.

Update: Business cards are expensive and self-printing is a crock. Things are super cheap until I mention that I want to print in black ink on the back then things go haywire and the price goes up exponentially. How can printing full color on the front be cheap but black ink on the back makes it crazy? I mean I can understand it, I've worked with print jobs but it does nothing to lessen my frustration.

Funny joke

In honor of my husband's and my anniversary today, I post this joke for a giggle. I don't recall the last time I read something and nodded in agreement so often.

"I can't find it"
MEANS: It didn't fall into my outstretched hands, so I am completely clueless.

"Will you marry me?"
MEANS: Both of my roommates have moved out, I can't find the washer, and there's no peanut butter left.

"It's a guy thing."
MEANS: There's no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical.

"Can I help with dinner?"
MEANS: Why isn't it already on the table?

"It would take too long to explain"
MEANS: I have no idea how it works.

"Take a break, honey, you're working too hard."
MEANS: I can't hear the game over the vacuum cleaner.

"That's interesting dear."
MEANS: Are you still talking?

"Honey, we don't need material things to prove our love."
MEANS: I forgot our anniversary again.

"You know how bad my memory is."
MEANS: I remember the words to the theme song of F-Troop, the address of the first girl I kissed, and the vehicle identification number of every car I've ever owned, but I forgot your birthday.

"I was just thinking about you, and got you these roses."
MEANS: The girl selling them on the corner was a real babe, and was wearing a thong bikini.

"Oh, don't fuss, I just cut myself, it's no big deal."
MEANS: I have actually severed a limb, but will bleed to death before I admit I'm hurt.

"She's one of those rabid feminists."
MEANS: She refused to make my coffee.

"I heard you."
MEANS: I haven't the foggiest clue what you just said, and hope I can fake it well enough, so that you don't spend the next three days yelling at me.

"You know I could never love anyone else."
MEANS: I am used to the way YOU yell at me, and realize it could be worse.

"You really look terrific in that outfit."
MEANS: Please don't try on one more outfit, I'm starving.

"I missed you."
MEANS: I can't find my sock drawer, the kids are hungry, and we're out of toilet paper.

"I don't need to read the instructions."
MEANS: I am perfectly capable of screwing it up without printed help.

Summary done, almost

I worked on fixing the summary during my lunch break and I decided that the 25 word summary can f*** off. I have written a couple of possible summaries that are between 60 and 70 words and I feel good about them. Now I just have to decide which one I like or blend the two.
Option 1:

Bianca Embry's boring but content life was turn upside down when her best friend asked for help. She was forced to use the psychic abilities she's grown to despise, while the investigation led her to the alluring and dangerous vampire Dorian Buchan.

Bianca must balance her growing attraction to Dorian, her unpredictable psychic abilities and the dark secrets she learns of her family and their vampire hunting legacy.

Option 2:

Bianca Embry thought she was content with her life, but when her best friend asked for help and introduced her to the alluring yet dangerous vampire Dorian Buchan, she realized her life wasn't what it seemed.

Bianca must balance her growing attraction to Dorian, her unpredictable psychic abilities and the dark secrets she learns of her family and their vampire hunting legacy.

Anyone have an opinion on either one? I was going to print business cards myself but I'm having problems with the paper and my printer. So I am either going to FedEx Kinko's or Vista printing online. I'm really not just stalling on writing, I swear! I think having this little blurb will help me keep the gist of my story at the front of my brain. Yeah, yeah, more excuses.

Brief summaries are HARD

So, I'm making business cards as a "writer." I have a totally cute design on the front, pink of course! However, I'm trying to write a brief summary of my book for the back of the business card. I figured that would be business savvy so people had a better chance of remembering me later if we talked about the book, or if we didn't talk about my book it's still getting the word out.
I figured it should be 25 or 30 words. You know, brief. Riiiiight. I've narrowed it down to 90 words. This is very difficult, but I know it needs to be done. It's like crafting an elevator speech, but I'll call this a "passing by in the bathroom" speech - it has to be that quick. I think. Or is 80 or 90 words ok? It fits fine on the card, but I figure agents and editors want to see that you can succinctly summarize your book because the PR/marketing people will have to do it too.

I haven't even finished the damn book and I'm worrying about other things. Why am I neurotic? No, it's not neurotic, it's business savvy. Right? Sure? Right? No? Ok. Oh well. It's easier than writing right now so I'm doing it. So neener-neener-pumpkin-eater.

In other news, I forgot to rinse out my pink coffee travel mug thingie yesterday. I don't drink coffee so why would I have one? Well, I have this fantastic thing called the Magic Bullet. You may have seen the informercial, it's enthralling. Folks, it actually works. Honest to God, I don't get paid to pump there stuff (unless you want to pay me Magic Bullet people), it's awesome. I make fruit smoothies before work each morning and within 30 seconds it blends about 6 ice cubes, a banana, about 8 frozen strawberries and water. There are no ice chunks, it's completely smooth. And the nifty blending cup you use makes just enough smoothie for my BEAUTIFUL coffee/smoothie mug. Back to the story at hand, I get sidetracked when thinking of the Magic Bullet. I forgot to rinse the fruit smooth residue and now it smells like rotten fruit. Pooh.

Here is a picture of my BEAUTIFUL coffe mug (and the pretty pink business cards that I'm proud of). My nifty cell phone takes pictures and I don't use that option enough, so I figure I'll be taking more pictures of random things for my blog. I'm easily amused.

Feeling stuck again

I didn't meet my word count goal for the weekend, which frustrates me. But just by revising the 10k I had, I added another 1,000 words. I then added about another 1,000 fresh text on top of that. So 2k of 5k isn't terrible. I would hav easily hit my goal, but I hit another roadblock.
My heroine is going to help solve a crime during the book. I had a crime in mind that led her to the hero, but it's just not working for me. So now I have to think of a new crime, arrghh. Does anyone know of a cool Web site that gives situations for crimes? I could use some inspiration.

I've also just decided not to go to the Romantic Times convention. I'm bummed, but I think it's for the best. The hubby and I want to buy a house and that $1,000 or so would look better in our savings account than being used on a conference. Hopefully I can make it to the RWA convention in July instead. And I'll definitely have my book done by then. The good news is that since I'm no longer taking a week of vacation for that convention, I can take a week off another time. So I'm taking a week off in March. Hopefully I'll get a ton done on the book.

Goal for today: Think of new crime as basis for my story that will keep the hero and heroine interacting throughout the book and write at least 1,000 words.

New hero inspiration

When I started working on my NaNoWriMo story in November, I had chosen a couple of actors to be the physical inspiration of my characters. I had thought that it was something that shouldn't be done, or wasn't done. But I guess I was wrong because I've seen many published authors mention that their characters are based on real people, phsysically at least.

I had planned that Gerard Butler was going to be the inspiration for my hero, Dorian. Mostly how he looked in Dracula 2000, I like longer hair for vampires. Here's an example:



How could you say no to his eternal kiss? Eh? Am I right? Of course I am.

But, last week I caught a show I've always wanted to see - Mindfreak. It's about a guy named Criss Angel who does magic things, phsyic-esque things, etc. Totally fantastic show and Criss Angel is wonderful. He is now my new Dorian in the vamp series I'm working on. He fits it perfectly, so I'll save lovely Gerard for another day :-) Oh yeah, and Johnny Depp.

Here is a couple of pictures of Criss Angel:

Will. Write. Damnit.

It's Friday, which means that day job is over for the week and moonlighting begins. No, I'm not a stripper, but I hear they make good money. I digress. The weekend means that I have to get my ass in gear on this manuscript. I need to have good working draft before the RT convention in May. Can it be done, you ask. I don't know. It seems that only experienced novelists finish their first 90k book in three months. Am I an experienced novelist, you ask. Well, no, this is my first novel. But can I do it, you ask. I kind of have to if I want an editor or agent appointment. Crack that whip!
Here's the math breakdown for all you geeks out there (like me). Three months to the day until the convention begins, approximately 90 days. Well, your first reaction may be - "Lisa, all you have to do is write 1,000 words a day and you'll be set!" Then I laugh in your face at your imprudence. Poor naive fool. You think my first draft will satisfy me? Ha! I scoff at you.

No, no, no, I'm just joking. You're not stupid, just common sense challenged ;-). So, 90 days, 90k words. Here's the plan - first draft done in two months. That gives me one month to revise and prepare a synopsis for the convention. Can I actually do this, you ask, again. We'll see.

I'm at 10k now, so I guess I just need 80k or so. That's about 1,333 words a day. Holy shit! Am I doing NaNoWriMo again? What the fuck? Excuse the language but that math does not please me.

(Stop bitching Lisa, you want to finish this book so that if an agent or editor happens to request it you can send it to them relatively close to the end of the convention). Yes, that's right. Yes, thank you inner diva.

To kick start this beotch, I hope to reach 15k by the end of the weekend. Wish me luck and send me chocolate vibes, that may help. I need some diet coke... Thank goodness for the Alphasmart 3000 or I would probably spend the writing time playing Age of Mythology.

Michelle Rowen's blog

I recommend that everyone, especially those aspiring to be published, check out Michelle Rowen's blog (http://www.michellerowen.com/blog/) - I don't know how to insert links. Sorry...

I learned of her first release "Bitten & Smitten" on Katie MacAlister's forum. So, sometime last fall I began reading her blog daily. It's fantastic. Funny, informative, and especially inspirational. So I decided to read all her blog entries from the last couple of years. You may think I'm crazy, but I just decided to do it. I didn't do it in one sitting or anything, don't worry. But I read a couple of month's worth a day during my lunch break.

You should take the time to do this, especially earlier ones, because it chronicles her journey from unpublished to published. It's very exciting to read about her getting an agent, then getting "the call," editing the CONTRACTED manuscript, etc. It renewed my confidence and got me moving faster toward finishing my MS. She's living the real thing. Wanted to be a writer, so she wrote. Tried to get published, so she did. Still working the day job, at least for now. Struggles with finding time to write, like many of us.

It's very inspirational. Her entries represent what so many of us think and worry about. My MS isn't good enough. What if this one book is a fluke? What if no one buys it? What if it gets poor reviews? It's very real, not to mention totally funny and links to fantabulous quizzes! I think that's why it took me so long to go through, I did all the quizzes and games, I mean ALL of them.

So - read Michelle's blog. Buy "Bitten and Smitten" and pre-order "Angel with Attitude." Damn it now!

Confession time: I've had "Bitten and Smitten" waiting patiently for me for a couple of weeks. I had meant to read it the day it came out because I had been anticipating it since the fall, but I made a poor decision. I started the Anita Blake series just before BS came out. And I'm sure you can understand how difficult that series is to put down. I'm almost done with Circulean Sins, so BS will get my undivided attention in a couple of days. Michelle, I'm sorry that I have neglected your book, but after reading your blog, I'm sure you can understand about the LKH thing. I just have to get to Incubus Dreams since everyone seems to be up in arms about it.

And Michelle totally posted on my journal recently. I was super tickled! (Thanks Michelle!)

Pic of the day - pumpkin booty

Great example of making use of what you got, gotta love it

Current writing thoughts

I feel the need to share some of the bazillion thoughts running through my head. It just feels therapeutic to say them out loud (or type in a LiveJournal) so I can move on.

1) Writing is hard. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but man can it be hard. You have to make sure it's interesting with believable characters. It has to be original, but something that the reader can relate to. Since my books are a series, I have to make some plot points spread out so people would want to read the other books.

2) I need an agent. I don't know why I care at this point since my manuscript isn't finished. But I know that it is a step to eventually take and when it comes to something I want, I'm not always patient.

3) I wish there were 30 hours in a day. I would devote 3 of those to sleep and 3 to writing. Maybe 2:4 - if I'm feeling motivated. I would get things done a lot faster that way.

4) I'm scared shitless of revisions. I think that's why I'm moving a bit slower at the writing - I know I'm going to end up changing it all anyway. At least I'm not editing as I go, I would never finish a book that way.

5) What if I can't do this? What if I have immersed myself into the writing world and community as much as I possibly could and as fast as I could and it doesn't work? What if I spend hundreds and hundreds of hours writing, editing, shopping for agents and publishers, and it doesn't ever sell and I resort to self-publishing. What if I fail? But then I think, I've wanted to be a novelist since I was very young. I would rather fail than never try and wonder if I could do it.

6) When I finish my manuscript, I think I will print it on multiple colors of paper and use it as wallpaper. That will be my writing room. Yes, that sounds like a glorious idea.

7) Will my husband be angry if I plaster our walls with my manuscript?

8) I wonder if the RT conference is worth the money and vacation time. It seems great on paper and from what I hear, but that's a big financial committment.

9) I hope my vampire world is creative enough to be interesting and liked by people. I hope it's not too much like anyone else's. Reading vampire romance makes it difficult to be original, but it helps with ideas and seeing how much can be done. Catch-22.

10) It's hard to focus on one manuscript when another idea is nagging at me. Maybe I should just outline the books in my head and move on.

End of rant. I don't feel any less clouded. Maybe it takes time. But now I can move on to working on my manuscript so that I actually have the right to be freaking out. Right now I'm simply a poser.

Pic of the day - beer doggy

Good writing retreat

Last weekend I went on a writing retreat with the Romance Writers of America chapter I belong to. I had a lot of fun, even with the storm Friday night. A storm on the Oregon coast in the winter has always been one of my favorite things. Growing up I used to go with my family to stay in a hotel on the ocean for a weekend in the winter, hoping for a storm. There's something relaxing about it.

Well, this one wasn't so relaxing. The house was practically on the sand, only about 10 feet of sea grass separated us from the beach. The wind was up to 80 miles an hour, according to the news reports after the storm. There were reports of swells off the coast and a chance for flooding, which would have been bad news for the basement of the house and our cars. The front of the house came to a point, like a beak, and was almost all windows. The glass was bending back and forth with the strong wind. The logical side of me knew they were built to withstand that, but seeing the reflection of the lamps moving back and forth in the glass was unnerving. The wind howled all night long. I don't think any of us slept more than an hour or two. I kept waking up and feeling the house shaking under the wind. But it was fun. There's something thrilling about being scared of a storm that is out of your control.

The writing side of the trip was great too. It was very beneficial talking to people who have been writing romance for a while, and some published, to hear what they had to say. We did something called story magic where we all brought our story ideas. Then we sat together and brainstormed the inciting incident, long range goal, short range goal, relationship barrier, black moment, reliazation and character flaw for both the hero and heroine. It is much easier to write once you have the main points and themes outline like that. I also got a lot of great ideas with the ladies for my book series. Now I just have to write them.

I know the main events that will happen in all of the books and the sub plots, but I need to develop the hero and heroine more and why they are interested in each other. I also need to think of some ways to make my vampires unique compared to others that are in books.

All in all it was definitely worth the weekend and I enjoyed getting to know these lovely ladies.

Pic of the day - Will Farrell

Will Farrell is a gem


Will Farrell is a gem

Writing progress

Things are going well on the writing front. My biggest challenge right now is pulling my nose out of other people's books and work on my own. It's hard to stop reading though because with each book I read, I feel like it makes me a stronger writer. If that makes any sense.

This weekend I'm going on a beach retreat with the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA. I'm looking forward to it. I think we'll be doing something called a story board and we'll all pitch in brainstorming for everyone's manuscripts. I could use a few ideas to keep the ball rolling.

I also busted out The Plot Doctor workbook. I used it when I did NaNoWriMo. It will probably help me again now that I'm redoing the NaNo MS. I highly recommend this workbook to anyone who's a plotter and outliner before doing a lot of writing. There are some great worksheets in there to get the juices rolling for building characters, scenes and conflict.

Hopefully I'll come back from the beach on Sunday with my whole novel, maybe part of the series, fully outlined and planned out. Fingers crossed! All I need is my writing binder and Alphasmart 3000 baby! Oh yeah, and clean underwear.

Book review: Sookie Stackhouse series

I had never planned to read these books. I was reading the author roster for a series of vampire-themed workshops at the upcoming Romantic Times convention (that I hope to go to) and decided that maybe I would get more out of the workshops if I read the books by the presenting authors.

I'm very glad I made that decision because I love this series. The direction that many books take that vampirism is legal now is very interesting and appealing to me. It was something I hadn't really thought of before and it has opened a whole new group of ideas to me.

Charlaine Harris has done a fantastic job with the relationships, especially balancing them. If someone was telling me that a series of books existed where the heroine bounces back and forth between several boyfriends, I would have thought the heroine was a slut and I wouldn't want to read the book. But Sookie doesn't come off like a slut at all, to me at least. She doesn't date just anyone, all the guys she has dated have been special to her. And there's only a few sex scenes, most of the time she just alludes to the fact it happened.

I also love how they are all different. Bill is the quiet guy with the silent mind that she likes. Eric is boysterous, obnoxious, but straight-forward. Alcede (sp?) is the perfect Southern boyfriend that would fit in right at home.

I keep changing my mind of which guy I hope she ends up with. It's a toss-up between Alcede and Eric with amnesia. I'm not a big fan of Bill, I mean I like it when he's in the story but I hope she doesn't end up with him. Oh yeah, or Sam. He's cool too.

Charlaine has also done a great job with believability. These books are full of supernatural stuff, but I buy all of it. I can imagine living in this world. She does well in tying up loose ends and things stay consistend throughout the series, like Sookie's gift.

All in all a great series and I recommend it! You may think I'm crazy because all these book reviews are positive ones, but since I began reading romances, I haven't found one I haven't liked. I know the day will come, but I'm enjoying the streak so far.

Coming soon: Mary Janice Davidson's Undead series and Michelle Rowen's Bitten & Smitten.

Book review: Anita Blake series (up to Obsidian Butterfly)

I've decided to try something useful with my journal, reviewing the books that have eaten my life for the past month or two. You may not want to read these if you are the type who don't want to know anything about the books before you read them. Those like me who read the last chapter of a book before beginning it, I encourage you to read on.

I'll start with the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. I'm up to Obsidian Butterfly. Thanks to the Science Fiction Book Club, I've got all the books through Narcissus In Chains in four nifty volumes. This will seem scattered and random because I'll be talking about 10 books or so, but it's my journal and I'll do what I want to. :-)

The more I read the series, the more I grow fond of it. I've enjoyed all of the books, but it began as a like and is now a love. LKH has done a great job with the characters. I find myself thinking about things that could or have happened in the series and saying "Jean Claude wouldn't do that" or "Richard wouln't say that." But how the hell would I know? I'm not the author. Wrong. LKH is so strong with her characterization that the reader can easily get to know the characters and imagine what they would do.

I would like to say that I love Jean Claude - his ego, his sexiness, his control, everything. I hope Anita ends up with him. I like Richard, but he seems like such a pansy-ass sometimes. Part of me hopes he finds a new lupa and leaves Anita alone, but I don't want her to lose connection with the pack.

Some of my favorite scenes have been Anita's interaction with the weres, especially in the couple of books before Incubus Dreams. It shows the growth within herself and trust of others. I really like her recent interactions with Jason.

I'm only about 100 pages into Obsidian Butterfly, just past Edward admitting that he has feelings for the family he's living with. I'm thrilled that LKH did an Edward book. Of course I had to read the last few pages before beginning the book and I am pleased.

She has done a fantastic job building Edward as a character. I love him, I think he's my favorite. He's so predictible in a I'm-so-scared-I'm-going-to-shit-my-pants sort of way. I am rather anxious to see who Anita bangs in this book, I'm thinking it's the detective.

I've read on message boards that Anita starts sleeping with many more men in later books. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess I'll see when I read them. But I think she should choose Jean Claude.

You may want to know why I learn what happens in a series before I finish it - well, I don't like surprises. I'm the same person who goes to ruinedendings.com before I see a movie that looks like it will be sad.

I'll also be sharing my thoughts on a few other series that I've read in the next couple of days. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts on these books. Maybe if we begin a dialogue about books I'll feel smart. :-)

Lots of progress

I restarted my novel last week. After only a few hours I'm up to about 10,000 words according to Microsoft Word's counter. Using the 25 lines/page method I'm up to about 12,000 words so far. Things are going pretty smooth. I'm much happier with the characters, setting and dialogue now.
I even have the next few books mapped out in the series so I can get started on the second one while I'm pitching the first one. I also have an idea for a contemporary that I'm anxious to work on.

The biggest surprise was that I'm writing the story in 1st person. I hadn't planned on it, it just seems that it will work better that way. Especially since it's going to be a multi-book series.

I have to also say thanks to the person who helped me with ideas for the books. You're fantastic!

Back on the wagon

I've been on somewhat of a hiatus since NaNoWriMo. Once I hit 50k and really started trying to figure out where my story was going, I ran into a brick wall. There wasn't enough conflict, the characters weren't what I wanted them to be, etc.

So I decided to read as much paranormal romance as I could as fast as possible. I joined three book clubs and got a ton of books for really, really, really cheap. I read the Sookie Stackhouse series, Undead series, half of the Anita Blake series, part of the Dark series, and some other random books.

It was the best thing I could have done. I broke some of the barriers I had set up for myself and what my characters could and should be. I also got more ideas of how to lay out a book. And the thought never crossed my mind that I could have the same main characters go through several books, which is what I've decided to do.

I really liked how the Undead, Sookie and Anita series have done that. So having read about 20 books in the past month, I feel like I'm ready to begin writing again. So I have!

I decided to start over on my NaNoWriMo novel. Instead of it taking place in Scotland, it's taking place in Portland, Oregon where I'm from. Knowing the area will help me with my first book I think.

I also decided that the heroine will be more on the spunky side. She seemed boring in my first attempt, but now I'm enjoying her.

So now I'm off, again, to finish my first manuscript. I'm feeling more confident and jazzed about it than the first time.

The only thing left is for me to take a couple of books I really liked and go through them to make a plot outline. That should help me plan my own book and make sure it flows fast enough for publishing standards.

My goal is still to have the manuscript prepared by the RT convention in May. I hoped, and planned, to go to it but I don't think it's going to happen. Disapointing, but such is life.

Back in the saddle folks, wish me luck!

When it rains, it pours.

Life can suck sometimes. Bear with me and my long story. I think typing it out will help me deal with my pent up frustration.

So some asshole broke the window in my car, while my husband was using it. He was inside a restaurant for a work function for only like 1.5 hours. The probably meth monster stole about $2k worth of stuff.

We make a glass claim with our insurance company because the only problem we found was a window was broken. While the glass company repaired the window they found that our regulator was broken, the mechanism that rolls the window up and down. When we made the original claim we were told that we had a $100 deductible, so all we had to pay was $100.

But noooooooo. Since a "mechanical" failure came into play, it no longer qualifies for the glass deductible, it now falls under the comprehensive deductible. Since there is a $500 deductible on our policy, we'll owe another $400.

Here's why this pisses me off. Several people told me that since the mechanical thing wasn't found until the glass people were working, it should fall under the $100 deductible. But the claims adjustor saidi that the $100 deductible is no longer in effect, it's now the $500 deductible, minus the $100 I already paid.

Let me break it down for those of you who have still continued with the story. The parts and labor for the mechanical failure will be about $322. Then there's the $100 I already paid toward the glass claim, so a total of $422 out of pocket. Right? Oh no! It gets worse.

The claims adjustor said that since the $100 glass deductible is no longer in effect, I now have to pay up to the $500. Which means The remaining $78 will be used by more toward glass!!!!

This is what bothers me. If I would have just stuck with the glass claim, I would have paid the $100 and done the mechanical thing out of pocket and not told the insurance company about it. So I would have paid $422. Now I have to pay $500!!!! How in the hell is that fair? I don't even know if this makes any sense to you. It's sort of hard to explain.

You may wonder why I went through with the claim. Well, as I was asking my insurance company about my policy and what my options were, they added it to the claim! So there was no turning back.

To make things worse, my hubby got a speeding ticket today. As I said before, when it rains, it pours!

Still truckin'

Slowly but surely I'm still working toward finishing the first draft of my MS. In some ways it's easier than I thought, but in many ways it's harder. I find myself spending a lot of time thinking ahead. I want to write a vampire series, but I'm not sure if this MS and storyline could be developed into a series. So I'm debating on whether I should just write it how it comes and possibly start a series with a different book, or spend time prepping it for a potential series. There are two male characters other than the hero that I see becoming hero's of their own books. But I'm not sure if the connection between the vampire and heroine I developed (that destines them to be together) is strong enough to work. Maybe I'm just not being confident enough.
I am also struggling with the humor a bit. I really like humorous romances and I want my romance to be one, but it keeps coming out more serious than I had expected. But I figure that during revisions I can add humor and fix the characters to be a bit more funny.

Gosh, then there's the revisions. Oye, that's going to be time consuming. It makes me wonder if I should be one of the people who edits as I go, but then I figure I'll never finish that way. I'm banking on the fact that once I have a full first draft, I'll be motivated to revise it and it won't be too bad.

The one thing I do know is that I need to have a revised and ready draft by the Romantic Times conference in May.