Weekend o' plotting, here I come

I'm looking forward to the weekend. My one and only goal and mission, should I choose to accept it (I did, FYI), is to plot out my SNI (for those who missed the last post or forgot, that's my Shiny New Idea).

I typed up all the exercies in the Writing the Breakout Novel workbook into Word so that I can type out answers instead of hand write. My wrist is crooked 45 degrees so longhand hurts after about a page. I'm still just as jazzed about it as before. Turns out upon further inspection that part of the exercises can be done during the plotting process and some can be done during revisions - talk about a multi-purpose book.

Per Michelle's recommendation, I have The Marshall Plan workbook on hold at Border's, which I'll purchase immediately after work today. They asked if three days on hold is enought time. Ha! I only need three hours. So I'll be plotting with that as well.

Since I'm, uh, unique, I'm going to break down my weekend to see how much time I have to plot my book. I consider my weekend beginning tonight at 7 p.m., once I'm done running errands. Let's say my weekend ends at 9 p.m. on Sunday since about then my dog will be crawling on my keyboard demanding attention and I'll have to stop working.

That leaves me with a 50 hour weekend. Minus 20 hours for sleeping (hey, I was at RWA last week, I've got some catching up to do). So 30 hours minus six hours for showering, getting ready, eating, errands, etc.

A full day for plotting. Except, I started reading Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund last night, there's no way I'm not finishing that this weekend. Shave off three hours for that. Okay, 21 hours for plotting. I'll probably read another book because my TBR shelf grew exponentially since last week (gee, I wonder why) so we'll shave another three hours. Eighteen hours left for the weekend. I moved a few weeks ago and still have some boxes to empty, so if I take off four hours for that I've still got 14 left.

That's a lot of plotting time, I hope. It sounds like a lot, but I'm sure that once I dive into it I'll find ways to distract myself or I'll get Plotter's Block. I wonder if that's a real term. If not, I hereby claim it.

Does how my brain works scare you? It scares me. I don't know why I always break things down into number. I hate math!

Here's what I would like from you. If I don't finish plotting by the end of the weekend (my Monday morning post) - how should I be punished? Let's keep it clean folks, there may be children readers. No Diet Coke for a week? No chocolate for a month? No reading blogs for a day? Any other terribly ridiculous idea that will have me plotting like mad so I don't have to partake in the punishment?

Great writing tool

I, like many, am going through the post-RWA Nationals writing frenzy. I learned a lot and got some great ideas brewing in my mind. Now I want to use them and go full steam ahead on my Shiny New Idea (hereby referred to as SNI.) The truth is that I began the frenzy mid-week of the convention. My poor roommates had to put up with me waking up in the middle of the night, grabbing my pen and paper off the nightstand and writing notes. In the dark. Can you say freak? I sure can.

I decided that I'm going to think about this book by scenes rather than a list of events - to me they're different. I think that will improve the action, pacing and make it easier to plot. So last week I sat down with my $15 lunch (sandwich, soda and fruit cup) and my trusty Alphasmart. I spent an hour coming up with the first five scenes. Aren't there usually 50-60 scenes per book? That's a lot of Alphasmart time. I may actually have to change my batteries.

I realized that I needed a tool to help me plot my book, I'm new at this and just can't do it all on my own. I used some of the First Draft in 30 Days worksheets. Several of them helped get the ball rolling, but for my need at this point in time, it won't get me all the way there.

Then, I remembered that I own Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and the corresponding workbook. I hadn't looked at it before, but I sat down with them both last night. I skimmed the book then dove into the workbook. Bypassing the explanations and character sections, I jumped to the plot exercises. Holy wedgie Batman! It's just what I'm looking for! (Bear with me, I know this is jumping between present and past tenses.)

It breaks things down into scenes and subplots and threads. It asks questions like:
* What would make your novel's central conflict worse?
* What are the circumstances under which my protagonist(s) would actually fail to solve the problem?
* Assign a character to enact each complication.
* What are some other problems, not related to the central conflict, that your protagonist(s) will face? Use those as subplots.
Etc.

This may look like a nightmare to some of you. But I am a list-obsessed-control-freak-who-needs-medication-yesterday. When I looked through these questions, pieces fell together in my head. It points me in the right direction to the elements that will make a great novel. It helps weave those elements together. And it will help me reach those 50-60 scenes, easily. There are so many little tricks and tips in there. I can't wait to use it! I know what I'm going to do this weekend.

Is there a resource you've found that turned the light on for you?

Oregon druggies have manners too

My dad was on his way to work the other day, about 3:30 a.m. He stopped at Plaid Pantry to pick up coffee and a paper, as is his morning ritual. There was a man and woman acting fishy and sort of antsy in front of the store.

He went in and bought his stuff. When he came out and started his car, the low oil light, or whatever it's called, was on. He ran back in to buy some oil and when he came out he heard the woman talking on the phone saying something about how she was about to get some money. A few minutes later the guy came up to my dad.

Get this, he apologized, twice, for partaking in a drug deal in front of him. Salem, Oregon is the meth capital of the country so odds are that's what he bought. But hey, you can't say that Oregon druggies don't have manners.

Back from the ATL

I survived my first RWA national convention. It was a blast! I fully intended to blog each day while in Atlanta with a blow-by-blow of the conference. However, I wasn't willing to spend $13 a day to do that. Damn that's expensive.

So here is a week's worth of posts all in one for your reading pleasure. It's really long, I know!

Flights
I flew standby. Before you gasp and reach out to slap some sense in to me, let me explain. If I were to by a flight to Atlanta from Portland, Oregon. It would have cost about $600. A very nice person who works for an airline offered a reduced rate standby option. That cost $270. So - big price difference. Just about enough to pay for my hotel for the week.

I don't regret my decision to fly this way, but it didn't turn out as I hoped. Let me preface this by saying I only slept two hours on the Sunday night before my trip and three hours the night before that. I wanted a redeye on Monday night so I'd get in to Atlanta at 9:30 on Tuesday. I planned to go to the World of Coke and hang out with my roommates if they had arrived on Tuesday.

I didn't make the redeye. So my mom got to the airport at about 12:30 a.m. to pick me up. I was laying down to go to sleep about 1:30 a.m. Unfortunately, I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to catch a ride with my dad on his way to work to go back to the airport and try for an early morning flight. For those of you math challenged - that's seven hours of sleep over three nights. I need eight hours a night to function properly. I don't drink coffee either, so don't even bring that up.

Luckily I got on that early morning flight to Dallas. I was told that Dallas-Atlanta is easy, it's in and out of Portland that's hard. I got the first flight out from Dallas I wanted and got in to Atlanta about 5 p.m. I lost my day of sightseeing, but oh well. At least I got there the day I wanted.

The return trip was a different story. I didn't sleep Saturday night because I had to get up at 3:30 to check out and head to the airport. My roommates and I talked until pretty late and I just couldn't sleep. I got to the airport at the buttcrack of dawn. It turns they had an opening in first class, so guess who got it? Me! Yay standby. However, when I should have been celebrating my good luck and soon-to-be-blissful-nap-in-comfortable-airplane-seats, I started panicking. I knew that it was a prepayment for a really shitty day. Don't ask me how I knew, but in my gut I knew the only reason I got first class was because the Karma Police wanted me to get some sleep before spending the rest of the day in an airport.

I landed in Dallas at 7:40 a.m. There was a 9:30 a.m. flight to Portland. I was number 14 on the standby list, needless to say I didn't get on. There was a 12:30 flight, didn't catch that one either. I was moved up to number eight on the standby list. I was starting to panic because I only had a 4:40, 5:50 and 8:10 flight left for that day. If I didn't catch any of them I'd be paying up the ass for a hotel room last minute.

At about 3 p.m. I go up to see how it looks for my chances to get on the plane. I had been bumped down to number 14 on the standby list. The guy at the desk (very unfriendly, they all were when they found out I was standby except for the guy at the gate when I left Atlanta), said he didn't see how I would get on a flight to Portland that day, let alone the next day. They were all oversold and I kept getting bumped down the list by employees of the airline. He said I should look into going to Seattle.

I called my dad to see if he could pick me up if I flew there. He said he could and would take a day off work. So I marched back up to the gate, feeling good about my prospects of leaving the Dallas airport that I had been sitting in for nearly EIGHT hours. With no sleep the night before. He looked on the computer and said that those flights were just as full, but there was one leaving at about 9:30 p.m. So if I didn't make the Portland flights I could try for that one, and stay in a hotel worst case scenario.

Um, sitting in the airport for another SIX hours, a total of 14 hours did not sound pleasant. Especially not knowing how much a hotel would cost, I didn't have extra clothes, and I need to work the next day.

I panicked. I called my dad and had him look on Orbitz for flights from Dallas to Portland. Keep in mind the time was about 3:15. There was one on another airline leaving at 4:30, with a layover in Las Vegas. The price wasn't terrible. The problem was getting on the tram and booking it to the other side of the airport to see about buying the ticket. When I got there, there were in fact seats available. It cost me $250 for a flight from Dallas to Portland. It was delayed a bit and had a three hour layover in Vegas. I wasn't scheduled to land in Portland until 11 p.m.

For those trying to keep track of time zone changes and travel times, let me break it down for you. I woke up to leave the hotel at 3:30 a.m. (east coast time) on Sunday. My flight from Vegas was to land in Portland at 2 a.m. (east coast time) on Monday morning. That was nearly a 24-hour day of traveling. Holy shit, I just worked that out myself and that's a lot of fucking time in airports and planes.

I made peace with the decision to buy a ticket, bringing my air costs to $520. It was still less than if I would have bought the ticket in the first place, but time equals money, ya know? I just reminded myself I had to get home for work and it was only money.

Don't worry - there's an end in sight for my tale of bitching and complaining. When I'm on my way to work Monday, I got a call from the person who hooked my up with the standby (he was really nice throughout the process, checking on flight options for me and getting up in the middle of the night to list me for flights). He told me that, *deep breath*, the 5:50 flight leaving Dallas for Portland had 10 seats that were never filled. One in first class. That means that about 20 people on the oversold flight didn't show up and the 18 people in front of me on the standby list either didn't show up, or made it on the place. I would have gotten to fly first class from Dallas to Portland and saved $250. Fuck. Ing. A. Talk about pissing in Cheerios. I don't regret the decision because how in the hell was I supposed to know that the airline Gods had chosen me to fuck with? It's only money, it's only money (yeah right).

Hotel
I had stayed in that hotel for a conference about eight years ago. I didn't remember it being so expensive! A bottle of coke, turkey sandwich and bag of chips ran me about $13. Good lawd that's a lot of money.

The hotel staff I talked to while walking through the hotel were very friendly. The staff in Grandstand and Champions were a totally different story.

On our first night the three of us went to Grandstand for some drinks. We sat at a table, merrily talking for twenty minutes or so. No service. Three seats opened up at the bar so we moved. Another half an hour or so go by before the guy took our drink orders. It was ridiculous. That was the story every time we went there. We would watch other people get two drinks before we got our first and when we'd ask for drinks he'd say "just a minute." Sheesh.

The rooms were great though, very comfortable beds. And it was easy to meet people in the centralized areas. I just hope the food is cheaper at the hotel in Dallas.

Roommates
On Tuesday, Elisabeth and I hung out in the hotel room for a while, hoping that our other roommate Alice would arrive before we went out to dinner. After a while our stomachs won and we trekked to Hard Rock in the humid heat (nothing compared to the weather we had in Oregon the weekend before - topping at 107 degrees!). I ordered my favorite Hard Rock meal, a pulled pork sandwich. I also splurged and got a Hurricane and paid for the glass. It was $11, but it equaled about three drinks at any other bar, so a good deal if you ask me. Elisabeth had a Hypnotiq Tea and holy crapola it was yummy!

When we got back to the hotel we decided to walk around and check out the pool. As we're walking on the Garden Terrace level, we hear "Elisabeth!" Low and behold it was Alice! Here is a near-accurate reenactment of the conversation:

Elisabeth: "Alice! When did you get here?"

Alice: "This afternoon. Didn't you see my bags in the room?"

Elisabeth: "No. Did you?" She turned to me. I shook my head.

Alice: "Did you get the notes I've been leaving you?"

Elisabeth: "No...have you been getting mine?"

Alice: "No...uh, what room are you in?"

Elisabeth: "2632."

Alice: "I'm in 609! (or whatever it was)"

We proceed to the front desk to reconcile the situation. It turned out that although we were all supposed to be in 2632, they made a booboo and put Alice in the wrong room. But we got it fixed.

I had a blast with my roommates. We got along great and had lots of fun teasing each other and giggling like fools. All that was missing was a pillow fight in our underwear. They even put up with my newbie energy and helped me with some brainstorming. While we were there Alice found out that her intrigue "My Sister, Myself" hit the Waldenbooks Top 10 list!!! The sequel is at stores now, called "Duplicate Daughter."

People
The literary signing on Wednesday was awesome. Elisabeth, who was interested in the romantic suspense authors, and moi, interested in paranormal authors, walked up and down the rows meeting our favorite authors and taking pictures of each other with them.

A highlight for me was meeting Michelle Rowen. I'm an addict of her blog and books and was jazzed to meet her in person. I got a super cute photo of us (will post later when Blogger stops being a bitch.) And I love the smiley face she turns into an angel when she signs her books. Clever Michelle, very clever.

I wanted to meet Stephanie Rowe as well. But, I was alphabetically challenged that evening and didn't stop to think that Stephanie would be right next to Michelle (Rowe - Rowen.) So I went back there later and met her. She's so nice!

I was also excited to meet Susan Grant. I was lucky enough to get to read "Your Planet or Mine" before it came out. It's fantastic! She's really sweet too.

The next night I went to the Mysteria booksigning at the Border's across town. It was only supposed to be a couple of blocks up from the Marta station. It was actually a few blocks up, several blocks down the hills and several blocks up again. Well worth the trek though. MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter and P.C. Cast were there. The four of them are fantastic! And really, really, really funny. I can't wait to read the book. I shared a cab ride back with some great ladies from a Seattle chapter. Woo woo PNW!

I also met some of the lovely ladies at Romance Divas. I didn't make it to the event but luckily I ran across several of them throughout the week. It was great to put faces to people I've been talking to for months! I'll post a pic later of some of us, again, once blogger stops being a bitch.

Everyone was very friendly throughout the conference. I'm an introverted person unless I know someone well. But I really felt like I could come out of my shell a bit at the conference. I love RWA.

Workshops
I started out the week by religiously attending the workshops. I had a couple of "a-ha!" moments, but nothing too profound. I felt my time was spent just as good by working on my new book idea. A couple of the workshops I wanted were full. Overall the workshops were okay. By the end of the week I was choosing booksignings over workshops. I still learned a ton over the week though and met lots of great people.

Food
I wanted to hurl at the first luncheon. The salad was good and the rolls, top notch bread. But when the main course arrived, yikes! I don't eat chicken on bones. I don't like cook vegetables. And I really hate mashed, cooked, cauliflower that tries to replace potatoes. At least I thought it was mashed cauliflower. I took a bite, almost barfed, then learned it was grits. Fucking gross is what they were.

I don't eat much red meat either so the steak the next day wasn't very appetizing. Especially since it was mostly fat. Thank god for potatoes though. The desserts were yummy both days.

I loved the sandwiches at Atrium Express. Even though they cost a ton, they were really good for pre-prepared sandwiches. I'm actually craving one right now. Lots of yummy, fresh turkey on a croissant. One night I ordered room service and it was really good. A turkey club. Mmm mmm mmm.

Books
My roommates lovingly call me a book whore now. I ended up with over 100 books. I only bought about 15 of them. Some are going to our chapter for our workshop next month, I'm putting together the goody bags and gift baskets. But the rest are mine, all mine. Muhahahahhahaha! I shipped four boxes home. USPS wasn't open so I couldn't do media mail...my only option was UPS ground. I still don't know how much it cost because the hotel didn't put it on my room bill by the time I checked out. They'll probably just charge me for it later. Bastards. I wonder when they'll even ship the books.

I can't wait until they arrive. I rearranged my bookcase to accommodate my needed TBR space. I'll post a photo once it's done.

Long-winded, I know. But it was an eventful week, even if I didn't crash any cool parties. My new goal is to be on the other side of the tracks by the San Francisco conference in two years - published. I've got myself a great book idea and a can-do attitude and I'm ready to roll.

Optical illusions

Read out loud the text inside the triangle below.

More than likely you said, "A bird in the bush," and.......
if this IS what YOU said, then you failed to see
that the word THE is repeated twice!
Sorry, look again.

Next, let's play with some words.
What do you see?

In black you can read the word GOOD, in white the word EVIL (inside each black letter is a white letter). It's all very physiological too, because it visualize the concept that good can't exist without evil (or the absence of good is evil ).

Now, what do you see?

You may not see it at first, but the white spaces read the word optical, the blue landscape reads the word illusion. Look again! Can you see why this painting is called an optical illusion?

What do you see here?

This one is quite tricky!
The word TEACH reflects as LEARN.
Last one.

What do you see?

You probably read the word ME in brown, but.......
when you look through ME
you will see YOU!

ALZHEIMERS' EYE TEST

Count every " F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE

SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI

FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH

THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

(SEE BELOW)

HOW MANY ?

WRONG, THERE ARE 6 -- no joke.

READ IT AGAIN !

Really, go Back and Try to find the 6 F's before you scroll down.

The reasoning behind is further down.

The brain cannot process "OF".

Incredible or what? Go back and look again!! Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius. Three is normal, four is quite rare. (My dad and I both got 3. I tried it several times before I scrolled down and still couldn't find them.)

Why am I so tired?

Why am I tired?
For a couple years I've been blaming it on lack of sleep, not enough sunshine, too much pressure from my job, earwax buildup, poor blood or anything else I could think of. But now I found out the real reason:
I'm tired because I'm overworked.
Here's why:. .
The population of this country is 273 million.
140 million are retired.
That leaves 133 million to do the work.
There are 85 million in school.
Which leaves 48 million to do the work.
Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government.
Leaving 19 million to do the work.
2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama Bin-Laden.
Which leaves 16.2 million to do the work.
Take from that total the 14.8 million people who work for state and city governments.
And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.
At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals.
Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.
Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.
That leaves just two people to do the work.
You and me.
And there you are sitting on your ass,
at your computer, reading jokes.
Nice. Real nice.

Is it Sept. 5 yet?

I'm going to request September 5 off of work. Can you guess why? It's the release of Lover Awakened, the latest book in J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. Zsadist's story. That's going to be some steamy stuff. And there's no way I'll make it through the work day waiting to read it when I get home. So, I'll use a vacation day.

I keep reading the excerpt to it to help pass the time. I think I've read it so much I can recite it. Well, to my surprise there is now an excerpt for Lover Revealed. Man o man does that look like it will be good. The emotion and sexiness packed in just that little excerpt is incredible. She's a fantastic writer.

This brings me to a question. On the "brothers" page on J.R.'s site it reads: "Tohrment: the steady one, the calm one. He is the one whose betrayal by fate will cut the deepest."

How do you interpret that? That he will betray the Brotherhood and it will cut them the deepest? Or he will be betrayed by fate and he will be cut the deepest? I just can't stand the thought of him betraying the Brotherhood.

Her Pinkness, my inner-Diva with pinkitude says: "Lisa, it's fiction. Chill your ass out. They. Aren't. Real."

Blogger ate my posts

Well, the few posts I did in the last week have disappeared. Blogger decided to eat them. Grrr.

In other news, I leave for Atlanta on Monday night. Woohoo! My first RWA conference and I am very excited about it. I've picked out all of the workshops I'm going to and I'll post that schedule this week. Maybe some of you are going to the same ones.

I signed up to volunteer at the registration table all day Wednesday, but I'm first on the waiting list. If I make it in there, be sure to stop by and say hi. I'd love to meet you all.

So, who else is going to Atlanta? Anyone want to bring me to some publisher parties ;-) *wink* *wink*

Review: Angel with Attitude by Michelle Rowen

From the back cover:

Falling naked into the killer whale tank at MarineLand is always bad news, but it's a real bummer when you've just been kicked out of Heaven. Former angel Valerie Grace is determined to reverse her banishment -- Earth's just no fun. Her best friend is a slightly perverted human-turned-rat (note to self: never cross a powerful witch) and she's being tailed by a sexy Tempter Demon named Nathaniel who's trying to lure her to Hell with kisses that are almost worth the trip.

With the talking rodent sneaking peeks down her shirt and Nathaniel getting more irresistible every minute, this ex-angel has only one hope: find the stolen Key to Heaven and go home. Then the oddest thing happens -- Nathaniel starts to show signs of loyalty and love. And soon Val is asking herself if it is such a bad thing to have the hots for a demon.

Let me start by saying - I loved it. Michelle Rowen's writing and wit really works for me. When I'm looking for a light, humorous read there are only a few authors I know I can turn to and get what I'm looking for and Rowen is definitely in that category.

The concept of this book was great. A fallen angel named Valerie Grace (I love the name) must face a tempter demon whose sole purpose is to tempt her down to hell, while she's trying to make her way back to Heaven. She has no idea why she was kicked out of paradise and when she eventually learns the reason, it doesn't make any sense. But Rowen's great writing helps the reader understand why she was kicked out, even if Grace didn't.

The secondary characters like Reggie the womanizer-turned-rat by his witchy girlfriend, and the seven-foot-tall demon who writes romances, kept the book very entertaining. The reader meets a lot of other creative characters while Grace takes a trip to the Underworld to obtain the Key to Heaven, namely biker fairies.

Rowen did a great job with the plot throughout the book and the conflict. How can there not be conflict when the hero and heroine are an angel and a demon? I also appreciated how Rowen was able to make Nathaniel, the hero, lovable even while he was doing his demonic duties.

I would also like to say that I really liked the ending and the twist at the end (I won't give it away) of why Valerie was kicked from Heaven. It was a realistic ending, which is a nice turn from many romances that end unbelievably with the hero and heroine getting married after knowing each other less than a week. You'll still get your happily ever after ending, don't worry!

If you're looking for a funny, creative book with entertaining and lovable characters, and fresh ideas (a rarity these days), then run out and get Angel with Attitude. Click on the picture above to go straight to Amazon to order it, and while you're at it grab her first book Bitten & Smitten. She's currently working on the sequel to that.

Also, swing by my Web site to read an informative interview with Rowen where she shares with us how she writes and edits her books. I'm always fascinated to learn how other people write, and I love to pick up tips.

Contests scores: part 2

Let me start by apologizing for not being on here much lately. I just moved. It sucked. Hard. End of rant. Wait, I need to add that dads are awesome to have around. Mine has been a lifesaver with this move. And my cute little house is ADORABLE. I'll post pictures.

On to the main reason for this post: another contest entry. I entered two contests about the same time. The feedback from the first results I got back were helpful. There was criticism, but it was constructive. So I'm ok with that.

You know how people always say that contest feedback ranges quite a bit. And how everyone will probably get feedback from one judge that maybe went a little too far. Well, I'm proud to say I'm a member of that club. I just got results from the other contest I entered - same entry as the other. I was judged by two people, one was published in something outside of romance and the other was unpublished.

This contest included a sheet with scores and rankings for all of the other entrants in that category. I received the lowest score the published author gave, 15 points below the next lowest. I was middle of the pack for the unpublished author. However, the average between the two put me in last place because of the published author's score. Oh well, I wasn't in it to win. I was in it for feedback.

But this feedback - yikes! I'm going to break it down for you. First of all, the scorings were a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best. Everything was 1s and 2s except I got a 5 on "do you as a reader feel the emotions of the main characters" (sweet!) and I got a 3 on "do you get a vivid picture from the writing." I felt good about that, obviously compared to everything else those were things that this person liked. And those were things I didn't think I did well, so maybe I did better than I thought.

These are direct quote comments from the published author of something other than romance (I cut out a lot of comments directly relating to events in the story or plot points, this is general stuff):
* like about heroine - "she knows a hottie when she sees one"
* dislike about heroine - "she's a lemming. No brains. A chick lit bimbo"
* favorite parts of story - "description of the hottie; good sexual tension"
* parts of the story that didn't resonate - "her voice - standard chick lit with no originality; her stupidity; excessive efforts to be sassy; plot is dumb"
* "if you stop trying to imitate a chick lit voice you will find you already have a voice that works fine (but what if my voice is naturally chick lit-ish?)"
* "lot to like here but it's 'like' totally buried in chick lit bullshit verbiage"
* "cut all the explaining, the head chatter and the girly-girl crap"

I whole-heartedly appreciate the time this person put into the feedback and for pointing out holes in the story. He/she filled out the score sheet thoroughly and took extra time to write suggestions and comments on the back of two pages. And this person practically line edited the entry. I'm really thankful for that, especially with the number of entrants in the category.

The unpublished author gave me a much higher score, but didn't leave any comments or suggestions. I would have liked to know why some of the things worked for this person. Even though I was a bit put off by the published author's brashness, this person took a lot of time and energy on my entry. Thank you.

So, there's a contest entry folks. I made it through another one. My skin must be thicker than I gave it credit for because I'm not in the least deterred by it or upset that someone thought it didn't do well.

Tag, I'm it

Thanks for the tag Karmela :-)

Man, this was hard to think of.

1. A song by the first band you liked:
Anything by the Monkees. Davy Jones, *sigh*

2. A song that makes you think of your best friend:
Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Nobody rocks the house when that song comes on like the Stanimal, baby.

3. A song by the first band you saw in concert:
I know I saw several bands when I was a wee one in concert, but this is the first concert I really remember. New Kids on the Block, the song is Step by Step. I remember driving from Portland to Seattle. All the other girls had painted stuff on their cars and would flash the universal peace sign to each other up I-5. It was rad.

4. A song that reminds you of college/school:
College Girls are Easy by Easy E. I think that's who sings it. I thought that song was hilarious, I blasted it from my stereo on my dorm room as my first taste of rebellion.

5. A song that makes you think of a boyfriend/girl (love) past or present:
I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden.

I tag:
Elisabeth Naughton
Piper Lee
Paty Yager

Studmuffin of the day

This gorgeous specimen of a man goes against my "type" in so many ways. But, I still can't get enough of him on Supernatural (great show, by the way). He's tough, but sincere. A smart ass, but caring. He would fit the bill of an alpha pretty well I think. Maybe I'll use him for inspiration in an upcoming book. There's a lot to work with!

Jensen Ackles















Is there anyone you love who goes against your traditional type?

Watch your language people!

Not profanity, no. I don't mind that. It's the repetitive language in romance novels, the kind that sticks out in your mind and makes you take pause when you read it again and again. Sometimes this comes in the form of purple prose. I know when I read too many "his throbbing sword of passion aimed right toward my velvet petals of desire," I tend to second guess my interest in the book. Sidenote: I haven't read that sentence in a book, but I vow I will find a way to work in to the one I'm working on ;-)

I thought of this rant for today because of several books I've read lately. They are all from the same series. I love the author, I love the books, but the repetitive language has me taken pause dozens of times in each book. I'm tired of reading the same phrases over and over. I feel like the creativity of the language is gone, almost like it's a list of phrases that are inserted rather than organic writing.

Here are examples of some phrasing that is used over and over in the books:

• velvet sheath
• rippling muscles
• molten fire in his eyes
• lightening sizzling and arcing across the sky
• spilling breasts
• tongues of fire lapping over her body

I knew to watch for purple prose, but I don't consider the above purple prose. It's some nice phrasing that's used too often. When I say too often, I mean at least once a chapter in each book (approximately).

Part of it comes from reading these books back to back so these phrases stick out more. But it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep reading because some of the scenes feel formulaic with the repetitive phrasing.

I know that when a love scene comes up, I'm going to know his eyes are molten, lightening will strike, her velvet sheath will pulsate and tongues of fire will be a-lapping. It takes some of the fun and fantasy away.

But, I will still read books from this author because I love the plots and characters. They are just becoming slightly less enjoyable.

I know that when my book is finished, I'm going to find a fresh person to read it - just looking for repetitive language like this. I don't want to take any chances.

Writing progress

Do you want the good news or bad news?

Let's get the worst of it done then. According to the schedule I gave myself last month, I should be waaaaaaay closer to the end than I am. I wanted to have a solid draft done before RWA for agent/editor appointments. But, I didn't get an appointment. However, I hope to do a walk-up pitch - if I can grow the cajones. So - need to get crack-a-lackin.

The good news is I began incorporating the contest feedback yesterday. I hope to have that finished up today so I can send it off to a wonderful person who offered to rip it apart. Thank you! :-) Ripping apart is good, that's the only way to make it better. A friend of mine thinks I'm crazy for wanting someone to tell me what's wrong with it. But as I told her, I'd rather hear it from someone critiquing me than an agent or editor and get rejected.

I still hope to have a good draft by RWA. I'm going to have a lot more free time pretty soon. In the meantime, I'm trying to work out some plot kinks and do a little outlining. I'm taking part in an online plot workshop right now. I'll let y'all know how it goes once it's over.

I'm also reading lots of articles on showing vs. telling. That's a weakness of mine. I'm a big teller.

Here's the big countdown folks: 42 days until I leave for RWA Nationals. I signed up to work the registration table all day Wednesday, so hopefully I'll meet those of you I only know online.

I will leave you today with a pearl of my wisdom, savor it as it may be my last: I became a writer so I could tell. If I wanted to show, wouldn't I be a painter?

I'm back...and got my first contest scores

Wow...I didn't realize it's been this long since my last post. It's not out of laziness, I assure you. Things in life have taken me away to other, more personal things. But I'm back on the schedule, or will be tomorrow :-)

A few days ago I got my scores for the first contest I entered. I entered it for feedback and to get a feel for whether or not people like my voice. I always figured that fixing problems with plot, pacing and characters is more attainable than changing my natural voice.

Luckily, the two who reviewed me liked my voice. I had other problems, but I expected that. One person gave me 121/150. The other gave me 90/150. I was actually very proud of myself. I didn't feel depressed or upset about my scores, I was more excited about some of the comments. Maybe I'm in a weird emotional place or something because I fully expected to throw myself over the balcony or something with some criticism.

Maybe I have thick skin after all. That's a very exciting revelation. It could stem from the fact that I write in my day job too. I never thought about that until I began writing this.

This contest gave a nicely detailed grading sheet. So does the other one I entered, but I'm still waiting for those results. That was one of the reasons I entered both of them, more bang for my buck.

The biggest problem I had was reading the comments. I haven't written cursive much, so reading it is somewhat difficult. I can only make out about half the comments on one judging because of the cursive. I'll probably bring it to my next RWA meeting for some help in deciphering :-)

So here are some of the comments I received - in case any of you have never entered a contest and are curious about the types of feedback.

From 121/150 scorer

• Lots of passive (I thought I had done well in eliminating most of that, back to the drawing board)
• Lots of strong images (I thought I did a poor job in that area, nice to know someone disagreed)
• Good sense of heroine, not so good sense of hero (I'm writing in first person in the heroine's voice, so getting a good sense of the hero right away without dialogue will be tough)
• Dialogue a little awkward and formal (and I thought I was too casual)
• Good balance of action and narrative so far (woohoo!)
• Five senses aren't present (that one I knew, need to work on it)
• Strong voice/original voice in writing (yessssssss! I knew my odd sense of humor would pay off!)
• They are going to be pretty hot (that surprised me most of all, I thought my sexual tension wasn't believeable and was lacking, I may be on the right track)
• Love the premise in the synopsis (oh yeah, baby!)

From 90/150 scorer (I couldn't read many of the comments because of cursive, back to school for me)

• The heroine comes off very (?-can't read the cursive - I think it says nosey or manly) in this segment. (the judge marked know when asked if they liked the hero/heroine, ouch, got to work on that)
• I think you've got a great plot (why thank you kindly)
• You're dialogue is very witty and amusing (stop, you're making me blush)
• I really struggled to get a mental picture as I was reading this (done with the flattery, eh?)
• Way too much backstory and telling (I agree with the telling part, I struggle with that, but I thought I did a good job of diving into the conflict and weaving in details throughout)
• Your strengths are your plot and humorous dialogue, work on pacing and description (will do)

And now that I'm thinking about these comments, I'm not obsessing over the criticism and suggestions. Rather, I'm saying to myself - "They like my voice! They think I'm witty and humorous! I wanted to come across as witty and humorous and it just might be working. Maybe I can be successful as a funny, paranormal writer after all. Woohoo!" Then I remember that I have to actually finish the damn thing.

Moral of the story is contests can be a good thing if you pull out what you want and discard the rest. They can help confirm what you thought was or wasn't working. And, if you have pretty stationary like I do, you can use it for thank you cards.

Joke of the day

THE DOG'S DIARY:
7 am- Oh boy! A walk! My favorite!
8 am- Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 am- Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
Noon- Oh boy! The yard! My favorite!
2 pm- Oh boy! A car ride! My favorite!
3 pm- Oh boy! The kids! My favorite!
4 pm- Oh boy! Playing ball! My favorite!
6 pm- Oh boy! Welcome home Mum! My favorite!
7 pm- Oh boy! Welcome home Dad! My favorite!
8 pm- Oh boy! Dog food! My favorite!
9 pm- Oh boy! Tummy rubs on the couch! My favorite!
11 pm- Oh boy! Sleeping in my people's bed! My favorite!

THE CAT'S DIARY:
Day 183 of my captivity...

My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mildsatisfaction I get from clawing the furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another house plant. Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded. Maybe I should try this at the top of the stairs.

In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favourite chair - must try this on their bed. Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in an attemptto make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little kitty cat I was. This is not working according to plan.

There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed insolitary confinement throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the food. More important, I overheard that my confinement was due to my powers of inducing something called"allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage. I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches.

The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit.The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant. He speaks with them regularly, and I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured.

But I can wait. It's only a matter of time.

Pandora

Didn't I tell you that I'd be posting in addition to the schedule? Ha! I didn't lie.

Check out this kick ass music site. Type in a band or song you like, and it grabs similar type music, a lot from lesser known artists. Then you click on "guide me" and tell it if you did or didn't like the song. It adjusts the station accordingly to your preferences. Pretty groovy.

Pace

Not the salsa, story pace. This is something I've though a lot about in the last few days, especially with the short story I'm working on for the Phaze Samba contest.

When you have 5k-12k to tell a story, moving to slow is a constant worry. Multiply that into an 80-100k novel - it's a major concern. As writers, we hope that someone will devote several hours, at least, to reading our book - finishing it - and liking it.

There are lots of things that can turn a reader off from a book, but I know that if the pacing is fine, I'm more forgivable in other areas because I want to see what happens next. So what if the heroine gets on my nerves a bit, I want to find out if she finds the missing sword to Babylon. However, if pacing is slow, I find myself much more critical of everything else.

This past week or so, I've been reading like crazy. I think I finished five novels. Half of them had great pacing and you know what? I went to those authors Web sites to find out when their next books were coming out. The other books with slow pacing, I didn't bother. I forced myself to finish two of them because I'm not someone who can start a book and not finish it.

So, after reading several articles on help with pacing, I've gleaned a few things that writers should watch out for that could slow down pacing:

• Opening with backstory or not jumping right into the conflict - reader may not be hooked right away and you may never get their attention back
• Long chunks of narrative - dialogue seems key to moving pace, and action, along
• Info dumps, flashbacks, and backstory - good writers can weave in backstory without making it obvious...hopefully I'll get to that point soon ;-)
• Characters thinking, analyzing, talking things out with themselves, etc - use dialogue with someone else to put that info forth
• Useless scenes - if it doesn't move the plot and story forward, cut it out, who cares if the heroine is allergic to water, unless it ties directly to the plot
• Predictability - nothing seems more annoying to me than guessing the ending early on, then reading just to see if I was wrong then finding out I wasn't and having wasted that chunk of my life on reading a predictable book
• Too much explanation - a writer needs to assume the reader will have some level of understanding coming in, so there's no need to explain simple things that don't need to be explained

I need to apply these things to my work...

Studmuffin Wednesday

There's no better way to kick off the new Studmuffin Wednesday feature than Gerard Butler. In a pink shirt. And a kilt. Three of my favorite things all rolled up into one. Sigh.

Critique partners

Lately I've been thinking a lot about critique partners. It seems that most successful writers as well as the aspiring authors that I know have critique partners, good ones. I keep seeing workshops by critique partners who are also best friends or blogs shared by CPs. The CP relationship, at least the ones that work out, seem to be a strong bond and friendship.

How does one go about finding CPs that fit well with your needs and strengths? Many of the CPs I've seen met online and live in different parts of the country. How do they meet? Loop postings looking for CPs? Onling critique services? Meeting at conferences? Through contests?

Once you have found someone who may be a good fit for a CP, how do you foster that relationship? What are the unwritten rules for CPs?

I've shared critiques with a couple of fantastic women I've met online. But it hasn't taken off becuase we didn't have things to share at the same time, or life got in the way. The common things that happen.

I know many without CPs turn to online critique groups or boards. I've tried that too, but I feel like I have to get my work to some level of polishing before I'll put it out there. But I want someone who can read my brain spew of draft 0 and let me know if they feel I'm on the right track or not before I spend tons of time editing and revising.

There seem to be so many things to worry about too, especially when you only know people online. What if you start sharing work with someone but it just isn't working. How do you end it without being a bitch? There's also the concern of sharing work with someone in the same genre and purposely or accidentally absorbing the other persons ideas. It probably doesn't happen often, but I've seen several horror stories on loops about that. What if you're not sure you would be a good CP yourself? I know I'm not sure. Do I have what it takes to spot a sagging middle or to help someone strengthen the likeability of the hero? I have no freaking clue.

I would love to find one or two people to build that bond with. A CP that I can talk to and say, "I've got an idea. This is what I'm thinking, but I'm struggling with this. What do you think?" And they may have ideas I never thought of. And visa versa.

I would like to make a connection with someone while we pursue our writing careers. Someone to share the ups and downs. Help with looking over those first three chapters one more time before sending them to a requesting agent. Or consoling over the woes of the latest rejection.

I think the best thing for me to do is just keep meeting people online and eventually I'll find that one (or two) person who could be a critique partner, and friend.

Those of you who have CPs, I would love to hear how you found them. How long did you look for them? What works with your relationship? Those who don't have CPs, how do you go about finding them?

Blog schedule

In an effort to make my blog more interesting and update it as often as I should, I've created a schedule. It seems to work for others, why not me? This way I can squeeze in all the silly stuff I want without looking like a randomized lunatic.

Here 'tis:
Monday - Writing update as I will have probably done most of the week's writing on Sunday...
Tuesday - Rant on something about life or writing, I'm sure I'll always have something
Wednesday - Hot guy to spice up the middle of the week
Thursday - Writing tips I steal from more experienced people
Friday - Silly stuff (quizzes, jokes, funny pictures, etc)
Saturday - Writing prompt to get our creative juices flowing
Sunday - Book review

And of course I'll add oddball stuff here and there. As I've mentioned before, I like lists. They make me happy. I like schedules. They also make me happy. Thus a blog schedule makes me very happy. I am now at peace.

Let's see, it's Tuesday so I must prepare a rant.

Girl's week

Yes, this week is a girl's week in the Pulliam household. The man of the house it taking a well-deserved vacation this week after a stressful several months. I'm not going on this vacation so it's me and Roxy. Slum-ber-par-tay. If only I had cute puppy pajamas for her.

But she does have bows for her ears now thanks to the groomers at Petsmart.

She looks pissed, I know. I would be too if someone was messing with my anal glands and putting rubber banded bows on my ears. But I digress.

I figured that with the hubby gone I might as well buckle down and write like crazy. I'm a bit behind on my goals for the novel...however I'm doing good on my Phaze Samba submission.

However, after I got to thinking about it, I'm not going to have that much extra time. One evening will be spent shampooing the carpet in our home to get rid of any traces of puppy piss. Another evening will be spent in a laundrymat washing our comforter...to, again, get rid of any traces of puppy piss. A third evening will be spent cleaning our place, I've been slacking lately. Okay, that's three of four evenings down. I guess I can spend the fourth evening writing.

Yeah, it's gonna be a great week.

Review: "Dark Lover" & "Lover Eternal" by J.R. Ward

Wow.

That's what comes to mind when I think of these two books that I read in the past two days. I couldn't put them down, they were that good.

I originally didn't have a strong desire to read them right now. I kept hearing how fantastic they were and I'm the type who waits to read things that people go gaga over because I don't want to jump on the bandwagon. Same reason I haven't read Harry Potter yet. Blasphemy, I know.

But, I was between books and had those sitting in my TBR pile. Hot damn they are good! I loved them both, but Lover Eternal captivated me more. I am in love with these men. Yes, they're fictional but there J.R.'s characterization seems so real. I wish I were a shellan, that's for damn sure. They're so protective and entrhalled by their women.

And although the men have similar language and slang, she's done a fantastic job of making them unique characters. They sound like men, not a woman writing like a man. Plus, her modern incorporation into vampires is wonderful - especially the rap music. I love that. Usually people think heavy metal or goth with vampires, not rap.

These men are vicious and rowdy, but they're still likeable. Not to mention the women are great too. I actually like them, which I can't say for many heroines I read. I generally read for the heroes.

I know I'm rambling, but there are a lot of things running through my head. My first emotion is pure jealousy that I didn't think these up on my own. Dammit. That's quickly followed by happiness that I can read such great stories. At least they exist. The third emotion is need. I NEED to get a hold of Lover Awakened. I NEED to read Zsadist's story. I mean NOW. What do I have to do to get an ARC of that book? Tell me J.R., please tell me. September 5 is too far away.

I wholeheartedly recommend these books. The characters are fantastic, the mythology and the world is original and interesting, and the voice and writing is superb. I'm a devoted fan. Forever. Go buy these books, you won't regret it.

On second thought, don't buy them until the end of August because, like me, you'll be infuriated that you can't get a hold of Zsadist's story until September. You won't want to wait. Trust me on that. Lover Eternal leads into Zsadist's story so you're going to want to keep going.

Quizzes

I'm sick so I'm taking the easy way out on posting today. Here are some fun quizzes :-)

You Are 12% Abnormal

You are at low risk for being a psychopath. It is unlikely that you have no soul. You are at low risk for having a borderline personality. It is unlikely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at medium risk for having a social phobia. It is somewhat likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

Only medium on the social phobia? Huh.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Uh...I'm Scottish...yikes! There's got to be something wrong with the test...

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Leanne Lou Hill

Hillbilly Name Generator

I love it. I now have an alter ego...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you can get or discard anytime. You're feeling self centered.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

There you have it, folks.

New Web site!

My domain transfer finally went through(and my e-mail is working again) - check out my redesigned site. I also have a contest going for a $25 Amazon gift certificate. If you are familiar with modern vampire films, you're good to go! Even if you're not, enter anyway for a chance to win.

Outline your novel in 30 minutes

Okay, not a honkin' 4k outline or anything. But this is an easy way to get the major points together. It's especially good if you aren't in to full outlines, but need a little guidance to get going without getting stuck panstering.

I've hit a block in my current novel, and this has helped me a bit. I reached a point where I knew where I wanted to begin, where I wanted to end up, but not sure what to throw in the middle. Kind of important stuff.

Here 'tis with an example for each:

OUTLINE YOUR NOVEL IN THIRTY MINUTES
c. 1998 by Alicia Rasley

1. At the start of your book, what distinguishes your protagonist from other people? What central strength does he/she have? How does this strength get him/her into trouble?
Strength: Sue's really good at problem solving. Trouble: She's always being brought in at the last minute to clean up other people's messes.

2. When the novel opens, what is s/he on the brink of doing? Why does he/she say she's going to do this? What does this action represent for the protagonist?
She's just moved into a new town and has volunteered to do the stage managing for the community theater. She says that theater work is fun, and she'll get to make new friends. This represents her attempt to become part of the new community.

3. What external situation will require the protagonist's participation throughout the course of the book? How does this connect with #2? Does it help or interfere? Can you build in a deadline for extra tension?
The community theater's director absconds with all their money. If they don't somehow pull off an economical but successful Hamlet performance in a week, the community theater will go bankrupt.

4. What is the protagonist's goal for the time the book covers? How does this connect with the external situation? Or does the external situation divert the protagonist from his/her goal? Why does the protagonist SAY he/she wants the goal? Is there a deeper motivation as yet unknown to him/her?
She wants to participate in a successful theater presentation. She says it's because it will be good for the community. A deeper motivation is that she needs to be part of a cohesive group or she'll be lonely and lost. All the problems in the external situation will be obstacles to participating in a successful presentation.

5. What problem (external conflict) does the external situation present? How can the protagonist eventually resolve that conflict?
She is dragooned into taking over direction of the community theater's performance of Hamlet one week before the first show, and she's never directed a play before. She's a good problem-solver, and she will use these skills to tackle all the theater's problems.

6. List at least three obstacles in the way of her resolving this conflict. Make one an internal obstacle/conflict.
There's not enough money for costumes.
None of the other actors think Sue can replace the gifted Stockinsky, the former director.
The actor playing Hamlet is a drunk.
Five days before the performance, her mother announces she hates her nursing home and wants to move in with Sue.
The theater's roof is leaking and rain is predicted for performance night.
Internal-- Sue's need to be part of a group and be loved makes it hard for her to take charge and say no.

7. How will the protagonist grow because of confronting these obstacles?
When she has to fire the drunken Hamlet and replace him with a young inexperienced understudy, she learns to trust her judgment, assert her authority, and risk alienating her fellows. That is, she becomes a leader.

8. What do you want to happen at the end of the book?
I want the production to be successful despite some last-minute problems, and I want her to accept her position as leader.

9. What will have to happen to the protagonist against his/her will to make your ending come about?
Sue will have to get the courage to fire the popular Hamlet actor and still use her people skills to rally the shocked cast. She'll also have to inspire the understudy to a great performance.

I found #6 to be most helpful in what I'm currently struggling with. I've been looking at it as needing to create a series of events that lead to each other. Instead, I just need to think of a few key obstacles, then guide them together. The word 'obstacles' really helped me too. In other help tips I've found they're called turning points or plot twists. But really, they're obstacles.

Visit the site for more info on how to incorporate what you answered into the outline.

You HAVE to read this

Check this out over at P.C. Cast's blog. It's too funny!

I also saw two stories today about students putting ex-lax in their teachers food and drinks. WTF? Granted, there were a few teachers I would have liked to give ex-lax laced cookies too, but I didn't actually do it! Let alone my mom didn't offer to help. Well, if I asked...again...there were a couple of teachers... Now if we're talking about college professors, that's a whole 'nother ball game ;-) Some of those math professors I had in college! Ex-lax would have been the only way to get rid off the stick up their ass.

Editor/agent appts

Only 13 days until RWA opens the editor/agent appointments for nationals to the general membership. I looked at the list of editors and agents - I'm not sure who to try for! Especially with the editors, I believe only one of them is a print publisher that accepts the type of paranormal I'm working on. I don't want to submit CtLBtH to an e-publisher yet. If I can't get into that editor, I will probably skip that portion. I don't want to waste the time of an editor, or take an opening from a member, if it wouldn't be a good fit.

Now the agent appointments are harder. There are several agents I would like to meet with, about a third marked paranormal as a genre they are interested in. I figure the best plan of attack is to choose my top five, in order. Then when the time comes to register, I'll have back-ups prepared in case my top choice(s) are already booked.

Although I haven't looked that hard at agents as I'm not at the point of submitting, I think I may have found one I really, really want to work with. She reps several of my favorite authors, all in the same genre and each have a different publisher for their paranormal books. Needless to say she seems to be well connected when it comes to pushing paranormals. Not to mention these authors publish non-paranormals too, which is something I want to do. Unfortunately she's not on the agent list for nationals. Hopefully she'll be there at least, maybe I can introduce myself and tell her how awesome her authors are.

Off to try and meet my writing goals for the week...

Goals - no time like the present

Sorry for the boring post, a lot of this is for my own benefit. :-) I've decided to make some writing goals for several reasons.
1) Creating them gives me definitive deadlines to work toward
2) Posting them on the blog forces me to be accountable for the ones that are in my control
3) It gives me reasons to use some fantastic excuses when I don't reach them - just kidding!
4) I really like making lists, especially bulleted lists. It's a passion of mine. I've even made a list of lists I've needed to make. Muhahaha!

Okay, here are my goals as of today. I know, I know. This looks INSANE. But, I'd rather push for insane, I'll get more results that way. Now that my puppy needs less maintenance, I can get back to writing in the evenings. I don't have kids and my job is pretty steady and 8-5 most of the time, with some freelancing, so I really should have the time to do this.

I can write anywhere from 1-2k per hour, depending on if I already know what's going to happen (need to outline...). That means 10-20 hours per week on WIP, thus averaging 1.5-3 hours per day heavy on the weekends. Given a one hour lunch break most days, this seems doable. First I need to trim down my reading. I'm reading 1-3 books a week! Then I need to squeeze in time for some shorter works to submit for e-publishing.

May
10: Complete short story and submit to Freya's Bower for anthology (fingers crossed!)
12: Outline major plot points of "Cursed to Hate, Bound to Love (CtHBtL)" - no more panstering
14: 30k on CtHBtL
15: Complete first draft of short story for Phaze HeatSheet Samba submission
21: 50k on CtHBtL
28: 70k on CtHBtL
31: Complete first drafts of stories for themed anthology e-pub submission & Phaze Samba submission

June
4: Reach 90k on CtHBtL & submit Phaza Samba story
11: Finish draft one of CtHBtL
15: Finish three stories for anthology
25: Begin revising CtHBtL
30: Submit anthology of short stories to e-publishers

July
25: Complete CtHBtL in time for RWA Nationals (and the Write-On! deadline for a nifty t-shirt!)

August
1: Write synopsis and query letters
7: Begin book two in Last Hunter Series or another book - haven't decided if it looks better (to agents) to be working on the next in a series, or something entirely different in case an editor doesn't want the series (gulp!)
11: Send out agent queries then relax the next couple of weeks while I participate in festivities for my brother-in-laws wedding

By the end of the year I hope to have accomplished these goals:
1) Complete CtLBtH
2) Complete at least first draft of another novel
3) Be e-published in at least one short story
4) Find an agent!

Let's hope I'm still with these goals come May 31...

Romancing the blog

My Open Blog Night submission made it on Romancing the Blog today - check it out! Also, I have a new Web site coming this week. I'm just sitting on the transfer process to complete. It's purty :-)

Writing progress

I'm taking a little break from my manuscript. I hit a point and didn't know how to proceed through the next chunk of the book. So, I began writing the last chunk of the book and figured I would go back and connect the two together. That's been working pretty good, but I keep getting frustrated about that missing part.
In order to keep the writing alive, I've worked on a couple of short stories. This is pretty odd for me, I've never been good at short stories or had much of a desire to write them. But, I figured they would be good practice for developing character arcs, and writing is writing, right?

On Saturday while I was working at a registration table for a work event, I pulled out my trusty little Alphasmart and wrote 5,000 words on a short story. Bam! That felt pretty damn good. I'm hoping to write a few of them for a themed anthology I could submit to an e-publisher.

I also learned of an opportunity to submit a story based on a certain topic for a specific anthology. So, I'm writing a story for that. In the first chunk of my lunch break today, I wrote 400 words. The story can be between 3k and 10k. I've got an idea of what's going to happen so I'm going to write it out then flesh it out if need be.

I'm really liking the idea of writing some short stories and possibly even novellas. I think it will keep things fresh and exciting while I'm working on novels, so I don't get too bogged down.

And, to be honest, assuming I can actually get e-published - the instant gratification would be really nice! That would be a great boost and motivation to keep working on longer works.

All in all writing is going well and I'm feeling good about it.

Hilarious joke

Women are evil by nature (courtesy of kitt4444 on Katie MacAlister's message board)
A woman went up to the bar in a quiet rural pub. She gestured alluringly to the bartender who approached her immediately. She signaled that he should bring his face closer to hers. As he did, she gently caressed his full beard.

"Are you the manager?" she asked, softly stroking his face with both hands.

"Actually, no," he replied.

"Can you get him for me? I need to speak to him," she said, running her hands beyond his beard and into his hair.

"I'm afraid I can't," breathed the bartender. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes. I need for you to give him a message," she continued, running her forefinger across the bartender's lips and slyly popping a couple of her fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them gently.

"What should I tell him?" the bartender managed to say.

"Tell him," she whispered, "there's no toilet paper, hand soap, or paper towels in the ladies room!"

Review: "Date Me, Baby, One More Time" by Stephanie Rowe

Recently I won a copy of Stephanie Rowe's latest book, "Date Me, Baby, One More Time" from multi-author blog The Midnight Hour.

In two words: buy it!

It's a great story. Here's the blurb from Stephanie's Web site.

IF YOU THINK LIFE IS COMPLICATED, TRY IMMORTALITY.

Justine Bennett is cursing her life. She’s the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth, she hasn’t left the house in ages, and it’s been over 200 years since she’s had sex. Oh, and the Goblet has shape shifted into an espresso machine. Not exactly the stuff grand destiny is made of...

Derek LaValle is worried. Due to a family curse, he’ll be dead in the space of a week unless he finds the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth and beheads her. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she wasn’t so sexy, smart... and ready to behead him right back.

Derek LaValle is worried. Due to a family curse, he’ll be dead in the space of a week unless he finds the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth and beheads her. Which wouldn’t be a problem if she wasn’t so sexy, smart... and ready to behead him right back.

If you feel a bit lost by the excerpt, such as who the people are and what's going on, don't worry. That's not the opening of the book. You'll understand things very well when you reach the excerpt, and you'll be very excited to reach it once you've met the characters ;-)

The best part about the book was the conflict. The conflict was apparent right away, there was no "coincidental conflicts" that are hard to believe. The characters were straightforward with their feelings and intentions, which made the conflict even better!

I also loved how all the loose ends were tied up by the end of the book. I hate when I read a book and have some questions remaining that weren't answered, and it's not a cliffhanger so there's no reason for them not to have been. I digress.

The characters are great too - I rooted for them throughout. Lastly, I would like to add that I never thought I'd have the hots for Satan. You read me right, Satan. You'll just have to get the book to find out what I'm talking about!

Atlanta, here I come!

It's official, I'm going to the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Atlanta this July. Woohoo! I know what you're thinking, "But Lisa, you said you were going to the Romantic Times conference in May, but you're not. How can I believe it when you'll say you're going to this one?"

Why must you nag me all the time? Just joking :-) I love it when you nag.

There are a few reasons why I'm definitely going to this conference:
1) It's about half the cost of the RT conference. About $350 for a hotel and about $350 for the registration. I'm hoping to use a free airline ticket to Birmingham to catch a ride with someone to Atlanta. Stupid Southwest doesn't fly to Atlanta.

2) I have a kick-ass roommate, Elisabeth Naughton. We're in the same RWA chapter. I know we'll have a great time, and she's been to one before so I can milk her for good info :-)

3) It's about time I meet some of these people I've been talking to online for months.

4) It gives me a definitive deadline to have a polished version of my MS ready, in case I happen to meet any agents or editors.

5) Which leads me to: agent/editor appointments!

This will be great. Who else is going?

E-publishing

I've decided to try submitting to e-publishing. I understand the readership is probably smaller than most print runs, but the experience of going through some sort of an editing process, having deadlines, doing self-promotion, etc, would be invaluable.

At this point I'm going to try writing some short stories or novellas and submitting them - romance to the softest side of erotica. I think writing shorter bits will help me concentrate on character development at a quicker rate.

The idea hadn't occurred to me until I recently saw an opportunity to send in a writing sample for an opportunity to publish a couple of short stories. Although I wasn't accepted in the end, I sent in one sample and they asked for more before turning me down. That's one step right? Not a flat out rejection.

We'll see how it goes. I wrote a short story (not any bit of editing though) a few months back that could be fun to submit. I'll try polishing it up and see where it takes me. At this point I'm trying to find e-publishers that accept less-than-novel length romance fiction.

This revelation brought on the internal debate of pseudonym or no pseudonym. If I write any form of erotica, will it hurt any potential romance readership if I get published? Or does it work best to build awarness of one name, no matter the genre (unless it's YA or inspirational)? So many things to ponder while I procrastinate on writing.

URL comment problem fixed

I finally got help to fix the problem of URL's not appearing when someone leaves their Web site link with their comments on a post. Thankfully it's fixed so anyone who leaves a Web site with their comment will become a link. Woohoo! I'm sorry that none of you have been linked, but they're up there now. Off to play with the puppy... :-)