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.