Editing is for May :)

So, I had to get a WP ID in order to make the stats function on my website work. Instead of just getting an ID I got a blog so I could follow some of the WP peeps I've been wanting to follow and can't through google feed anymore. Well, I was unable to. But, I have the blog, it's the same addy as this one, but instead of blogspot.com it's wordpress.com and I'll be doing duplicate blogs on both. I really dislike WordPress, but since Blogger changed, I really dislike it as well. So might as well join up, eh?

I'm very excited about all that's happening in my writer life. I'm feeling so much better after rereading a couple of books. One thing, I'm waiting for editor friend of mine to post her head hopping versus omniscient POV post then I'm going to link the shit crap out of it.

I get frustrated when I see head hopping comments because sometimes, I KNOW it's an omniscient POV book. That makes it hard as a writer. It's like the passive voice thing. Yeah, we want to avoid 'was' but 'was' is not passive verb in a lot of cases. It's context you have to look at for passive voice. Same with omniscient and head hopping. just cuz you can see more than one person's thoughts, doesn't mean they're head hopping. They're telling a full story!

Grrr. I keep running into that as I'm writing cuz of my own omniscient one I'm editing right now. I started trying to fix the back and forth when I realized I'd sent it to an editor and head hopping was not an issue, ie it is omniscient. So, at least until I finish this, I'm going to be angry about all the head hopping comments/blogs etc that I read that made it hard for me to remember the difference between that and omniscient.  A lot of well off, bestseller writers, write omniscient. (Kay Hooper for example)

Also, did I mention that my "secret" project was accepted J It's a short, partially inspired by my friend Branli on twitter and a drunken night w/ him and his friend Jon, via twitter! I love my twitter friends!! They really do inspire me more than many people can understand.

On the mother front, had a wonderful time watching my son at baseball practice last night, even if it was across a soccer field. He's improved so much! That was only his fourth practice and he's hitting it really far!! Like to the fences J Now if I could get him to work on his school work as hard…

Edward had a blast walking all over with his dad while they went camping J So I think both boys had a good time the last couple of days. Makes it harder to get them moving on to school though. That's what's happening right now. They've done home ec (a lesson on making tomato soup out of paste and how to whip butter) and had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. But now comes the boring work…

Isaac is on a terror this AM. He's getting into EVERYTHING so I think he and I will have to do a round of Old McDonald's Farm and work on his animal recognition. Wish me luck as this is a new song I introduced to him during baseball practice last night.

I have felt icky when waking up these last few mornings, but I still ran on Monday with the boys (they did 1.1, I did 2.0)  and today. I'm so glad I went today. I did a personal best of 2.5 miles!! I'm so excited. When I started the couch to 5k (approx 3 miles) I didn't even think I could run a mile, but I did 1.2 miles the first day! Now, I'm consistently 2 or over, so I don't think that going for 5 miles by end of summer is out of the question. I've lost weight, although I have no idea how much, and inches. I know it's inches cuz I can't wear some clothes without them falling off. It was rather distracting this morning, trying to hold my britches up. :P

Yesterday, I had a very productive day on the writing front, editing the short story that's out on Smashwords, then getting it out on kindle with the grammar issues fixed. I also edited 70 pages on another story I'm getting ready for submission. I'm trying to get all these loose ends done so I can concentrate on my novel for Splintered Lands. May do the NaNoWriMo camp in June. That'll help me focus on words again. Anyways, with all I've learned editing The Ulfric's Mate, and Barely There, I've been on a major editing kick. Works great if you have things to edit like I do, but makes it hard for word count as my internal editor is a lot harder to turn off.

I have lots to edit, so I'm kind of making May my edit month here. I'll rerelease Cerisa's Quest (Fantasy) and The Winds of Fire (militaristic romance thriller) by end of June, I think. Hoping to have Cerisa's Quest in next two weeks. It needs the least amount of work. I'm going to go through The Winds of Fire. I'd intended on it being omniscient limited and someone said I was head hopping, so I changed things. Now have to do a little more research into the limited aspect and reread a really good blog, then edit it how I'd intended it to be. Have to find that blog first :P LOL So off to work I go! Hi ho, hi ho…

November Featured Writers and a special Promo

Tomorrow is a special day. First of all, it's my youngest son's birthday!! *pauses while you all sing him Happy Birthday, PS his name is Isaac* He turns three. Something that hit me today (it may have hit me last year but if so, I've forgotten) is that I did my first Nano on my son's first birthday. So as along as I do this every year, then the number of years will be the same as the year my son turns. My first year, he was one, my second year, he turned two. See where I'm going with this? lol

As I'm busier than a one legged man in a three legged race, I didn't push for new authors this month, so only found one new one at this late date. Her name is Carolyn Arnold, another author I follow on twitter. She has been promoting her upcoming release by tweeting teasers out of the new release. I asked her to tell me something quirky about herself, and she said that sometimes, she'll end up flicking a light switch repeatedly. The light goes off, but is it really out???

She is due to release a new this month, and a sequel to her first in December. So I think it's a great time to showcase her first book. Also, I'm planning on helping her with her release with a blogspot. So, if you're looking for a good book in her genre that you can soon follow up with the sequel, Carolyn's mysteries maybe just the thing!

Carolyn Arnold is the author of several novels in the mystery, thriller and suspense genres.  TIES THAT BIND, the first in a police procedural mystery series surrounding Detective Madison Knight, was her debut novel and published May 2011.

Carolyn was born in 1976 in the rural town of Picton, Ontario.  While her passion for writing dates back to her teen years, it wasn’t until 2008 that she completed her first novel.  She lives with her husband and her two beagles in Southwestern Ontario.

For more information on her books and upcoming releases, please visit her official website http://carolynarnold.net/

Ties that Bind can be found on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/146352210X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_alp_Y3gbob159B5D4

And on Smashwords here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62102

And if you'd like to follow the author's blog and see what she's up to, you can go here: http://sassy3421.blogspot.com/

Next up, another author from twitter, Naty Matos. She's been unfailingly kind and has shown great, ture interest in others :) a good way to catch my eye! She was ever so kind to fill in a last minute hole left from my busy schedule and lack of true planning :) She tends to listen to 80's in both English and Spanish while writing. I give you our latest featured writer:

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.
She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.
Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. 

She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

The devotionals inside Growth Lessons are based on the life experiences of the author, questions from fellow Christians and the Word of God. They will motivate you in times of trouble and it may answer some of your questions about how to live your every day life in Christ.

It's a great way for new Christians to figure out the Christian Lifestyle, but also a great tool for seasoned believers to afirm their faith. It will serve as a reminder of the little things we sometimes miss in our journey with the Lord.   

To find her book you can go to

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97235

And Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Growth-Lessons-ebook/dp/B005WZ1BGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320126689&sr=8-1

And my own book, which will have it's own official Launch Party in about a month or so, is available. My first print review is being done. In the meantime, you can buy it ;) I already have a special promotion for those who buy the print version from Lulu.

HOWEVER, since the first of November is my son's birthday, I'm giving away gifts! That's right, for all of you who have read to the bottom of my featured writers post today, I'm giving you the code to recieve a Smashwords copy of Cerisa's Quest FOR FREE!!!!

Go here, add it to your shopping cart then put in the code, WD94D! This is a limited number of copies offer. IN other words, first come first served, then I'm turning off the coupon :D So GO NOW if you want a free copy of an Epic Fantasy.

And the cover is

AWESOME. I love it :) It's finished way faster than I could have imagined. Which is wonderful for me. I was able to revamp Winds of Fire's Print cover, and I'm going to use it on the ecover as well. My MIL is almost finished with her painstakingly accurate edits (I lost my other file and the wrong one was uploaded :( could have been worst...I could have liked the cover :P) so I can remarket it with the appropriate changes.

I'm having a hard day medially with my allergies. Learned that their was an atmospheric inversion here...no freaking wonder I can't breathe! But, I did get some organising and thought done on my shorts! Best be getting to writing. Saturday, I'm writing and painting :)

Tomorrow, I'm finding the dad-blasted benadryl. I have looked high and low, but tomorrow, I'll find it. I have to.

Anyway, back to the cover...I put it up on smashwords here and on kindle, which should show up tomorrow. Still messing with formatting on smashwords (they don't like paragraph indenting and a few other minor things, but wanted a running start at my print release, which will be the official release :) In the meantime, I'll just keep plugging away at formatting and my other writing bits :D

Well, I'm going for it. I'm going to self pub THAT book which has been known as Cerisa and the Dragon, quest for Riverhand & various & sundry other ideas. The final verdict? Cerisa's Quest. Why final? Cuz I've paid (paypal gods willing!) for my cover to be done for ebook and print versions :) This one is really clean and beyond the levels of my other works :)

I'll let everyone know about updates as they happen! But it'll be quick. I guess that's one good silver lining to my car being out. Couldn't go to work yesterday (was sorely needed) or today! (still needed ;( but what is a girl to do!) I'll keep working on my writing stuff. I got my meds on Monday thanks to friend Amanda driving me there to get them.  That'll help me get my focus for the others! Hopefully by Saturday :)

I still have that painting to do. It's driving me crazy. I hate messing up. Although, to be fair, the painting looks cool, just not what it's supposed to look like LOL So, have a larger canvas now. Maybe I'll find the energy to paint today :)

ON another note, we're getting so close to NaNo time!! Have a mentioned I'm excited? whoohooo

blogging

So, in my blogging, I've tried to walk this line where I kept most of this about writing, or relate it to writing. Most of the time, this hasn't really been hard since writing is a passion for me. Sometimes though, it was a mood killer.

I tried to make the blog more and more about writing, trying to keep less of the personal end of things out etc. It wasn't working for me. I wrote this blog to help myself, and others, who are struggling as moms, wifes, and day jobbers, to also get time for themselves and their passions. Recently, someone (The great Kristen Lamb) pointed out that unless your trying to platform yourself as a writer who writes for writers, you'll be targeting the wrong people. And there goes the lightbulb.

I'm still going to write about writing. I mean, it's what's important, but I'm going to find me a hook...was thinking of doing a crochet/craft type hook (yes pun intended :D) but not sure I could write about it in a way that reflects how I write my stories. So while I search for that ever elusive hook, I'll keep on as I started--writing for those people out there struggling to find time for their passions. Writing is only the tip of the iceberg.

I think I've mentioned before, but years ago, as in 12 :) I was a realtor. Yep that was what I was doing when I married my husband. And now, my husband's aunt has offered me a job as her assistant. I may end up licensing all over again. Wouldn't that be an interesting circle. What's really funny is that I quit my Real estate job to work at doctor's office with this same aunt.

Life is funny sometimes... And, she initially hired me (yesterday) to mostly do work from home and part time it for her and by end of day I'd been told I may end up working for more peeps as an assistant. I may end up in the office more than one day a week. This fall promises to be busy. Unless I get rich overnight for some reason (like a hundred thousand people by my books in the next week:) and move away from the wapato school district, there is no way in hell that I'm putting my kids back in school. Even if we move away I might not. It was way too stressful (see earlier reasons why me finding a job is hard) and my Down Syndrome child is getting benefits from having the boys home and learning in front of him. My husband works 10+ hour shifts, one of them on Saturday, so I'd be able to work 2 days withought any problem with sitting and the schooling. More than that, there will be some serious thinking and planning on my part. My mother inlaw has college degree so could over see their daily work if I went in one more day and I could play catch up/check their work that night. My kids know, if they don't do the minimum work I want them to do, then they have school Saturday and Sunday. State wants minimum hours and I want minimum work/results. If they don't meet those criteria they know the consenquences.

How ironic is it that I find a job that will allow for me to work from home and work around the schedule and has potential for real money right after posting about how hard that would be and how unlikely I would be to find someone who would understand about my family's health issues (including my own) and where I can do most of the work from home? LOLOL Wish me luck at organizing everything. Thankfully, I just finished a rewrite, and have a cursory editing session after CP checks for grammar errors before sending it off to the editor who requested it. (keep your fingers crossed their as well!) That means I'm on a bit of inbetween time and can spend the next week on a major learning/refresher curve for Real Estate without losing any real momentum on my writing.

I've also sent out my fantasy story to two online publishing houses so I'm on a 3-4 month wait on that as well. Perfect time for me to start a new job and learn to work it into my writing routine.

Here I go. Embarking on THE DAY JOB again. :D Move 'em out!

I did a little pimping of my books on twitter last night. I have a book out, Rebellion on Piza 7 for those who are newcomers :D It's available through Barnes and Nobles and Amazon. It was released a couple of years ago, but I ahve a rather fond attachment to it. Go buy it on Amazon. The kindle is only 1.29 :D When I get a beautiful cover I shall up the price! (I kept copyright of the book but not rights to the cover!) I'm an artist, I should be able to do something...

Anyhoot, I'm looking at actual self-publishing for my sci-fi fantasy books and maybe a short romance line. I write so much and that's partly because I READ so much. I LOVE TO READ. I READ EVERYTHING. You will find two common elements in my books-relationships (not just romantic ones) and adventure/mystery. Adventure and mystery aren't typically classified together, but the adventures I mean are the unknown, the wild, the ones that you learn something while doing. It's like it's own mystery. So if a book has done those things real well, I'll read it regardless of its genre. I have a vampire horror story I just found that started as a writing exercise from one of the blogs I followed. I have a sequel to write. I have another sci=fi to write. AND I ALREADY KNOW THE NEXT GAL NOIR STORY.

I have a fantasy to edit, a Blaze type book to edit, a paranormal to rewrite, a thriller to edit (gal friday noir) and my devil story to edit. All of those idets are going to lead to publishing!! I have to decide which one(s) are going more tradition, indie or self publishing. So many questions and information to process.

And the opinions for/against each one!! I'd like to see some discussion for and against self-publishing, indie pubs and more "traditional" pubs. What's your take on the whole thing?

Yikes it's Monday!!

Wow, I just realized it's Monday and I have a post to write :)

Updates:

Quest for Riverhand our to 2 betas now. This is the one that I edited my voice out of and am now trying to get all the lovely detail and voice back in.

Damian series: Ghost of Kristen's Past is now out to my critique partner who is helping me get past the stilted OMG an editor IS going to see this shit I had in there :) It's been back from a beta reader who is fantastic (@techsurgeons on twitter and he's a cool beans tech guy. If you need one go "see" him) And I finally incorporated the things he said--or tried to. Still have a ways to go from what I'm getting back from the CP

Gal Friday Noir series is about a third of the way finished. I'm so far behind!!

Also, I have a short to write! I sent in a query to Splintered Lands and now I get to write a short for them. I'm so excited!! Lot's going on :)

I also beta read a short this weekend which was over due by at least a week!! Between getting sick and remodeling, and my flipping internet, I feel like the universe is working against me lol. But I finally got it out to her.

One thing that cropped up in the short I read, is passive voice. I've helped other's on twitter on how to add passive voice "marking" in Word. What's funny is I can't remember off the top of my head. I have to open up a document and walk myself through the process.

These kind of self-help mechanisms are good help to the writer. I think I'm going to start another series on the mechanism of using particular programs, even bringing guest bloggers on for others that I don't use.

There are so many other ways to make mistakes, that we need to use all the help available to us for free. :) I'll let you know when I get the first few ready to go. They'll be on word as that's what I use.

What programs do you use and do you know any fancy tricks you could share on my blog in the future? Comment here and share with us which is your favorite program to use.

Friday Exerpts - fantasy

This excerpt is again from my fantasy. I'm getting it ready for smashwords and kindle to be released soon.

This is from end of first chapter. The king and queen from the Land of Drache are the parents of Lucian, our heroine's best friend.



The queen paced in her dragon form. She was a green dragon—rare among her kind—with a deep red under belly. Her scales glowed luminescent under the floating magical lights they used for scrying on other worlds and kingdoms, especially those linked to the Land of Drache by magic.

“We can’t help what Fate is asking of Cerisa. We can only offer our support. Lucian is strong, my love. With his help and the teachings of her parents, Cerisa has learned to respect other races and has grown strong in her magic.” He was anxious as well, but knew that Serena needed his comforting. He refrained from pacing—just—as even the greatness of their throne room would feel restricted if both were pacing in dragon forms.

“And Lucian can call on his older brother, Daniel, if he needs to, or any of the other Draches we have in the dimension they are currently in. We must not lose faith,” King Pythes continued, following her with his head. He was black with a red tint to his scales and underbelly. He was sleek like his wife; merely being in his presence made you cognizant of his power. The two of them often used their scrying orb, the Illessence, to watch their son and his charge, as well as her parents, whom she lived with near the small village of Glasuisce.

“The seers in times past have said that there would be untold bloodshed in Riverhand before the rightful heir to the throne reclaimed it,” King Pythes said into the silence as his wife glared at him.

“They also said Cerisa will be pivotal in these events. Events that will decide if all of the Land of Drache will continue to exist on this plane or not, or if the Old Magik will return,” she replied tightly.

“Not the current magic that is so weak it can’t carry the proper name, but real Magik.” Strong disdain laced her words. She was old enough to remember the ways and power of the Old Magik.

“Yes, but that is all they agree on. Cerisa Andersen of Glasuisce is important to us. We have known that for a long time. That is why we sent our son to protect her; she is our best hope. Already, she shows signs of having the Old Magik.”

She nodded her great maw. “Yes, that is true. However, I believe that the time foreseen is upon us, now. Lord Kyle Namred has been torturing and killing to keep his rule strong for many years. Although he has claimed the throne in the name of the missing heiress, there are still those who oppose him despite the harsh punishment they receive for their troubles.” Her voice cracked, as her agitation increased.

“I agree. There has been much bloodletting in the human realm of Riverhand as was foretold. Our people have witnessed horrifying incidents and have even been hurt on occasion. Whatever Cerisa’s role is to be, I believe it will happen soon," he agreed.
“Pythes, we must do something,” Queen Serena implored. She swished over the blue marble flooring, away from the Illessence. She changed into human form, swaying her hips. Her long, dark hair retained a green strip from her temple. A reflection of her true color.

“My love, there is nothing we can do from here.” He changed to human form to match hers. Strong strides took him quickly across the room to her. He grabbed her hand. “It is part of the checks and balances of the worlds that we are dependent upon the humans' balance. That they must have the proper authority on the throne of Riverhand in their dimension in order to exist beyond the gates of our lands is part of fate's decree for us.”

“I hate it,” she said, a rumble sounding under the words, despite her human form, emphasizing her frustration. “It is not right that in order for us to exist beyond their imagination, the humans have to do things right. They are the biggest despoilers of all intelligent races. Even the damned Orcs seem able to keep their species balanced.”

“It is not the Orcs, but those who oppose them that keeps those foul creatures in check. All races have a check and balance—someone more powerful than they are in order to keep any one race from annihilating the rest of us. Humans are fate’s choice for equalizing the scales, so to speak, whether we like it or not.”

“Decidedly not,” she said emphatically. “We are more powerful than they and we are not cruel. We are wise. We have found balance and peace in our disputes here on the Land of Drache. Why do we need them to balance us? I’m powerful enough to control any of us who aren’t willing to follow our lead. You are as well. Together, you and I have had a peaceful reign for almost a hundred years, despite the turmoil in their lands these past years.” Queen Serena said fervently.

“It was not always so. There is good and bad in every species. At least it is the humans balance us," he said. "Despite that they figured out long ago how to kill our kind despite our obvious advantages in a fight." Queen Serena waved her hands in frustration at him, as if to wipe out what he was saying. He was undaunted. "We are fortunate that they are our balance because, although it is rare, we are able to breed with the humans. The ruling family has dragon’s blood in it, as it was meant to be from the beginning as our destinies are so entwined. Fates weren’t completely cruel in setting up our balance. They made sure that our needs would be felt by the ones in charge of keeping magic alive in the lands we depend on.”

“Of course, you're right. It could have been a much less compassionate race that held our lives in the palm of their hands. I’m afraid though, Pythes. I am afraid that Cerisa may be too late in saving Riverhand. If that is the case, then it is too late for us as well.”

The king and queen looked at each other sadly. He took her other hand in his. “Do not give up hope. She is strong in the Old Magik, as well as the new; I feel it in her. She is also a warrior. We may not know why she is so important to the fate of us all, but we know that she will do her best when the time comes.”

“And if that is not enough? What then?”

He had no answer for her. He moved back to the pulpit and looked into the Illessence, hoping for a clue as to help his kind not become extinct. However, what he saw did not bring hope. At times like this, he would gladly give his right eye to be able to hear as well as see into his scrying orb. For when he looked into the clearing where his son and his son’s young charge lived, he saw something that brought terror and fear that Riverhand, and therefore the Land of Drache, was lost before the greatest war ever foretold in any of their lands in either dimension had seen in a millennia had even begun.



Please comment and tell me what you think :) Including typos!! I've edited this story so many times, (this is one I initially edited my voice and too much description out of) that my eyes start to bleed when I read it lol. Because I was putting stuff back in when editing, it's easy for me to miss the typos.

Word time :)

It's Friday and I remembered that I wanted to do excerpts on Fridays!! Let's here it for a memory success!! This is from my fantasy novel, Quest For Riverhand. I love this story and how my mage warrior (Is there a femal word for warrior??? Besides Amazon princess I mean! LOL), Cerisa, has to battle her own inner demons as well as do the right thing for her mother and the lands.

Here is an excerpt from the battle where her heart and mind align to bring her powers to their together.



The man in the bushes came out and started to circle behind her. The first one that had spoken to her and the other one on the road tried to crowd her to their partner. She pretended to ignore the one behind her, but she was aware of every foul breath he took.

“What have we here? A lost waif. Poor innocent thing is waiting the direction of a man like me. Let me take care of you, sweetie pie. I know lots of ways to keep a woman happy.” The man’s voice was as oily as his hair. She felt the adrenaline and lust coming off all of them in waves. It angered her further, but she kept in mind that if they managed to live through the fight, they still would never be capable to fulfill that threat again.

She looked up at them, her eyes dark in the confines of the hood. She looked into the eyes of the man closest to her and some of her magic and rage must have spilled out. He took an involuntary step back. She pulled back the hood that had been hiding her face and hair and the three of them gasped.

“She can’t be. He never said a word.” The fear was running higher than the lust. She found it to be a singularly curious turn in the conversation. One she hadn’t expected.

“I can’t be what?” this time when she spoke, she put the Truth Command into her voice. She had neither time nor inclination for lies. Whether it was the Truth Command or the natural authority she spoke with, they tripped over their words trying to answer her.

“You look exactly like our leader. Are you related to Lord Kyle Namred, known throughout the villages as Lord Kyle the Horrible?” Well, that told her a few things. One, she had the right men. Two, Lord Kyle was proud of the nickname the commoners had given him in pubs as a slur. And in fact, may even be fostering it. Three, they were cowards and idiots. And four, he hadn’t told them of her. Did he know? Curiously, it didn’t matter to her. Whether he knew or not, he would eventually die by her hand. It made no difference in the current fight.

“Lucian.” She put magic into her voice. She spoke in normal tones, yet the sound vibrated in the air. It resonated and moved in waves around them. The men looked at her in fright. They stared at her as if they believed she was summoning the great legendary demon himself. She smiled grimly at them and pulled out her sword.

“You are lower than filth as is the man you follow. I am his daughter by blood. My father of by love and choice was Jaren Andersen, murdered these last days by Lord Kyle Namred. He, as well as everyone riding with him, shall be held accountable. I am claiming my Right to Vengeance under the old laws. I also claim the Right to Vengeance in the name of the villagers you terrorized and tortured. For these crimes against my people and many more, you are sentenced to death.” She hadn’t known she was going to claim the old laws.

It had left her mouth in the storm of her power and she knew it to be right. She felt the binding of the claim on her soul. The land around her glowed as if recording her vow. She was bound to her word by the Old Magik of the land. There was no going back.


You like??? I can't wait until I have the cover ready and get everything working the way it's supposed to. Also, I'm working on the sequel to Rebellion on Piza 7 again as I found a copy of it. :) As most of you know, I work on more than one WIP at the same time. Never the same type of story. That helps me keep them straight LOL

So right now, my main two are the Gal Friday Noir series: Paranormal/detective type and a science fiction as my two works in progress.

I welcome any thoughts/comments on my writing :) HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

The last days of Nano

I DID IT!!! I made it through the hellish month, sans thyroid meds, which affects my energy and memory, and still wrote 50k!

I wrote at least 4k on other projects as well! I finished on the second to last day. Last year, I finished a while before, but kept writing until I had 64k and more on other projects.

But this year, I had to struggle to write. It has been the paranormal that has been really sticking it to me. Turning off the inner editor completely ended up being impossible, which slowed me down. And, I'm trying to write it for a specific house/editor that really liked the premis of a short story I wrote last year (one of the projects I was working on during Nano last year!) and I have really struggled with many issues, from boredom because I outlined too much detail and wasn't happy with the main character's state of being. It is a series so I felt he needed a better hook.

I finally found it, but my laptop was stolen :( I had about 100 words in seperate file on my computer from the original writing of the scene, so was able to save that. Plus, I knew how I wanted the first scene to go, so I was able to do it. I have more words that will be copied in, now that Nano is over. That way, I can work it into the scenes better.

Otherwise, I have previously thrown out like 60k words on this particular project making it hard to write with abandon as I had done the past year.

However, I did it :D

In other news, one of my twitter friends posted about a contest the Knight Agency was sponsering, It was held on the last day of Nano. I still made myself be up and commented. I was one of the first 125 so I got in. And I made the first cut. They ended up taking 175 entrants and I made the cut down to 30 finalists! I will find out sometime on the 8th if I made the next cut :D

I'm thrilled to have made this first cut. It is the fantasy story that I entered. One I have futzed with. The one I wrote my voice out of. Well, in putting my voice back in, I had an epiphany. After writing in the changes, I ignored those few weeks of Nano. When I re-read it, I really like my revisions! Not only did I put a voice back into my MS, I rearranged a couple of scenes and I like the impact.

So did The Knight Agency. Here's to hoping they keep liking it!

THAT story

You know? The one that I edited out my voice? Edited it so much so that one editor remarked that "your style of writing would be good for nonfiction"? THAT story? Well, I'd started a quick edit to put things back in. A couple of spots where it still hurt that I took stuff out. Added about 1800 words. Then you know what? I had to work on something else.

I finished my query workshop through CJ Redwine http://cjredwine.blogspot.com *you know, it's bad enough I can't do that fancy-schmancy hide a link under the words, but now, it won't even copy and paste the link! One of these days...* who is a fantastic and gifted query critiquer with a record number of only 3 tries. I don't remember the number from my first one. However, if you look back on my blog, you may find that I was so happy to have finally finished I may have dared to put it out there for all to see. Now, nope. Not happening.

So, with that query finished, waiting to hear back from queries, I went back to work on this one. However, before I actually opened up the file, I got word back on an art piece that I entered into forever nocturne's ezine. And you know what? They really liked it and said they had to find a story to match. So guess what? I wrote a short story to match. Now if only they like the story as much as the artwork! *bites nails*

So back to this wonderful fantasy and throwing back in those beautiful purple prose words that need to be there when you're world building. And guess what? I'll bet you can't guess. (Unless you follow me on twitter!) IT WAS GONE. AGAIN. Yep. It's happened before, despite this wonderful world of auto save and auto recover (a HUGE reason I still use Word, thank you.) I had lost it before.

During a woe is me pity party, a wonderful person @AuthoressAnon on twitter, asked if I'd sent it to anyone for critiqueing. Well, sort of I said. I sent a chapter at a time to a friend who then edited it and I, ehum, over fixed it, plus added a couple of scenes. That was gone. But then, this reminded me. Good little girl that I am, I had sent it to my husband as backup. The completed story with the edits. Yep. The day was saved. Well, that All happened again, except I kept the pity party short as I went straight to the back-ups to see if I'd sent in the corrections--and I did, of course. *Gulp*

So now, I'm putting in beautifully woven adjectives and description and when I went back through, you couldn't even tell. One more thing though. In all the rearranging I did (I moved a couple of scenes around in the beginning. mwah. Beautiful effect, I think.) I moved the description of the characters down a bit. I'll wait and see what the beta reader thinks. Then I'll worry. Now, it's there at the back of my mind as something that may come up.

Added another 1k last night. I'm jazzed. Rereading it myself and I can't hardly tell where the additions went. At least 2k words in the first 3.5 chapters and they seamlessly flow? *pats self on back* I am so relieved. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to add the necessary words without sounding stilted or contrived.

You know what else? This fantasy is what I wrote for last years NaNoWriMo. At the end of that month, it clocked in at 64k. Now it's 86+.

So for last NaNoWriMo, I wrote 64k on one book, and over 2k for another one. (I didn't clock the other one.) Talk about pressure on myself that I have to live up to. I'm thinking I may need to shoot for 70k That means, if I follow my own rule of taking 2 days off a week, I should aim at 4k a day. Definitely attainable if I put my mind to it. I had over 7k one day last year on this manuscript alone, plus some on the other. For the day I was around 8300 words. And I did hit 4-6 consistently.

So, do I have any writing buddies? Or people who want to egg me on, er, encourage me? And in case you missed it, my twitter handle is @L_Bushman now. Will be for my writing networking for ever and ever, amen. Well, maybe not that long :P

Yep, again already

I am bouncing up and down as I came to a realization. I have written three COMPLETE Novels in two and a half years. I'm still editing on a couple, but I've done it. Word count is something like this:
Rebellion on Piza 7: 71k+
Quest for Riverhand: 85,721 so far (this is one adding back in my adjectives, and world building and--you get the idea)
Winds of Fire: 59,800

Plus I've written a couple of shorts and had a few fals starts on a short I need to turn into a novel. Plus, I have about 15k on the sequel to Rebellion on Piza 7

Last night, I told my husband, "I finished a novel!" He was sorely underappreciative of what an accomplishment that was. He apparently can't decide whether he wants me to succeed sooner or later. See, I have a a few advantages.

One, I type, tested, at 69 words per minute. That's copying some unknown, usually foreign subject/names out with 1 or fewer mistakes while being timed. When it's the words coming out of my head? Wowzers. Believe me, being able to type fast is a HUGE deal for getting writing done.

Two, I have a vast array of general knowledge. This cuts down on research time for two reasons--I may already know, and if not, I have a good starting point for getting that knowledge.

Three, I have a good grasp on the English language and know most of the general rules. Some of the tricky ones I've learned from networking. I'm always learning more, but it helps to have a good grasp of grammar from the beginning.

And four, I have so many story ideas, they are fighting for supremacy. I can't quit writing. It's like once I decided to open that damn, it flooded. Not a trickle or controlled flow, it just goes. If I don't get it written down, I may not get it back.

Anyways, he seems to think it should take me years and years, yet doesn't want to wait that long for success. *Sigh* I'm simply going to keep on going and trying the way I've been doing. Learning, over learning, learning, making mistakes, learning, networking, and most of all, writing to my heart's content.

Today is another day

So, if anyone sees my handy dandy notebook with everything important in it, please contact me *looks around beesechingly* No? Well, on with it then. Update on Family:

Eldest going through a "Black Manic" No, that is not a technical term, it is my term for it. An Angry, Dark, Evil state. Instead of hyper-happy we get Doomsday-darling. UGH None of the stages are fun, but this one is hardest for me to cope with. Even when she thinks she's being nice, she's being critical.

My eldest son will be 80 before he's off grounding. Sneaking out, lying, and disobedience are not the way to mother's good graces.

My next eldest is doing better today. At least he didn't procrastinate today, so his half hour chore didn't turn into three hours.

My second-to-the-last is doing very well today. Happy change from yesterday. He is doodling away and painting with paper and left over modeling paint. Should be interesting to see the results. :D

My youngest is doing very well. Happy, not being bothered by his teeth at this moment *knocks on wood* and is extremely curious and active. A blessing every day to us. Especially since we were warned that he might not do so well when they diagnosed him with Downs Syndrome.

Writing update: Much more fun to talk about than the family angst.

I have to, as said in previous post, PUT MY VOICE BACK IN to fantasy novel. *puts head to desk multiple times. I cannot believe I allowed it to happen. And worst, that I didn't notice it happening! I got stuck on rule, rules, rules. Not happening again!

I am currently printing out my thriller that is ALMOST finished. It's been a difficult book to write. I put it away for six months or so and forgot some of the nuances. Before, it was flowing off my fingertips like water over a fall. *sigh* maybe it will come back to me. I will be reading and editing, NOT OVEREDITING, and trying to remember how it was supposed to end. Yep, you heard me. I forgot the ending. It sets up the next book, yet completes this book. I had it well figured out. Now I can't remember. Write it down? Are you crazy? I'm a writer, why would I write it down? Oh, yeah. You got me there. Let's hope that I either have an epiphany, or remember the original plan.

I also have a science fiction darling that needs to be written as it is a sequel and there are people asking for it. Get to work already, woman. *peers over shoulder with slanty eyes to make sure that wasn't hubby talking.* Nope, my inner muse is telling me in no uncertain terms to get to work and quit being so damn lazy. :D

Reminder, I know a few of you were going to try and write. I am giving the bookmarks out to anyone who tried for consistency, despite life's foibles. You know who you are. Give me a color! This includes international people. When I have it done, I will have you email me a physical addy to send it to.

Writing

I was recently rejected for "More sensory
vividness, and especially more emotional involvement with your characters
and world, might have given the story more of the magic promised by the
plotline." Now, some might be put off by this. I admit, I was disappointed, but there were good things as well. Plotline was good, obviously.

However, I learned a very good lesson here. In this particular story, I took out most of the adjectives, adverbs, and emotional stuff because I thought it would end up too flowery too "purple" for todays market. I let my voice be subdued by my extreme need to be published sooner rather than later. NO MORE. I am going to do it the way I originally wanted it (I think I took out literally 2k in mostly descriptive wording, phrases, out of the 86k it ended up.)

My MS writing style got described as very good for non-fiction. If you have followed my blog for very long, then you know that is NOT my normal "voice" and I am sorely tempted to put head to desk over and over again in frustration and anger. I OVER EDITED MY VOICE. NEVER AGAIN.

Now, I am going to go back over my MS and I'm going to put all that feeling of despair, anger, frustration, elation and world building back in and see what happens. Wish me luck.

Sleep. I found you.

Now if only my wallet would show up, I'd be peachy keen :D

Seriously, I have lost my wallet and have no clue where it has possibly gone. I know the last place I saw it and the only other place I've been before it's disappearance was noted is home. With a migraine. Needless to say, migraine's and lost wallets do not mix.

I have spent the last 5 days with severe headache and no wallet and little sleep. Last night, I slept in the neighborhood of 6.5 to 7 hours. That's like two nights worth of sleep! LOL My writing ought to explode today. Notice the blog is written??

I have beta readers and a writing partner. I'm ecstatic to be writing again with sleep and that kind of help. It is fate that I got sleep the same day my writing partner has first full day off work. Here I go!

At some point this week, I will post another excerpt from Quest for Riverhand. I am editing that one and my thriller, Winds of Fire. So maybe I will post from there as well. I am entering Winds of Fire's first 25 words (more or less) in a critique of sorts on another blog. I will post the link if I get in the first 50 :)

Have a great day everyone!

piece from fantasy book

This is healing chant from fantasy, Quest for Riverhand, as translated from Dragonspeak:

Fire surround us
Healing light be with us
Gods of Good, Gods of Chaos
Fix that broken in battle for justice
Fix that broken in search of truths
Magik of Earth flow through us
Touch this one, knit the bones
Blood heals, soul mends, heart beats.
It's very simple, but I like it. I will post greater excerpt later :D

Query of Awesmoness SCORES

I'm so excited. Everytime I think of the news I'm about to impart, my stomache gets butterflies. So what happened to make me feel like I'm in love for the first time?

My first request for partials from a reputable agency. *SQUEE Yeah, my new word LOL.

It happened earlier in the week, but I waited to post. I was barely on line yesterday, having stayed out until one in morning deconstructing the set of "HONK", which, incidently, went well. My husband can sure sing.

Anyway, they wanted 30 pages or so. I looked it over, double checking I hadn't missed anything and added a hundred words LOL and found some minor errors that I fixed. I sent it off. Yesterday, I looked over it again and found MORE minor errors. I swear that they only appear after I send things to someone who matters! Oh well, hubby's offered to go over the first fifty pages to see if their anything else. Hopefully this weekend will work for him...

In the meantime, I am following CJ Redwine's advice (see connections to her blog in earlier posts :) and keep on writing. I have to. I have too many stories in my head to stop now.

Finished!

Quest for Riverhand is polished and ready to match the Query of Awesomeness :D

It's about 20k short of what I wanted, but I like the story. There is another scene I'm contemplating adding. It would help the sub-plot and I could run a thread in that would help with the sequel, but I don't want to mess with it.

Yeah, I like the story the way it is and I know that agents/editors will peruse and say X and X and X and etcetera anyway. Might as well make the sweeping changes then and add to word count as they suggest.

Winds of Fire is very close as well. I have to revamp the beginning and wowsers the end :D Probably take a week of intense writing, but the story is very good and I'm sure I'll be able to sell it.

My paranormal is at 11k and needs at least 35k more words. A friend, Jami G. gave me a good idea how to get around the whole problem with being a pantster who already outlined the story :D Thanks, Jami!

My other paranormal is at 19k. It got the bulk of the details from the short the two paranormals are ripped from.

If you remember, (I think I posted it earlier) I sent in a short story into an editor at a publishing house that got rejected with words like make novels out of the premise, series, etc. etc. make sure it fits our house. Best rejection ever, LOL

Plus, I have Blood Traitors, the sequel to Rebellion on Piza seven to worry about now. I have to fix a couple of sequencing erros that I put into the second MS and add like 60k to it :) I have like 15-17k on it.

query of Awesomeness

Okay, I am not admitting to how many drafts this took, but after CJ's many patient (although she probably now has nightmares of my query!) comments and corrections, I got here:

Spectacular Agent/Writer’s Hopes Agency
555 Wishful Thinking
Port Fiction, PI 90009

4/10/2010

Dear Spectacular Agent of Writer’s Hopes,

Cerisa, trained as both mage and warrior, lives in exile with her family and best friend – a dragon named Lucifer. Her peaceful life is ripped apart when her father Jaren is murdered by Lord Kyle, the man who has claimed the throne of Riverhand in the name of the missing queen through bloodshed and terror. Cerisa’s plans for revenge, however, are stalled when her mother reveals two secrets that change the foundation of her life. One, her mother is the missing queen, and two, Lord Kyle is her father.
Stunned and shaken, Cerisa vows revenge, even though her strong emotion wreak havoc on her already chaotic magic. She still sets out with Lucifer to kill Lord Kyle, despite – or because of – the revelations of her mother.
After an attack that leaves her magically vulnerable, she meets Aron, her Dragonheart – a mate whose bonds strengthens the magical powers of their partners. When a simple broken wrist turns out to be infused with a dark curse, they realize that a powerful mage is helping Lord Kyle, defending him with a berserker to ensure the death of any who dare defy him. A berserker that has its sights set on Cerisa.
Lucifer and Aron help her see that in order to save herself and the rest of Riverhand, she has to turn her back on her own need for revenge as well as convince her mother to do her duty and claim the throne. Preferably before being killed by a berserker. The journey to Dublinum is full of deadly creatures and bandits. Can Cerisa get her mother there in time to save Riverhand from endless civil war?
The Quest for Riverhand is a fantasy, complete at 100,000 words. Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,
Leona Bushman

PS Formatting issues are a problem of internet, not actually how it is on document LOL

Query Workshop Original

Okay, folks. I took a workshop of awesomeness. I know, I know, I'm being redundant. But the workshop was awesome. http://queryworkshop.blogspot.com this is how you get there, be sure to mention me if you do it.

I'm posting the original here, with a sample comment. Then, I'll post the pretty one, LOL

Dear Spectacular Agent of Writer’s Hopes,
Cerisa sets out on a quest to kill the man who killed her father with her friend and dragon, Lucifer. When her mother reveals that she is the missing Queen, the whole land has been searching for and that the man, Lord Kyle, who has been pillaging and murdering in the name of the queen, is actually her father, she is torn between rage and the need to avenge the man she looked to as her father.
Cerisa is mage and a warrior. In order for all her powers to work at their greatest strength, she must have her heart and mind in alignment. She struggles with this as she wants to murder the man who murdered her father, and damn the consequences.

After an attack that leaves her magically vulnerable, she meets her Dragonheart, Aron. With the help of Lucifer and Aron, she convinces her mother to do her duty and claim the throne as she should have done years ago. They escort her on the perilous journey to the ruling of city of Dublinum.
They encounter both friends and foes as they race against time to beat Lord Kyle and his men to Dublinum and save not only their own lands, but Dragonland as well. They battle Lord Kyle and his men outside the Royal Court before Lord Kyle leaves with his men. The queen regains her throne and Cerisa becomes engaged to Aron, a Duke in Dragonland and saves the kingdoms of Riverhand and Dragonland. *******Suggest deleting this entire paragraph and instead giving us a one sentence statement or question delivering the stakes of the quest. i.e. "Can Carisa and her friends reach Dublinum in time to save the kingdom, or will the entire land be engulfed in war?" Or something along those lines. Feel free to use what works and toss the rest. :)


The Quest for Riverhand is a fantasy novel, complete at 100,000 words.

Sincerely,

Leona


******** Star is one of her many suggestions. Sometimes I felt like the V8 commercials (Duh, I could have had a V8)and other times like an old Calgon Commercial (Calgon, Take me AWAY) but mostly, I wanted chocolate and gin (but that was the fault of my fellow students. They kept talking about it!!)

I told my husband that I think I got the most out of my dollar compared to the rest of the class! LMAO I had to erase more than I wrote, but I didn't want to scare anyone off (or show you how bad it REALLY was if you don't know yourself :D)from taking her workshop.

So now that you've read LE Suck, read or re-read the shiny one :D