Wordcount Challenge Page

Thank you to Inkygirl and her great idea to set and meet modest goals so as not to get discouraged. WHOO-HOO!

Busy weekend here, but starting Monday, I'll be writing 250 words/day. That's not a lot (one DS page), but it's something I can be successful at. Yay!

Writing Manually

I attended a wonderful workshop by Anne Randolph a few weeks ago. She extolled the advantages of writing longhand ... on paper ... with a pen! How long has it been since any of us did anything more complicated longhand than signing a check or making a grocery list? She gave us a few assignments in the workshop, and I was stunned at how differently my creative process worked. My language was somehow more fluid and colorful than when I type on my computer.

Then I spent a week with my mother down in Texas. I took my netbook but didn't use it for writing. I took a journal one of my daughters had given me for my birthday, and I wrote in it. I'm still surprised at it. Yes, it was frustrating because I type much faster than I write longhand, but then again, that was kind of the point. It gave me a chance to use better words, to enjoy the artistry of loops and dips below the line, and to think while I was writing. Pretty nifty overall.

I'll be translating that from my journal to the computer later today and then submitting it to my critique group for next week. It will be interesting to discover if they see a difference. Cool.

Write .... just write

It's time to use my writer's blog again, after all, it's been two years since I posted here with any regularity. It's time to crank up the blog writing if for no other reason than to write!

I've updated the look of my blog (very Colorado, I think), will edit down some of the old archive stuff and go to town with personal thoughts, links to interesting articles, info on writing classes, and whatever makes me think these days.

I'm starting with a link from Mark Terry's blog. I don't know Mark, I was passed the link on the RMFW email loop today and it fired me up. His article, This Writing Life: No Apologies, is great. Or rather it was great for me. Yes, on the surface it starts out sexist, but that's not what this is about. It's about writing, it's about not being perfect, or finishing today, or writing something magnificent every day. It's about being pleased that ou are writing at all.

I can SO identify with that. So with that .... I'm off to hammer out some pages and edits on my WIP.

Happy writing!

Colorado Gold 2007

Wow! What an amazing experience. Three days of workshops, panels, meals, drinks, cram courses, partying, and pitching to agents/editors. Just ... WOW! I'm still processing the barrage of information I've been accumulating, wanting to stay in touch with new friends I've made, and going through my photos to find the least incriminating. *grin* hehehe

For those who have never been to this writers' conference, I encourage you to do so in the future, particularly if you live in Colorado (though it's not just for us Rocky Mountain types). The key speakers ... C. J. Lyons, Bob Mayer, and Joan Johnston were inspiring, encouraging, and informative ... as were all the workshops I attended. My only complaint was that I couldn't attend ALL of them!

Of course, one of the most exciting aspects for me was to pitch one of my erotica pieces to Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora's Cave. She was interested and I'm brushing it up just a bit more before I send in my "first three chapters, final chapter, and 2-3 page synopsis." Excited? MOI?! You'd better believe it!!!

With any luck next year I'll be among those with the little "author" ribbon hanging on my name badge. It's certainly what I'll be working towards!

YAY ME!!!

Well, here I am at the Colorado Gold Writers' Conference and this morning I pitched a mainstream version of Baby, oh Baby to Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora's Cave. My first pitch, and I had WAAAAAY too many margaritas last night!

So ..... I've been asked for the first 3 chapters, the last chapter, and a 2-3 page synopsis!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!

She was lovely (wears great hats!) and asked all the right questions of this nervous first timer!

Now I'm going to get moving on that last minute polish and figure out how to make my one paragraph pitch into a 2-3 page synopsis! ACK!

Thank you to all those who have been cheering for me as I take this next step toward .... dare I say it .... being a published author!

Catching up

It's been a whirlwind the last two and a half months. Since May ....

• College Girl graduated from college.
• DS applied for and has been accepted at college (he starts locally next week).
• I planned not one, but TWO, surprise birthday parties for my brother; one in Las Vegas, one at his home. This absorbed a lot of my life in May & June, but we pulled it off and everyone had a GREAT time.
  
• DH & I took the fam on a "graduation celebration" cruise with friends and family in the Western Caribbean. This involved driving down to Galveston, jumping on the ship for a week and driving back.
• I stopped in Fort Worth on the return trip to spend a few days with my 93 year old grandmother who had broken her shoulder right before we left on the cruise. I ended up staying about 10 days. It's true what they say about people of that age, do not let them break a bone. They stuck this very active woman into bed which caused complications and infections and eventually pneumonia. Sadly, we lost her on August 3rd. Gratefully, though, she passed away peacefully. It's been difficult as she was such an active and vibrant woman and this was unexpected, even for someone 93 years old. As she told all of us, though, she'd been ready to go for two years but none of us would let her. We had many, many years with her, but I'm selfish, I would have liked a few more.
• School is already back in session, I'm already teaching again and trying not to panic that (no longer) College Girl is planning to move to New York in November. She also has an audition for a cruise ship the first week of September (which would be great), so please think good thoughts.
• Oh, in writing, regarding that Vampire story contest I mentioned in my last entry, I took second place. One of my prizes, the fiercely sought after Devil Duck, went on the cruise with us and had many great adventures. I will probably put together a journal for him just for the fun of it!
  

What's coming up ....

• Colorado Gold Conference, which is a writers' conference sponsored by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (of which I'm a member and the newsletter editor). I have a pitch appointment with Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora's Cave .... I'm excited and terrified. I will be pitching the mainstream rewrite of "Baby, oh Baby" (which I haven't settled on a final name for, since Baby is no longer the protagonist). It would be interesting if this turned out to be my first published work, as I only wrote it because I was so annoyed with bad paranormal pregnancy fics. *LOL* That appeals to my sense of the ironic. Wish me luck!
• The disappointment ... I didn't make the finals of the Colorado Gold new writers competition. It was a mainstream piece that really wasn't finished anyway, but still, it was disappointing. I'm waiting for the detailed critique, which I'm looking forward to. I know a lot of contests are subjective, and I'm sure this one is no different, but I just keep remembering I didn't get a role from every audition I've ever done either. My average was about 1 in 5. So, if that holds true, I'm just about due. :)
• I'm getting ready to set up lunch with a lot of local friends I haven't seen all summer, particularly my friend Jeanne Stein (whose second book, Blood Drive, second in her Anna Strong series, was a rousing success and the third in the series, The Watcher, will be coming out in November) who went to Comic-Con where she met her IDOL, Joss Whedon and was on a paranormal panel with Laurell K Hamilton and Majorie Liu. Very cool. I can't wait to hear all about it!

As for now, I have suitcases to take to the basement and a vegetable garden to look at before I settle in for some writing this afternoon. I looked at the calendar and realized in 6 weeks during summer (late June to the second week of August) I had been home a total of 9 days. ARGH! No wonder I feel like I'm behind in my life!

Yea for Vampire Writers!

My friend Jeanne Stein (author of The Becoming and the soon to be released Blood Drive) and her partner in crime (read: fellow writer), Mario Acevedo, have a blog together. Currently they are running a contest for vampire writers. Now, don't panic, all they want is the first PARAGRAPH of your vampire book! The prizes are varied and some outright silly (devil duck?) and the deadline is June 15.

This is their way of getting some traffic to their blog, so even if you are not a writer, go check them out. Both write urban vampires, I've read all their stuff (it's great), and once you've read The Harlequin, All Together Dead, and Undead & Uneasy (that all come out within weeks of each other, for some damned reason), you're going to need something else to fill in the summer, right? So check them them out.

Here's a link = Biting Edge: CONTEST!

Jeanne Stein ... The Becoming, Blood Drive, The Watcher, and she's been contracted to write two more in the Anna Strong, Vampire Bounty Hunter (she IS a vampire, she doesn't necessarily HUNT vampires *LOL*). Anna is gritty and compelling, and Jeanne is part of the "Joss Whedon is a God" club, so it wouldn't be a leap to say she's been inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, as well as Anita Blake. I really enjoyed The Becoming and I know some of you did, too. Blood Drive, the sequel, comes out June 26, The Watcher is scheduled for November 27th. Jeanne also has a story appearing in Charlaine Harris'a Anthology coming out in September, Many Bloody Returns. ((Jeanne's been busy lately!))

Mario Acevedo ... The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Blood Suckers, both stories of Felix Lopez, vampire investigator (again, he's vampire, he doesn't necessarily investigate them, though, actually, Felix does a lot of that, too).

If you don't want to make an investment in new writers just now (though these two are really terrific), be sure to check them out at your local library. I've really enjoyed both of their works.