God, I hope so!
2011 was filled with so many highs and lows, not only in my life, but in the world in general. What will 2012 bring?
Our troops are coming home from the far corners of the globe. Lets not forget about them or their sacrifice. They deserve our gratitude. They are returning to the States and for many, their civilian jobs. If they still exist.
Remember their service. Hire the vet.
Economists are promising gas prices will hit $5.00 by summer. People are barely eking by as is, how will we afford to fuel our vehicles, the farmers their equipment? Freight costs will rise causing higher prices for the consumer. What fresh hell will this bring to the economy.
Washington has forgotten the little man, the ones they have sworn to serve. We go into another election year filled with promises that will be unfulfilled.
Do I sound pessimistic? I am. I can only change my own life...and sometimes, not even that.
For me, I plan to finish and get published at least one book this year. I've had to scale back due to my workload, but I think I can manage one. Which one remains undecided. My current WIP is a mystery rather than a romance. I've never tried my hand at mystery before, although I've certainly read enough of them.
I see 2012 as a "do over"...an opportunity for change and self discovery..
How do you see it?
2011 has brought many changes for me, most good, some...not so much. I got a job, a divorce, two manuscripts published, a new guy in my life. A few months ago, I changed jobs.I love the new job, the people I work with and the customers I see daily. I also love the pay.
So where's the bad ,you might ask.
I liked the people at my old job too. I miss them and the new job hasn't allowed me time to visit. I work LOTS of hours. The new guy decided I didn't float his boat. The worst part has been, I haven't had time to write.
I have a mild form of OCD and when I write I tend to exclude everything else. That task orientation is great, but not when you have to work around a 45 hour week. (But my boss loves me!) I am learning to adapt.
Last week I spent one of my days off, cleaning and doing domestic stuff, on the other--I WROTE! All freaking day! I wrote 7500 words. Good words! Now if I can just manage to continue in that vein I should have my first draft completed in about three months. Yea, me!
So that is my plan for the New Year. I don't make resolutions. I will continue to adapt and grow as a person and a writer. What are your plans?
Now on the subject of Christmas...
I, like many others, will be alone this holiday season. I'm used to it but that doesn't mean I like it. I don't want sympathy, I'm trying to make a point. As you hustle about buying gifts for friends and family, please pause to think of those less fortunate. Sure it's great to give to the needy, those unseen faces.
But, what about those you know.
What about the widow or widower who lives down the street? The one who talks your ear off when you meet at the mail box. Did you know they do so because they're lonely? Their children live in another state and never visit? The next time you think your ear will fall off if they say one more word, you might give them the gift of tolerance. It's a little thing for you that might mean the world to them.
The shy child, who looks longingly at you when you play ball with your kids. Have you thought to invite them to join the game? Maybe his/her parents aren't around much, or at all. As a kid I adopted my friends families because I didn't have one of my own. I wheedled my way in...and they let me. I've never forgotten the way they included me or them.
You kids out there, young and old, when was the last time you spoke to your mom or dad? When did you tell them you loved them? When did you visit last?
We are all so caught up in our own little universe we sometimes forget the very ones who brought us into the world. Without them we would not be. Show a little gratitude, kindness and love.
Charity does begin at home.
Merry Christmas all. Have a bright and wonderful New Year.
As most of you know, I'm a writer. Well, I hope you know that! Some life changes have slowed the process down to a crawl, but at the end of the day plots are still twisting through my mind.
As happens far too many times with us creative types, several ideas emerge at the same time. Currently my choices of plot bunnies to chase include a futuristic, post apocalyptic space fantasy, a remake of an old fairy-tale, a contemporary fantasy about a virginal angel trying to get laid and book #4 of my Legacy Series which is about a different sort of vampire...or more exactly the human in the midst of them.
Yes, I can hear you saying, "vampires have been done to death." I have reinvented the myth. And mine don't rust, bust, collect dust OR sparkle in the sunshine. So there!
All of these are works in progress. I need to buckle down and finish one. Which would you like to read first?
What is going on with the weather? Places that never receive rain are getting it and those of us who are used to wet, stormy springs are getting washed/blown away. No wonder some thought the world was coming to an end.
Unfortunately for some, it did. God rest their souls.
Has the weather been the cause of my absence? Could be. The power has been off a lot. Power poles were down. My already lousy dial-up has been lousier than usual.
I'm still awaiting edits on Dare to Dream but my dear friend, Lillian Grant, got hers. Look for Speak to Me of Abduction June 15th! I'll have an excerpt and cover shot here real soon on My News and Reviews Page. She has a couple of other books in the line up as well, so I'll keep you posted!
New York still has the first two manuscripts from my Legacy Series. I await their verdict.
Another friend, Amber Green has a new release via Loose Id, Kyber Run. Her cover an excerpt are up now, so go check them out!
I haven't been sitting on my . . .laurels? . . . I have been writing! I just completed Mr. Fix-it, a contemporary romance. I am polishing and prepping as I write this, preparing it for submission. Wish me luck! In the works are a Sci-Fi romance, Red Sun Rising and book #4 in my series.
See, I'm really not wasting time . . .
Those of you who follow this blog probably think of me as a self-confident individual. Well, at least I hope that is the case. I manage pretty well over the vast expanse of ether separating us, but face to face, I'm shy around strangers.
Stop laughing!
Today my local chapter of Romance Writers of America, Diamond State Romance Authors, put on a program for aspiring writers at the library branch where I happen to work and I attended. Right about now you're saying , "so? Big whoop!" To which I reply, "Please see previous paragraph."
For me it was a step forward into becoming the self possessed author I hope to one day be. Yes, I know I am about to be published and I remember well the path trod to get to this point. As a result I tend to stand in awe of anyone who has made it here as well as those brave enough to try.
Guess what? These women were all well spoken, skilled in their craft and willing to share their knowledge with us mere mortals. I don't really know why I am still surprised at this juncture, but I am. They were one and all gracious and kind. I am talking the likes of Delilah Devlin,
Myla Jackson, Layla Chase, and Elle James.
Writers are people too and some of the nicest ones around.Thanks DSRA for a wonderful program! You may have a new recruit...
That's the title to the story I am working on for National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. You'll notice the new banner below the naked guy. Stop looking at the naked guy! Geeze!
This story it a little different than my norm, meaning there are NO vampires in this novel. Instead, we have time travel. To know the rest, you have to read the book. To read the book, I must sell the book. And, before all that can happen, I must write the book. To that end I am pounding away at the keyboard. Eight Days in 21,502 words.
Channel energy this way my friends, I need it!
Yet. I try to be a good little blogger and keep my website nice and tidy but that may be asking too much for the next month at least. Why?
I start a new job tomorrow. Not a writing job, although it is sort of related. I am going to work for our local public library. Yep!
And because the fates like to do funny things with a poor mortals, next Monday starts the National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, to those in the know. I signed up.
This is a challenge to write 50,000 words in the space of a month, 30 days (29 if you plan to take off for Thanksgiving). The idea is to be so focused on word count that you don't stop to edit your work, just write, write, write! Believe it our not, most writers are their own worst critique and can't seem to finish a piece because the are continually editing what they just wrote.
Unfortunately the creative side of our brains and the analytical side do not play well together. Trust me, I found this out the hard way!
So, having to crank out 1666.66 words (about a chapter for most of us) per day, every day for a month leaves no time for the critical side of our minds to get in our way.
I am a glutton for punishment it seems. New job and a chapter a day on a brand new novel. By December 1st, I should have the makings of at least the major part of my time travel fantasy, Dare to Dream and be settled into my new job...or dead. In the meantime, bear with me.
There is only so much time in 24 hours ...like 24 hours ... and it takes me at least 6 uninterrupted to write 1666.66 words, (I have to think of the words, put them in some sort of order that makes sense and type them out okay?) then the job, and the dogs and well... something has to give way. So do not panic, I'm probably still alive.
Probably.
How many times have you said, "someday when...?" Someday when you have time, someday when you retire, someday when you are rich and famous...Okay, the last one may just be me. No, I think we all have higher aspirations at some time in our lives, to be more than we are, the dream of wonderful things yet to come. Dreaming is good, planning even better, but unless you work toward that dream it isn't likely to happen. Trust me I know.
I know it isn't easy to reach for the stars when your boss is gripping at you, the twins are teething and the water heater gave up the ghost just after you got the shampoo lathered into your hair, but, that is when you need your dreams most. When life is beating down to the dirt reach for the stars!
It is great when others believe in you. I have friends who tell me I will be the next Stephanie Meyer, only for grown-ups. I smile and say, "Oh pshaw! You're gonna give me a swelled head talkin' that sweet talk." Inside my heart grows a little bigger because they believe in my stories. But here are the cold hard facts: If I don't believe in me, their confidence won't help. I have to hang tough.
Be it fortunate or unfortunate, the writing game can often boil down to luck. The submission they read just prior to yours got a contract and they only had one slot open for your genre that period. You send your manuscript to editor a who, unbeknownst to you, got her pink slip that morning. I doubt seriously any ms is going to make an impression when she is wondering how she is going to pay her rent and feed the kitty.
Yes, it sucks, but that is the way it goes. But, do you know what? If you give up before you start it won't happen either. So write that book, invent that thing-a-ma-bob to make dog hair on the floor and upholstery disappear, a car that runs on air, whatever you have been dreaming of.
Hang on to your day job. Dreaming takes but an instant, fulfilling one can take a lifetime. Here's hoping all your dreams come true. xoxo
Fall, my favorite time of the year, has arrived.
There are many reasons I love this season: I can turn the AC off, sleep with the windows open and let Morpheus take me while listening to a coyote serenade, wear long pants comfortably and best of all EARRINGS!
Yes, I said earrings. So right about now you're asking yourself what does the season have to do with earrings. Remember what I write? Yep, books about vampires. And when is the best time of year to find anything associated with them that is not trademarked by Stephanie Meyer? Halloween! I have scored 3 pair of bat earrings so far this season. I am on a roll. And, since they are seasonal--they're cheap!
When I finished my first novel I decided to treat myself, nothing big, after all it hadn't sold. Still hasn't. But a little token to myself for work completed and better yet, a manuscript I was proud of.
I thought of and discarded a few ideas--I still want a Get Bit vanity plate-- and finally decided on earrings. I don't wear much jewelery, I live on a farm and it gets in the way, but I do wear earrings! Another famous writer of the genre gets all things fanged from her fans. I really didn't want fangs anyway. Then it hit me--BATS! And so my quest began, rather unsuccessfully--until last October.
I went with a friend to a Halloween shop looking for a costume for her dog--don't ask! There--by the door--antiqued silver vampire bats. Their outstretched wings, two inches wide. Love. Rapture. Purchase!
My favorite line from people who notice them? "Oh, I love---bats?"
Apparently they appear as eagles from afar. LOL
That was last year. This year I have found, small black enamel bats and lacy, dangley, filigree bats with matching bats on posts. I have 2 piercings per ear so I can wear both.
In some cultures bats are considered good luck. I guess we'll see. I'm wearing the filigree bats to a job interview on Saturday. What can they say? It is almost Halloween.
Today I am going to ask you a question. Feel free to respond.
When a book is set in another country, another world, or another universe, do you expect the characters to sound like they are from the good ole' USA? Think about it-- you have a big game hunter from Australia leading a band of multinational vacationers in search of lion on the plains of the Serengeti accompanied by trusted native bearers, wouldn't it seem odd if they all sounded like they came from Brooklyn? Sure it would! So why is it some editors try to Americanize every book their hands touch? I don't get it, do you?
Not all do.
We have several members from elsewhere in my critique group who have no issues with editors wanting to change their work to suite the "home town crowd".
All they ask is for the spelling to be ours so the reader won't think it's a typo. Understandable. If the book is set in England, then English slang should and will be used. If on the Delta 3 in the fourth quadrant of the Planetary Alliance, they speak Deltanese and serve Whamphor entrails each lunar solstice, so be it. Fried cat fish and mashed taters are unknown on that planet. You, the reader understand this, right? If everything is as we know it, what's the fun of reading about it.
When in Rome do as the Romans, when in Australia, cooked chook might well be on the menu. That is the way you want it, right?
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