Monday, November 30, 2009

Days 29 and 30

Not so many as I wanted As I was sick AGAIN egg burp flu this time which I thought was better last night but wasn't (only for few hours until I tried to eat again), and my husband is going into the weeks of finals and last papers, corrected portfolios, etc. I lost a lot of computer time :( Yeah, poor me LOL. I finished the nanowrimo as a winner the first time out and I'm very proud considering the hellashish month I have had.

I also finished my rewrite few days ago, which started at 15k+ words, I cut first 2 chapters, and still ended with 19k+ words. A very big month for word count for me and I'm quite proud of myself. Drum roll please tatatata........

64009 For The Quest for Riverhand I have a LOT of detail to make up and a few things to research and a few chants to make up (part of what I need research for) but I finished the novel in a month for the rough draft. WOW WOW WOW

Still in shock in case you can't tell!!!


Everyone have a happy week, because I'm not going to let anyone or anything (ie rumors, sickness) spoil my fun LOL

Sunday, November 29, 2009

day 28

I did about 1300 words> I had left my glasses somewhere and I wore my eyes out Friday not using them, giving myself headaches:( Oh well, I have them now, LOL May finish today, depending on how good baby is :) would be cool though to hit so high my first nanowrimo :P

so I started this blog 3 hours earlier and I will finish it now, LOL

I was woken up by my hubby's phone announcing that he had a text message... he got called into work. Yeah!!! Nice boost to our pay for december as they have added like five nights of work! Sememster ends the tenth so it was looking pretty bleak for a while. Now, its all good :)

PS Baby is being fussy. I hope he goes down for a nap SOON!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Day 27

I finished my rewrites and have sent them off to my family editing team :) My NanoWrimo got another 3500 words and I managed to do some cleaning on the house. I'm tired and having trouble, and I'm thinking I have a different flu bug. I'm under so much stress that if someone writes on-line that has something I swear it carries the virus right to me. That's all right because my van will be fixed soon and about a big chunk of my daily stress will be taken care of :) I miss my big old conversion van.

Well, back to the Quest for Riverhand and to trying to calm my stomache!

Anyone do the Black Friday shopping idiocy, er, I mean shopping :)

Friday, November 27, 2009

Day 26

I did nearly 1k on the rewrite and then left to go to friends house for Thanksgiving. He (Joe) was gracious enough to let us use his oven as ours doesn't work. I sent an email to the landlords asking them if there was a trick to it a few weeks back and they never replied. Oh well. It turned out well for us. The kids got to play on the game systems because Joe keeps them all upstairs and away from the kitchen/livingroom. Nate lept a bunch after eating, and I got to visit with adults :) It was nice. First time we used a precooked turkey and it went well. Lots less cooking and babysitting time :) My husband prepared the dinner. I hadn't put a lot of thought into Thanksgiving other than where we would cook the turkey and making sure we picked one up.

When we needed to go to store and figure out what we need my mind went blank on food and kept trying to write the last few scenes on my NaNoWriMo book, The Quest for Riverhand. It was rather funny to me. I ended going with him so I could look at the food and decide I wanted it.

I have to deal with SSI today, UGH. They are still showing us living where we havent lived in two months and countint the income from them! It shorted us big time in NOvember, even though the most recent paperwork I got had said they wouldn't. I have to (AGAIN) give them the copy of our lease and hopefully they will fix stuff. Having the money extra in December would be nice.

I'm going to be sure and carry my notebook with me and write my scenes while waiting! I like writing by hand, it's just slower, but who cares about slower when waiting for hours! Hopefully, I will have good numbers for today and tomorrow. Sunday, I will be kicking butt on numbers, which will roll right into Monday:)

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Day 25

Was fantastic! I'm at 13,971 for the rewrite and 54,530 for my NaNoWriMo fantasy novel. which is somewhere in the realm of 6000 words.I'm going to finish rewrites today (I think!) and help my husband retype papers that were lost when his jump drive was stolen from the college. I'm not happy with the stolen drive as it had partials of winds of fire and blood traitors. Thankfully they weren't finished. But that's okay, I don't mind helping him retype it so he can put the required portfolio together. I'm a much quicker typer and I'll be able to have my computer back for my stories that much quicker!

don't forget about the book signing on the 6th of December at the Barnes and Nobles near Ingram Park Mall. I will be signing Rebellion on Piza 7 for those who don't remember the title :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

days 23,24,

I didt it! I hit 50k! I'm so excited. I didn't have time to write a full blog, so I did a quick widget that shows me as winner. I have another one to add when I am stuck or need a typing break :) Im at 51168 by Word's word count on the NaNoWriMo project, which I now have a winning title to - It is Quest for Riverhand book 1 of course as its on ongoing adventure full of magic, dragons, and other creatures of lore.

My rewrite is at 10916! I'm very happy at the numbers, but I think I haven't made up enough to cover the large portion that was cut... Plus, I'm thinking of a couple more ideas that may require another full rewrite. We'll see. I'm going to finish this one and pass it on to MIL and hubby to read to make sure there are no glaring mistakes. While they're doing that I'll do my own read through and see how it feels.

I've already found quite a few der mistakes just by retyping passages rather than copying and pasting. Plus, I've found more places to insert bits of dialogue and action.

There was a comment on another blog that I follow. I made a coment and posted that I had 49k. The editor that runs the blog said she was waiting to see if I finished my rough draft in such a way that it was a challenge - a dare if you will - so I'm going to be pushing very hard. I will take the day off tomorrow, only to help my husband edit his portfolio while he edits my works! I'm looking forward to it though because we have discovered he has a nice touch on writing essays. I actually like to read his essays.

So off I go and it will probably be Saturday before I can blog again as tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Friday I'll be sitting my arse down at SSI to fix the glaring mistakes they made. It will probably take me 4+ hours...

so, with no more ado, Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 23, 2009

day 21 and 22

Went well. I didn't quite break 50k last night like I was aiming too, but it was time to spend a happy hour or two with my family. I'm at the slowest part of the book as I lay the trail leading to the climax and I'm trying not to skim through as is my want and be more detail oriented. This is not a short story, LOL As of this post I have 48099 by Microsoft Word's count. Sooooo close.

On the rewrite, I think I'm still at just under 7k as all my writing on that one was done by hand and hasn't been translated to the computer yet. I'm still in the new scene that isn't new. I'd started putting this scene in before but it was lost in the nether regions and I'm not sure how. I hadn't finished the scene before so I'm flying by the seat of my pants, you might say.

All in all it's been a good writing week despite the flu demons visiting us. I'm looking to make this one a good one as well. Maybe I can drop the kids off somewhere and write until they make it home LOL. Seriously, they have a WHOLE WEEK OFF for Thanksgiving and I'm thinking I might need to do a write in all by myself tomorrow. thinking I may have to go to Barnes and Nobles so I can see the sign that says book signing. You know, the one with my name on it so I can keep the motivation alive, :)

May the Force be with us on our endeavors today...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

you might be a writer if...

This is a repost courtesy of my friends at withcy chicks! http://witchychicks.blogspot.com

You’re listening to a Green Day song and exclaim, “Wow! I love that metaphor!”

You shrug at the teenager who shoots you a weird look at the abovementioned exclamation and say, “Well, I do."

You love having nightmares, because they give you great story ideas.

Your idea of the perfect shopping spree includes a trip to the office supply store for paper, toner and an iTunes card; a stop at Starbucks for a venti latte and a month’s supply of coffee beans; a swing into the bookstore to reload your already teetering To Be Read pile; and the miraculous discovery of an extremely comfy sweater and the perfect pair of slippers.

You talk about imaginary people like they’re real – and you know them personally.

You have a notebook in your purse, your backpack, your laptop case, your glove compartment and every single room of your house – maybe even the bathroom.

You ask yourself questions out loud, then answer them. Because, hey. The cats are asleep and who else will talk to you?

You collect whiteboards, dry-erase pens, binders and bulletin boards instead of shoes.

Your family doesn’t ask what CD you’re playing in the car. They ask, “Which book is this playlist for?”

You give yourself an hour or so to be pissed, sad or frustrated when another rejection, bad review or hateful, whiney e-mail comes your way. Then you get over it and get back to work.

You pass up social engagements, video games, TV shows and sometimes sleep to write. Because writers don’t talk about writing – they do it.

You might be a writer if…
you quit reading blogs and get to it. *grins*

One of the many blogs that keep me inspired and help to continue on even on days things aren't going so well. Kudos and Thanks!

Day 20

was very good day. :)I posted after 1100 words on nanowrimo project and 4300 on rewrite! That doesn't count the stuff written by hand. that will go on today's count though. I had a real doozy of a scene to add to the rewrite. I really like what it adds to the story.

Last night I had an emotional catalyst and will have more over the next few months I'm sure. I'm tired of being blamed for things I didn't do, judged (above and beyond the others) for the things I did do, and being made to feel like I can't talk about them. I'm also tired of all the lies and behind the scene bullshit. the only good thing I can say is that with each out pouring that I have, my writing gets better and the creativity is released. I have over 20 years of build up with my adoptive and birth family to work through as I've decided I'm not hiding anymore. I'll probably write 10 books in the coming months! LOL

I'm waiting for an IRS check to fix my van. I'll feel much better when I have my van back and will start cleaning house then. I have a lot to do before the end of the year, including write! I'll be glad to not be in such dire straits when we get it. We won't have any savings left after taking care of our vehicle situation and other bills (remind me to read the small print when your bank says you can 'use' three hundred dollars! We are five hundred in the hole now UGH)but at least these things will be taken care of!

Cross fingers and toes, so far today no one is sick. Maybe Texas is losing sight of us? All in all, I look forward to getting a lot of writing done, whether on computer or on paper, hasta.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Day 19

Day 19 went well! I wrote 2k more on my nanowrimo project and 2k on my rewrites. that's four thousand words for the day. As long as I can keep doing the 2k+ for the nanowrimo, I will get my rough, rough draft finished. For me that's the first big step. I love to edit (sounds terrible, but I just realized it myself) and polishing my stories has become an endeavor of love and peace for me. It's an accomplishment. I finished something and I'm proud of it whether anyone besides my family ever sees it. The problem happens when I get too stuck on self editing that I don't continue the story and lose momentum.

Having this rewrite pop up yesterday was actually fortuitous. How? you might ask when I'm in the middle of a race with the train wreck called NaNoWriMo? Well, if you remember, I tend to do better with two stories at once anyway. Plus, I get to edit the rewrite which satisfies my editing need and keeps me away from the temptation of going back through the myriad comments I've posted and fixing them NOW NOW NOW. LOL

So here's to Day 20 which has gotten off to a good start.

Live Long and Prosper...

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Days 17 and 18

Dear blog followers,

I got very sick the night before last and still feel achey. I did the dreaded thing. I blithely said to my husband, "I'm fighting this off better than the rest of you." And yep, you guessed it, I was slammed hard.Not sure how spending 18 hours getting thrown up on made me believe I wouldn't have it, but, I really didn't think I was gonna get it. Some of the side effects are too personal even for me to talk about (and I get pretty personal here) but one thing I will say. I actually threw up. A rare occurrence for me unless I've had food poisoning or I am pregnant.

Usually it translates elsewhere. I actually threw my hip into crazy spasms while making excorcist scenes look tame. Not sure if it was out, but it wasn't until I laid on my side with the baby draped across me that it quit feeling like something scraped everytime I walked.

I'm still feeling weak and a bit queasy but I felt up to writing. I did 400 words yesterday. (I know, I'm a sucker, but the days prior had been low word count and I wanted to catch up) Today, I have done 7600 so far! Helps that my husband went to work on time, that's for sure. It throws my whole day off when he doesn't!

I think today is my red letter day for the month. So slap a big red A on my day and I'm going to keep on writing. The story is going very well at this point and I don't want to lose momentum.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

day 14,15,16

Not much to say but OUCH! We got slammed with the flu here. the baby was up all night Saturday and he's too young to come close to understanding what's wrong. My 16 yr old woke up at 530 with hives all over his body. Gave him benadryl and sent him to the shower while we looked up area hospitals in case the benadryl didn't work. While printing directions/map to hospital, not only does the printer start having fits, but the internet quits working! About 8 or so, maybe 9, my eight year old gets up and throws up. Repeatedly. Right about 11, the 5 yr old gets in on the action. We had our closing show at 2, which patrick was in, until he threw up all over the stage, poor guy. Yesterday spend an hour talking to a bunch of idiots in billing until they finally let me talk to tech support. The first one was rude enough I reported her, which I usually don't do.

Finally, about 4 yesterday, I have internet and it's time to get the oldest. I had both younger boys home from school, one coughing to beat the band and the other keeping tune with his throw up. I'm sorry if you're at the gross factor at this point. If you are don't continue reading this post.

I'm next. I haven't felt well last couple days and we had the coup de grace last night with hangovers this morning. I'm so NOT feeling well. But hopefully, the worst is over and I can get back to writing!

I wrote about 1500 words (I think, through all of this, most of it Saturday morning. Course, I didn't check my previous word count. We can start again. As of now, I have 32,207. Still ahead of the game for Nanowrimo so hang on to your hats, while I try to remember where I'm at, where I was going, and how I need to get there... And no, I don't need any suggestions from the peanut gallery!

Repeat after me...

Never give up
Never give up
Never give up

Saturday, November 14, 2009

day 13

was a typical friday the 13th Is there such thing? My son woke up with his tooth bothering him bad. Can't seem to find help UGH. We're discussing options, including tying string to car and taking off with it. Baby antsy and needy and husband having more school work:( that's okay though, at least he's in school.

I'm not feeling so hot and spending way too much time in bathroom to accomplish much. I'm right around 1400 words for yesterday (finished up this morning) and I'm not finished with scene so may be able to crank out words despite having everybody and their brother here.

I'm lagging. **TIME FOR CAFFEINE** I didn't get my quota yesterday, tried to dring water since not feeling well. I gave in and drank some last night though LOL>

Back to the writing board...

Friday, November 13, 2009

Day 12

So day twelve did not go so well. I'm at 30123, and I haven't finished transcribing my chicken scratch to computer yet. Wrote some on paper while husband had the computer locked down. The rest will go on todays numbers. Nearly 1500 words, but I'm glad I got that far!! My husband has big paper due in today and my computer time was slow, slow, slow :( I printed out my story and did a sort of edit and wrote on the pages and added things. I was stuck on moving forward and couldn't have the computer anyway.

Usually, for NaNoWriMO, you don't stop to edit, but that's for people who have umpteen computers, wireless internet, and no sick kids or housework to take care of. At least I'm working on my writing when not on the computer. That's how I have to look at it. I'm just happy I passed the 30k mark as I knew that in itself was a huge marker. I only have twenty thousand words to go and if I do over a thousand on bad days, I'll make the 50k and then some. If I have days like day 11 where I do 4k, then I'm going to blow the 50 and make my 75k goal. yeah me. LOL

I wish I could count all the blogging and twitter stuff, I would have passed the 50 k mark last week!!

Okay, off to another day of sick kids, housework, and appointments. And somewhere, I will find the time to write. (I think TX hates us. :( Someone is sick almost everyday. Maybe we will finally get to put a stop to it after this last bout of flu runs its course!)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

11th day

What started out as a dismal day of words, turned into a dazzling scene that, when edited, will be great :) I posted my words at 830 pm and they show up for day 12 :( That's okay though, because it will show up today's count with it and it'll look like I wammied today LOL Yesterday's totals came in at slightly over 4k woot woot!

Baby's still fussy, hopefully he'll feel better soon. Josh came home sick from school yesterday. He was so sick, the teacher had the nurse come to him! I haven't seen him that pale since his bad asthma attacks when he ended up in hospital 8 years ago. thankfully, he's easy to take care of. Hardest part is geting him to take medication.

Wish me luck on today's word count. Schedule is not looking so hot. I will endeavor to pass 30k today though :) Word count for yesterday's end is 28660. yippy for a day that had less than a thousand around 2? I think it was. Today, I have to get my people to the main city. I'm tired of bad things happening to them on the trail. :) The bad guys aren't having any problems. They're just waiting for the mage to get rid of the berserker LOL

For all you new writers, the best thing I can tell you is to never give up. If you believe in your writing then keep writing and searching until you find someone who believes in it as much as you do. In this business persistence (continuously writing, learning, networking, etc) wins out in the end.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

tenth day

Well, 2k seems to be my lucky word count. I'm starting a trend and I don't like it. It's as if my brain says "Oh, you have 2500 words? You have enough for contest so get up and do something." Ugh. I wish I could keep writing. Today, I will move to paper if that happens. Actual word count for day 10 is just under 2400. I'm still way above the daily goal I needed to be on pace. I'm at 24565 words out of the 50k. I've finished only one third of time and I'm almost through one half of words.

However, I wanted a minimum of 75K so I'm barely on target for that goal. Must work faster. I thought about cutting my blogs down, but they seem to be helping in two ways. One, I'm holding myself accountable. And two, they've become part of a morning ritual that wakes my brain up. So, for now, I will keep updating my blog during Nanowrimo.

*yawn** time to wake up. Has anyone seen the caffeine. I know it's around here somewhere. *signs off muttering*

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

ninth day

Okay, ninth day is over, whew! Managed 3k words despite everything. My husband's schedule is different this week than it has been and it's throwing me off. Plus I lost a whole scen yesterday becasue the kids wouldn't quit fighting/yelling/rough housing. I finally told them to go play dominos and sent my oldest to referee. There was instant fighting because 8 yr old insisted 16 yr old had to play with them. It would have been nice. It took me half an hour to settle them down and I had lost the scene. Can we say livid? I explained to all of them if it happens again there will be dire consequences. tonight is supposed to be game night, and I'm tempted to cancel it because of last night's debacle.

I also threatened my eldest son and husband with all they hold dear that if that happens again, they will not see the light of day. LOL seriously, though, I said if I can't write because they won't play with the kids or take care of the issues, I'm not getting off the computer until I've met my PERSONAL goals, not the itty bitty one set by nanowrimo,but MY goal. My goal for nanowrimo is 3k but my personal goal has always been 5k and I've succeded when life hasn't interfered. Now, I'm pushing back on life and using nanowrimo to help set my habits back up. I've written as much as 8k a day. I'm a fast typist and I have a quick mind (when its working).

No more Mr. Nice Guy .... Stay tuned for our next episode of Life in the Bushman Hilton

Monday, November 9, 2009

ninth day

Finally pulled myself up by the bootstraps and got more than 100 words done in less than an hour blah!! LOL I almost had 1k before taking hubby. I was talking to him and realized the problem. I'm only working on one story. You may laugh, but I've gotten 3k on bad day and 8k on good when writing more than one story at once.

When I get stuck on one (character's aren't behaving or plot point not going where it's supposed to) I move to the other one while the first problem perculates in the back of my mind. I talked to Morgan Anderson (friend on facebook from school) and had said maybe I should do more than one, but I didn't. Try to write the 50k plus whatever I wrote on second story? I'm craazy but not that crazy. Or so I thought. I'm going to be reworking another story while doing nanowrimo. Let's see if it helps the numbers go up.

Onward and upward :)

eighth day

Only did the minimum to stay on pace, about 1600+ words. ugh I thought it would be easier with Nate and Josh home to help. Noooo just more people wanting time on the computer LOL I will have to choose other days for my big wammo on word counts to make sure the fantasy gets finished. A fantasy book is approximately twice as long as the nanowrimo requirements. I want the rough draft finished by the end of the month. GRRR.

We had afternoon show yesterday. Cut my writing day in half. :( yeah yeah bitch bitch. Okay, today is a new day. I want to get 3500 plus done today. Wish me luck. and hope I don't have to pick my son up again. He's still having a little tightness if he gets too worked up.

May the force be with us....

Sunday, November 8, 2009

seventh day

Well seventh day was short by 3000+words for my personal goal. I was four words short of 2k :( I had an epiphany about how to handle the about face I took in the book (yeah, the military jargon of the state is rubbing off).

I was a the store after dropping my kid off at Saturday school (honest he has school on sat). I was walking down the aisles looking for the lunchmeat when bam... Irealized that since I was writing in omnisicient POV I really should let the reader know a bit more about what's going on behind enemy lines. I even had an idea about how I wanted the two scenes go. do you think I had a pen? NOPE and the handheld taperecorder I bought for just such an occassion? In WA somewhere. At least I hope it is. Groan.

By the time I got home I remembered a few key points but forgot the flow/order. All I could write was Kyle and Lord McCallum talk about this or that. Or Bad happened she not killed LOL

I write out of sequence all the time. I usually write like I'm doing for NaNoWriMo, if I make myself, that is. I wrote Rebellion on Piza 7 in a month although it took about three months of editing to polish it up. I took out one plot line and inserted another. and added information where I had skipped over it.

I have a real bad habit of doing that. What does that mean for my story? It means I have to go back and write scenes I skimmed or skipped because my mind was on a different one. For instance, in Blood Traitors, sequel to Piza 7, I have the main characters looking at a body that has been murdered and the face disfigured by a futuristic weapon using lasers and stones (as in gems :P).

I originally said something like. He saw she was dead and was upset. I took one whole paragraph to say it. I think there were two sentences. My husband, the erstwhile editor, was like. "A dead body is interesting you don't describe it." or something. He said more but that's what it boiled down to.

If you read my inscription to Rebellion on Piza 7 then you know, he's the one who said MORE. He's right. So what happens in the current story? I forget to put the plot points along the way, think about them later, then write the scenes. I do not write by an outline. I have characters in my head and their story floating about, and if they live past the two hour idea thing my brain has going on, then they will harass me until their story is written.
]
Victoria and Erica (Winds of Fire, Winds of Ice) just chimed in to say, yeah, where's the rest of their story. I point at the folder with the pages printed out and say, see they are waiting for the man who says "more" to edit. That quiets them down for the moment. I've barely thought out Winds of Ice, but Winds of Fire only needs 15-25k words to be finished. Depends on how much my More editor finds to nail me on....

I made up a couple of chants last night during show. They need so much work. But you have to have chants/spells when writing about magic. Now the question is do I learn to speak Gaelic, so I know if the words actually rhyme, or do I make up my own language? I've started both to see how it feels in the story... Anybody speak Gealic?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

San Antonio Book signing

It's been confirmed. Book signing at Barnes and Noble. Dec 6.

December 6th from 2pm to 4pm for a Book signing of “Rebellion on Piza 7”.


The store address is:



Barnes & Noble Booksellers

6065 N.W. Loop 410 Suite #185

San Antonio, Tx 78238

210-522-1340

This is the one near Michaels and Ingram Park Mall. Please RSVP how many books that you may want to buy. I've said about four so far, but may end up ordering them sooner for the people from the play.

I love having a book signing during the Christmas Season.

sixth day

15579+ yeah! that's over 3k for day. I think it was 3300 total :)

Cleaned up excerpt a little bit. I have about an hour during show to sit, so I edit. Between editing done Wed rehearsal and Thurs show, I added around 2k :) and I got to feed the right brains need to critique. I also did research on languages. Right now, I'm using irish/gaelic. (Yes, I have a fascination for the language. I wish I could learn to speak it. Rebellion on Piza 7 has the bulk of foreign words in Irish. :)So I played a little on one of my breaks. I almost feel guilty about how many breaks I'm taking, but it's working.

My family gets time on computer, I get time with family, and I get research done. All that while producing approx 2x the required amount for nanowrimo. I'm proud of myself, but we are heading in to the dreaded 2nd week. Any support is helpful... chocolate, pepsi, gift cards to food places, (I HATE to cook in middle of projects. I don't like it anyother time! LOL) you know, keep the fires burning!

Thanks for the tips on the excerpt. As stated, I did get some outside of the blog as well. It's helped me watch for things as I write or edit. I found quite a few Jared's (Of 24 single spaced pages I had 5 or 6)so that was a big help. Jaren is not a word for Word, but Jared is so it is not highlighted or redlined so I have to look very closely at it.

Speaking of MILs, mine is coming after Christmas and bringing my daughter :) :D :P I'm so happy. I can't wait to see them. They are both big supporters of my writing and helpers with editing and continuity. My Mommy in law and I get along just fine, thank you. She's my biggest fan with the exception of my duaghter! Maybe they're tied, IDK but I do know that I'm very grateful and thankful. She is on my Thankful Thursday list that's for sure.

Okay, I'm off to finish my morning ritual and then its off to the races for me!

BTW my buddies are all doing great! WE'd all killed the 10k mark by Thursday! Theoretically, 10 k didn't need to be broken until end of day yesterday. Keep you posted.

Friday, November 6, 2009

fifth day

Yesterday was starting out to be a rough day for the writer in me. Lack of sleep combined with stress stalled my genius. I did some blog reading on other author's that I usually save for rewards and found a title contest. Helping her look for a title helped to get my juices flowing. If only I could get a good title for mine. Cerisa and her Dragon just isn't going to cut it. (It's the working title on NaNoWriMO which I have to change very soon as I don't want it to win with that title)

However, after 600 words, I stopped. I couldn't think. I'd found a whole new line to put in (a very good one as I needed more conflict) and still couldn't keep going. My boys were squabbling (sick kids are soooo fun NOT) the baby crying, and my internet was playing peek-a-boo with me. I finally gave up at 2 and laid down with baby. Baby and I slept for and hour, I put him to play and rested until 4. From 430 to 530 I wrote enough words that I ended up with 2k I'm over 12k for the five days!!!

I so needed that sleep. Last night during the show, I edited pages I'd printed out from Days 1-4. WOW some paragraphs were so bad that I only wrote REWORK! Other's have lots of ink around the edges and filling up the back. However, the story over all is good and remained interesting to me throughout. For me that's the hardest part. If I get bored with it, I'm sure the reader will too. I want to write books that people read and reread and never get tired of. So the fact that I've read it doesn't wash with me...

Well, back to the drawing board... or typewriter... rather the keyboard.

Oh and have two more new readers/bookowners because I took Rebellion on Piza 7 to show. SWEET

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Okay, finally got it to paste. Took me an hour and I had to go to edit html or something. Not sure what the heck is wrong.

If you see any glaring errors, or think somethings wrong, feel free to tell me. Remember, rough draft :)

Jaren shaded his eyes as he scanned the thick forest surrounding his home. Cerisa, his daughter, would be home, her dragon with her. He looked over at Kyle. Kyle may have donated his genes, but it was Jaren who had loved her and raised her. Kyle would kill her as soon as look at her. Jaren couldn’t allow her to walk into the den of murderers the clearing had turned into. Despite the training he had given her and her magic, she wasn’t ready for a fight of this magnitude.

He had to finish it before she returned. He could not allow Cerisa to go through the same trauma her mother had suffered. He lifted his sword holding it straight up and close to his body. He respired as he focused on his enemy.

“I am ready to die.”

He ran forward on the right side of the horse, slicing at Kyle’s neck. He missed. Kyle thrust his sword down through Jared’s left shoulder, pushing deep as Jared looked up at him.

“Your daughter will take the throne and you will die by her hand. Then all of Riverhand will be free.” Jaren’s words rasped at Kyle. Kyle looked stunned and fearful for the last moment of Jaren’s death. Then he dismissed the words of the dying man, signaled to his men. He turned his horse and they left in a thunder of hooves and metal.

foruth day

So yesterday was as busy as ever, but I'm starting to train myself to write write write! Even if its one sentence. Yesterday I got in 4k words!!!! I have over 10k total on my manuscript.

I've been reading agent blogs since I got serious about writing. One of the topics I noticed was the curiousity of the rush of queries in January. I have solved the problem.

Drum Roll please.

It is NaNoWriMo! Every year, for over ten years now, People have been writing rough drafts of novels in November. December they polish and edit. They get their query letters and synopsis ready. come January, they start rolling them out. Everyone edits at different speeds, so from January to March there is an influx of writers who finished that wonderful novel :P

This story threatens to be either my biggest accomplishment or my biggest disappointment. I've never written a fantasy novel before. They are intimidating in length. I'm excited about it though, which means I chose the right one to work on for National Novel Writing Month.

I will start posting excerpts. In fact, I will post one today, just remember, it is the first draft! Just want to give you a taste of what's coming...


PS My son is still reading Rebellion on Piza &. Says it would be an awesome movie LOL

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

third day results

just under 2400 words... could have been worst. I'm still shy of my personal goal, but I just couldn't write anymore.

What did yesterday bring? Husband not going to work on regular schedule, baby teething like a mad boy, and my oldest going to school hour and half early and staying two hours over Lord knew it was going to be a crazy day. Just when I though I might get some peace, My kindergartener comes home with the wrost asthma attack he's had since RSV as an infant. He isn't diagnosed so no meds at school. Great. (insert sarcasm here) I pick him up and give him treatment, make sure his flow meter improves. It does. whew! I don't have medical insurance down here and after my husbands recent illnes, I don't have any spare change either! He thre up about 530 this morning because of the harshness of his cough. Baby had fever and teething issues. Finally got him comfortable about 2 sleep by 230. Hours of sleep 3. Time writing not enough. time sleeping not enough. time going crazy too much.

On a happier note I won a signed copy of an author I've been following recently. I also won a book that hasn't been released yet last week. Those are good things!

The best thing that happened yesterday (besides Edward breathing that is!) is I got a copy of my book in the mail from Barnes and Noble. It was an incredible feeling. The pub copy I had was lost/misplaced in move to texas so it's been three months since I've held my book. It is a beautiful cover. I got my 16 yr old son to start reading it last night and he kept reading it til he fell asleep. My son hates to read (he was found in a cappage patch. I love to read! Actually, I blame his dad. His dad hates to read and makes fun of those who do. Harold, not Nathan) It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

Considering yesterdays many pitfalls, I think it went rather well. Oh, and did I mention, a good portion of my husbands homework is online? yep. You got it. And although he's supportive of my writing, homework deadlines trump my personal writing goals. Today's going to be hard as I delve into the unknown. I generally write by the seat of my pants. With the lack of sleep, I'm afraid I won't be writing much in the way of coherent thoughts...

May the force be with you and me today.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

second day end

I ended the second day with 3967 almost 2700 words! yeah. considering how busy life is, I'm very pleased. I came home from rehearsal too tired to do more than upload the words already typed. I wrote more longhand while at the laundry mat, but they will work for today. Besides, I have to decipher them, LOL That could take days, weeks, months, you know. :)

The fantasy is coming along nicely. Most of those words are first chapter and the words I'm adding will mostly be to the first chapter. Setting up the all important conflict. Will have to work on the synopsis of the work! For now its called Cerisa and Her Dragon, but I will have to think up a better title as I roll along :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

second day is

pretty good so far. I've helped put up set for the show my son and I are in anbd hubby's stage managing. I've washed dishes, fixed eggs for me n baby, checked my email, and wrote a few. And guess what? I got a response already:) My tentative date for book signing at Barnes and Noble at Ingram Park Mall in San Antonio, TX is Dec 6th at 2. She will know for sure by Friday!

OH and I've managed to write 450 words already! and I'm currentlt multi-tasking baby and writing this blog!
Wish me luck for rest of day:)

first day went...

Not bad. I ended with 1270 after the very rocky start and a birthday party for my now 1 year old. Not bad. And my hubby says its a little rough but if a story started out that way, he'd want to read more. :) Nice to hear, that's for sure. Since this is a first draft, I'd be uber surprised if it was anything but rough! So that's not an issue.

Hopefully, today will go well. :) Wish me luck. I've got an adventure to go on with many pitfalls and evil people to cause me to stumble.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

first day so far

Not an auspicious beginnning. UGH spent more time writing on facebook than my story. Not because I'm procrastinating. I wrote and then erased everything but one line. I'm not feeling well, finally caught a cold, due no doubt to the stress I'm under with the family. I think I'll take some meds, play with my kids, the youngest of which turns one today :)

Then, maybe, I'll be able to write. I'm not usually this way. My problem is I write too fast. Not today. I think I want my old problem back lol.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. Back to the drawing board for me. I am not giving up!