Yes, it is me..........

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but gosh, seems like life got busy. Now things appear to be calming down and I am actually thinking of writing again. LOL

I've decided to retool chapter one of Obsession since the feedback is that the heroine is not likeable. Okay, I can hopefully change that. I have a few ideas on how to make her less self-centered and shallow.

In the meantime, while checking out punctuation issues for a review, I came across a Grammar Blog. Looks like something that me, a writer, will want to keep an eye on.

Check it out!

http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/

My new New Year's Resolution

Here it is, only the end of February and I'm amending my New Year's Resolutions. :)

Here are the revised ones:

Get my PRO status with RWA.

Write one single title per year, polish them up and submit to publishers.

Write short stories with the idea of selling to ebook publishers.

Work on my writing craft by reading writing how to books or taking classes. That way I can hone my skills until I can concentrate on writing full time.

The reason I made these decisions is with my full time job that I cannot give up since I have a good retirement plan that I can access within 8 years. I also continue to work for Romance Reviews Today (LOL, Google my name and it comes up with a LOT of review quotes) and I don't want to stop that either. Reviewing is fun, and besides, I like the boss ;-)
The past few months I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed, but only because I felt this intense pressure to crank out the stories so I can strive for publication. Okay, maybe this isn't something a publisher wants to hear, but I need to not go insane.
The last few months have seen me struggle to keep momentum. I write, but then I end up having to push it aside for a few days. You can't do that on a 100K book and keep it coherent. :( I'm also the treasurer for RWA Online and can now devote more time to it and the discussion loop.

So, you will see me continuing to write, but in a different way of achieving it.:-)

I love to write!

Tuesday Tales...The Art of Contests

Contests, contests, contests everywhere!

One thing an unpublished writer might do is enter contests. There are literally tons of contests out there and the big question is…which one?

Generally, I try to enter the ones with the most pages for the bucks. Another consideration is how the contest fits my manuscript. Finally, I look at the editor, agent, or whoever is going to be the final judge.

Lately I’ve found some contests with rules that are confusing. It’s not clear how the manuscript should be formatted, or how they want the synopsis done…
In the end, these contests lose me. 

Of course, for every contest I don’t enter, another one pops up. Luckily I’m not bent on entering every single one or as many as I can. I just want feedback.

On a side note, my writing is suffering a little. Haven’t written too much in the past few days and I’m still hung up on the final chapter. I’ll get it done…but I won’t meet my January 31 deadline.

Helloooooooooooo

Hey, I just realized I hadn't updated my blog since Dec 30th. Me bad.

Been busy lately it seems. Writing, reading and just all around busy busy. I got results back from two contests lately and no finals. One even was critical of my writing. That was a downer for me. :(
I had to make a decision on my part -- did I want to continue full steam ahead or put it all on the back burner?

I decided to hone my craft. I know my goal is to submit, but am I ready, or do I have a piece of crap? I could just submit and get my Pro status, but is that fair to the editor if it really isn't the best work? I don't know. I will have to think about it...

Planning on taking a paranormal class next month. It sounds like a good class for me, since I have one or two paranormal-type stories in my head.

Got-to-act-upon-these-ideas-in-my-head.

I will try and update this blog again in a few days.

Back Story

One of the enlightening things I’ve learned in the past few months is that you don’t want to bog down your story with too much back story. Okay, you want your readers to know what happened, but what’s the point of telling them this right off the bat??? Weave it into the natural flow of the story.

Sometimes that is better said than done. I’m one of the worst offenders in that. I will start penning a story and before I know it, I’m telling too much back story. Argggghhh!!! Bad me. I usually then end up tossing it out and it ends up cutting out part of my first chapter.

But the good thing is that it makes me a better writer in that I learn from my mistakes. Right now I’m working on a story that I keep tossing out back story, but then I have to tell myself…STOP! LOL!

Ah, just another day in the life of writing ;-)

By the way....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

My goal is to submit for 2007. Big step, but I'm ready.

Merry Christmas!

I promise a post related to writing in the few days! I have a topic I have on the back burner. I'm currently working on a Christmas themed story that I'm aiming for the short story market i.e epublishers.

In the meantime...



Patti

A final!!!!!!!

Late last night, just before I was heading to bed, I got email that I finaled in the Beacon Unpublished contest. My erotic entry is being sent to Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora's Cave for final judging.

Woohoo!!!

Thank you First Coast Romance Writers!!!!!!!!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Okay, I told myself this blog wasn't going to be a quiz place, but I saw this and had to share....


***For the twelve days of Christmas, your true love will send you:***


Twelve babies drumming
Eleven snowmen a-melting
Ten gymnasts a-leaping
Nine ladies yodeling
Eight llamas a-milking
Seven gingerbread men a-crumbling
Six kittens a-meowing
Five golden toe rings
Four calling booty calls
Three French fries
Two stale fruit cakes
And a owl in a pine tree


What Will You Get for the 12 Days of Christmas?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatwillyougetforthe12daysofchristmasquiz/

What American Accent do you have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
North Central
The South
The West
Boston
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Contests.........

I got my contest results back on the revised Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Lousy. I did lousy. In fact, one judge said my writing sucked. Eh......this is the same entry that has finaled in two contests. I know contests are subjective, but I would think the judge could've found something positive to say.

Yeah, it hurts, but I guess like submitting, you'll always have some who will love your work and others who'll hate it and I need to learn to live with the rejections.

But it's still hard to swallow.

On Friday, I did start typing out a Christmas themed short story. I know where it is headed, just not sure the path it will go.
You know how it goes with a panster. :-)So far I've done 2185 words. I am hoping to be done by Christmas. Not sure where'll I go with this. May not go anywhere, but I do want to finish it. It's a big step to finish any story you start. How many writers are there out there that have never finished a story in their life? People would be surprised at the answer.

Anyway, it's me marching onward with my writing. Gotta pick up the pieces and crank out the words.

Happpy Holidays!

A title and Researching

I finally came up with a tentative title for my paranormal yesterday afternoon while working on researching my story.

MORNING STAR

It clicked as I thought about the time of they year I was setting it in and the fact that the heroine comes from the stars. I also decided to name her Niesha. Pretty and otherwoldly name. :)

One thing that has me tied in circles is the amount of research one needs to do to plot a paranmoral. Okay, a lot of it is make believe, but you have to be somewhat realistic, or you'll lose the reader. I spent several hours online yesterday checking out certain things I need to get going on my story. I have a half sort of plot going. (This is the one where I use GMC as my guide) My goal is to start writing around Christmas since I have five days off. Well, four if you disregard Christmas Day and all the festivities. I plan on staying home and writing. No running around and scouring sales.

My other little thing I need to do is decide on length. Oh, and where am I targeting this.

I hope to have all this done by Christmas. That is in...hmm...20 days????

Wish me luck!

Not much happening..

Not really anything going on here writing wise. Since I finished up editing, I've been busy working on reviews. Now that is pretty much caught up and I've been goofing off. LOL

Tomorrow is Sunday and I may work on plotting my upcoming story some. I have the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, but what are their names? Other things I need to work out before I can write my first word.

Oh, yeah...and I need a title. :-D I used to tease Morgan over her obsessive need to have a title before she could even write a word. Well, I'm feeling the same way.

***I need a title***

Maybe I'll post a blurb and have readers come up with a possible suggestion on titles.

Stay tuned...

Paranormal Romance Anyone?

I've finally decided to make the next step and pen a paranormal romance. Yeah, maybe I'm one step behind the hot wave, but at least with my idea I can say that I don't recall actually seeing it in a book. Or, at least my version. Not giving it away, but shall see how I do at creating the 'new world' that will have to be part of it.

Another thing that I'm doing is using the Goal, Motivation and Conflict model. My hero and heroine each have their set of GMC and it ends up with them at odds with each other. In previous stories I've written, I've softened the conflict between the couple until there is one big, black moment. This time, the tension will stretch out. He has something she wants and he won't let her take it.

I'll probably target ebook publisher with this one and won't have to worry about a certain set word count. Although do need to look at publisher guidelines. Sexy or not? That is the question....

Time for me to dig up some ghosts....

Saturday Downtime

I'm three quarters way through the Thanksgiving weekend. Finished up formattig OBSESSION, but other than that, not working on writing this weekend. Been busy working hard on reviews for Romance Reviews Today.
Well...somewhat busy with that. LOL
Today I cleaned carpets and did this and that. I told Mo tonight I will probably to writing full time by January. The time off is good, considering what I've done the past six months or so.

Started OBSESSION.

Entered DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART into contests.

Went to Atlanta for the RWA conference.

Finished up OBSESSION early October.

Immediately started edits on DGBMH

Finished that end of Oct and immediately started editing OBSESSION, and then formatted it.


My next big goal is :::gulp:: doing queries, including the query letter. I've had some suggestions on where to submit.

I'll probably drive myself insane when I do...

Done!

Wow, I just realized it had been since November 11th since I posted?????????
Time flies!

Good news though. I finished the edits on OBSESSION. I changed the ending and think it works better. It also ties up a couple of things that went on during the story.

I'm happy with the changes. :)

Saturday Night Reflections

So here I sit, winding down for the night. I have a book I should be reading for review...will probably do that in a few minutes, but I thought I'd write a blog post. Where have I gone? Why aren't I posting as much?
Well...the answer can be found here.

I've become a blog mistress. I think I need a whip...
Yes, it's keeping me busy and explains why my own blog has been neglected. But I've settled down into a routine that means I spend less time on it. Which is good...means I can get back to writing. I've been editing OBSESSION the past few days. Or, rather, the second half of the manuscript. It's been going good. Finding less errors (I think) and the plot is moving along nicely. I will soon get into the dramatic black moment and then even more dark moment when my heroine is confronted by a man. That was my first foray into a suspenseful moment. I hope it works.

On a side note related to OBSESSION...the first results from the contest I entered Chapter One of it will coming in sometime in the next week or two. Will be curious to see the feedback, since it was a rather sexy chapter. :)

On closing, I wanted to share my latest find. Found this guy tonight and he just screams "hero" to me.

Sunday Saluations

Good news! Finished editing finally DGBMY! It ends at 350 pages and nearly 82,000 words. Sort of a short single title. Somebody out there has to be interested. Right?

My next project is to start back to editing OBSESSION. I lost track where I left off but I'll probably start with Chapter 9. That is halfway through. I need to get it done fairly quickly, whether I get help from my critique partnter or not. At least I would then have a workable product to send off if I get a request.

This coming Thursday I begin a four day weekend. Yeah! My mini vacation. My only plan is to get my nails done. Other than that, I'm free as a bird. :)
Oh, yeah...I do have reviews to do. The neverending reviews. LOL
But I like reviewing for Romance Reviews Today. Highly entertaining and the boss is a sweetie. But..shh..that's a secret.

Sunny Saturday

I've been sorely neglecting my blog lately. Really, I had good intentions. Just not enough time in the day to do everything. One thing I am keeping up with is the editing. Now down to the last chapter and will probably retool it a little at the end. Nah, won't change the climatic scene. That was too funny. :)
As I go through it, I'm finding less mistakes other than I needed to add dialogue. Note to newbies...thoughts are passive, talking is action.
I now have around 81,000 word...or nearly 350 pages. Not bad. It's a short single title. I also realize that I probably need to read it again to make sure I got the missed words. I have found a scattering of mistakes even though i have gone over it at least two times.
Read and read again and again to make sure the odd words or leftover words are taken out.

It's sunny here today and I'm enjoying it even if I'm indoors. I'm lucky that where my computer sits faces the sun coming in.

If I don't write a post for a few days...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Monday Monday

I had intended to write a blog post over the weekend, but totally forgot. I kept busy with this and that. Reviews, writing...actually editing. Oh, and finished up the contest entries I was judging. I spend so much time at the computer, I think I'm chained to it. LOL

On the bright side, I did do 20 pages of edits tonight and counted out that I have approximately 84 pages to go.

Hmm...should I make the end of October my goal to finish the edits? Eight days. Eight nights.

Stay tuned.

I also plan to get the blog up and presented to the public in the next day or two.

Just have to nag Terrie. ;-)

Whoops!

I realized it has been a few days since I posted. I've been busy. That's my excuse and it's the truth. I decided to at least post with an interesing thing. I'm busy at work editing DGBMH, but a new story keeps talking to me in my head.

Sigh.

Those voices won't go away. As I drove home today, I had a first chapter just about plotted out. Alas, I didn't write it down. I will though. But I leave with you the opening line that I have in my head:

Maybe she'd just serve her shoes to him on a silver platter.

Isn't that a bit catchy? LOL