Holy Word Count, Batman!

I had a MONSTER day today. Unfortunately, I'm not writing what I'm SUPPOSED to be writing (the second Ever After novella). Instead, I'm pounding away like a madwoman on what I shall hereafter have to refer to as my SuperSecret Sci-Fi/Futuristic (SSFF). This is a story idea I had years ago, but while I was traveling the other day, the first few chapters arrived in my head fully-formed like never before and THEY WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE.

So I'm writing the darned thing in a desperate attempt to get this future first person voice out of my head so I can write Jack and Callie's Regency story again. I just hope I get the voices out instead of making them louder and more insistent!

SSFF


And yeah, that's all in one day. I'm stunned.

I did manage to get a bit of the Ever After novella written while I was flying to Memphis. Which means I'm not really behind...yet!

Second Ever After Novella

The phone...the phone is ringing.....

If you have small kids, you might recognize that as part of the Wonderpets song...I'm including it to herald the fact that I AM DONE with the first draft of Phone Calls from the Dead.

Oh my...when I originally started plotting this one back in January, I was using First Draft in 30 Days -- unfortunately, the book's methods didn't work for me. So, when Deanna said she was starting to read Octoberfest entries, I decided I'd better get my butt in gear and start my snowflake (Randy Ingermanson's method for plotting). Three disasters later and I still wasn't quite happy with the story progression. There wasn't enough character conflict, it was all external. I needed a different "ghost"...once I got the identity of the ghost figured out, the story snowballed from there.

Not every word has been easy, but here at the end, I've been writing fast and furious -- one day I wrote over 3K! And it's finally DONE. The first draft came in at 23096 words...and with all the notes I've left for myself, I can tell I'll be adding an additional 1 to 2K in the second draft.

So yippee for me!

Am I there yet?

Nope...looks like I'm going to top 20K for the first draft. I'm not complaining...the story is shaping up to be really exciting here at the end...the pieces are coming together and a very dark ending is looming on the horizon. I will be glad to get the first draft done though...I have so many notes to myself about things to add and to check, but I'm determined not to stop the forward progress until I type THE END.



Thank goodness there was nothing on the boob tube tonight and I was able to get another stint of writing done. I'm on the last love scene...but it's too late to finish it tonight. I figure it will be 22500 but I'm keeping the target word count where it's at for now (I like seeing the over 100 percent finished)

So close and yet so far....

The mystery is all starting to fall into place...shouldn't be long now until the HEA.

Good News/Bad News

The good news is, I have a contract (or will in a few days). The bad news is, I have a contract. With like, actual deadlines. Eep!

Well, no time like the present to get started...

Second Ever After Novella


My "schedule" says I have to do 1,000 words per day five days per week to finish everything up within the time frame I'm aiming for. Obviously I haven't done that yet, but these two weekend days didn't count, so I'm actually a little "ahead."

Wish me luck!

March Madness and Spring Fever

The weather is horrible, the kids are home, and the youngest (and whiniest) is sick. Despite that, I've managed to get in a respectable word count over the past couple of days (yay, me!)



After a marathon writing stint Friday night until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday (I know, I'm a slow writer)



I have to keep reminding myself to push forward....especially as I keep wanting to go back and add in layers (you know, the second draft stuff)... so, although I did make some forward progress, much of these new words were added in the first couple of chapters. As a result, I've reassessed my final estimated word count.

A little more written...

There'd be a lot more if I could find the time. Darn it, what are school's thinking when they give children a whole week off for Spring Break! Bleh~

Progress and worry

So, I had a spurt of creativity yesterday and managed to add quite a lot of words, although I'm not completely convinced what I wrote "works." Also, I skipped over a love scene I didn't feel ready to write to get to the black moment, so I'll have to go back and build it in.

According to Matthew


I feel better about finishing by the end of the month now, but I'm not 100% sure I'm going to be happy enough with it to submit it. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess!

Just to encourage myself...

According to Matthew


Man, seeing that meter move is a major motivator! Off to add more!

Starting Over

This story was conceived as a companion to my WICKED submission Losing It. It too has an older heroine wanting to change her life.

All Meredith really wanted to do was to get away from it all. Literally. On the eve of her 40th birthday, she's decided to commit suicide. However, her dead husband is determined to have some say in the matter. So, Meredith is visited by three hunky mediums her husband hopes will show her that she has a future with the living...whether she wants it or not.

I nearly scrapped this story. I actually plotted out a different story to write for the same title. I opened the file and started reading...and realized I really liked Meredith's voice and the story. So, the day I spent plotting will have to be saved for another day.

Here's the word count...

Sa-weet!

I did it--I wrote an almost 7,000 word story in a little more than two days!

Comrades in Arms


Now, it's off to Loose Id, and we'll see whether it makes it into the Sweet Sixteen or not. I'm nervous but excited. Either way, I think it's a great story and am very pleased with it. And I know now for sure I can write m/m romance, lol.

Taking the rest of the day off from fiction writing to do some "paying" work and write a blog post. Tomorrow, I'd better get back to Matthew. He's pining...

Sick, but wrote anyway...

First, I was afraid I was going to die. Now, I'm afraid I'm not.

Only half-joking there. I felt better most of the day, but the fever came back tonight with a vengeance. As soon as the hubby gets home, I'm for bed!

I did, however, write quite a bit today, as I finally got an idea for the Loose Id March Madness short story contest, and I only have until March 1 to get it written and submitted. Fortunately, it's short!

Comrades in Arms


By the way, I have made some progress on Matthew since I last posted:

According to Matthew


I wil get back on that baby after I finish up CiM tomorrow!

Breathless!

Thursday was a waste, Friday was productive...Saturday was PHENOMENAL! My family spent most of the day out and about without me. Although I missed them, I really felt like I had to write or go nuts. The story was THERE (not the vamp one, I'm still working on it) but a new/old one that I picked up on Friday. This story started out two weeks ago as a WICKED, it stalled, sputtered and died. Then, Thursday night, I started playing with my characters a bit (sounds kinky, huh?), and then began writing/rewriting on Friday. As I wrote, I realized that there isn't enough sex in this to qualify for a WICKED...but I have a tentative Lustbite slot for 16 June with Total E-bound that this might work for...

Working title: Breathless

Word count:



I have two scenes left to write...the continuation of the black moment and the final HEA/sex scene. I'm so close to being done I can almost taste it!

I'm hoping to write the final HEA scene on Monday~



And as of Monday, I'm done! I overshot my estimated word count by a bit...but that's okay, as 8K was just the minimum. Now, it's off to my CPs...

Did You Miss Me?

Well, after I finished Losing It, my WICKED erotica, I started two other ones...but neither one would gel...I'd get about 2-3K written and then it would fizzle. So, I've decided to table both of them and tackle something new.

Well...I have three unused proposals left over from The Vampire Oracle...so I decided to dust one off and start writing. I'm not sure exactly what market I'm targeting for this one...but I guess I'll figure that out once I finish it! I had written 1K already...but had to go back and change the POV of the first scene. So I'm counting those as new words...

Mojo

I started a new short last night while the kids were in b'ball practice!!!I got 1000 words PLUS a bunch of handwritten stuff. I'm hoping I can knock it out this weekend.

Losing It...

Yep....my WICKED is done. I wrote 5000 words in 3 days and feel rather brain dead. Now it's out for crits so I can find out just how horrible it is! Eek!

And on to the next one...so much to write, and so little time

Screwed

That would be me. I left my thumb drive at home today. Man I HATE IT when I do that!!!! Luckily I brought the hardcopy/line edited version with me so I can just retpye it and add to it. I need some pages today.

Something WICKED this way comes...

My muse is working overtime...I just put Song of Seduction to bed and was facing a lovely day of working on my website (which I hope to have up by February), when I got an idea.

I didn't think it was going to work until I started on it this morning....1300 words into it, I think I can wrap this little package up in just over 5K and may even have it done by Friday. Woot, woot...

Then, I have to get cracking on the website AND the sequel to The Werewolf Whisperer...and....and....and..... So much to write, so little time....

Happy New Years

Happy New Years to my fellow Goalies!!!
I've been plugging away at this book and I'm on the home stretch. Frankly it's the hardest part for me. The kids are gone so I'm going to try and stay up until they get home and write. I'd love another ten pages. I need twenty.

I also got the gift of edits on Nailed on Christmas Eve so I waded through the first 100 pages last night!!!

Mucho Progress

The breakthrough seems to have battered down the doors. Plus, I now have a looming deadline to make some changes to my V-day story by 20 December. So, I HAVE to get the first draft of Mojave Moon done THIS WEEK!

So...here's my morning meter and I'll update after my afternoon session!



If only my boys would have slept longer, I think I could have finished this novella in one sitting. Things have heated up, gotten exciting, and we're rushing toward the denouement.

16,861 / 20,001 (84.3%)

And my final word count for the day (thanks to a writing challenge last night. (Thanks Jackie!) Three more scenes and I can type THE END on the first draft!