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.

Black Moment

My news isn't all that exciting -- no finished first draft nor sale -- but I'm just entering the "Black Moment" and it's going to be a doozy!

Blogging from Banff

Yep...I'm finally getting my long-awaited honeymoon! We're here in Banff, Canada. I came with my husband for the ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest) World Finals. Lucky for me, he's been busy for a few hours each day...so we've got to hang out, sightsee, and mix business with pleasure.

I've done a bit of writing...not as much as I had hoped. Although tomorrow promises to be a "husband-free" day, as it's the big contest day. I had a rewrite request for one of my stories, so I got that done and resubmitted this morning. Then, I launced into Phone Calls from the Dead. Here's my current word count, but it comprises several days of writing. I'm hoping to finish the first draft by the end of this week.

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~

A New Week, A New Story

Rosalie's story (a sequel to Postcards from the Dead) has been clamouring to be written for quite some time...and she's decided I need to write her story NOW! And of course, my muse is just chuckling in glee. Luckily, the entire story is in my head, I just have to get it out through my fingers!

If I'm lucky, I can get the first draft finished by the end of the week and then be able to concentrate on what I'm SUPPOSED to be writing!

Phone Calls from the Dead

Off to a good start

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, it's Tuesday already. But today is one of my prime writing days as the boys go to preschool. I didn't add as many words as I had hoped, but the meter is moving in the right direction -- and I should be able to write this afternoon as well, so be looking for another update later.

Twilight's Embrace

I knew I was hanging on to those spare Vampire Oracle proposals for a reason! I reworked one of my favorites and submitted it on spec to Tease Dark Tarot. It was accepted for the Temperance card.

But as a result, I have a heck of a lot to write between now and the end of the month -- especially since next week is going to be a struggle to find time to write as it's Spring Break for all my kids. I think I'm going to ask the Easter Bunny for a babysitter at least two days that week.

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...

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...

A wasted day...kind of

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. I wasted the entire day reading my anniversary gift.

But, I'm back to work today, with a vengence. My morning writing finished off the scene, bringing my word count to:



I hope to be able to put in an hour this afternoon. I'm going to try two 20-minute writing challenges to see if I can use my time more productively (instead of checking my e-mail 100 times a day)

After the afternoon writing stint:



And I have one more chance today to drive up the words...tonight...so we'll see if I can break 3K today.

And I did it!

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...

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

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....

Siren Song (or Song of Seduction)

Or whatever the title ends up being is FINISHED! I typed THE END on the first draft earlier today.

I had a huge writing stint very early this morning (finished the big action scene at 2 am!). Then, while my hubby went to the hardware store with the boys this morning, I put in the HEA.

Wow...does it feel good to be done, although I loved writing this. The huge action scene is one of the scariest I've ever put together. I'm just hoping I did it justice. And the ending...oh my, I got shivers when it finally all fell into place.

And the final word count?



So....go me!

I'm going to start incorporating the edits that have drizzled in from one of my crit groups as well as start thinking about trying another WICKED? Do I dare?

Updated Word Count

Yep...definitely NOT a WICKED...sigh...


1/16/08 -- Another update (didn't want to open a new thread when I didn't have much to say)...still writing like mad...However, this will be it for the day as I have my IRL crit group meeting tonight.



1/18/08 -- yet another update, I'm sooo close I can almost taste the ending. I would have finished today if I hadn't had to give up my computer to my "other" daughter so that she could apply for another job (as if two isn't enough!)...Being a single mom is really tough these days. We're hoping she can find something full-time with benefits.

Wicked but Untitled

I took off to the library yesterday and churned out some great words. My Wicked story now looks like this:



I honestly think this is the first story I've written that doesn't have at least a working title...I'm trying NOT to worry about that as I write. But geez, titles are really important...they are the first 'hook' you have to catch an editors eye (along with your query letter)!

I'm hoping that once the boys go to bed tonight, I can churn out another scene or two (or three)...I recharged my alphasmart and "santa" got me a lap desk for Christmas...so even with the TV on tonight, I can retreat to the bedroom and write, write, write. I'd so love to get the first draft done by Tuesday.

New Year, New Novella

I spent yesterday plotting out my WICKED submission...

Then I opened a new word document and started writing and what came out is nothing like what I'd started with...I love it when that happens!

So, I'm going to type like mad for an hour and I'll be back to post my word count.



Bleh....not as many words as I would have liked. Maybe later today...