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

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!

OMG! SOLD SOLD SOLD!!!!

To Kensington. Details at http://manuscriptmavens.blogspot.com/.

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!

I need to see it...

According to Matthew


I need to finish by March 31 (preferably sooner so I can actually have someone read it before I submit it).

We now interrupt this post for a moment of panic...

AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog

Just to encourage myself...

According to Matthew


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

Not writing because...

I'm too busy biting my nails. I might have really, REALLY exciting news soon or a really crushing disappointment to deal with.

Either way, I haven't a creative juice in my body at the moment...

To everyone who IS writing--yay! Keep it up. Woot, woot!

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!

Words of Various Sorts

Monday was sort of a lost day, new writing wise, but I did pump out a 1,669-word synopsis for an agent request. (Agent request: squee!)

Today, I did some website updates (but still have to upload the files), and then managed to find time for this:

According to Matthew


Regency Wicked

I Guess It Counts--Kinda

Since I last posted, I've only managed to add about 400 words to According to Matthew. Yesterday was mostly eaten up by squeeing with a friend over her offer of representation from an agent (w00t!) and writing a chapter for the Manuscript Mavens' Choose Your Own Adventure round robin. But it was almost 1,500 words, though, so I think it counts toward the weekly grand total, right?

And it was a lot of fun to write. If you've got time, check it out and vote on the plot twist of your choice! (All votes must be recorded by 4pm PST today to count!)

Workin' It

I decided to table my Wicked for the time being in favor of the next Gospel. I figure with as many Wicked submissions as Cobblestone is likely to be inundated with on the first day, Matthew will see print sooner.

So, I had 2,340 words when I started this afternoon. This is how the meter looks now:

According to Matthew


The plan is to add at least 1,000 words per day, but 2,000 would be even better!

Something Wicked is Now Done

Took me until this morning, but it's finished. Came out a little shorter than I anticipated, but not by much.

Wicked 1 (Contemporary)


Monday, I'll tackle the next one.

Busy, Busy, Busy

So busy, I've fallen behind on goal updates. Since the last time I posted, I signed a contract with Cobblestone for Wickedly Ever After (release date sometime in May, unless something changes), completed the first round of edits on According to Luke, and started the first of several planned shorts for the new Wicked line. It's almost done now:

Wicked 1 (Contemporary)


The goal is to finish that one up today and start on the next one, so that I have two to submit when the line opens to in-house authors on February 7. It may be tight, since I expect the second one to run a little longer.

Wicked 2 (Regency)


And what about my full-length request from the agent? Honestly, I just haven't been able to contemplate tackling it. I may decide it's just not worth the effort, but I'm still thinking about it. We'll see.

DONE (with a Title Change)

So, I putzed and plotzed and found my way to The End in about 2,000 fewer words than I originally projected. The final wordmeter looks like this:

Wickedly Ever After


It's out for a round of crits now. Woot!

Now, the big 'un. Eek!

Holy Request for a Full, Batman!

So, on Saturday, I got word that a final round judge for a contest I entered with the manuscript I'd put in mothballs has requested a full. The requestor is an agent with a large, respectable agency. To say I feel I have to take advantage of this opportunity is an understatement. But it means doing a complete revision of the manuscript between now and March or April. Eek!

One way or the other, I have to finish my historical first. Today is a holiday from work, so I'm going to do my best to push through to the end. The word meter currently looks like this:

Carnally Yours


Wish me luck!

Update:

Didn't quite make it to the end, drat it. But so, so close!

Carnally Yours


Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'm going to wind up tossing about 500 of those words, as I'm not happy with them.

Good Day (updated)

Well, I think I'm pretty well caught up to where I needed to be today to meet my goal.

Carnally Yours


Things got rolling a little better when I realized I'd already reached the black moment. Final word count may be 28K instead of 30K. We'll see.

Jan 18

Wordmeter now looks like this:



Considering I was at the office and/or the school for 8+ hours today, not bad!

A Deadline of Sorts

Okay, so now I have made a commitment and promised to finish this thing by Feb. 1. Backing off so there's time for a beta read/crit, I need to have the first draft done by the 23rd. That works out to a little over a thousand words per day, not counting the weekends (when any writing time I get is strictly a bonus).

Carnally Yours


Must.Do.It!

Slow Going, but...

Well, I only managed a little over 1,000 words on Saturday, but hey, it was something. Wordmeter looks like this:

Carnally Yours


Today is looking more promising than I thought because originally, I was supposed to go into the office to teach, a task that eats up about five hours of the day. Lucky for me (in a way, at any rate), two of my three kids were too snotty with the crud to go to school today, so I had to cancel the class. Of course, I'll be interrupted by them a million times over the course of the day, but at least it's not a work day any longer!

Today Is the Day!

Now that I know I can't submit my Wicked until February and realized I'll probably actually end up with a series of three stories, I'm noodling on that for a while while working on another project.

Since hubby and #1 son are gone camping until tomorrow, this is my day, which means I have to get as much written as I possibly can. In theory, it ought to be possible for me to get 3,000 words. Realistically, I'm aiming for 1,500.

Right now, the wordmeter looks like this:

Carnally Yours


I have to admit, I'm a little daunted by this story. Before I reread it, I was afraid it wasn't any good and might not be worth the effort to finish it. Now, I'm afraid it's so good I won't be able to finish it with any justice. (Does this ever happen to anyone else? God, I'm neurotic!)