It's a Plot Autopsy!

Well, it is Halloween, thus the morbid subject matter. What better time to play Texas Chainsaw Massacre and rescue my Seventy Days of Sweat manuscript before I end up writing seventy thousand plus words of pointless drivel?

I had a pretty decent idea of where Kiss of the Cerberus was going when I started, but I'm nearly ten thousand words in and my H/h have just officially met--unless you count the voyeur scene. Hello brain? This is a novella. Thirty thousand words, max. So this ain't gonna cut it.

Then, to make matters worse, I ended up with a subplot. And a villain I never expected. And suddenly, my brain is drifting off to other ideas, other stories....because you see, I'm the queen of great beginnings. I'm GOOD at beginnings. They're my comfort zone.

I've a feeling Seventy Days of Sweat is all about breaking past those comfort zones...

And this year, for me has been about buckling down and attaching middles and endings to all those great beginnings traipsing around my hard drive. Yes, there are many.

Too many.

I believe finishing the stories I've started was the right choice, because I just sold the first romance that I actually FINISHED to Red Sage. Finishing is good. Even numerically impaired moi can do this much math:

No end = no contract.

So...I've grounded myself from touching any other manuscript until I've done a plot map of this one and reached the end of my first draft. But I'm not going to write seventy thousand words searching for my story like I did on Heart's Storm.

So, its Halloween, but when it comes to writing, I've learned there really is no trick. You just plant your butt in the chair and do it. And in order to get to my treat...(the end), I'm going to have to work smarter. Which means I'm going to have to sit down and :gasp:...plot.

I'll put a photo of my plot map up tomorrow. Hold me to it. :D

And...nanowrimo starts in just a few days! EEP!

I'm Just Sayin.....

Why am I doing the happy dance?

Well, because I got THE CALL tonight.

I SOLD...ok fine, my STORY sold. :D

To my dream publisher, no less.

Heart's Storm (Formerly the Seal and the Sea Nymph)is going under contract with Red Sage for their Secret's line, Pub Date to be announced.

Now if that doesn't stoke my muse, I don't know what will!

It isn't easy being blonde (Not that I am...)

Many of you know that I've been going through a lengthy editing/revision process on my book that I describe as "teetering" on contract. The good news is that as of Tuesday evening of this week, the senior editor is happy with my edits....save one thing. Spacing between sentences. They required one space after sentences. Not the two I typically use in manuscripts.

So, no problem, right? I hit my handy dandy "?" key in Word 2007 (which I FINALLY have come to adore), and asked it how to do said alteration--you know, the easy way.

Well, according to word, there isn't a method for doing so.

I even toyed with the idea of doing a find ". (space, space) and replacing it with ".(space)". I immediately brushed the idea off as ludicrous...on the grounds that a space is null. void. Nothing there for Mr. Find and Replace to find...or replace. End of story.....or so I thought. I just wrote it off as another one of my hare-brained ideas that would only waste more time.

So, long story short? I spent the day last Sunday manually changing....Every. Single. Effin'. Space. After. A. Sentence. In. My. Manuscript.

Turns out, my hare-brained idea of find/replace....wasn't so hair brained after all.

So, kindly hand over the Miss Clairol. :)

Good news? I should be hearing whether my novella will go to contract soon. Even better? It's with one of my dream publishers. The very one I vowed on my last birthday I'd find a way to pub with this year.

So, my lovely mermaid story is now on the desk of the Managing Editor of my dream publisher. Let's hope she likes it. If not, I must say...I have learned more about writing during this process than I ever dreamed I'd know. And that can't be a bad thing.

Wish me luck. :D

Enlightening thought for the day.

OK, guys, brace yourself.

My dear friend Sven has been cracking his whip like a wild man, helping me re-discover what I lost sight of a few months after last year's Nanowrimo.

Yes, I have the golden ticket. But I have to tell you that its no where as gold and shiny as I hoped.

In fact, it's downright sobering. So brace yourselves.

The key to becoming a writer is to ......



W R I T E


Who'd have thought it?

Now on a more serious note, Kiss of the Cerberus (used to be called A Vampire is Forever)is singing for me. With all of the pivotal scenes for my story arc written, and the new world building done as of today, I'm going back and layering in details, and weaving the scenes into a logical progression.

Today I got bored with all the detail work, and allowed myself to flesh out the first "insert H/h love scene" entry into my manuscript. Lordy, my keyboard was smoking by the time they got done..um... tormenting each other.

And girls, lemme tell you, my hero, Ryder Black....is so effin' hot. You're gonna love him.

On an aside, my final requested edits are done for the book which has been teetering on contract with my dream publisher for the last couple of months.

Wish me luck. :D

Barbie and Ken. To Die for...

Seeing as how Halloween is inbound, I thought we might like to celebrate the country's newest undead couple....Barbie, and Ken. Now if you ask me? It's a vast improvement. I'm just wondering where I can get an undead Kelly to complete the (not so happy) family!





Day four on the seventy days of sweat challenge, and I'm only halfway to word count. Back to work with me!

Blame it on word count fatigue!

My darling DD (girl who would go probably go goth simply for the fashion statement if mom would get her a Hot Topix charge card) has brought it to my attention that I might be suffering from Barbie bashing withdrawal.

You know, she might be right. It has been a while! So, before I begin my Seventy Days of Sweat word count for today, I'm going to take a merry old swipe at the Queen of Plastic Bimbodom herself. Enjoy...and warning, not for the faint hearted. :D

Goth Barbie
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But Mom, he's GREEN.

Yes, folks, there's a comic book hero for every gal. And according to the Superhero Dating Quiz, this guy's the one for me. Now I'm as open minded as the next girl, but (ahem) green is so *not* my color. And I like my men with....gray matter. Ok, ok, I know Dr. David Banner was a doctor, and mom still hasn't gotten over the fact that I didn't marry "that sweet doctor", but this is so NOT funny mom! I know you're behind this. :D

So, guess I'll just continue writing my own romantic heroes. Take that, Mom!

Kiss of the Cerberus is now at 7,000 words, 23,ooo to go. And I'm having way too much fun. So much so that I'm afraid my novella is going to cop a tude and turn into a novel.

So far so good with the Seventy Days of Sweat Challenge. Day 3 and all is well.

Wish me luck! :) Today is actually as SANE day.