Friday, November 18, 2011

What am I doing tomorrow?


My friend asked me as one writer to another, what am I doing tomorrow?  Writing J

Yeah, I say it with a smile.  Even with the rejections, the long nights and longer weekends at my home computer, I am a writer.  I catch myself at times saying I’m ‘aspiring’, and then I get mad.  Aspiring my arse, I’ve spent serious time plotting, killing off characters, making sweet love, and connecting the dots to bring forth a document of joy.  While I realize some early stuff was a bit on the crappy side, I look at what I’m writing now and feel proud.  I know I am a writer.  I know each day I put words down, I’m improving my craft. 

This week marked the return to my job, and even though each night I was too tired to write more than 100 words, I attempted.  Some of it was a little out there, but at least I worked on it without pushing myself too hard.  29,199 words is the current count on my paranormal romance WIP that I’m working on NaNoWriMo with.  Even though I enjoy the chart feature, the plateau from 13th until today is a little embarrassing. 

You know though, I’m keeping my head up and a smile on my face while thinking of all the havoc I will throw at my characters.  I perhaps won’t finish the 50,000 goal in time, but rest assured I will keep working on this book.  My blog plans for the near future will attempt another Six Sentence Sunday in just a few weeks.  I have more writing links to add in the left hand side ‘Writing Links of Interest’, as well as selecting a snippet for ‘The What She Wrote’ section.  Another 13 days of writing, then I’ll be able to dedicate a day to the blog goodness. 

Break is over, now to head back to my document and allow some words to make magic on the page.  

Monday, November 7, 2011

Oh yeah, it is good to be back, and why all writers should play The Sims


 Well it has been a month since my dual carpal tunnel surgery.  Yeah, dual, aka both hands.  Why?  One reason is one round of anesthesia.  Two, because I’m a tough gal.  The funny part, everyone’s initial reaction is, “how did you…manage?”  Yeah, it hurt, but I took care of myself in the bathroom department. 

Anyhow, I’ve been working this week on National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo and #nanowrimo for the twitter peeps.  This is my second year participating, friend me if you want, I’m there as laurathejane78 and I’m right on track to complete at this moment.  We’ll see what happens when I start back to my dayjob.  I have confidence though in myself, and so should you.  You never know until you try, and once you try, you will be a writer on nanocrack. 

I was talking to my bff Jynnipher online (start an un-shameless plug to http://jynnipher.com/), and we were discussing our WIP for NaNoWriMo.  I, at one point, made my main character Lexi cry, and then I made her love interest temporarily reject her.  I told Jynnipher how it was my own character’s fault for the current situation.  Now comes the part of our conversation why all writers should play The Sims…



“I’m so damn cruel.  It’s like in Sims when I’d put someone in a room without doors.  Lexi (the MC) is waving to me and making a bed sign.  Instead of crossing her legs with the thinking bubble of a toilet, she is making a jerk off motion with a bed in the thought bubble.”

Yeah, now that I think things over, The Sims is awesome to watch the character’s reaction to things.  No matter how hard you try, your person doesn’t stay happy all the time.  They come up with their own wants and desires, which could range from a hot dog, make a friend, or have whoopee.  In writing style, I describe myself as a planned fly by the seat of my pants ( I say both types, since I believe some ppl actually sit down and truly write with no premeditated thought about the end or the plot).  I know the big plot points I want to hit, and sometimes I come up a certain situation I want to include.  When it comes to actual writing, I keep the ideas in my head, but I just let the typing fly unscripted.  Many times I don’t know how I will inflict the specific conflict I thought about ahead of time, until it comes out of my fingers.   So if you’re like me, with a wide open planned structure for your novel, I’d say think ‘The Sims’ and have your character wave their hands at you with their frustration.  Then, in true writer form, make them suffer a bit more.  

Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to cause some more frustration for Lexi and see how much she stomps her feet and waves her arms to get my mind's attention.  Silly girl has not realized that makes me want to cause more conflict yet.  Current word count:  12,222.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

AFK

hello all, sorry about the quietness, but i've been afk after surgery (carpel tunnel on both hands).  hopefully in a few weeks i'll be back up and running to at least a weekly post again.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 10


Welcome first timer and repeaters!  This fantastic Sunday, the day of the glorious Jynnipher's Birthday (go see her six Sundays if you haven't yet), offering is below, while the previous contributions are easily accessible by clicking here.  My offering today is not about the Zombies .  Today, I am kicking it to an old school story.  This is what started me to write, the first plot out of my brain that I attempted.  Of course I wrote it once, wrote it again, and now I'm embarking on a third rewrite.  Below is the first six sentences of the work.  It is a Paranormal Romance novel.  Please enjoy and check out Jynnipher's page with many birthday wishes.

It never fails that once I sit down to eat, my father comes in.  I braced myself for the expected snide comments about the fried peanut butter sandwich, oozing on my plate.  Was it my fault I haven’t lived for thousands of years and my only culinary knowledge comes my adoptive family in Tennessee?  He made some sort of comment not in English, and I knew without looking that he was on his phone.  I was too intent on listening to the foreign words that I failed to notice the warm peanut butter sliding out of the sandwich until it coated my thumb and made its way down my palm.  Father mentioned the names Christopher and Daniel once, with several Xan’s mixed throughout the conversation.  

Enjoy!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 9


Welcome first timer and repeaters!  This historic ninth #sixsunday offering is below, while the previous contributions are easily accessible by clicking here.  This is historic cause this wonderful September 25th post below is a bunch of awesomesauce, and that it is my birthday.  I realize I did not give anyone an advanced notice, but feel free for next year, same day, to send gifts.  For this six setup, we previously met the MC, Erica, and the current traveling companions of Cindy and dog named Crystal.  They met the first other living people in three months since the majority of the population dropped dead before rising up.



“How old are you?”  I said nineteen the same time Cindy said eighteen.  I moved the bat to my left hand before reaching in my back pocket.  I handed my ID over to the nicest looking man left on the world.  He looked it over before glancing at his watch, and handing the card back to me.  “Happy birthday, Erica Wilkerson,” he said.




Ironic I know....total coincidence that the birthday clip occurred on my, well, birthday.   

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 8


Welcome first timer and repeaters!  My eight #sixsunday offering is below, while the previous contributions are easily accessible by clicking here.  We previously met the MC, Erica, and the current traveling companions of Cindy and dog named Crystal.  Last week, they met up with the first group of other living people, finding they were just fourteen people in their group.  They are cautious seeing a dog with Erica, though happy to find the pooch would eat real food and not flesh.


He nodded before kneeling down, holding one hand to Crystal with the other on the rifle.  Cindy began to blab about how much of a downer I was to the moral.  I do not know what she thought.  Shit, I am not sure what I was thinking would happen.  Would we find a group and magically find that all-powerful place that is zombie free up north?  I wish this were a movie with a guaranteed happy-ending.



I know there is no dialogue in this one, but I wanted to finish this section of the book.  I've been breaking from writing and keeping my mind off the zombies before going into mad woman editing mode.  My mind has been kicking me for not writing.  It has forced me to rethink my first completed book and how to rewrite it in a new and exciting way.  Soon I shall reach the breaking point of "omg I haven't opened Word in...um...can't remember when" and will bust a move to write again :D.  

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 7


Welcome first time and repeat readers!  My seventh #sixsunday offering is below, while the previous contributions are easily accessible by clicking here.  We previously met the MC, Erica, and the current traveling companions of Cindy and dog named Crystal.  Last week, they met up with the first group of other living people.



I just shook my head, “There are only eleven of you.  Is that it after three months?”
“Three more men are scouting ahead.  Add in the two of you we have sixteen.”
“And a dog,” I said.
He nodded before kneeling down, holding one hand to Crystal with the other on the rifle.  



I love the comments and look forward to your thoughts.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 6


Welcome first time and repeat readers!  My sixth #sixsunday contribution is below, while the previous contributions are here: first, second, thirdfourth and fifth. To set up this YA Zombie apocalypse, the two individuals and dog are having their first meeting with some new people.


“What is that?”

Ouch, the dude just called me a ‘that’.

“That,” Cindy turned to look at me, “shit that’s just Erica.  Are you stupid?  Take off that hoodie and stop walking slow before they shoot you.”

I pulled the black hood off my face, temporarily blinded by the sunshine, “Sorry, just wanted to be cautious unlike the yapper there.”

I love the comments and look forward to your thoughts.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Breakage

Nope, I didn't break anything (this time).  What I am doing is backing away from my YA Zombie Apocalypse book to work on the ?3rd? rewrite of my Paranormal Romance novel.  Taking a different stance with the book, though the same characters are in there with the same traits I've learned to love over the past 19 months.  I'm terrified to look back at the beginning attempts, knowing how much suckage must be on the pages.  This was the only book I queried out to agents, and out of the minimal group, I got zero request for more.

Here's to hoping this breakage will detach me from the zombies, so when I do go back I'll be fresh and ready to fight...er edit.  I also hope I can turn some tricks (giggidy) and all the posts, articles, books I've read since starting writing will pay off.

Writers on Writing

http://www.imranwrites.com/ Imran takes us through several things on his blog, from the recent 'Are Beta/Critiques Worth Having?' and then to the editing process he is going through.  You can jump to his post http://www.imranwrites.com/2011/07/24/so-what-is-here/ for a list of useful writing tips he has posted.

http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/forty-five-more-flaws-that-expose-your-lack-of-storytelling-experience-part-1  Yes the site lists editing and prices, however I first reached this blog via a tweet on the post linked.  Click on the blog though, http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog and you won't be upset with the info there.

http://romanceuniversity.org/ I know, not everyone is into the whole romance thing.  However, good articles are there, and a bonus, they show upcoming posts titles.

http://caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/ Listing this one a few times.  They do an agent spotlight, and then the helpful posts link on the right, from queries, agents do's and don'ts, and writing tips.

http://marewolf.blogspot.com/   Yeah, great mix of humor as she writes about writing while she's writing.

Agents 2.0

http://caseylmccormick.blogspot.com/  spotlights agents (YA, MG, PB)

http://www.1000literaryagents.com/  another list of agents to view.  Basic membership is free.

http://www.authoradvance.com/ a nice large catch all site - lists agents, articles, a blog...free to register.

http://aaronline.org/Find  Association of Authors' Representatives.  A listing of 466 agents

Critique

Critique Partners
http://notaneditor.blogspot.com/p/looking-for-critique-partner.html

Query Critique

http://queryshark.blogspot.com/

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ (not active since 2007, however still listed are the critiques and a must read)


Six Sentence Sunday 5


Welcome first time and repeat readers!  My fifth #sixsunday contribution is below, with the stories previous first, second, third and fourth stored safely. 

“Crystal,” I announced to the car.
“You’re talking to yourself again, kid.”
I pet the dog at my feet, “I want to call her Crystal.  Ok girl, you are Crystal.”  Cindy did not ask why since she heard my story already.  Crystal was my sister.

I love the comments and look forward to your thoughts.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

What would you do?

On Twitter today, a message catches my eye.  It was an agent saying they witnessed a 5 year old girl steal a candy bar.  What would you do?  Many responses mention saying something to the child or the mother there, possibly even paying for the bar after the girl left.  My response...

Go home, figure out some paranormal romance aspect to bring the mother of the child and the store owner together and write it out

I know that is not the girl scout answer I would give ten to thirteen years ago.  I believe my writing evolution is corrupting me to think of the world as a story.  I take what I see, twist it around as needed for a plot that will fit my desire.  And yes, I'm totally creating a new document file and putting the ideas that came to mind after thinking about that plot.  Story Idea #15.

Am I the only one?

Six Sentence Sunday 4




Welcome back to my WIP I’m now editing: A Girl, Her Dog, and the Zombies. You can find my #sixsunday samples here for the first, second, third posts and below is the fourth...


As the crackers fell to the ground, the dog sprung into action and ate every crumb.
Tears welled in my eyes, “She’s eating it.” I kept the bat on my shoulder and used my left hand to drop the rest of the crackers. As the dog ate, I walked around her. There was some dirt and mud, but no wounds. “Damn girl, where are all your brothers and sisters?”


Ok everyone, comment away!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

What?

Character Accents
http://www.soyouwanna.com/soyouwanna-speak-irish-accent-1632.html  It is as it says, trying to help one speak with an Irish accent.


Dialogue
http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/2009/04/she-said-he-said.html A blog of example - written in dialogue format to prove its point.


The Ten Commandments of Dialogue - Part One & Ten Commandments of Dialogue - Part Two Marewolf's blog on conversations.


Secret Squirrel Writers Club

General Writer Hangouts
http://www.writerspace.com/ I will admit, this site is on my to-do list for more time.  It has chatrooms, blogs, contests, reviews, newsletters, and authors with spotlights.

http://querytracker.net/index.php Yes it is a query site, but there are forums (groups) with good info

http://writeoncon.com/ a Forum writer's conference focused on picture book, middle grade and YA writers.

https://plus.google.com/  lots of writers are popping up on Goggle+ each day

http://www.rwa.org/  for you romantics out there Romance Writers of America

http://www.sfwa.org/ Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

http://www.mysterywriters.org/  Mystery Writers of America - Wonder how many answers you would get at a meeting when asking who done it.

http://www.horror.org/  Horror Writers Association

http://absolutewrite.com/ seems like a good site, haven't spent much time here yet, but I will.

Helpful Literary Agent Websites

http://www.lizadawsonassociates.com/faqs.html The FAQ has some great info about queries & other general questions

http://www.knightagency.net/ Two places I enjoy on their website – the Manuscript Submissions page and at the very bottom, you will find several links for approaching an agent, what to look for, writing a query, FAQ, etc.  They also have a newsletter and while that is filled with their authors’ interview, new books, they also have an agent roundtable, and the watercooler that is good to keep an eye on.

Agents & Agency Blog sites

http://knightagency.blogspot.com/  some good posts, some contests and links to three of their agent’s blogs.

http://nepheletempest.wordpress.com/ Home to Nephele Tempest from The Knight Agency

http://luciennediverauthor.wordpress.com/  Home to Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/ Bookends, LLC Literary Agency - good posts & helpful info

Query Helpers

http://querytracker.net/index.php Let’s see, a free site where I can log in, keep track of all my queries, find up to date information, and be able to see what other people find about the individual?  Sign me up!  Oh wait, already there ;)

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/ Bookends, LLC blog and each Wednesday they take at random a query - project is called Workshop Wednesday.

Stuck?

Reference
http://dictionary.reference.com/ Goes without saying since I’m not the best spellerer out there :D (yeah, that one was on purpose).

http://thesaurus.com/ Same site as the one above, just a direct link to the thesaurus part.  Don’t bother to look up undead – no results found.

http://fantasyparanormalthesaurus.blogspot.com/ An un-shameful plug for the other blog site I started with Jynnipher thanks to the above thesaurus not having undead.  It will be a constant work in progress so send any comments to have words added.

http://random-name-generator.info/ No clue who made this site, but I like it.  There are several other sites similar out there but this one just stuck with me.  I like the lists of male & female first names.  It is helpful when you realize you want a name with a particular first letter.

http://www.darkerotica.net/EroticThesaurus.html You know it - Erotic Thesaurus, though it has words that will not make you blush unless you are already in that mindset.

http://www.literotica.com/s/erotic-synonyms For when the clinical term just won’t do.

http://www.sex-lexis.com/ Do not let the name fool you, this is a ‘Dictionary of Sexual Terms and Expressions’.  Have fun my romance peeps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superhuman_features_and_abilities_in_fiction Yes, it is wiki and I do have this list saved.  Not a bad list of powers that can be used for paranormal, sci fi and fantasy types.

Make Yourself Known

Sharing your information

https://docs.google.com  Sure most people won’t think about this, but if you have a group of trusted peeps you want to offer them your book to read, but do not want to send an actual file, you can use the lovely Google docs to share.

http://twitter.com/ Lots of people on here, and many that send out multiple helpful links.  Take with a grain of salt and refer HERE to my twitter post.

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/ Yes it has not been updated in a while, yet it has great hints and tips for code.  It saved my arse when I could not remember.

http://www.sixsunday.com/  Check out the FAX and About section before or after you click on the list of participants.  An idea by a writer with three other participants went into for a quick sample of their work.  Each Sunday head here after 9am and you will find a list of participants and links to their six (I’ll be listed under Laura the Jane if I have a post that week).

Word Count

http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-word-counts-and-novel-length.html Awesome with a side of awesomesauce.  Colleen Lindsay's blog and a general info listing different genre's and 'usual' word count. I refer to this site often, though the numbers don't change.

Here & not Gone, Back Again for now

Whoopsie, my blood pressure was too high and they cancelled my surgery.  Oops?  lol.  Best part was when the hospital's auto bp machine wigged out...got red marks on my right arm which are not going away after 13 hours.  The track marks on both arms combined with my overweight body must make me look like a broke ass junky who spent her money on mac & cheese instead of her 8ball.

Once my bp is stabilized (yeah meds), then we'll go attempt 2 on the surgery.  Until that time, it shall be #amwriting time.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Here and Gone Again, the tale of Laura the Jane

Hello all!  Just a quick post since I'll be AFK starting Friday.  Having carpal tunnel surgery on both arms and I will be back as soon as I can.  I am still signed up for #6sunday snippet (woohoo blogger time schedule option) and will be working/thinking how to post my writer's links.  Will be trying to utilize the new 'Links of Interest' section on the left and think how to incorporate my writer's links with it.  I'm also going to be thinking about my YA book and the other story-lines rolling in my head


Monday, August 15, 2011

Holy crap, I'm in love

Yes hubby, I luuuvvvve you.  But this post is referring to a chick.  I don't remember what I was Googleing today, but all I can recall is coming across this one link, and it had me cracking up.  Marewolf is blogging about writing as she's writing.  A must read, not only for the humor but the helpful hints.

The Ten Commandments of Beginnings PART ONE!

Ten Commandments of Beginnings, Part Deux

The First Plot Point aka the Doorway of DOOM!

Inciting What? such classy stuff there

Before continuing, she detours us to She Said, He Said at Kiersten Writes

The Ten Commandments of Dialogue - Part One 

Ten Commandments of Dialogue - Part Two

So, you've written the beginning of a novel - good for you!  Now what?

Tips for Sludging through the Middle

Quick and Dirty tip on Characters

Grrr...arg... editing

Ten Commandments of Creating Effective Scenes Part One & Ten Commandments of Creating Effective Scenes...part two!  the names says it all

What I'm Doing Right Now all about the plotting

What Kind of Writer Are You, Anyways? Marewolf goes into writing styles

Transitions (not to be confused with transvestites...) getting the story to move along

Writers Block:  Or How I learned to Stop Whining and Embrace the Pain there was no way I could avoid the post titles - awesome stuff

Delayed Gratification and Making It Work For You good stuff about keeping the reader's hooked to the end - mostly about romance but it will get the point across to any genre

Raising the Stakes (not the pointy kind...) the 'why do our characters do what they do'

Ten Commandments of Creating Characters Who Don't Totally Suck (my fav is #4 with the puppy comment)

The Downward Spiral and the Second Plot Point

And in the End... we are almost there!!!

The 8 Stages of Drafting total lmao stages of when the first draft is done.

Revisiting.  Rewriting.  Revision part the one.  THE BIG STUFF!!! 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 8 14

Welcome back to my Six Sunday post, all due to http://www.sixsunday.com/ twitter #sixsunday.  This is my third post and the first two you can find scrolling on my home page.  The first 6 talked a little about the world and how our heroine has to avoid zombies, unless she has the ketchup and mustard bottles ready for them.  The second 6 has some tension as Cindy and our heroine came across a dog.  The following 6 continues right where last week's left off...


“I’ve never seen a dog.”
“Me either,” I said.
“Well shit.  Is that what you saw moving?”
“Not sure, maybe.”
I grabbed the bat and Cindy began to cry, “Don’t you kill that poor thing!”



The working title for my YA WIP is A Girl, Her Dog, and the Zombies.  I hope you enjoyed this six.  Come back next week because I will have another offering for the #sixsunday crowd and perhaps I'll reveal what happens with the dog and our heroine (if you can't gather from the working title).

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 8 7

Welcome back to my second http://www.sixsunday.com/ twitter #sixsunday post.  Last week's six can be found here.  This is from my current YA work in progress.


Cindy eventually cursed me for seeing nothing as she started to move the car slowly.  I was half out of my seat looking through the back window when she screamed.  I turned back to see a dog sitting on the side of the road.


We were speechless, and the poor thing was so skinny.  The dog was white with a cow type of black spots though there was some brown down her legs.  She was tall and looked like a hound, just not the typical basset.

Thank you everyone for stopping by.  I plan to post again next week and perhaps I will offer up the tentative title.  I love your feedback and comments, the good and bad, just don’t be snarky ;).  

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Six Sentence Sunday 7 31

Thank you to http://www.sixsunday.com/ twitter #sixsunday and the brilliant idea to get our book blurbs, no matter how small, out there.  Here is my first contribution from my current YA Work in Progress

Cindy made the third lap around the block in nowhere Nebraska with the crappy foreign car we picked up in Missouri.  Again, past the Johnsons store and the row of fast food restaurants she drove before taking a sharp right on main street.  We saw no zombies and that meant this time we stop for gas.  Avoiding the slow ass zombies is easy, hard part is getting the damn gas out of the pumps.  What all movies failed to put in reality is that you must pay to pump.  Without that darn credit card swipe, you may as well lie down with bottles of ketchup and mustard as the zombies approach.

Want to comment, leave a comment; want a comment back, leave a comment.  I'm like the penny jars at the register but you must take to receive.  Happy Sunday!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Fantasy Paranormal Thesaurus

Yes, 5 am and I'm awake and #amwriting.  I was trying to think of new words to describe the ‘undead’ and became stuck.  Turning to the good old thesaurus, I get

undead
 - no thesaurus results

Really?  Throw me a freaking bone here.  I’m the boss….need the info.  My fantabulous BFF @JynnipherOlbert http://jynnipher.wordpress.com/ said I need a fantasy paranormal thesaurus and per Google'ing

 No results found for "fantasy paranormal thesaurus".

Ok, Jynnipher – let’s start one.  Game on!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Twitter

Recently I jumped into the Twitter universe as @laurathejane and I have enjoyed it.  Yes the more people I follow the more tweets scroll across the screen but I like following and being followed.  Plus there are fantastic real people on Twitter with sense of humors and bad days.  The # hashtags are fun for me too.  For reference in my search as I wrote this, I found two interesting websites from Twitter’s help on hashtags and the 3rd was a Google result:  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/susanorlean/2010/06/hash.html  New Yorker Hash story that seems to explain it well (love the Freudian twist – that’s soo me)
http://hashtags.org/  Yeah type in any hashtag and it gives you the usage, though not the meaning.  Search #FF and you will see the Friday spike
http://tagdef.com/ you got it – Hashtag Definitions. 


#amwriting #amediting:  Common ones that I use - fun to do a search and see what ppl say around those hashtags.

#askagent:  I've been witness twice to agents I follow that have opened up to #askagent and I have jumped for joy.  Question I asked if it would hurt me if I publish a YA book, and then try to publish an Erotic Romance.  Was great to follow the #askagent chat that night and found another writer with the exact question.  The response for those that wonder, was that no, it should not hurt, just that some agents don't support both genres.  Before you wonder, I'll have a different pen name if I am that lucky to be published in (any) two different genres ;)

#writer:  I will do a search off this occasionally.  It can offer some creative ideas or general funny nonsense. 

#agent:  See the #writer description, and take the tweets with a grain of salt since there are real estate agents, sports agents, etc.

#WW:  I’ve seen this one primarily on Wednesdays and the descriptions I find could mean ‘Writer Wednesdays’ ‘Writers Worth’.  Both seem to mean the same thing by listing a few names of writer types to follow. 

#FF:  Follow Friday.  It is like the #WW, but think of it more as just people you would suggest are worthy to follow (aka non-bots)

#writingtips #writetip:  Yeah it is self-explanatory on these two.  Take this with everything else on the internet – grain of salt and half-full glass.  Most tend to be links to honest blogs or it could be a site to promote their mad editing skills for only $1,000 your manuscript is ‘almost guaranteed’ to get an agent.  I do see more good than bad from it so far.

#sixsunday:  Honestly, this is a big reason why I wanted to blog.  Sure everyone wants their books read, but not very ready to just send my book or post it for anyone to read that shows interest.  I want to be cautious, though there are times I read what came out of my twisted mind and I want to share.  Here goes… http://www.sixsunday.com and you can see a list of participants with a link to their 6.  Go to the FAQ section for more details.  Also linked on their About section is a great explanation at http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-is-six-sentence-sunday.html

#queries:  Sometimes you can see helpful tips, other times it’s a comfort to know you are not alone in your quest for ink and paper.  Sometimes you get information on database queries so don’t freak if it does not make sense.


As I run across in my tweeting any additional writer type hashtags, I’ll update the post here.  I think the most important thing is show respect since at any point people can block you.  All the same, you can block anyone you want as well.  Feel free to leave a comment with any other # you feel worthy or if I missed the definition of the above.  #iamonlyhuman

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Oh no, not another blogger!

Yes, another blogger!  So what is my goal here?  Do I want to amaze you with my cookie baking skill, my prime parenting, or dog walking abilities?  Maybe if I had those skills yes, but I don't.  What I do have is a love of books.

Back in 2009, I read 219 books.  I read all of Charlaine Harris, Laurell K Hamilton, Christine Feehan, and I can keep this list going forever.  Taking 4-6 books at a time from the library each week confirms that I can I read fast, yes, do I retain every bit of information?  Not exactly, but I enjoy reading and getting involved in the stories.  Then it hit me in January 2010 - my little notebook of authors I had finished each of the series I was into and now was waiting for the new books to be released.  Talking to my BFF Jynnipher (love her - decades of friendship here and she's a must follow http://jynnipher.wordpress.com/ ), I admitted that I had a story idea that was running in my head for the past few years.  I like vampires but not happy how everyone portrays them.  Honestly, do they all have secret lairs and fight the bad vampires?  So I started my first book, then I was almost completed at 70k+ words later and as I thought about the next book in the series, I decided to rewrite book one.  So I did, I rewrote book one and hauled arse to get it complete before the 2010 National Novel Writing Month http://www.nanowrimo.org/ challenge.  November 2nd I finished the reworked first book and Nov 3rd I began the second book. 
Since this time, I have completed the second book, edited the first book, edited the second book, and started a *few* other projects.  I’m sure Jynn and LA, my ever faithful writing sounding boards, are laughing at few.  You see I have 11 other story ideas with word counts that range from a 28 word ‘She’s this and he’s that’ blurb to two 33,498 words of a different idea.  Since January 2010 I have written (drumroll) 287,867 words into documents, subtract the 4 books I’ve been working on for the vampire storyline and you have 124,204 words that are not fang related.  All the books so far have been romance genre well except one, my YA apocalyptic novel that has some romance elements but nothing like the others.  I am sending out queries on the first book while working on whichever character is knocking the loudest on my brain to get out onto the paper.  April 2011 I took my notebook of authors and series and I made a page with my own books and listed the word count as I shed a tear over the joy.

In this time, I have found a collection of helpful writing links, from word counts suggestions for genres, tips for making your character’s voice sing through the pages, and some flaws.  I’m positive there are thousands of other links I am missing, but I will try and give you a list of what I refer to and why, You have my solemn blogging vow that I will try and help you with the sites that have helped me.  I will also attempt to get in on this #sixsentence Sunday theme for writers and I look forward to feedback!  And yes for reference, the dog with her tongue sticking out is the family dog Lori.