Status Report
12 Mar 2011 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: publishing, status update, writing
The time has come (the time has actually passed) for the monthly status update. So on with the show.
Struck By Lightning sold to Lyrical. Tentative release date in November. Time to get on to the last book if in fact it ends up being the last book.)
Welsh Rogue awaiting crits so I can send it back to Carina in the hopes that they will publish it.
Finding Roanoak still in a slush pile at HQ Undone.
All Sci Fi stuff currently stalled as I don’t know where to sub it.
Melody Unchained in a slush pile at Samhain.
Third Weaver’s Circle still stalled.
Co-writing project proceeding at a nice clip. We’re about 25% of the way through.
Considering putting together a timeline for rock star books because with 6 finished titles and 5 more planned, it’s getting complicated. Still waiting on an editor for Satellite, but that’s mostly my fault as I haven’t emailed to bug yet.
I really need to write more.
Welcome to Weaver’s Circle
09 Feb 2011 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: publishing, Weaver's Circle, writing
Weaver’s Circle is a little township in middle America with a diner, a library, a grocery store and two churches. Why does it have two churches? Because the little town I grew up in and based Weaver’s Circle on had two churches. I never attended either one though I did go to Girl Scouts in one of them. Not that Weaver’s Circle is a mirror of the town I grew up in. What fun would that be?
The town of Weaver’s Circle isn’t all nice neighbors competing for ribbons in the county fair either. First of all, they have a summer festival, thankyouverymuch. Pretty much the whole town participates and it’s what puts them on the map. They have a winter festival too, but that’s generally just to give the locals a reason to get together in the dead of winter. The summer festival is organized and run by three volunteers, Elaine Hammersmith, Lily Walker and Beth Wilson. All three teach at the local school. Elaine teaches high school English and everyone is pretty sure she’s a lesbian because no one has ever seen her with a man. She’s such a good girl. Always has been. Beth Wilson is one of the The Wilson’s, but she’s proving people can escape their bad families. (Unlike her cousin Jeff whose wife is still walking into doorknobs. Too bad she won’t let anybody do anything about it. You know Sheriff Daniel would love to catch him a dark alley in an unofficial capacity one night. If Weaver’s Circle had any dark alleys.) Lily just moved here five years ago and she seems nice enough, but nobody really knows her that well. George Kline is head over heels about her, too bad she doesn’t realize it and he’s too shy to say anything. They’re nice girls, those three.
And did you hear about Lucy Kelly? She was always a bit strange, but she’s done so well for herself writing those travel articles. Such a shame. Hope she’s alright. Where is Myanmar anyway? Don’t know why anybody would want to go that far from home in the first place. Hope Old Mrs. Benetti is alright too. She’s just about gone, isn’t she? Can’t remember her own face. Good for her that Beth was here to take care of her because you know her own daughter won’t come home and her grandson is mixed up in that real estate thing in Atlanta. Not really mixed up. He’s the one who turned the man in. He might not know how to take care of family, but at least he’s honest.
The first book in the Weaver’s Circle series, Secrets Everybody Knows, is available now from Lyrical Press.
Late Status Report
07 Feb 2011 3 Comments
in Status Report Tags: publishing, Status Report, writing
Just dawned on me that I haven’t done a status report for January. Been busy. You know. So let’s see. Where am I?
Arden FD #3 Struck By Lightning. Finished and subbed to editor. Yay! I’m always a bit nervous about these things despite the fact that Lyrical has never been anything but overjoyed to get something new from me and the fact that this is a really good book. Doing the final comb through the other day I was laughing and yelling at the characters when they were being stupid. Now I’m left with the daunting task of writing the last Arden book (I think. There’s another character who seems to be angling for his own story and there’s a novella I have to write because I was told I had to by a friend/fan. And then there’s the police department.)
Welsh Rogue. I got a massive revise and resubmit from Carina for it and every comment was a Doh! moment. That’s going to take a while, but it will come out a stronger book even if Carina doesn’t take it in the end. And it’s nice to see how far I’ve come since I wrote it.
Roanoak. Sent off to HQ Undone, but I’m not sure it’s right for them. The story is really strong and tight. My critique partner said it’s her favorite so far, but it’s really unusual so it might have been better off with Carina. However, I was waiting on Welsh Rogue from Carina when I sent it off so that’s how that ball bounces.
Melody Unchained is out to Samhain. I’m not sure about that fit either. It’s not as steamy as most of their stuff, but it’s a strong story.
Surface Tension. Stalled on the hard drive. I got a pretty involved revise and resubmit from Wild Rose on it, but I don’t know if I can pull off the suggestions and keep true to the story. I’m considering doing a total remodel in the tradition of my favorite Leigh Michaels’ book, Backward Honeymoon, but with aliens.
Destined Flight is lost on my hard drive because I’m not sure where to send it. It’s ready to go, but where to? Decisions, decisions.
Weaver’s Circle #1 Secrets Everybody Knows. Coming out Friday! I’m setting up the promo for that. Yay! Friday!
Weaver’s Circle #2 Long Memory. Slated to come out in May. WooHoo!
Weaver’s Circle #3. I’m on the middle of that one and it’s killing me, but the R&R from Carina is taking precedence for the moment.
Touchstone #1 Satellite of Love. Still waiting on an editor. Book 3 in that series is done and ready to go. Book 4 is buzzing in my ear. Book 5 (novella length) is done and Brett might be my favorite hero ever. EVER! Book 6 (novella length) is forming in my subconscious. Book 7? No clue. At this point, I’m glad about that.
The other band novellas. One is done. Two is done and Alan runs a tight second for favorite hero ever. Angie is my favorite heroine. Doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Beautiful. Three is halfway, interrupted by Weaver’s Circle #3 which was interrupted by the Welsh Rogue R&R. Four is cooking in the back burner. After as much of a snot as Trent was in the first 2 books, he’s going to find out how much of a bitch karma really is. Bwahahahaha. Book 5, no clue, thank God. The last thing I need right now is more ideas I don’t have time for.
Most of this year (not July or August), I’m running a contest. Once a month (on the 17th for no real reason) I am posting a picture of a well known chain in Arabic. If you can be the first to correctly guess what the chain is you will win an ebook from my backlist. Any one as long as it’s already published (because if I have to try to remember to send something at a later date, I won’t.)
So that’s where I am. Wow. I better get to work. That R&R isn’t doing itself and it’s jamming up the works.
Oh the Agony!
22 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized, writing Tags: publishing, Weaver's Circle, writing
Lately I’ve been struggling with my current WIP, the third Weaver’s Circle novella. Actually, I haven’t been struggling, I’ve been procrastinating which for me is a sure sign that there’s a problem.
In Secrets Everybody Knows, Sue’s father has a heart attack and her brother Johnny comes home to bail out the family business. Johnny thinks he needs to prove himself to be seen with the girl he loved and left town to protect years ago so he starts trying to make things right starting with his family. Sue, realizing what he’s doing, says that she wishes someone would change the world for her.
This story was meant to be someone changing the world for Sue, but the further I got into my brilliant idea, the more I realized I hadn’t left enough one on one time for Sue and her hero, but I couldn’t figure a way around it.
Well, I’ve figured a way around it and it means pretty much starting from scratch. Boo.
Still, Weaver’s Circle beckons and somebody has to change the world for Sue because every time I read that line it brought tears to my eyes.
What moves you?
15 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in publishing, writing Tags: motivation, publishing, writing
Motivation is a tricky business when you work for yourself. When you have a boss leaning over your shoulder telling you to get it done, you do. When you have a family that needs cared for, you do. When you work for yourself, you might. Sitting down at the keyboard can be the hardest thing for a writer to do. There’s so many more interesting things to do. Like dishes. Or laundry. Or that mountainous to-read pile. But you want to write. You really do. Unfortunately deciding to write a novel and actually producing one is hard. Really hard. Fifty to a hundred thousand words, oh my! How do you manage it?
First of all, quit thinking of it as fifty to a hundred thousand anything. Create manageable, attainable, daily writing goals and then low ball yourself. You heard me right, low ball. If you set your daily word count above what you know you can accomplish, you are setting yourself up for failure. Nobody likes to fail, therefore, after a couple of failures, you will quit. However, if you set your daily word count just below what you know you can do, then you will have success and you will keep coming back for more. I like to set my personal word count at 1500 words because I know I can do that on the worst of days. Once I hit 1500 words, its all gravy and “look how good I am.”
Next, make sure you start with something you are happy with. Do you need to plan out every second of the story? Then plan out every second of the story. You don’t need fancy computer programs or spreadsheets, a pack of note cards will do the trick. Don’t want to plan out every second? Then don’t, but make sure you have enough story to go on. Personally, I’m a pantser. I know how the story is going to start and I’ve got a pretty good idea where it’s going to end. All the stuff in between? I like to be surprised. Sometimes I find myself so caught up that I’m yelling at the computer as I write. However, the quickest way to lose momentum is to discover half way in that you don’t have enough conflict or motivation. It really is all in the planning, even if you don’t have everything spelled out to the smallest degree.
Third, set aside a time. Just like you can train your body to go to sleep or get hungry at certain times, you can train your brain to write at certain times. If you’ve ever suffered with jet lag, you know how true this is. I have woken up in the middle of the night just starving even though I had a snack before going to bed because it’s lunchtime halfway around the world and my body clock hasn’t adjusted yet. Your brain will operate the same way about writing. Once you’ve developed the habit of sitting down and doing the work, your brain will start even if you aren’t at your desk.
Lastly, start thinking about your story as you drive home or make dinner (or whatever it is that you do before you start writing) so that when you get to your desk you can start writing. I wrote entire novels while stocking magazines at Borders, just ask my co-workers. If you can sit down and start writing you will feel like you’re getting something done. If you have to sit down and figure out what’s happening next, then you have every chance that your mind will wander and Facebook beckons.
So what’s the key to motivating yourself to write? To borrow a phrase, just do it.
*Sadly, I do not know where I got this image from, but if someone can tell me I will be happy to credit the creator because I think it’s brilliant.
