tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245550522024-03-07T16:01:31.758-06:00The Berry PatchFor the part of me that wants to write. The little Berry girl that thought nothing ever happened in her life. Of course, I was seven at the time . . .Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-75360083014971809992013-03-11T14:27:00.001-05:002013-03-11T14:27:40.727-05:00Knitting ProcrastinationBook plug - Haven't received my copies of Father By Choice yet, but as soon as I get them, I'll be sending out a copy to someone :) I'll give one out on my blog and another out on my facebook account. /Book plug<br />
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Okay, now that that's over, let's get on to the knitting. I've been knitting for a very long time. Off and on over the years. I learned to knit from a book I checked out from the library when I was 9. Back then (in the stone ages), the only place to get yarn from was Walmart. However, for a brief period of time Kewanee had a craft store.<br />
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Man, have times changed. I have downloaded patterns, found Ravelry and ordered yarn from the Internet. We have a really nice knitting shop in the town I live in and there is a Michaels not too far away. Of course, I think Kewanee is still stuck with Walmart, but at least there is the Internet now.<br />
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So what I'm working on. I made a beaded scarf but haven't done the finishing so no picture yet. I'm also making fingerless gloves for my daughter. It has a basketweave look. This is the one I've finished. I'm working on the other one. <br />
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I found a book on Kindle called Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. It has a beaded fingerless glove that I want to do, but had to order the beads for it since neither Michaels nor the knit shop had the size beads I needed. But I did get a lovely dark purple Alpaca yarn.<br />
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I'll post it when I get it done. The other website I found is KnitPicks and bought a bunch more yarn. Now I need to make sure I actually use all this yarn, which means no more buying until this is used up.<br />
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My son wants a pair of fingerless gloves too. And I'm thinking of trying as many of the patterns in the One-Skein book as possible. I also picked up some patterns for sweaters and shawls. I really want to try clothing. Most of what I made when I was younger was afghans and the ocassional Christmas ornament.<br />
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Now for what the title of this blog post indicates. Yes this feels like procrastination or avoidance of working. I try to keep it to the evening when all I'm doing is watching TV anyway. But I do want to get things done and it's a lot faster to finish a glove than to weave together a story worth telling. It also gives my mind time to think about what I'm working on. But too much... well, then I'm just avoiding. Then again it's a cool hobby that's very fun. What hobbies do you have?<br />
Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-13910739330792060702013-03-05T11:03:00.002-06:002013-03-05T11:10:07.212-06:00Super Excited! FATHER BY CHOICE Available for Preorder<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Even though we spent last year in a state of flux because we moved from the Midwest where my husband and I grew up to the Southeast coast where winter has been moderately cold, I was actually able to finish a book while all that was going on. And the great news is it will be released on April 23rd!!! This year!!!<br />
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The story is about Brady Ward, the middle brother of three brothers. After spending the past eight years abroad, he returns to the States only to be confronted by the woman he shared one night with. Maggie Brown did try to let Brady know that she was pregnant eight years ago and when his oldest brother started giving her money, she figured she had Brady's answer to how involved he wanted to be. Until Brady's brother comes forward to tell her that Brady doesn't know and sends her to tell him.<br />
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This is my first small town story. Set in the fictional town of Tawnee Valley, I tried to create a world that has as many benefits as it has flaws. I grew up in one of the larger small towns in the Midwest, but my fictional town is smaller than even that town. With the shorter format of Harlequin Special Editions, I tried to still maintain the charm of a small town book while keeping the romance in the front.<br />
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I can't wait for it to be out so I can hear what readers think!<br />
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What type of stories draw you? Small town? Big cities? Family dramas? Work dramas?<br />
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<em>P.S. I'm thinking about blogging about my knitting as well. I just found Ravelry.com and have lots and lots of ideas. I'm currently working on a shawl and a pair of fingerless gloves. What do you think? Want to hear about knitting or only writing?</em>Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-65667644912948573462013-01-21T08:54:00.000-06:002013-01-21T08:54:23.146-06:00Check, check! Is this thing on?Yes, I suck at my blog, but I haven't had much to say. So now I do and want to post longer than Facebook allows so...<br />
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I love Pride & Prejudice! No really, I love it. I don't just like it, I love it bunches. I would totally marry it if I could, but since I can't... I'm going to extol on its many virtues.<br />
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1. The book - Not my first exposure to it. I own a copy and adore it. I think it's really hard to understand the full story without first reading the book. I'll admit it's a little hard to get into at first. The writing style is completely different from modern storytelling techniques, but once you are in, you are in. :) While I have read other Jane Austen's books, this one remains my favorite.<br />
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2. The BBC awesomeness - Yes I saw the BBC version first, complete on (if I remember correctly) 6 VHS tapes. Loved it. It does give the most complete version of P&P on film. No one can deny that the actors lived in the essence of the story. Wonderful.<br />
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3. The Kiera Knightly version - My favorite version of the movie because it doesn't take a day to watch and it stays close to the story structure. The filming is lovely and the setting is a personal fav of mine because I lived in Sheffield just off of the Peak District where Kiera Knightly is on a cliff looking like she's going to get blown off :) Also I've been to Chatsworth Hall which was used for Pemberly Hall in the movie. The bust of Mr. Darcy resides in the statue room which does include the statue of the veiled woman seen in the movie. The statue of the woman is uncanny up close. You can see that it's stone and even look closely to see how it's done, but your mind truly believes that the veil is like cloth.<br />
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4. I've been to Bath! And the home of Jane Austen. They have some of the dresses from filming the BBC version and it's a beautiful place. Though Bath is not in P&P, it is Jane Austen (so fan girl!)<br />
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5. Becoming Jane - Love, love, love this movie. To think that the woman who touched our hearts with her story of love had a love story of her own... It's mostly made up, but I'm okay with that.<br />
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6. Bridget Jones' Diary - Such a quirky movie. It's adaptation of the original story thread is incredible and deliciously modern. It took out bits and pieces and spun them into a story that works. Again I've only saw the movie, but I still love it :)<br />
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7. OMG! Have you seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries!http://www.lizziebennet.com/story/ I just spent the weekend catching up on it and can't wait to see more. Wish I'd discovered it after it was done so I could see the whole thing and not have to wait. But yay!!! They've done a wonderful job of modernizing the story. I have to go follow them all on twitter to find out what is happening. So much fun!<br />
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Is there an author or movie or book or series that drives you ga-ga? Something that if you see it's on, you have to stop and watch it?Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-42757141127995320362012-01-08T12:12:00.000-06:002012-01-08T12:12:15.688-06:00What I Learned from my Sims 3 WriterMy daughter received Sims 3 for Christmas and as much as I tried to stay away, I couldn't help it. The new version has writer as a career. *rubs hands together in glee* So here are a few things I've learned from playing Sims 3. My character's name is Stella.<br />
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1. Playing Sims is a time suck. I knew this before, but dang, hours will pass without anything really happening as you watch your little character run around the screen doing nothing as well. Unfortunately, time suck means time not spent writing. Time not spent writing means that the books don't get done, which means nothing to turn in, which means no income. Hmmm... <br />
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2. Stella starts out with a rapidly decreasing needs bar. She has to go to the bathroom, make food, sleep, shower, have fun and talk to other people. Otherwise she gets really cranky. Lesson: Take time to be a human. We need all these things too.<br />
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3. Writing without breaks makes for a cranky Stella who won't continue write until you give her some fun. Fun includes reading a book, playing video games or hanging out with a friend. Lesson: We need to have fun once in a while. Maybe it doesn't have to be a four hour marathon of Sims 3, but 15 minutes of doing something else every couple of hours should help.<br />
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4. If Stella doesn't leave the house for a while, she goes stir crazy. Simply going out to the bookstore or library or anywhere there are other people for an hour is sufficient for her to remedy the situation. Lesson: Leave the house and clear your head every now and then. Being cooped up is bad for your mood. Even better go out with someone and chat about stuff before returning home to work.<br />
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5. If Stella doesn't write, she can't pay her bills and has to get a job or her stuff will be repossessed. Lesson: If this is your career, you can't sit and play all day and expect to be paid. You must work on your book and finish it to reap the rewards of royalties.<br />
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6. Stella is loaded. She brings in 100,000 simoleons every week from over 20 books. But she's had no time to develop relationships. Granted there was that one guy, but the jerk ended up being in a relationship. Jerk. Lesson: It would be wonderful to earn tons of money from book sales, but without my family what would it matter. Keeping up relationships is more important than writing. At least to me.<br />
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7. Stella is loaded because she finished over 20 books. Lesson: Watching a Sim type is not the same as doing the work yourself. Unfortunately we can't speed up time until we are finished a book. We have to put in the real time and that means not procrastinating by playing games or watching TV or whatever it is that keeps up from writing.<br />
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So my Sim has taught me quite a bit about what kind of writer I want to be. I need to be more balanced in my approach to writing. I need time to play and take care of myself and my family. But I need to make writing a priority in my life and not keep shoving it to the space that should be reserved for playing Sims. I figure I'm going to use working on my Sims family (she cloned herself :) who needs a man...well me, but not Stella) as a reward for finishing my goals. Incentives do help ;)Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-28783656176575540492011-09-22T14:38:00.000-05:002011-09-22T14:38:05.552-05:00My People!When I started writing, I did it alone with communication every now and then with other writers, especially while in England (different time zone and all that). For a while I had friends in an endurance writing group who would meet in a Yahoo conference box and we would sprint (write with no distractions) for 45 minutes with 15 minute breaks. I finished quite a few of my earlier stories using this method, but like all good things, I was able to work during the day and most of them had day jobs :( So as that dwindled off, I moved into lurking in chat rooms on Romance Divas and Writechat.net where they do 20 minute challenges (same as sprints but with a cooler name).<br />
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You'd be amazed at some of the numbers I could produce in 20 minutes. Okay maybe not you, but I was ;) But there was a lot of chatter going on in the chat rooms and sometimes no one was around and it's kind of weird to whip yourself. Enter Twitter.<br />
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Oh, thank you, you brilliant writers you, who use twitter as a device to orchestrate #1k1hr challenges. The goal 1000 words in an hour. People who write during the day are there! And there's almost always one going on. With a book to write that's fully plotted and just needs to be drafted, this is manna from Heaven. Of course it doesn't stop the phone calls or the TV calling (what? it does. It mocks me with it's darkness.), but it does give me that kick in the pants to write, which is what I need.<br />
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I know 2 posts in a month. I'm spoiling ya :)Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-19684273353680551182011-09-20T17:01:00.000-05:002011-09-20T17:01:14.064-05:00The Hard SellSelling the first book should have been the hard part of this business. Usually it takes a few tries and you get closer each time and finally after much toiling you sell. <em>L.A. Cinderella</em> was my third completed manuscript and I entered it in a contest because they were low in entries. When it won, I got a request for the full and eventually a contract for that book. I started working feriously on <em>Casanova Exposed</em>, but it wasn't right for the line. My editor and I have gone back and forth on a few more books and we're getting close, but somehow I'm just not finding that next book.<br />
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So for me the hardest sell has become my second book. I'm continuing to submit to Harlequin because I love category romance and want to find that story that will resonate with readers. So I continue to try. I'm also looking at writing single title contemporary romance and one of my favorites, paranormal romance. I have plenty of ideas and am continuing to submit, because that's what this industry boils down to: perseverence. You'll hear it over and over again from all levels of writers.<br />
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Will I self-publish in ebook? Hubby has green lighted me if I want to go that direction, but I'm not ready for that. There's more to a book than just the writing and right now, I want to focus on the writing. I haven't completely shelved <em>Casanova Exposed</em>, just put him on the waiting line for later. <br />
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Right now I'm at a cross roads in my career. I have something on submission with my editor, which hopefully they love. I also have two more synopses ready to go should we need something else for them to look at. But the looking at takes time. So while I wait, I need to figure out what direction next. And hopefully I figure out the right next move.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-62329228397693783152011-07-06T16:02:00.000-05:002011-07-06T16:02:16.091-05:00Bad Author BadI feel like I've neglected my poor blog for so long. :( I even got repremanded at Nationals by the lovely Abigail Strom, a fellow Special Edition author, for not posting since March! (Totally deserved the reprimand) <em>L.A. Cinderella</em> is enjoying a world tour after being published in Australia, Italy, Argentina and the UK. I never know when the next box of books will come in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for France.<br />
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I went to Romantic Times Conference out in L.A. and got a great tour by my critique partner, Jeannie Lin. I just returned from New York where the Romance Writers of America had their national conference. It gave me time to talk with my editor and agent and reconnect with my writing friends and meet new friends. I had a fantastic time and it really was the kick in the pants I needed to keep on keeping on. <br />
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I've been working on proposals for Special Edition and when I get just the right one, I'll let you all know. I've also had my single titles stewing in the back of my brain for when I'm out on submission again. Trying to decide between reviving my angels, classing up Las Vegas with a contemporary or bringing back the dead with my zombie book. So dark paranormal, light contemporary or dark humor paranormal (kind of a mix of both). Meanwhile, I have a lot of ideas for Special Editions and hopefully one of them will be the right book to work on next.<br />
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I haven't given up yet :) And I still need to write a ton this month because I'm behind where I was last year and this month last year I wrote almost 20K words. Of course, I was recovering from surgery last year and probably a little loopey on pain meds, but words is words. ;)Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-26879748374428236422011-03-17T15:42:00.000-05:002011-03-17T15:42:48.058-05:00ReadingI'm not only a writer but I love to read a good romance novel. I struggled through reading some romances and they were okay, but I had this amazing book waiting for me that I had waited for for over a year. That had been left on a cliff hanger for over a year!<br />
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Seriously, I devoured this book. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and I couldn't put it down when I was. There were issues with the storytelling. First person present tense and then last it went into past tense. She included a secondary first person point of view that I don't think really needed to be there. But overall the story telling was gripping, which makes me want to dissect it and figure out what makes it tick. Unfortunately that isn't my strength. I know other writers who could probably tell me exactly what technique she used that had me so captivated. A lot of time it boils down to voice, but in this case it was voice and questions. The outcome was never clear in my mind. I never knew who to trust and who not to (because the main character didn't and it was told solely from her POV). There are cameos of characters I loved from her past romance books.<br />
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Besides the story beginning (five books ago) with the death of her sister, only bad people died. Good people sometimes did bad things, but they all survived in the end. I know I cared about the characters and wanted to see them come through it. At times I didn't like some of them, but I always cared about the POV character, even when she was being stupid. If there's a secret formula it's evading me.<br />
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Moral of the story write a damned good book. How to do that? *shrug* <br />
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Back to the grind stone for me... Try to write a damned good book!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-28514439431253150362011-03-15T20:07:00.000-05:002011-03-15T20:07:37.662-05:00Busy, busy<a href="http://romancetradingcards.com/">http://romancetradingcards.com/</a><br />
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This is what I've been working on lately. That and writing....<br />
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Not much more to add. At least, not right now. ;)<br />
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Hopefully I'll have news soon, whether good, bad or indifferent.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-51329219247477233872011-01-31T16:44:00.000-06:002011-01-31T16:44:29.804-06:00So What Changes When You are Published...So before I entered the world of the published, I could write whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Granted that concept didn't always work, but it was fun. I could dabble in this and try out that. Now that I've sold, I'm trying to sell the same style over again. I went out on a limb with my option book and it unfortunately fell to the ground quivering in a heap. But the voice is still there. So I proposed a different type of book, a little more down to earth and a lot less Hollywood. I sent off the synopsis and waited and waited and wrote the book while I waited and waited some more.<br />
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Then I made all these grand schemes of how I was going to write more in 2011. I was going to conquer a first draft every month starting in January. Okay, well maybe not January, I want to try to revise my Hollywood story for single title, so I'll work on that and revise my poor Fallen, who has been neglected. And then I'll have the distance to revise the SSE I had completed. Yay! A plan.<br />
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In January I heard back on my synopsis and we talked about how to make it a stronger story. So Hollywood is off the plate and Fallen slips further off the dessert plate. I embrace this new concept for the completed story with the gusto of Eeyore. But when I finally get the right spin on it, I am once again Pooh (okay seriously how many metaphors can I throw in this, it's become a bit of a challenge at this point, bear with me). Ready to take off into the 1000 acre woods and find adventure.<br />
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So instead of tackling something new or making something old pretty, I'm working on (man, I wish I could use borrowed or blue here) revamping the NaNo book and giving it new life. So I'm postponing writing something new and revising the single titles to get the book that has the attention pretty as a posey again.<br />
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(I swear I won't try to stuff metaphors down your throat anymore. But heck it was fun trying) :)<br />
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What I'm trying to say is priorities change after you've become published and you have to be flexible enough to cope with different schedules and perhaps changing something you loved to make it a better story. And even if something wasn't good for Publisher A, maybe Publisher B will enjoy it. Oh, wait I've got it. When life gives you lemons, throw them at the person who gave them to you, because seriously without sugar lemonade isn't that good.<br />
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Did I mention the kids are home on snow day? :)Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-17644535228107044852011-01-02T19:37:00.000-06:002011-01-02T19:37:43.954-06:00Happy New Year!!!!Yes, I vanished for the month of December. I finished Finding Home Again, mostly on my netbook, because my laptop display died. :-( But then it came back :-) And then it died again :-( And then it couldn't decide what to do :-| So as of the end of last year I have a new laptop. <br />
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I spent the remainder of December reading the following: <br />
<u>What I Did for Love</u> by Susan Elizabeth Phillips<br />
<u>Just the Sexiest Man Alive</u> by Julie James<br />
<u>Breathing Room</u> by Susan Elizabeth Phillips<br />
<u>Glitter Baby</u> by Susan Elizabeth Phillips<br />
<u>Heartthrob</u> by Suzanne Brockmann<br />
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All of the books were recommended from my friends as books with Hollywood heroes/heroines. Since I want to take one of my stories and expand it.<br />
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I do have goals for this year. I'd love to write at least 4 books for Silhouette/Harlequin and one additional single title. I'd actually love to write more, but that's a beginning.<br />
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I have three books currently that need revised, so that takes priority. Then I'll start writing again. Hubby wrote me a great program that is like the NaNo statistics keeper (I still have to load it on this machine). My much faster machine. :-) I'm feeling better and my hip feels better, so here's hoping for a painfree year.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-58632109264884681782010-11-27T10:55:00.000-06:002010-11-27T10:55:05.893-06:00How to Get a Husband to Stop Bugging YouOkay, so it would have to be my husband, but here's the story. After everyone left from Thanksgiving, I went to write. Usually I write in the living room, but hubby wanted to play an XBox game he got a year ago, so I went upstairs to my recliner in the bedroom (all good writers should have one lol, at least those that have hip issues). After a while, hubby wanders in and sits there. He'd finished playing the game for now. One child is on the computer downstairs and the other is playing the DS.<br />
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When I ask him what he's doing, he is done playing the game for now and doesn't really have anything to do. Which is fine typically, however, trying to write while someone stares you down isn't very easy. So I ask him about charts in Excel... I'm trying to make a word goal thingy like NaNoWriMo's NaNo Stats page, because it's really cool. I told him that I figured out what I want to have in there but would probably ask my favorite author friend to make it work for me. He volunteered to give it a go. He can program it, but it won't be too pretty. :)<br />
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So now he has a project for the weekend and I'm free to finish NaNo. How close are you to The End?Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-89578198723254559222010-11-04T09:42:00.000-05:002010-11-04T09:42:06.320-05:00Long Time No WriteIn any sense of the word. I have written a bit, but mostly synopsis. I've decided to put my Hollywood stories on hold and work on a different Silhouette Special Edition. When inspiration strikes, sometimes it's best to follow it. Well as long as my editor is on board with it, that is. :) I am NaNoing again this year and hoping to finish <em>Finding Home Again</em>, working title, of course. Last night I brainstormed another book with some friends, so hopefully I'll be able to tackle that one too.<br />
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NaNoWriMo is where I first wrote <em>L.A. Cinderella</em>. For the month of November you write 50K which is only a little shy of the SSE word count. So it's perfect for me. And as long as the story is flowing, I'm in a good place. I haven't given up on Hollywood yet, but it's nice to do something different. So back to writing...Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-13019794197308368132010-09-23T14:15:00.000-05:002010-09-23T14:15:05.127-05:00Last Week<a href="http://www.languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html" target="_blank" title="NaNoWriMo writing toys games & gadgets"><div style="width:200px;height:15px;background:#FFFFFF;border:1px solid #000000;"><div style="width:91%;height:15px;background:#cc0066;font-size:8px;line-height:8px;"><br></div></div></a>18158 / 20000 words. 91% done!Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-35812341869359592022010-09-23T10:37:00.001-05:002010-09-23T10:39:17.216-05:00The YucksBoy do I have them. They start kind of slow and innocent. You get back feedback and you grouse about it and try to continue working on the pretty shiny project you've been working on. Then you get feedback on a different project and you grouse about it and try to continue on pretty project. Everything stops.<br />
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The words no longer sound right coming out of your characters' mouths. Did you make the right decision to include this scene? Couldn't they do something interesting for a change? Is this even worth writing?<br />
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Then you decide to work on the revisions and the words you groused about end up being better than your own. Doubt weighs heavy. That other book you haven't touched for revisions yet. Well, maybe it really sucks and you should put it away for longer. Ignore it and the potential it has. Maybe it just isn't your style of writing.<br />
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I'm sure I'm not the only one with the yucks. Part of that has to do with waiting, which is part of the business. Part of it is just the fact that I can't be 100% confident all the time. I need those periods of yucks to make myself a better writer. To make myself learn more techniques. To bring my ego back down from whatever cloud it's been playing on. Loving what I do is essential to making the words flow and to get the word count. When I have the yucks, it tears down everything I've worked on, but it will also make me come back stronger. More determined.<br />
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Yesterday the words sucked. Today they could be so much better. The story is still there. The potential is still there. It might look like a filthy penny right now, but with a whole lot of elbow grease and shine, it could be gold. A project is never finished. Even after it is published, someone will make you wonder if you could have done something different to make it better. That's what makes an author good. The continuous striving for perfection in her work. The next story will be better and the lessons I learn on that one will make the following even better.<br />
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So no more yucks. No more giving up. Only hard work will achieve gold.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-54077858797462367812010-09-14T16:39:00.000-05:002010-09-14T16:39:00.878-05:00When the Words FlowSometimes, when I sit down to write, it takes me 15 minutes to come up with one sentence. It's grueling and long and there are so many other things I could be doing with my time. And before I would have done them. This forced march, of sorts, is helping me be a more productive writer.<br />
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During the daytime hours, I write. My brain turns on and the synapses all fire correctly and the inspiration is there. Sometimes I will sit and look out the window for a second, but I'm still driven to get my 4000 words a day. I'm not a dumper. I can't just fly through a MS without thought of the words I'm putting down. I used to be able to, but I figured out I hate revision.<br />
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I mean it. I hate revision. I do them and I'll continue to do them but I hate them. It takes me a little time to find my editor voice detached from my writer voice. But when I find that bad boy, he does some amazing things. I get to the point where I can pick apart individual sentences, but it takes me a while to do this. And I need time away from a project before I can truly give it the cleansing scrub it needs.<br />
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These are things I learned by doing. I tried to dive right into Casanova's revisions and it took me a long time to get into the groove. But when it's been a while, the words seem fresher. It's easier to cut those lines that I worked so hard to find. It works for me. To that end, when I finished Fallen, I went through and applied the critiques I'd received, and then sent it out to Beta readers. I haven't looked at it since. I don't plan to. I'm fully involved in Robert's story right now. It's a different voice, a different world and when I'm done. I can head back to the dark world of Fallen and read it with different eyes. And when that one's ready to go, my editor bad boy will still be in residence, making Robert's revisions easy to tackle. This is the hope. This is the experiment.<br />
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Write 2 books, revise 2 books, write 2 books, revise 2 books. Rinse, repeat as necessary.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-2800147020355701012010-09-12T15:32:00.000-05:002010-09-12T15:32:13.402-05:00The Past Two WeeksWriting, well it happened. I finished the first 3 chapters of Alex and revised the synopsis and sent them off to my agent. I hadn't realized I didn't have synopsises for the 3 other books I was going to write. So I spent this week working on a synopsis for an unrelated SSE and worked on Robert's synopsis. And boy are those two loud. So loud that I started working on the first chapter and hope to keep going through to the end on Robert's. It was in the plan for this year anyway, so why not. :)<br />
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Next week working on the 20K goal and hopefully making it.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-1726031466089117962010-09-01T10:10:00.000-05:002010-09-01T10:10:32.579-05:00Last Week<a href="http://www.languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html" target="_blank" title="NaNoWriMo writing toys games & gadgets"></a>18442 / 20000 words. 92% done!<br />
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I finished Fallen and took the weekend, Monday and Tuesday to get it ready to go out to my readers. Yay! So now I'm polishing the first three chapters of Alex and deciding whether to work on plotting for the other 3 or continue writing Alex... Decisions, decisions.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-56054642505846504332010-08-27T12:37:00.000-05:002010-08-27T12:37:12.328-05:00Changing My TuneIt's done, it's done, it's done. But of course, I'm not sure the ending is that great. First endings are never the best, usually takes me 3 or 4 tries to get the ending right. Beginnings for me are golden, middles not so back, endings....hell, brimstone and fire hell. I hem and haw over it for hours. But eventually my crit partners make me find the right one. :) *waves at crit partners* (They really rock!)<br />
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So to keep up the insanity, I'm putting Fallen on the backburner and taking up Alex's story. I have the first 3 chapters done, so during Nora time today I'll be going through my critique notes for those chapters and polishing them up. Why? So I can send them to my agent who can have them ready if my editor buys Casanova. Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at Alex's story.<br />
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For every story of mine, there is a soundtrack that I listen to to get into the mood. Fallen is very dark. A lot of metal and heavy music from bands like Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Smashing Pumpkins. The darkness and perpetual rhythm underlying Tool songs really perfected the mood of Fallen for this revision.<br />
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But now it's time for some lighter fare. Alex and Paige are a love story with just as much emotional depth as Fallen. Both have internal conflicts they must get over before they can be together and there are going to be scenes that feel just as dark as Fallen, but with a different edge. Songs in the playlist include Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper, I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Rait, and Make You Feel My Love by Adele. I have an emotional response to all my songs in my playlists and some of them bring out different emotions that I've felt in the past. Sometimes I just need a light tune to come up every now and then to remind me that my Silhouettes aren't all hardcore emotion rollercoasters. To that end, I usually put recently downloaded songs like Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner and Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha.<br />
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These songs help me find the tone and voice of my story because they mean something to me. They make me feel a certain way and that frees me to write the story of my heart.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-18623889398219384112010-08-25T16:00:00.000-05:002010-08-25T16:00:05.265-05:00Holy Wordcount, Batman - Thanks Goodness for PlottingYes, I use that joke a lot and no, I'm not tired of it yet. So today I'm going to talk about the importance of planning. :) I'm a plotter. I've always been a plotter, even if a pants a little in between. When I first started out writing, I tried every way of plotting. I storyboarded, I used notecards, I tried an outline, I studied everyone who had something to say on plotting. The point is I tried that stuff. However none of it really worked for me. I never got past 75,000 words no matter how much plot I tried to do or how many cards I tried to write.<br />
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Granted, I'm a fuller writer now. I don't write the bare minimum on first drafts. Each scene is complete with description, action, dialogue, senses, internal thought, feelings. So that probably doesn't hurt my word count, but even revised I couldn't pull more than 78,000 words. I'm currently at 95,000 on Fallen and it's not done. It's close to done, but it's not. Holy Wordcount, Batman!<br />
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What was different? My plotting technique changed quite a bit from those earlier versions. Instead of an outline detailing every scene, I wrote a synopsis. I know, the evil S word. I can't for the life of me write one of these when I'm done, but I found if I use it to plot....100K book, people.<br />
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I learned how to write a synopsis from <a href="http://www.accessromance.com/classes/board/viewforum.php?f=14&sid=160721a97052003133d5095ad3ccbd50">a class</a> taught by Katherine Garbera for Writing the Selling Silhouette Desire. During that class I plotted and created the synopsis for Catch a Star, which is now L.A. CINDERELLA. From that synopsis I wrote the story. Did the story change? Heck, yeah. But did the roadmap help? Heck, yeah.<br />
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For Fallen, I replotted again (cries softly inside), but this time I used the synopsis format.<br />
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First Paragraph - heroine, backstory and GMC (goals, motivation, conflict - what does she want, why does she want and what is keeping her from getting it)<br />
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Second paragraph - hero, backstory and GMC<br />
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If you have a villian you can do another paragraph on him.<br />
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What else do I need? <br />
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Beginning - how does it start? When does the hero and heroine first meet?<br />
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Plot points for the external conflict (making sure that the internal conflict also gets in there) and romance plot points. <br />
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<ul><li>External conflict plot points - plot points are your major events, generally there are three with the third being the black moment. With external plot points, think major setbacks or major victories that carry the story forward, but change the course.</li>
</ul><br />
<ul><li>Romance conflict points - first kiss, first sex (if it's in the book or even off screen), first realization of love by both hero and heroine and first declaration of love by hero and heroine</li>
</ul><br />
In between you have the filler. :) How do they get from Plot Point 1 to Plot Point 2, how do their feelings change, what has to happen before they can make it to that plot point and what decisions need to be made. This is the vague stuff in the synopsis, but sometimes clearer in my plotting synopsis.<br />
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Last but certainly not least is the ending. You need a direction to head so you aren't swimming in circles. Choose a course and aim for it, but realize that if another island with Scots in kilts show up along the path, that it's okay to head for that island instead. :) The main thing is that when you are finished, you can go back to the synopsis you formed in the beginning and tweak it to reflect what really happened in the book and then your synopsis is ready to go too. One less thing to worry about.<br />
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Maybe it's not the most elegant plotting device and my instructions may be confusing, but what can I say, I wrote over 4,000 words today and my brain is fried.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-72804080993744074702010-08-22T18:15:00.000-05:002010-08-22T18:15:40.184-05:00End of Week One of Crazy Goals<a href="http://www.languageisavirus.com/nanowrimo/word-meter.html" target="_blank" title="NaNoWriMo writing toys games & gadgets"></a>9244 / 20000 words. 46% done!<br />
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Alright, so I didn't make my 20K for the week, putting me slightly behind. However, every day except Wed I had something else I had to do that I scheduled before this craziness began. Also, who gets Friday off after starting back to school on Monday. So I didn't get as much done as I hoped, but I have confidence that I can do 4000 words a day as on Wednesday.<br />
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Not much else to report. I'm going for 20K next week. We are still moving forward with Nora time, though not on the weekends.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-67168931413682244422010-08-12T14:58:00.000-05:002010-08-12T14:58:17.653-05:00Craziness I Has ItI'm horrible with goals. I make them and then I don't keep them, but I still try to make them. Since I'm not writing on vacation, I thought I'd look at my goals for the remainder of the year. Things I feel I have to get done this year include finally finishing the 3rd rewrite of Fallen and get Alex's story done and start Robert's story. Here's where the craziness begins. I can do all that if I write 2000 words a day while the kids are at school. Easy peasy. Piece of cake.<br />
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However....<br />
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If I really want to kick into gear.... Are you prepared for the craziness?<br />
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I could finish Fallen and write the 4 Silhouettes I have plotted out and revise them before Christmas. Sounds great. Fantastic. The best I've ever done. Caveat...I have to write 4000 words a day except during revisions. I have accomplished up to 5000 words in a day, so I know it's possible. The real part of this is viewing my daytimes as worktime. When the kids leave for school, I have 7 hours. All my other obligations, cleaning, cooking, carting children around and checking email and playing on the internet, could wait until after the kids are home from school. Groceries can be bought on the weekend. And if I have to go to an appointment during the day I need to make up the hours in the evening.<br />
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Now that I've published, I want to stay that way. I want to write like crazy and clear out my idea folder and make those into books. I want to be able to earn a good wage for the time I put into the creation of my works. I want to feel that I can take a vacation and not feel guilty for not writing because I haven't been reaching my goals. I can do this. I can make this work. I'm insane, but it's completely doable.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-2165268961092353282010-07-22T23:23:00.000-05:002010-07-22T23:23:09.639-05:00What Isn't Working For MeProject Nora is going well. When the kids get back into school, I'm going to do two 2-hour blocks. I find I can't blindly forge ahead in my manuscript. Today I had to stop and research shotgun and if I would call the shells, shells or bullets, but in doing so I realized she wouldn't use a shotgun. As impressive as they sound, they are not that impressive or accurate in shooting big bads. So I looked around and found a better option.<br />
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I also got stuck. Which meant I needed to do a little brainstorming on the spot. This also takes away from writing time, but this is how I function as a writer (your mileage may vary). I did jump on Romance Divas and do a few sprints tonight which brought my count up to 2,001 for the day. Which is good for a day I had PT and read and critiqued for a writing buddy. If I could keep up this pace, I could finish in 5-10 days.<br />
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Conference is in 4 days, which means I will not likely get Fallen's first draft finished before Nationals. But it does mean I will push to finish it before taking on Alex's story again. Those first 3 chapters need some work, I'm still blabbing too much about the previous books characters and while Mark and Kate are really nice people, they aren't the focus of this book. Okay off to bed with me. I need to write a post about musical inspiration and why I need music to write and silence to edit. :) Later.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-32904890056849331002010-07-20T16:51:00.000-05:002010-07-20T16:51:52.937-05:00Cheating, Yup I'm Doing ItYou know it's bad when you type in a title and the autofill pulls up the same one. Whoopsie. So I made it longer. So, Project Nora is going well, we are still meeting at the appointed time, but like a diet, there is this guilty satisfaction in cheating. Between not feeling well, having a child sick on the couch and the other one watching a movie in the same room (Mommy's roller desk is in the family room and she still can't handle a laptop on her lap), I didn't focus my time solely on writing.<br />
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However, I did make up for it and still clocked in over 2000 words today. How else am I cheating? Well... I'm working on my paranormal romance instead of working on a SSE. I do have the first 3 chapters done on the next one, including 3 more synopsiseseseses (seriously, how do you spell that?) for a little series. So I don't feel too bad, considering I have another book completed and in to my editor.<br />
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I really want to get this done and yes, it's got a new title, and no, I'm not going to blab it here considering all the people who ripped off the first title. :) No matter, it's going well. I've found the voice again and man are these people noisy. I'm ready to have them out of my head and onto the page. Currently sitting at 66K, we have a high speed chase and fight for Jude, a fight and black moment for the both of them (sick and twisted author rubs her hands together mwahaha), a trial... incarceration... escape. Wait am I still talking about the same book? Guess we won't know until it ends for the third time. Overall it's a much better book, I think. And more urban fantasy romance than paranormal romance, but I likes it. :)Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24555052.post-14960388043522446632010-07-15T14:45:00.000-05:002010-07-15T14:45:49.006-05:00Project NoraYes, I'm still plugging away. 2 hours a day of devoted time. I sent off Casanova at the beginning of this week and have been working on the proposal for the follow up story. Today I finished the 3 chapters for the proposal and a little extra. I'm putting it to the side, to simmer :) And have started the read through of Fallen to get back into the voice and story. I've made it to Ch 2 today and will continue to read through all the chapters until I get to where I was when I got revisions from Casanova (eons ago). I'm currently a little over 60K, so need another 30K to finish it off.<br />
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I'm pleased with this project so far. I generally do more than 2 hours during the day, but those 2 hours are devoted time where I don't feel bad about telling the kids to do something else. It's a manageable amount for right now, but I'm hoping when school starts back up to have two 2 hour slots devoted to writing. :) I need to work my way up to the 8 hours.Amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10810590407001594471noreply@blogger.com0