I picked up my winner's goodies this morning from NaNoWriMo. I'm still going with the novel. It will be at least 70000 words when I'm done. Of course, since I have to go away to visit the in-laws, I won't be able to write again until Monday. Unless I write like mad today and Monday, I won't have the entire novel done by the end of November. I still don't have a title, either.

Happy Turkey Day to all my American friends out there!

I took a break from writing on the weekend. Sometimes it helps to just step back and breathe. And watch a bunch of Battlestar Galactica. I'm over 60000 words now. I have at least 10000 more to go. I'm not quite sure how long the climax will go. Sometimes they go pretty quick for me, but my characters do so love to talk. Dialogue can make up a lot of the word count.

No other writing news on my end. I think everyone has already gone on Thanksgiving holidays.

I reached 50000 words today in the NaNoWriMo challenge. YAY! I really want cake now.

The story is flowing very well. It isn't my fastest year, but I wasn't going for speed. I would have been happy with myself if I finished it by Thanksgiving. Yet when the muse speaks, I have to listen. Especially if I don't want my ears boxed in. I have at least another 20000 words to go and that's a low estimate. It's a fun story, or at least, I think it's fun.

I also received my edits for my silly western story, "Bun in the Oven." I'll have to do those later once I'm refueled with some dinner. And maybe cake?

I hope to have a quiet holiday season this year. My husband and I are planning to stay home to save money. My to-do list to prepare for the holidays isn't that long and it won't require the use of any technology other than the phone. I have family out of the country, so I get their gifts early to have enough time to send them out. I don't decorate until the first week of December and I think I have enough decorations already. This year, though, since we have our first home, I want to get a real Christmas tree. I'll likely have to get a few decorations for that since I only have enough for the small fake tree we've been using for years. Every year, I get my holiday cards out early. It's around this time that I start to address them. Yes, there's a lot! In fact, if you want a card from me and I don't have your address, please email me your address and I'll send you out one, too.

Happy birthday to authoraubrie!

NaNoWriMo word count so far: 44000.

Another one of my short stories was rejected yesterday.  It had made it to the final cut.  They had requested I change a few things and I did, but in the end, the editor said that though she loved the story, it didn't fit with the other stories picked for the anthology.

To make up for that disappointment, I got my first edits back from the editors with the Skulls & Crossbones anthology.  My pirate short story, "Ladgarda," is looking very spiffy.  I already sent it back in. They want all stories back in by tomorrow, so they can stay on schedule and hopefully have the anthology in print in January.

I still have five short stories out there that I'm waiting to hear back about.  I need to send out some more stories again soon.  That will have to wait until after NaNoWriMo.  Speaking of which...

Total word count: 28104

My zombie story was rejected this afternoon.  The editor says he would REALLY love to have a high fantasy zombie story in his anthology, but mine didn't grab him.  He liked the ending, but the rest wasn't high impact enough for him.  I'm only a bit disappointed it was rejected.  I'm more grateful that he explained why.  So if anyone is in the mood to write a high fantasy zombie short story, the editor for Through The Eyes of the Undead with Library of the Living Dead Press is looking for one.

My word count total for my NaNo novel today is: 22133.  I'm pleased with that as a weekend word count.  Weekends are for lazing around, after all!

Total word count: 20011

I've made my goal for the week.  I like to get a lot written during the week, because I usually write less on the weekends.  I want to get out for walks and enjoy the nice autumn weather while we have it.  Plus, there's a few movies I want to see which are now five bucks.  I mentioned Sonic in my novel today and now I want that, too.  I think I deserve a reward milkshake after 20000 words!  Ah, now to try to convince my husband of that.

Total word count: 16242

It doesn't even feel like I've gotten to the meat of things yet.  There's so much more that I want to happen.  I'm not going to complain if the novel ends up being over 80000 words or even up to 100000.  It will give me a lot to work with when I get to editing it later on.

I also got an email today from L.K. Hamilton's agent asking to see the full manuscript of Alchemy.  That makes me feel giddy.  Oh, I know it doesn't mean they're going to take me on, but she did show interest in it.

Total word count for day 3 of NaNoWriMo 2009: 9795.

I might have tried for 10000, but I hit a perfect stopping point for the day.  Today's writing was basically one giant conversation.  Yes, I do love to have my characters talk, but I need to watch myself.  I don't want to bore my readers.  All the information they talked about was important, though.  Geez, they STILL have more to talk about.  I had to break the conversation up or else they'd be on the side of the highway talking forever.  The story needs an action scene now, anyway.

I'm cheering for everyone else out there doing NaNoWriMo this year.  Good luck!

I'm off to a good start.  I'm at 6440 words right now and I like the way the story is going.  Of course, with NaNoWriMo, I write in scenes for a fast word count that I might not keep when I edit it later.  I remember a fellow NaNo participant a few years back said she wrote 1500 describing a person taking a long shower just to get her word count!  I'm not that bad, but I add in more descriptions or more of the protagonist's thoughts than I might normally when writing.  I don't have a title yet for my novel, but that's not unusual for me.  It will come to me eventually.

Here's the synopsis:  Inari Thane had a hot one-night stand on her 30th birthday and the gorgeous man left with her a surprise gift. She thinks he has forgotten her, but she can't forget him. She's having his baby. The pregnancy isn't a normal one, though. The fetus is growing at twice the normal rate and Inari suddenly finds herself stalked by frightening things. Cut Donnelly knows what is happening to her and he offers his help, but even though she's very much attracted to the handsome man, she doesn't know if she can trust him. Inari will have to put her life in his hands or she may fall prey to the vicious predator that is hunting her.

Yes, I've done seances with friends and used Ouija boards.  We didn't seek out to summon any spirit in particular.  Though it would be cool to talk to Einstein or someone who had a great mind like that.  I do believe we can get messages from the dead, but I also think that the majority of the time, seances and Ouija boards don't really work.  Most psychics are not really psychic at all.  I've never had one to give me an accurate reading and I've had quite a few over the years.  I think it a rare thing to contact spirits or to be sensitive to them.

Have a Happy Halloween, everyone!

NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow!

I get all these ideas for costumes, but I neither have the look nor the money to make them.  If I could afford it, I'd make or buy a very elaborate costume because I do love to dress up.  I love seeing others dressed up.  I'm really excited this year because it's my first year in our house and we'll get trick-or-treaters.

Oh yes, back to the question. I went out hunting for costumes, but I couldn't find anything that caught my attention or even inspired me a bit.  So I sulked about it and then dug up a pirate wench costume I had from four or five years ago.  It saves us money, at least.  My husband is going to dress as an idiotic frat boy with several popped collars.

I've never done coordinating costumes with anyone.  Though I do love it when I see groups of people dressing up together.  I've seen the Scooby gang and a group of teens all dressed as the heroes from Guitar Hero.

I finished writing a zombie short story yesterday.  I didn't find any inspiration for a warrior one, so I went the zombie route.  I was thinking something modern and silly, but it turned out to be a medieval piece.  A bit thoughtful, too.  Maybe it will stand out because it's very different than any other zombie stories I've read.  I'm glad to have it finished.  It's my short story for November.  Now I only have to think about my NaNo novel for the month.

It's almost Halloween and I'm still trying to think of a decent costume.  I've played with ideas of some political and in the news ones.  I think Octomom is played out, though.  I could go as a zombie.  Easy enough, but not too thrilling.  I goggled some silly ideas.  Wear a housecoat and pajamas with angel wings.  Be an angel of the morning.  Too cheesy, right?  I was even thinking about being Eeyore last night.  I don't know if that's cute or pathetic!  Zombie Eeyore?  Zombie Pooh would be funnier.  Any suggestions?

I had my second submission to The Way of the Wizard anthology rejected.  The first one was rejected because the magic was too subtly used.  I didn't get a reason for this second rejection other than the editor didn't think it quite for him.  I had a few doubts myself considering it had some romance to it.  The magic wasn't so subtle, though!

I listen to a lot of writers talk and read a bunch of writers' blogs.  Big time authors and struggling writers alike.  I've noticed a group of struggling writers that have this belief they're not succeeding because the successful writers won't let them.  Yes, I do think it's just them putting the blame on someone other than themselves, but the paranoia is there.  They see the published authors banning together, becoming friends or friends already, helping each other get in anthologies together, getting in with agents and publishers, and blocking the struggling writers out of these things.  They think that the advice given to wannabe authors is shallow and not helpful at all.  They believe that the successful authors don't want to share their success with anyone else and give the struggling ones the short end of the stick.  I've seen/read this hostility.  I understand it, but I don't believe it's a realistic view on things.

The basic advice given to wannabe writers is to be professional, be persistent, and practice by writing all the time.  The dirty truth is that maybe you'll never be published even if you do all those things.  Yet you greatly improve your chances if you do.  I never thought I'd be published, but I have five short stories in print and three forthcoming.  (I had two novels, too, but they're no longer available due to the breach of contract by the publisher.  It was a learning experience.  Sometimes these things happen.)

Listen to published authors.  They do know what they're talking about and they're not holding any secrets back from you.  There's no magic wand or publishing genie in a bottle.  No one is going to hold your hand.  It really is all about professionalism, persistence, a good story, and luck.  Sometimes, mostly just luck.

This week I hope to start on a short story for an anthology called Blood and Iron.  A sword & sorcery anthology, but much more about the sword.  I always think I have trouble writing battles, but usually people tend to really like what I write.  So I'm going to give it a try and see what I can come up with.  If I can finish it this week, I'll be pleased.  That will leave me next week to get ready for NaNoWriMo.

I finished reading the newest Dresden Files book yesterday.  Ah, how I do love Harry, but sometimes with series that long, I do get frustrated.  I know Butcher has an end spot in mind. (Book 18, I believe.)  Yet when series go this long, it does seem to sometimes drag on.  I loved the Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth series, but both of them petered out.  It does feel like the Dresden Files are at that point.  The last few books, I was beginning to feel bored and that's never a good thing.  Oh, have no doubt, I will read all the books as they come out and follow it to the end.  I want to know how it ends, but the end feels like it should be very soon and not seven more books away.  I think the trilogy is the perfect size.  Three books is long enough to get a deep story and to thoroughly explore the characters. It's also short enough for them not to get boring.  Readers might want more, but eventually, it will lose its draw.

13 days until NaNoWriMo!

I managed to push through the urge to procrastinate today and I finished another short story.  It will be my second attempt at The Way of the Wizard anthology.  Though, I'm pretty sure this story turned out to have too much romance for the editor's liking.  I'll try anyway.  No harm in trying!  Maybe I'll be surprised.  It's a traditional story about witches and pacts with the devil.  I hope I managed to write it in an interesting and modern way.

I haven't named the story yet.  Sometimes it takes a while for me to come up with a title I like.  I know people that get their titles even before they start writing.  That's only happened with me on a few occasions.  I'll come up with something when I edit it later this week.

Only 19 days until NaNoWriMo starts!

I received an email this morning asking me if I'd like to include my short story, "Father's Sword" which was recently published in Issue #4 of Silver Blade to be in a print anthology put out by the publisher and a few other publishers.  Of course, I said yes.  I do love seeing my stories in print!  It's nice that they liked my story so much, they want to have it in their anthology.  The anthology is still looking for more stories.  If you're interested, here's the URL: www.liquid-imagination.com/Dreams_and_Screams/dreams_and_screams.html

I took a long walk today with my husband.  I do love the cool autumn weather.  It's my favorite time of the year.  I also feel the most creative at this time of year.  I think it's my comeback after the summers that drain me so.

My short story, "Crinkle" has made the short list for the Dead Bells anthology.  They had me rewrite a few parts and I resubmitted it.  I should find out on the 15th if I made it into the anthology.

I still haven't decided what I'm going to write for this month's short story.  There's a lot of fantasy anthologies that I'm interested in.  Perhaps I should just sit down and start writing.  Maybe something grand will come out of it.  I need to do one for November, too.  I better go sit in my thinking chair and think, think, thiiiiiink.

I busied myself today by sending out another batch of agent queries.  It's getting harder now to find agents to query as I've already sent out dozens.  I know some of them keep track of what they've received, because I accidentally sent a query to the same place twice and they said they already reviewed it as per their computer file on me.  It's a little frightening to think agencies have computer files on me.  Are they watching me to see if I publish more things?  Do they have a comment calling me an idiot because I queried them twice?

I do keep a list of all the agencies I've queried.  I make sure they're legitimate and are seeking the genre that I write.  I tailor my queries to what they're looking for.  It's quite the tough job.  It also has little to no reward to it.  Most of the time, I get the standard form letter.  Or card.  Some places have their rejections on little postcards these days.  There are a few that never responded at all.  Ones that I know I sent a S.A.S.E. to.  That ticks me off a bit.

I've gotten more encouraging responses from publishers and editors than agents.  Are agents just harder to please?  It's a frustrating process, but I'm a determined sort.  I'll keep sending out my manuscripts and queries until I either get picked up or I die.

My short story, "Ladgarda" was accepted by Bedazzled Ink Publishing for their anthology, Skulls and Crossbones.  Yes, as you've guessed, it's a collection of pirate stories.  Not just any pirate stories, though.  The protagonists in these stories have to be women pirates!  I think it will make for a great anthology.  The tentative date for release is January 2010.

There are still seven editors I have to hear back from about short stories.  I need to decide what sort of short story I'm going to write for this month, too.  Likely something in the fantasy direction.