My Own Writing Challenge

It’s time for my own personal Writing Challenge. I need to write what’s known as a “partial” as soon as possible, so I’m setting a goal and hoping you’ll cheer me on a bit as I work toward making another of my dreams a reality (more on that, if/when appropriate - have I snagged your interest yet? LOL).

My New Dragon Book

words: 15,000 / 90,000 (17%)

I’m going to try to figure out how to get more than one progress meter to show on this blog - bear with me. I also am not sure how long the partial really needs to be except that it should be three chapters, synopsis and cover letter. I’m guessing altogether that’s somewhere around 15,000 words. (I could be wrong on that, and will adjust accordingly as I go along, if necessary.)

I have a lot on my writing plate this Summer. In addition to this new task that just cropped up a week or so ago, I also just finished the 1st round of edits on Jaci’s Experiment. I expect the 2nd round soon and will have to concentrate on that if we’re going to make our August 5th release date. (Not to worry - we’re on track.)

There’s also the third of my vampire novellas (Phantom Desires) to rewrite/expand. I put that on hold to go to Lori Foster’s event in Ohio and things have snowballed since then so that I haven’t gotten back to it yet. I think, as plans stand now, as soon as I get this partial off my desk, I’ll go gung-ho on that project to get that over and done and out of the way. It should only take a few days of work, so I’m not worried it’s an arduous task - I just need to find the time. Wish me luck! And if you’re working toward a goal in the next few weeks, feel free to post a comment about it - we can cheer each other on!

CataUniversity Writing Challenge Wrap-Up

The CataUniversity Challenge is almost over. My progress was halting, but I’m glad to say that I did a lot of work on the story and am happy with my overall results. I’m going to try to squeak it in under the finish line, but I’m not too worried if I don’t. The story is well on its way and shouldn’t take much to finish.

I write in a very haphazard fashion right now that I’d really like to change. For one thing, I’d love to put myself on a schedule that I actually stick to, but life happens and I get derailed from all my best-laid plans. I try not to let it bother me too much. No sense getting upset by the small stuff, right?

So I write a lot in short bursts, when I can. It’s been that way ever since I got back from RT. Spring is a busy time, so I guess I can understand my time-management difficulties, but I’d really like to get on more of an even keel soon.

In the meantime, I’m happy for having accomplished as much as I have during this incredibly busy time. Thanks to CataUniversity for sponsoring the challenge!

Urban Fantasy Anyone?

Writing Challenge Check-In

Off to a slow start this week. I have to finish polishing an 80,000 word book and hand it in to my editor, so that takes precedence. But the novella continues to grow. I’m not sure how long it will be when I finish, but it’s off to a nice start.

I’m also working on a few other things - I started a military/werewolf story a few weeks ago that I’ve been working on on-again/off-again. It appears to be on-again right now, so I’m going with the flow.

Unlike a lot of writers I know, I tend to work on a lot of different projects at once. I have the freedom to do that since none of these works are contracted anywhere yet. I suppose I’ll finish them at some point and see where they might fit best for publishing, but like I said, I have a lot of leeway since they’re not contracted anywhere. They’re my “fun” projects. My stress relievers. If they turn into something else later, well, that’s great, but for right now, I just enjoy working on them whenever the mood strikes.

One good piece of news - I managed to print out and mail a partial. Woo-hoo! Submitting everything electronically has made me lazy in the extreme. It’s an arduous task to actually print something out nowadays and have to lug it down to the post office to mail, but from time to time, it needs to be done, so I’m patting myself on the back for actually getting that done.

Now it’s off to work more on the novella… wish me luck!

Writing Challenges

I finished my 70,000 words for the 70 Days of Sweat Challenge. Yay! Now I’m working on the Cata University Challenge - I believe it was a novella in a month.

Well, I’m off to a good start. I’m actually working on a sequel to “Perfect” in the same “Gone Country” vein. This one is about a woman going to the wilds of South Dakota to meet the grandfather she never knew. Of course, there’s a really sexy cowboy on the old man’s ranch for her to get mixed up with.

More news as it becomes available…

Writing Challenge Check-In

So the writing challenge is moving right along. This week I made it up to about 70,000 words total for the 70 Days of Sweat Challenge and wrote about 3,000 words of that for the month-long catauniversity challenge.

I admit, I’m getting a little confused with the overlap of these two events, but it’ll all work out in the end, I’m sure. Either way, I’m writing, which is the goal, right?

I’ll try to check in next Sunday with a further update of my progress. Until then, keep writing! (And I will too!)

Writing Challenges

As some of you know, I’ve been participating in two writing challenges of late. First, there was the 70 Days of Sweat challenge and now I’m doing the newest writing challenge put forward by CataUniversity, to write a novella in a month.

I got a late start on the novella challenge due to a looming deadline, but it’s rolling along now. I’m gonig to continue to use the word meter I set up for the Sweat70 challenge, since I want to keep a running count until I finish a certain manuscript I’ve been working on. See, I like to count all the words I write, not just the words on a particular manuscript, since I tend to write a few at once. (Short attention span.)

So if you’re doing the challenge, take heart and get writing! I’ll be writing right along with you.

The Craft - Blundering Through the Final Few Pages

I’m working on the final chapter of Jaci’s Experiment - the third book in my Resonance Mates series (Hara’s Legacy, Davin’s Quest). Late last week, I spent about six to seven hours writing somewhere over 5,000 words only to decide later that night that the direction I’d taken the scene in at the last minute just would not work.

See, I’d planned to (how to say this without giving too much away?) have the main characters arrive somewhere and settle into the place. At the very last moment, I decided to have people there to meet them and it took the scene in a different direction entirely. When I got to the next scene, I realized what I’d impulsively done had messed up some important aspects of what I’d planned to do next and what would come in subsequent books in the series. I had a plan and I really should have stuck to it. *sigh*

Live and learn. I should have known better than to veer off course at the last moment without thinking it through completely, but most often when I get these creative wild hares, they turn out okay. This time, not so okay. However, I do have a backup plan. With a little tweaking, I just may be able to use the majority of those 5,000 words in the next book. We’ll see when I get to writing it, but I’ll keep it in mind to try once I get to that point.

Sweat70

Yeah, I know I should be writing. *sigh* But there’s SO much to do to prepare for not only RT, but also I-Con this weekend.

I’ve been working pretty much non-stop on materials for the presentation I’ll be doing (which I didn’t know I’d be doing until a few weeks ago, when my friend asked me to fill in for her). I’ve been devising new promo materials (a few of which I’ll post images of so you can see what I’ve been up to) and figuring out my schedule, which is growing increasingly complex.

During all this, I’ve been working through edits on my May releases. Luckily, the FireDrake edits have been relatively easy, which is nice. I’ve also been working on my first Tease novella, Perfect (see yesterday’s post for a look at the gorgeous new cover).

So I haven’t been doing a heck of a lot of writing. Just a little here and there. I’ve managed to write a bit every other day or so, which is okay, considering everything else that’s been going on, but I should follow Michael’s advice and start writing a bit more. Will do, Mike!

Sweat70

Time to get serious about writing some new stuff. I mean it. Really.

Who am I kidding?

I’ve been kind of lax about writing since right before Easter. Traveling a lot for family functions and getting all my promo gear ready for RT and all the other appearances I’m making this Spring is taking a lot of time away from my normal writing routine. However, I’m still writing — a little at least. I’m up to about 29,000 words since the start of the challenge. Not as far ahead as I’d like to be, but not quite as bad as it could be. Maybe next week will be better for writing. One can hope!