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Archive for January, 2014

So here I am, sitting at home, having a “snow day”. I’m supposed to be working, and I actually am. But you don’t know how hard it is to be here at home at the keyboard working instead of writing. I’m in my office, surrounded by kitties (well, two), with the sun pouring in the big windows beside me. When I look outside, I see the sun glistening off the snow that fell yesterday. Want. To. Write. But I must continue to work.

Sometimes I don’t check in on Wednesdays since the majority of my writing happens Thurs-Sat. However, I did have a nice round of writing on Fire Wizard yesterday, coming in at 1127. This gives me a total word count of 3945 so far. I think I’m going to love this story. There’s going to be such nice conflict between the hero and the shero. *rubs hands together and laughs maniacally*

I plan on getting Hearts of Evil published within the next couple of weeks. The biggest holdup right now is gathering prizes and questions for the FB book release party. More on that soon!

So how are the rest of you doing so far for January?

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Is it really almost February? I’m so looking forward to spring. It’s been colder here this year than it’s been in 20 years!

So…about my goals. I set a goal for 5,000 a week, which is pretty steep for me, but I want to get this WIP done more quickly than the last one. I was really dragging my feet last year. I didn’t hit that goal this week, only coming in at 2812. But, I’ve also been working on final edits for Hearts of Evil, planning a release party, etc. So I haven’t been idle by any means.

About Hearts of Evil. I posted earlier that my two beta readers disagree on the inserted chapter. So I let my mom read it and asked her opinion. She said, “It works either way.” Grrr. She’s no help! LOL. So I’m waiting to hear from one more, who I let read it without the inserted chapter first, then I’ll send her that chapter. She’s the only one who will have read it without the chapter before reading the chapter. Maybe that will give a different angle.

I have no idea when Hearts of Evil will be released or when the release party will be. I need to make a decision about that chapter. After all, I make the final decisions, right?. Isn’t that the great thing about being indie? 🙂

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I’ve missed a couple of updates because there wasn’t much to report. I’ve been out of town, and if you want to see pictures, check out my previous post. Anyway….

I finished edits on Hearts of Evil. Here’s the publishing holdup. My two beta readers strongly disagree on a chapter I inserted close to the beginning after the book was written. One beta thinks I should take it out, the other thinks I should leave it. They both have VERY valid reasons for their opinion. And I just can’t decide. So I’m having a couple of other people take a look and see what they think. I know the ultimate decision is mine, but it’s hard when both beta readers could be right for different reasons. The good thing is, they both really liked the story. 🙂 Another thing that’s holding me up is I want to do a FB release party, but I have to get all the prizes together. Luckily, I have most of what I need since I can’t afford to buy anything else right now, but it’s the putting everything together that will take a little time. I want to thank Ruth Ann Nordin for giving me some good ideas about questions to ask for the release party.

Now on to my other project. I sat down and wrote the first chapter of Fire Wizard last night. I don’t know why I always have this fear when I start a book. I’ve done this a dozen or more times, but I’m always scared to death when I start. Well, I didn’t used to be, but I’ve felt that way for the last two or three projects. I need to get over this silliness!

I hope to get in about 5,000 words per week now that I’ve actually started on the book. I hope you all are doing this with less fear than I am!

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Warning! Don’t click on the double underlined links. They are ads, and I can’t stop them since WordPress allows this.

I could do two or three posts on my Texas trip. I might share some more in detail later. but I thought I would start with this post and just show it in pictures. So here goes!

I saw the Alamo…

Alamo

Alamo


Alamo at Night

Alamo at Night

I walked on the River Walk…

River Walk

River Walk


More River Walk

More River Walk

I ate at Boudro’s and had guacamole made right at my table…

This might not be Boudro's but it's in this area.

This might not be Boudro’s but it’s in this area.

I took a ghost tour…

Sisters Grimm Ghost Tour

Sisters Grimm Ghost Tour

I took a boat tour…

Boat Tour

Boat Tour

I ate Texas Barbeque and listened to a good band (I don’t usually like country, but)…

Trey Wilson

Trey Wilson

I took a helicopter ride (this was awesome)…

Helicopter I Thought I Would Fall Out Of

Helicopter I Thought I Would Fall Out Of

I ate authentic Mexican food and watched a children’s dance group…

Balet Foklorico

Balet Foklorico

I had so many more pictures, but I had to stop somewhere.

Oh, and if you’re so inclined, Just Judy’s Jumbles has an interview with me on her blog. You can fill out the form on the right and be entered to win a paperback from me. I’m giving away five!

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I’ve been so busy, I don’t know when I’m going to get all the edits done for Hearts of Evil. Especially since one of my betas suggested a whole new scene, which does make sense when I read it. The book would be okay without it, but I want it to be more than okay. My two main beta readers are both so great. Sometimes they disagree on something, and then I have to decide which way to go. But their input is so valuable to me! I don’t usually mention their names in case they don’t want people to know they beta read for me, but if they tell me it’s okay, I will start mentioning them. Because they deserve a lot of credit!

Also, I’m trying to figure out what all to do at my book release party on FB (whenever that happens). If any of you have any unique suggestions on questions, games, prizes, etc., let me know. I’ve already some input, but I need more. 🙂

Anyway, I’m just rambling on and not getting to the point. What was the point? Oh, yeah. Cover reveal. So without further ado (or with ado, who knows?), here is the cover for my upcoming release, Hearts of Evil. Thank you, Anya Kelleye.

Hearts of Evil (eBook)

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I often list other goals besides writing goals on these ROW80 posts. This round, I’m going to focus on my writing goals. I might share some of my other successes from time to time, including weight loss, but my STATED goals are going to be writing related. I’ve been too lax on writing, which caused me not to publish anything but a short story for an anthology in 2013. If it’s in my power, I will publish this year. So….

1) Work on edits for Hearts of Evil based on beta readers’ suggestions. I have two beta readers who are VERY good editors AND proofreaders. I’ve heard you should never mix those and that you should have different people for these three jobs. However, this is working for me. Two of my beta readers are authors. One is an editor in her day job. The other is a well-known “seasoned” author. They kick my butt (in a kind way), so it works. My other two beta readers are, well, readers. One has the unedited version. The other will get the edited version. This last one catches typos that others sometimes don’t. Which is odd since she’s 79 years old and doesn’t see well. LOL

2) Work on plotting Fire Wizard starting today. I have a lot of questions already answered based on Susan Bischoff’s Story Toolkit. She’s a little more detailed than I want to be, but I use what works for me. I now just need to write out what will happen in every chapter.

3) Write 5,000 words per week. I’m not going to specify which days I’ll write like I did last time, I just need to make that 5,000 word goal.

4) Publish Fire Wizard by June 30, 2014. I downloaded a simple publishing worksheet set up by Ruth Ann Nordin. I’ve already filled it in with my projected timeline for this book, including word count goals and first draft. The 5,000 word per week goal won’t necessarily be all about First Wizard, although some weeks it might be. I have another project that I abandoned a while back that I might take back up. More on that later.

I hope your eyes haven’t glazed over yet. I tend to skim when people write blog posts that are really long (unless it’s really exciting!), and I try not to go overboard, but these are my goals, and I needed to talk about them. Now I’m going to pop over to some of the rest of my ROW80er’s blogs and see what they are doing this round. You know, in between doing what I’m supposed to be doing here at work. 🙂

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