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Posts Tagged ‘ROW80’

ROW80 Update 3/12/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 12, 2014| 12 Comments »

I told my husband last night that I would love to be able to sit down and write 2,000 words. Guess what? I DID it. Yep, I think it was 2,026. It was funny, I was in my office and the sun was shining, and I had the windows open. The birds were chirping. Then my husband yells, “Are you working in the dark?” I looked around, and it WAS dark. And getting a little chilly. I had been in there for an hour and a half. I always thought I wrote about 1,000 words per hour, but apparently it’s more like 1,000 words in 45 minutes. 🙂

I hope this momentum continues. When things slow down at work, things will be easier, I think.

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ROW80 Update 3/9/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 9, 2014| 8 Comments »

Just a quick check-in. I only wrote 1,111 words this week. My full time job just drains me this time of year. I have nothing left for writing most days. I would have gotten some writing in yesterday, but I was involved in helping with a wedding shower at church, which involved cooking, actually BEING there, then cleaning up. I so hope next week will be easier.

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ROW80 Update 2/23/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2014| 10 Comments »

Hello all of my fellow ROWers, as well as those who are not ROW80ers but still loyal blog followers! I appreciate you all so much! 🙂

I’ve had a really good writing week. I hit my 5K goal for the first week since this round. I wrote 5,213 words this week. I’m really getting into this story, and I hope my momentum continues.

A word about page fright. I’ve noticed I’ve had that with the last few books I’ve written. I’ve finally figured out why I didn’t have it as much before. I’m not afraid of novellas, so when I was writing those, I wasn’t scared. It’s these full length novels that scare me. I don’t know why. I think there’s a part of me that’s always afraid I won’t be able to write enough words. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with writing novellas. My only problem with them is they’re not really long enough for a paperback. And I really like having copies of my book I can hold in my hand. And I have a few readers who still read that way. I have some more thoughts about novellas and short stories, as well as genre, but that’s for a different post.

I’m trying to revamp my website just a little bit. For my book page, I want just the covers, then a link to another page when you click on the cover. Then that page will have the blurb and the first chapter of the book. I never dreamed this would take so much time. But I think it will be better once I get it done.

Have the rest of you met your writing goals this week? If not, are you fired up for next week?

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ROW80 Update 2/19/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 19, 2014| 12 Comments »

Forgive me. It’s been seven days since I’ve confessed posted.

I haven’t posted a lot because getting ready for my FB party really took a lot out of me. I had so much to do to get ready for it. I’m still trying to figure out if it was worth it. I think so, mostly because it was a lot of fun, and several people attending the party bought Hearts of Evil, which was the book that the party was all about. But I haven’t been able to sustain the sales. It got up to #50 in a category, but then it fell away after the party. It has 1 4-star review and 3 5-star reviews, and I know at least three of the reviews came from people at the party. So we’ll see how this book does. I still would like to do a FB party for my next release. I have to try at least twice, right?

Now, on to my update. I wrote 720 words on Tuesday and 1360 words today, for a total of 2080 words so far this week. I seem to be able to write more words at lunch here at work than in the evenings, and I think it has a lot to do with the fatigue factor. So I might try doing a little more of that. We’ll see how that works out.

How are YOU doing?

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ROW80 Update 2/12/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 12, 2014| 11 Comments »

I’ve missed a couple of check-ins, but I’ve been concentrating on my Facebook release party for Hearts of Evil. That happened last night, and it was a LOT of fun. I didn’t know what to expect, but I think it went extremely well. If any of you have any questions about how to do a release party, let me know. There was a lot of conversation. I had all my questions in a Word document so I could just copy/paste them onto the page. I had all my prizes numbered so I would know which prize went with which question. But carrying on multiple conversations for four hours absolutely wore me out! I never dreamed I would be so tired. My husband brought me a Diet Coke and my medicine when it was time. All I had for dinner was corn chips and sugar free candy. LOL. Will I do this again with my next release? Probably. I had some book sales that I’m pretty sure came from the party attendees. I know some of them did. And it was fun. And maybe by the time the next one rolls around, hubby will be back to work and I can afford some better prizes. Although, I think everyone enjoyed the keychains and book thongs marks. Kait knows about the thongs, LOL.

So…it’s time to get back to writing Fire Wizard. I really hope I can keep the momentum going on this one. I already have a cover model lined up for a photo shoot in May, so I’m excited about that.

Hey, it’s snowing again! I’m taking a snow day today! 🙂

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ROW80 Update 2/2/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 2, 2014| 4 Comments »

Wow, is it February already? One weather model is predicting a big snow next weekend. The weather that comes toward us often passes us by, even when it’s predicted. I think it’s because we’re in the valley. I will admit, I would love to see a big snow. Well, we had one last week, but this other one is supposed to be bigger. I’m not holding my breath.

I didn’t get my 5000 words in this week. I made it to 2580. I usually write more on Saturdays than any other day, but yesterday I spent a lot of the day making key chain swag for prizes for my FB book release party. I finally have a tentative date in mind, but I want to make sure I can have everything ready for it before announcing.

There’s been someone I’ve wanted for my cover model for my WIP, Fire Wizard, for a long time, and we’ve finally come to an agreement. He’s agreed to let us do some custom shots, and I’m really excited (even though I won’t be there). Anya is doing the shots for me. This has made me even more motivated to get this book done! 🙂 More about that when the time grows closer. I must make you wait!

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ROW80 Update 1/29/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 29, 2014| 4 Comments »

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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ROW80 Update 1/26/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2014| 14 Comments »

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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ROW80 Update 1/22/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 22, 2014| 19 Comments »

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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ROW80 Round 1 2014 Goals

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on January 6, 2014| 14 Comments »

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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