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Posts Tagged ‘ROW80’

ROW80 Update 3/22/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2015| 10 Comments »

I almost didn’t post because I didn’t have a whole lot to say. I already talked about my sub-plot issue on my Friday post.I haven’t been writing because 1) I’m proofreading for a client and 2) I’m still plotting another book. I feel like plotting, planning, etc. is still part of writing, so I’m okay with that. I have a novella written under my other pen name almost ready to publish. The cover is almost done, and I have just a few corrections to make. But I can’t think of a TITLE!!! I have the title for the series this starts, but not the actual book. Titles are so hard for me unless the title comes to me, and I write the story around the title. That’s happened a couple of times, once with Soul of a Vampire and again with Fire Wizard. But most of the time, I’m struggling with that title. And since it’s my first mystery, it’s more of a challenge than my paranormal romances. It’ll come to me. I must have patience!

And since this post is pretty boring, for your viewing pleasure, here’s Willow. 🙂

willow 3-22-15

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ROW80 Update and Southern Stuff

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 18, 2015| 17 Comments »

I’ve written a few words here and there, but I’m behind my goal for the year. I like to get my proofreading jobs behind me first. Sometimes I can write some words during that time, but I don’t want to take away from my client’s time. I should be done in about a week, then I’m going to try to catch up on word count until the next job.

I’ve gotten feedback from my five beta readers and editor on my mystery written under the other pen name. I’ve gotten everything from “I LOVED it!” to “Mystery isn’t my thing, but I liked the romance in it”. The feedback was mostly good with very few changes suggested. I’m waiting mostly on the cover.

About the Southern stuff. I’ve noticed from time to time that my editor makes changes in my manuscript that I don’t quite understand. And, occasionally, so will a beta reader. And I try to figure out WHY it’s wrong. And it finally occurred to me that some of the words and phrases I write are used a lot here in my area but probably aren’t where they’re from. I’ve tried to take some of the southern stuff out of my speech and writing, but some of it I refuse to let go of. I’m Southern, and I’m proud of that heritage. But when it’s REALLY local, I have to decide whether to keep it or ditch it. One such phrase I remember writing is “sick at my stomach”. My editor changed it to “sick to my stomach”. I fixed this one because I assumed the way I say it is probably localized in this area. But I have NEVER said “sick to my stomach”. I’ve always used “at”. So then, hubby and I talked and decided if you were physically ill, “at” is used, but if you were appalled at something, “to” is used. “I’m sick at my stomach.” “That just makes me sick to my stomach.” So what do you think? Which way do you say it? And are there things that are local to your area or your region that editors or betas call you on? I’d love to hear them!

By the way, when I proofread, there are sometimes things that must be local to where those authors are from since I’ve never heard some of the phrases, or they sound wrong to me. So it’s not just the South. 🙂

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ROW80 Update 3/8/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 8, 2015| 11 Comments »

You know, I used to blog all the time. Fun posts. Interesting posts. Now, it seems all I do is ROW80 updates. Not that those aren’t important! They are. But if that’s all I blog about, then I’m reaching only authors and not non-author readers. I need to change that. I don’t know what happened along the way to make me stop. Probably just too much stuff to do and not enough time. Hopefully, the full time job will slow down a bit in the next week or two.

Now…about that ROW80 update. I haven’t written any words yet, except for edits on my mystery. I just finished that, and I need to get it to beta readers. (I haven’t asked any of them yet.) I had a name picked out for my little town, but unfortunately, Kait found a series by the same name (Pine Hollow). And I want this to be a series about this town. I would LOVE to hear some ideas for a small town name. Throw some at me! Even if you want to be silly and give me goofy names, it will still be fun. 🙂 I should have had this name decided before I started writing, but it just wouldn’t come to me, and I didn’t want my zeal for the story to run out while I was piddling around thinking of a name.

Hopefully, when I get the proofreading jobs done, I can get back to some serious word count on my WIP.

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ROW80 Update – A Day Late

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 2, 2015| 8 Comments »

forge badgeThings have been going along smoothly, but I’ve suddenly found myself with three proofreading jobs coming up (already working on one). I always sort of have a dilemma with this as pertains to my actual writing, but I have to look at my client jobs first because that brings in more money that my writing at the moment. That might change someday, but right now I have to be practical. I can easily work on 2-3 proofreading jobs simultaneously (or back to back depending on their deadlines), but to do that AND write is tricky. However, I have a goal of 150,000 words for this year, which averages out to 12,500 per month, and I intend to make that goal. I made the January goal, but fell a little short (by about 1100 words) on February. I can still make that up later. In order to make the goal of 150K, I have to write 411 words per day. I usually write more than that, and I take a couple days a week off. So my plan is to just try to make the 411 (15-30 minutes) a day while I’m proofing for others, then when I have no proofing jobs, I can write more and try to get ahead. That’s the plan right now.

So…my lunch hours and my after work hours will be spent proofreading. I’ll be a busy bee. 🙂 And I’m very thankful for the jobs.

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ROW80 Update 2/18/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2015| 14 Comments »

It’s snowing! It’s very powdery, so I don’t know if it will stick to the roads or not. I’m keeping an eye on it so I’ll know if I need to leave work.

I’ve been very productive the last few days. After I finally faced the fact that my story wanted to be a novella instead of a novel made things easier for me. As I said on Facebook the other day, I’m tired of trying to force a story to be longer when it doesn’t want to be. So when my stories want to be novellas, they will be, and when they want to be novels, they will be. It feels so liberating!

I’ve also been dealing with sadness. My fifteen-year-old dog died yesterday. One day, he just walked into the garage, lay down, and didn’t get back up. We’ve been cleaning him up every day since he couldn’t walk anymore to go do his business, but he was eating okay. Then he stopped eating, but kept drinking water. Day before yesterday, he couldn’t even lift his head. He was very old, deaf, and arthritic. It was time for him to stop hurting. I’m going to miss him very much, but his misery is over.

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ROW80 Update 2/11/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on February 11, 2015| 5 Comments »

content
I’m sick again. This is the second time this year. I wish all this stuff going around would stop! I hope it’s not the flu. Anyway, I’ve been fairly productive the last two days. I have a word quota of 12,500 per month, which is 150,000 for the year. I think that’s pretty reasonable for someone with a full time job. I’m behind for February, partly because I was working on proofreading a couple of things. But my daily quota is fairly low, so I think I can catch up. I was a little over my January quota, so I think I’m mostly on track for the year. Having that yearly word count goal will make me have to be working on something almost all the time. I need to do that to be productive. The more books I publish a year, the better off I am, financially. I SO want to write full time.

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ROW80 Update 2/1/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 1, 2015| 8 Comments »

Duke - 8 or 9 months old

Duke – 8 or 9 months old

Since Facebook no longer seems to pick up pictures from WordPress blogs unless it’s in that post, I thought I would provide a picture so it would show up. And what better picture than a happy dog, right? This was taken a couple of years ago, I think. The caption was already on there when I found it on my computer.

Where did January go???

There’s been progress. I got the manuscript written with my other pen name off to the publisher. I’m beta reading right now for a friend, and I have a couple of small things to proofread. I plan on picking back up on a mystery I started awhile back before I stopped to do this last novella. I should be able to get that done by the end of March. Then it’s on to a story for another anthology.

I have another Lauralynn book I need to get done before the end of the year. I’m probably going to write a sequel to Soul of a Vampire. It will revolve around a different character, the best friend of the “shero” in SoaV.

I’m really trying to be more productive this year. So far, it’s going well. I have a goal of 150,000 words this year. I made my January goal. I’m using my nifty Supernatural spreadsheet to keep up with my monthly and yearly words. 🙂

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ROW80 Update 1/28/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 28, 2015| 6 Comments »

Well, look at me actually posting two check-ins in a row! Now I need to get back to blogging in between check-ins. 🙂

It looks like I’m going to make my deadline with my other pen name project. Which I have to, really, since Ruth and I are using a publisher. I don’t remember what my goal was for getting my mystery finished. LOL. I guess I need to go back and look to see what it was.

And you?

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ROW80 Update 1/25/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 25, 2015| 12 Comments »

My name is Lauralynn Elliott, and it’s been 11 days since my last check-in….

I can’t believe I’ve missed that many check-ins! Well, two, I guess. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all the stuff on my plate right now, and when that happens, the blog is the first thing to be neglected. I need to do better.

Things are actually going pretty well. I finished the novella I’m doing with the other pen name. I’m going to be in another anthology with that pen name, and I have a mystery started that I decided to do under that pen name. I haven’t started the next book under Lauralynn, but I think I know the story I’m going to do. I have two more ideas for Lauralynn, but I don’t know how much I’m going to get done this year. We’ll see. For an actual goal, I only have one Lauralynn book planned, but I’ve been more productive this year, so you just never know. 🙂

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ROW80 Update 1/14/15

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 14, 2015| 15 Comments »

nola1

I’m in New Orleans on a business trip this week. This picture is the view standing in the doorway of the French doors of my hotel room. Win! I wanted to go out there to write, but it’s SO cold.

I still got almost 2000 words in this morning, so I’m right on track to get my project for my other pen name done by or before my deadline. When that’s wrapped up, I’m going on to finish my mystery, which I’ve decided to publish under the new pen name, so I’ll have at least two books for that name. Then, I’m still planning on a Lauralynn book this year. I think all my projects are still on track.

I’m going on a ghost tour tonight after our welcome reception. I did that last year in San Antonio, so NOLA should be even better, given the history of Voodoo and such in this area. I need to bundle up, though. The temps will be in the 40’s by then.

Happy writing to everyone!

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