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Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Final ROW80 Update 6/20/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2013| 17 Comments »

Well, this has been an interesting round. Life has dealt my family and me a few blows, but we keep coming back fighting. How has this affected my writing? It’s really made it hard to write, to be honest. I’ve felt so emotionally drained for the past few months, which also makes me feel drained physically. But I keep trudging on with most things. Just not so much the writing. It doesn’t help that I have a complicated plot, and I’m trying to figure out how to tell the back story. Which is really a story within itself.

I’m not going to take time off from writing between rounds. I’ve had enough time off. And due to the financial situation we’re facing with my husband’s pay dropping, I’ve got to produce more work. Book sales are in the toilet right now (I’m lucky to make $100 a month lately), and I know I’ve got to produce LOTS of work to make any decent money. I know I can’t make enough to live on right now because the market is glutted with self-published books, but I would like to make enough to have a good supplement to our income. So it’s time to stop whining about my plot or how little time I have and start getting to work like this is a real job. You know, like I USED to.

How was YOUR round this time?

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WIP-So Far, So Good

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 18, 2013| 6 Comments »

Well, so far, my plan for the week has been adhered to. EVEN with obstacles. I had everything all planned out, workout, supper, cleaning the kitchen, reading my WIP and making notes. Then hubby comes up with “We need to watch something on the DVR”. (It’s getting full.) With an exasperated sigh, I acquiesced, stating that I had my evening all planned out, but that I would adjust things and just work a little later. Then, during an episode of Falling Skies, he FELL ASLEEP. Yeah, he really wanted to watch this with me.

Anyway, I did read my WIP and DID take notes. I wrote up a character list, which I should have already done, but I usually end up introducing characters as the story goes on, and it’s easier for me to add them to the list later. I wrote up some notes, which really means, I wrote up a list of questions, some I could answer, some I couldn’t yet.

Okay, so tonight I planned to do some rough outlining. Then I remembered I was supposed to work late tonight, trying to fix our computers. The last time I tried this, I was here until after 8:00. *head desk*
Oh well, if this doesn’t go smoothly tonight, I’m not staying that late. I hope not, anyway. Grrrrr.

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Writing Plans for This Week

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 17, 2013| 8 Comments »

Well, it’s time to jump back in the saddle and start treating writing like a job again. My plan for this week is Monday – reread what I’ve written so far on my WIP and take notes. Tuesday – outline a little (I’m a pantser, but this story is so complicated, it needs a little outlining). Thursday-Saturday – write!

Do you all ever plan your week, or do you just fly by the seat of your pants and try to wedge in some writing time between everything else?

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Sunday Update 6/16/13 and Words of Thanks

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 16, 2013| 14 Comments »

Finally, Vacation Bible School is over! Whew, I was exhausted every night. It’s amazing how dealing with 6 and 7 year old boys can wear you out. But it was also a very rewarding time. I was the “cool” teacher who let them sit ON the table instead of AT the table. Except the last night, which was punishment for being rowdy the night before. I know, I’m so mean. Imagine punishing first and second graders by NOT letting them sit on the table. LOL. It was a fun week, but I’m glad it’s over.

Now it’s time to get back to writing. I have NO excuses not to do it now. Hubby is back at work and doing well. VBS is over. Work is slowing down, and I’m caught up from being on vacation. NO excuses. Plus, the two good reviews I posted about yesterday has upped my motivation a bit. So I look forward to start back on my WIP. It’s a complicated plot, and it’s going to be hard and slow going, but I can DO this.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contributed to the fund for me that Kait set up when my husband was in the hospital and then out of work. I keep trying to find words that are adequate to express my feelings, but they all just fall flat. Many of you contributed. Some of you bought my books. And so many of you sent me prayers and/or good wishes, and that means so much to me. I just can’t say enough. I don’t know HOW to say enough. Hospital bills have started coming in, and the $1800+ that was raised really helped. The writing community is made up of good-hearted people. And the readers are awesome, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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Sunday Update 6/9/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2013| 23 Comments »

I remember the days when the words just flowed out of my mind and into my fingers typing at the keyboard. I remember when I could have a novella written, edited, and published in three months. A novel, slightly longer. Where are those days? Where, I ask you?

I haven’t written since before I went on vacation. I spent last week catching up on work, dealing with a computer problem and working late one night. Yesterday, I spent all day on my house and working on Vacation Bible School stuff. And I’ll be teaching at VBS all this week, so it will be late nights for me. And I can’t write during lunch because that’s when I work out. *sigh*

Writing used to be easy. I’m wondering if this WIP is giving me more trouble because the plot is more complicated than my usual work. Am I just burnt out? Am I scared this WIP won’t be up to par? Am I just extra busy with no energy left for writing? All of the above? Only The Shadow knows. (Some of you younger people might not get that, LOL.)

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Sunday Update – From Panama City Beach!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 26, 2013| 15 Comments »

I’m sitting here on the balcony of the 20th floor of our condo listening to the waves and feeling the breeze coming in from the ocean. I’ve been reading recipes to make natural products and just placed another order with Mountain Rose Herbs. Now I need vodka. No, not to drink. More on that another day. 🙂

I’ve been a BAD WRITER. Yeah, because I haven’t written anything since week before last. I had so much to do to get ready for this vacation that I just decided I was going to take time off from writing until vacation is over. Now if something about my WIP happens to hit me, I’ll jot it down. But this week is about relaxing and reading. No work.

This morning, I got up and made everyone biscuits, gravy, and eggs (I make it all with canola oil, no saturated fats), then we all went to church. Tonight, after evening church services, we will find a good seafood restaurant to go to. Last night, I had the best stuffed grouper I’ve ever had. There was absolutely NO fishy taste.

This vacation was much needed. I’m SO glad we had it mostly paid for before hubby got sick, or we might not have been able to go. He started back to work on a totally different job (at the same company)last week, so he’s still in training. His boss actually told him he should have used his vacation time while he was out of work! We would have lost our money if he had done that! Plus, after all the stress, he needed this vacation. Some people have no heart.

If I have time, I’ll post a little bit about my thoughts on natural homemade products tomorrow. But if I happen to just want to lie around on the beach and read…I might not. LOL

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. Or if you’re in a country that doesn’t celebrate this holiday, I STILL hope you’re having a great weekend!

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Sunday Update 5/19/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2013| 14 Comments »

Happy Sunday, everyone!

As many of you know, I’ve been having problems figuring out what to do about my hero. There’s a horrible secret in the town where he is sheriff, and I’ve been trying to decide whether or not he could be forgiven if he knew about this secret. Could we forgive him? Could the herione forgive him? But I was sitting down for a session of writing Thursday evening, and instead of jumping into the story, I took out some paper and started jotting down notes about the town’s secret and why it happened, etc. And I realized the hero didn’t HAVE to know what was happening. He suspects some things, but they are so unbelievable that he denies to himself what’s going on. It’s going to work this way, I think! I didn’t exactly do an outline, but I wrote down some major points of things that were going on. Next, I’m going to write down some things that need to happen. My biggest problem now is how to explain to the reader what has happened in the past without an info dump. In this case, it’s going to be hard. I think part of it will be explained in dialogue where someone has to tell the story. Doing that is close to an info dump, so I’m going to have to be careful. There are just some things that can’t be revealed any other way than to tell the story.

Well, I wrote three days last week, but not the three days I originally planned to write. Instead of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I wrote Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. But it was still three days! I wanted to post a word count, but I can’t get Microsoft Excel to work this morning. I’m going to reboot my computer and see what happens. I’ve never had trouble with this program before. 😦

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Of How Much Should We Forgive the Hero

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 14, 2013| 19 Comments »

Although my plan is to write on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for now, I wrote about 1200 yesterday during lunch because I’m having a problem with my foot, hence, no exercise. The story is coming along nicely, but I’m having a bit of a dilemma. Without giving my whole story away, I’ll try to explain. This book, which was originally going to be a paranormal romance about a ghost, has turned into a horror novel. The ghost has become a secondary character instead of one of the main ones. The sheriff has become the main male character/hero of the story. And that’s the problem. There is murder and mayhem (of the supernatural type) going on in this town. I haven’t quite decided if the WHOLE town is in on it, including the people the heroine likes, or if there are a select few. Due to the nature of the horror, it makes more sense for the whole town to be in on it. But, then, what about the sheriff? What about this man who is basically good? If he knows about what’s going on, doesn’t that make him an accomplice to the atrocities being perpetrated in this town? Of how much would a reader be willing to forgive the hero? There’s something that has to do with the sheriff’s brother, so that might make him have to know SOMETHING. I just don’t know how far to go with his culpability concerning the events. What do you think? Can you forgive the hero of a lot or just a little? What if he felt he had no choice? Should the heroine forgive a sheriff that KNEW about the murders and who was committing them? So many questions!

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Sunday Update 5/12/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 12, 2013| 9 Comments »

Well, I’m still off my game. I only exercised two days, and I didn’t write at all this past week. I had big plans to do a lot of writing yesterday, but I had lots of company, and sometimes company is just more important, you know? Writing will wait, but the people in my life have to come first. That’s just the way I roll. And it seemed like every time I had plans to write during the week, something came up. It was just one of those kinds of weeks.

On another note…hubby and I watched Jack Reacher Friday night (maybe that was one of the things that came up, LOL). I really, really loved that movie. I had qualms about seeing it because of the casting of Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher is suppose to be 6’5″ and between 220-250 lbs. All muscle, of course. You can see why Tom Cruise wouldn’t have been my first choice for the role. When I found out who they had cast, I was ALL bent out of shape. But I will admit, he didn’t do a bad job at all. I still would have cast someone bigger and tougher, but Tom Cruise did fine with the acting. I really enjoyed the movie, and hubby did, too.

It’s only two weeks until my vacation. Luckily, we had already paid for everything before hubby’s hospital stay, so we’re able to go. We’ll just have to pay for food, but since we’re staying in a condo (shared with friends), we can buy groceries just like we would at home instead of going out for every meal. We REALLY need this vacation. I need to just let go of all the stress and just enjoy myself for a little while. One thing we’ll have to be careful about is going too long without stopping on the way. We usually stop at least three times during an eight hour trip, but hubby needs to stop more often this time. Long car rides can actually CAUSE blood clots, and we have to make sure the one in hubby’s leg doesn’t get worse. We don’t want any more breaking off and going into his lung now that his lung is getting better. Life seems to be looking up a little now. I want to keep it that way for awhile, at least what we can control.

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Sunday Update 5/5/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2013| 10 Comments »

Finally, I wrote one day last week! Saturday, I wrote 2038 words. So I’m breathing a sigh of relief. I was beginning to think I just couldn’t write anymore, but I think it was just all the stress worrying about my husband, worrying about finances, worrying about everything. Well, I shouldn’t use the word “worry”, I guess I should say concerned. Worry shows a lack of faith. But none of us are perfect, right? So, yeah, I guess I was worried. But hubby is feeling SO much better. He’s pretty much back to normal, at least on the surface. I know the clots are still there, but his last chest x-ray was better, and his blood is finally thinning like it should. That was a real concern. The doctor made him do some things like walk briskly up and down the hallway to see if he had shortness of breath, and he passed that test. So he is definitely much better. Yay!

Next week, I plan to get back to the gym for weight work. Then, in the evenings, I’ll either walk on the treadmill at home or ride my bike (if I can find the pump to air the tires!). I want to combine the weight and aerobic exercises and get back to healthy living. And I’m going to try to get back to writing at least three days a week, then go up to four. Hopefully, life will get back on track!

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