I needed another wip to work on. Yesterday I remembered another one sitting in my files and thought "hmmm... that could make a good short story for Samhain." It's already 7900 words long and has a ways to go before I can finish it, which is possible. So, there ya have it. Now I have 3... no, make that 4 different wips I can work on for JaNoWriMo Gotta love it! Only one more day until it starts! Woo hoo!!!
I printed off another copy of That Kind Of Magic for my Kensington submission. I hated to do it, but my first copy had header/footer and I realized that maybe they don't want that. Of course there's no clear direction on their page on what they want. They said 3 chapters, but a Kensington author recommended the first 100 pages. So, which one to go with? Last thing I want to do is to mess it up by sending them what they don't want. I'm still tempted to send it to Samhain instead, but it's only (hehehe only) a three month wait. I guess I've waited for this long, what's another three months. That'll make it about a year since the first time TKOM left home. Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for JaNoWriMo. Finish Forever Home and then take it from there. I still really want to work on both wips, but I want to settle on one and finish it. (I also made the mistake of looking through some boxes yesterday and I found several notebooks filled with other wips that I left alone, another possibility for a Blaze in there. I'm doooooomed!) I'd love to know how someone like Nora Roberts writes. Is she as fickle as all my writing friends when it comes to working on a story or is she focused on one until it's done and then goes on to the next. For me writing is like being a mom of more than one child. You can't just give one kid all the attention until he/she is grown up and out of the house and then start on the next one. They all need your time and TLC. Or is that just an excuse? All right, enough. Forever Home isn't going to get written by itself. Off I go before I have to leave for work.
A lot of times I pull inspiration for a romantic couple from television and moview (as well as music).
I can't believe I forgot about one of my all time favorite couples!
Okay, the show gave them a real sucky ending (in fact the whole show ended really badly) but they were awesome together! Robert Downey Jr was excellent in the show. Too bad his addiction had to take over. Glad he's beat it. That being said, we're only days away from JaNoWrMo. I think I'll be okay. Just a matter of finishing Forever Home and then moving on. Moving on to what, I'm not sure. Either my Blaze wannabe or the YA fantasy. Now I have to go to work. It's going to be a long week. DH is home all week. This should be the last week the kids are home (man, they've been home since Dec. 11th!! they're going stir crazy!) Enjoy the day! (oh, and That Kind Of Magic still sits on my desk. I'll make a decison today)
I feel horrendous right now and I know the worst is yet to come. It's the weather. I'm sure of it. One day it's in the 40's then next the 20's. One day it's an ice storm, the next snow and after that sun or rain. Can it just make up its mind?
Colds make it very difficult to concentrate on writing and I have a very important scene I'm working on and it's suffering right along with me. So yesterday I browsed MySpace layouts so I could change my background. yes, that's really productive.
I did do some writing this morning, but I'm just not wowing myself. I'm easily distracted. And I'm pretty ticked that my new coffee maker didn't make a beautiful cup of coffee this morning. Despite the fact we cleaned it there's a funky taste to it. Blah. Needed that coffee too.
That Kind Of Magic is still sitting on my desk waiting to be submitted to Kensington. So what's the hold up? I'm not sure I want to send it to them. I'm on the fence. I've been thinking of sending it to Samhain instead. I really want it in print and I know Samhain, if they even like it, will print it. Samhain is going to be working with Kensington too, so maybe it would be an in, and I'm very confident that Samhain would like the story.
So, what to do what to do?
Make breakfast and a cup of tea I guess and wish I didn't have to go to work today.
At last a day off. I "slept in" until 6:45am then I needed coffee. It's a gray slushy day here in New Hampshire. We really needed the ice and rain that came down this morning. Made for great driving as I had to head out to WalMart. Now this is what I call last minute shopping! What can I do? I'm just relieved that Santa will be able to leave a little something for the kids tonight. After this storm I wasn't sure. I've managed to get some writing done, finished an important scene but have another one coming up soon that I really want to get to. In the meantime I'm printing my submission to Kensington. I'll be sending it out to them on Friday. Then it'll be time for another looooong wait. I was thinking, though, that maybe I should try it with Samhain instead. I believe that it would fit in, and since I've already been published with them, maybe it would be good to get my name out there with them instead of waiting forever to hear from Kensington. I KNOW with Samhain the book would be printed, I'd just have to wait, but as long as they accept it then it would be published within a year. Well, I have a few days to think about it. I really do want to submit something to a New York publisher, something that will go straight to print and definitely end up in bookstores everywhere, but should I work my way up to it, or stick with the path I'm on now. I hate indecision. I think.
Now I remember why I was head over heels in love with Simon LeBon from Duran Duran.
Man, he's good looking!
I was feeling nostalgic for 80's music, so I decided to hunt down some of my favorite songs and videos from way back when.
It may have been gaudy (remember those neon colors and big hair?) but the music from the 80's was awesome. Such memories. Wish I could go back and relive them all.
This is a one hit wonder, but is there anyone who grew up in the 80's who doesn't know this song?
I'm so glad the weekend is out of the way. Saturday evening we headed back down to Boston, this time in a Subaru, but still in snow. We left about 7:30pm, just in case we ran into really bad roads. Of course by the time we hit the main highway the roads were just fine. We stopped for a long dinner and made it to the airport really seriously early. We didn't need to be there until 330am, so we had a looong wait. At least I had a book. So my stepdaughter made it off all right and we made it home all right even though we drove straight into Blizzard #2. What????? It snowed the entire day and into the evening. We crashed for the rest of the day (I'd been up for about 29 hours straight by the time we got home). Now we just have to cross our fingers that Jan. 10th is a beautiful day weatherwise. Other weather news, all my family members finally have their power back up, but there are still lots without in the state. The school is still being used as a shelter and I heard there's a possibility that school won't open on Jan. 5th as planned because not everyone will have power back by then. Yikes!!! This is crazy! I've got some writing done over the past few weeks. In the middle of an important scene in Forever Home. Still a long way to go until it's finished. Then I have to decide where to go with it. I'm thinking of Samhain since it's the Sweet Forever sequel. Must send That Kind Of Magic off to Kensington. JaNoWriMo starts soon!! I have to prep for that. I think I know what I'm going to write, just not sure if I'll do a first person POV or third. Okay, time to go out and shovel some more. Joy joy joy.
We made it one mile before we had to turn around and come home. Couldn't even make it part of the way up the mountain we have to go over on the first few miles of our trip. I'm relieved, but I still wish we didn't even try it. Yes, I'm a drama queen. Of course we're still going to have to do the drive in the next few days and we have another storm coming in for tomorrow. Will the insanity ever end?????
The gods must hate me. Another storm is hitting us right now. We're expecting up to a foot of snow between the time it started (around 1pm) and 3am this morning. Normally a storm wouldn't bother me, especially when it hits on a Friday. I can walk to work, no problem. Unfortunately we have to go to Logan Airport in Boston. We have to be there at 245am. Yes. A.M So, I'd like to say goodbye because I'm sure we're not going to make it down there in one piece. It's a good 2-2.5 hour drive in good weather. I think I need to take a valium because I'm a nervous wreck.
Friday December 12th we woke up to a huge mess in New Hampshire. The biggest ice storm in the state's history. And I flunked Basic Storm Preperation 101. Usually when we have a storm coming I fill the tub up. Forgot to do that. But we learned something valuable: We have town water which means even without electricity we can flush. Sorry, TMI, but gotta tell ya, after the last 5 days, I'm not concerned.
So, anyway, we had no electricity when we woke. Which meant no heat. Being the troopers that we are, though, we spent the first three nights at home, hoping and longing for electricity. My work, which is down the street from me, was also out of power as was pretty much every town in the state. We had a tree outside our house, a very tall pine, leaning dangerously in either our direction or that of our neighbors.
My kids didn't want to be anywhere near the house, so we took a drive to see just what had happened. Wow, branches, trees, wires down everywhere. Such devastation and we weren't the hardest hit in our area.
e took a drive to the closest town that had electricity. I only had my cell phone camera, but I took some pictures along the way.
Of course there was hardly any road crews out at that time so we were weaving in and around trees and branches and wires.
We spent our days in the town with the electricity, spending money on groceries and fast food because we couldn't cook. We ate chips and crackers and drank water at night while huddling under blankets and listening to the scanner to see what was going on out in the world. My mom was in the same boat, but she has a gas stove so she was able to at least cook food. Here's a little of what her place looks like
The backyard looks worse. By Sunday night we couldn't stand any more. We managed, through sheer luck, to get a hotel room half an hour away (after being on a wait list) so we bailed. We only had one night there (which we savored with hot showers and comfortable, warm beds), but we had a guardian angel on our side and she found us three more nights at another hotel. Power came on Tuesday morning. but we're still feeling the effects of this. My mother is still without power, but there's a traveling generator in her neighborhood and it's her turn to have it, so they're thawing her frozen pipes and warming up the house. My sister in law will probably be without power for another 2-3 weeks, my father in law is in the same boat, but both have generators. Unfortunately my FIL had a close call with a chimney fire on Saturday, but there was no damage. I'm back at work, trying to catch up on three missed days of our busiest time of the year. I don't think we'll recover easily but I'm hoping our customers will be understanding. Unfortunately my company won't pay us for the time missed, but if we have vacation time (which I don't) we can use that. With all the food we had to throw away, the food we had to buy to replace it, the meals out, the hotels and now missing three days of work, it's not going to be a very Merry Christmas. I'm trying to be positive and reflect on one of my most favorite Christmas shows.
I must say, it's nice to be back to quasi normal. But the kids are still out of school. The middle school has been used for the town shelter. Some schools are going to stay closed until after Christmas break. And a lot of people are suffering with other losses. Keep them in your thoughts.
I finally got my response from Harlequin Blaze today. No, they didn't buy That Kind Of Magic. And no, I'm not devestated. I won't be throwing myself off any bridges or high cliffs. I won't even go sulk in a dark room. It is what it is. As far as rejections go it wasn't a horrific one. It had positive comments like "The manuscript is competently written and has an intriguing premise...." and it's not really negative comments, like "Our main concern is that the story doesn't have the sexual hook essential...." and "...the story has stronger paranormal elements than we like..." and "... makes the tone far darker than we generally look for in a Blaze." So, okay. Now I'm free to send That Kind Of Magic elsewhere. I'm okay with this. I was afraid that the paranormal aspect wouldn't work with Blaze. There is a home for it out there. Somewhere. And I'll find it! And I won't give up on Blaze, or Harlequin. I'll pull something else out of my sleeve for them! Onward and upward!!
We have a VERY active cat. I mean, crazy, acrobatic, no fear cat. She's about 6 months old and it's not uncommon to see her flying through the air and getting into places that a normal cat just shouldn't be able to get into. We haven't put up our Christmas tree yet (yes, we're one of those families who have an artificial tree), were thinking of decorating this coming weekend (we're also one of those families who don't decorate right after Thanksgiving) but we're honestly rethinking the tree because we know what's going to happen if we put a tree up. Hemi will be taking it down on a daily basis. Can you say TIMBER!!!! My son has suggested crating Hemi for the next several weeks. Hey, he's only nine. That obviously isn't an option. So, how does one change the very nature of a cat in time for a little holiday cheer? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm already over 65K on Forever Home. I just wrote a scene I wasn't expecting to write but I think I may take it out, save it for possible use, but get back to where I was planning on being. As dramatic as it is, I don't think its necessary to the plot. Not that I'm unhappy about being over 65K I was really hoping to end it before that so I could sub it to Harlequin Superromance which has a word count of 60-65K. But even with taking that scene out I don't think I can wrap it all up within that range. I have two more very important things that must happen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We got a little snow yesterday. Not enough to shovel, but I'm sure I'll be scraping the car off this morning. Bluck. What happened to the weekend? Oh, that's right, my weekend only consists of one day. Well, time to do a scenectomy. Get back where I need to be.
I'm so pleased to announce my friend Marianne's book One Love For Liv is going to be released very very soon! But even better, you can win a copy!
Synopsis:
Olivia "Liv" Leigh, wealthy socialite and spa owner, suspects her fiancé of cheating on her, so she takes drastic steps to discover whether appearances are deceiving. And if those steps require a bit of stalking, a change of appearance, a hippo-sized dog named Spike, and sacrificing her manicure to clean house for a sexy but sloppy man whose neighbor is determined to break several of the strangest Guinness Book of World Records, why should that be a problem?
Mike, a happily single auto mechanic, is more than content sharing his bachelor pad with piles of laundry, dirty dishes, and a sneaky ferret. But when a half-crazed woman in a bad wig shows up on his doorstep, what's a nice guy to do? Why, invite her in, unknowingly help her in her search for the truth and, in the process, fall head over heels for a woman who's never been less his type.
What people are saying:
Marianne Arkins has done a super job of telling a story of love among the rich and not-so-rich. "One Love for Liv" is fun and fast-moving. It isn’t without its share of bumps for the lovers but it is very entertaining. The story of opposites attracting could be dull but with the quirky character traits these characters have, not to mention their unusual pets, it is anything but boring. I agreed with Liv’s choice in the end even though I’m not sure I would have taken the same path to finding love. I’m not sure if the lovers will stay together but I suppose that may be the meat of the sequel if there is one! I hope there is, since Ms. Arkins’ writing is clear and concise and makes for very easy reading. "One Love for Liv" is a satisfying read! I loved it!
"One Love for Liv" is the kind of book that you never tire of reading and re-reading. This fast-paced and witty read actually made me laugh ‘til I cried in several parts. I can guarantee that I can’t even think about pizzas without my eyes misting over after I read the story. Ms. Arkins’ fresh and interesting writing style will attract fans of offbeat romantic romps. "One Love for Liv" can easily become your much needed break from life's harried pace. Ms. Arkins is definitely an author to look out for!
In order to get me more in the mood (not that I'm not in the mood) to write Forever Home, I made up a new collage and have it on my desktop.
Anyway, it's coming along very nicely. I'm at 61K words now. I really need to tie it up otherwise I'm not going to have a market for it. At the moment I'm thinking Harlequin Superromance, which takes word counts up to 65K. The only think I worry about is that this is a sequel and although the characters from Sweet Forever aren't prominent in Forever Home, I hope that people will be able to read this without feeling their missing out on what happened in the first book. Of course that should encourage them to buy the first book! But I'm making this as stand alone as possible.
Anyway, its a fun read, not as dramatic as some of my other stuff.
Still looking forward to January. I'm more and more sure about working on my fantasy. I've already picked out a model for my hero.
Okay, so maybe using Edward Cullen from Twilight is a bit cliche right now, but he would make a good model for the character. And by the way, I'm really enjoying the book. My daugther is chompin at the bit to get the next book in the series, New Moon. I may have to buy 2 copies, one for each of us!
Well, it's nearly that time. Have to get ready for a fun filled day of data entry. Gack.
Okay, two birthdays are out of the way.. kind of. My son's b'day was yesterday. He's nine years old now. Yikes. We're going to do the celebration thing next week though, which is fine with him. Dragging it out is a good thing, I guess. He did get a birthday movie, he saw Bolt with DH while my DD and I went to see Twilight. I've decided to finish up with Forever Home by the end of the month. I figure if I can write 50k in one month I should have no problem writing another 10k or so in one month. I'm nearly done, I have the rest of the story pretty well plotted out so there's no mysteries as to what I'm going to be writing. Should be doable even with the holidays. Just need to be peristant. Which I am because I'm in an incredible writing mode. After I finish it I'll send it off to my second set of eyes and turn my attention to the January challenge (blog available soon). I really think I'll pick up on the young adult story I've been thinking (err... obsessing) about. When I'm not thinking about where Forever Home is going I'm thinking and plotting out this story. I've never tried a young adult story, but I think I can do it. No steamy scenes, maybe no kissing. that's okay. I can do this. But for now I have to get ready for work. It's going to be another looooong day in the ole' data entry pool. Too much work and not enough fingers attacted to warm bodies to get the work in. And no overtime, which would be incredibly handy right about now.\\ I have to post this video that I've been seeing all over the place. Even saw it at the movies before Twilight started.
At long last I'm back in my own digs. My mom is on her way back now from Boston.
Her dog will be pleased. Molly is the sweetest dog in the world, very well behaved and just all around awesome. It was a pleasure to watch her, but I'm sure she'll be happy to have my mother home. And now I can settle back at my computer. Which isn't necessarily a great thing. Being without the internet for over a week was actually very liberating. I got a LOT done on my sequel to Sweet Forever (now titled Forever Home) and I have plotted out a very important scene. And I've been daydreaming about another wip. I really don't need to be thinking about anything but what I'm working on, but I can't help it. Congrats to Marianne! She just received her author copies of One Love For Liv. Always an awesome moment for any writer! I can't believe that December is here. I'm very sorry to say that I don't easily get into the Christmas spirit. I look at all these blogs about how people are decorating and shopping and I just get frustrated. November and December are our most expensive months, and that has nothing to do with Christmas. It has to do with car registrations, other birthdays, now our dear landlord has decided to make us pay for our own heat, we have the joy of shelling out several hundred dollars to have our tanks filled and a few other bills that just make me wince (long story, won't go into it). I know money isn't everything, things aren't everything (although tell that to that mob at Walmart in NY last week), but there are so many expectations, most of which I put on myself. I used to get nice Christmas bonuses at work that would help take the edge off, but the company I work for doesn't do that. We get flowers. And this year they've been hit financially too and there are whispers about layoffs after Christmas. Yeah, I'm looking forward to Christmas this year. Wow, where did this all come from???? I am SO sorry to be depressing! Maybe I should just go back to my mom's and not touch the internet anymore.
Location: Southwestern, New Hampshire, United States
I'm 44 year old mom of 3. I work as a customer service rep for a publishing company, and I write. I have five published novels and working on adding to that.
THAT KIND OF MAGIC--AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 17,2010
What's a witch to do when she refuses to use magic to find love? Beautiful Wiccan Charlotte Noone has a shop for magical supplies and a goddess who's pushing her to find the man of her dreams. When Patrick Riordan, a straight-laced non-believer enters her life, Charlotte falls madly in lust with him. Despite their very different lives, neither can stop the erotic journey they’ve embarked on, but will it be enough to break through their barriers so they can accept that love itself is magical?.
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