First off I’d like to announce the contest winners. Everyone who entered did a fabulous job. Thank you all for taking the time to do so. Without further ado, the winners are Danny, who’s won a copy of ‘Wicked Women On Top’, Kelli, who’s won an ARC of ‘Bad Boys Over Easy’, Alyssa, who’s won an ARC of ‘Bad Boys Over Easy’, and Julia B., who’s won a copy of ‘Wicked Women On Top’. The runners up are Sue, who’s won a copy of ‘Wicked Women On Top’ and Karen G., who’s won an ARC of ‘Bad Boys Over Easy’. I wish I could give everyone who entered a book for being so brave. Congratulations to the winners. I need you all to email me your addresses, so that I can send out your books.
If you’ve been following my blogs you know that I’ve been fighting my single title contemporary. I believe this has a lot to do with the fact that I’m rewriting most of the book. I truly think it wouldn’t be such a headache if I were working from scratch. Yesterday it KO’d me. The ref rang the bell and the manuscript won. I licked my wounds and decided to regroup.
I called a friend, Sage Grayson, who is terrific at brainstorming. We picked over a couple of smaller partials I’ve had hanging around. Turns out one had enough plot to already be made into a single title. The other one does now. (wg) So I’m going to chart out the two books and get to work. Fingers crossed it’s easier than what I have been doing over the past month and a half.
Archive for March, 2005
I will announce the winners later this evening. There were several wonderful entries. It’s going to be extremely difficult to choose. That’s why I’m having my dh do it again. I want to thank everyone who was BRAVE enough to enter. I appreciate your candor.
I have decided to put aside the contemporary single title I’ve been working on. I have tried every way I can think of to make this story work. The rewrite is simply not coming together. I’m going to spend the next few days researching and brainstorming a few more story ideas I have. Hopefully I can make one or more of those work before my agent realizes I have nothing and kicks me to the curb.
Unless you have a tremendous support system of family and friends around you, there will come a day in your ‘writing’ life that you’ll have to go it alone. Sylvia Day has a guest blogger today who talks about the lack of support she receives from her family. Annette’s message is to keep going no matter what resistance you encounter. And she’s right.
There comes a time in EVERY writer’s life that you have to go it alone. You have to be the one sitting in the chair everyday. You have to be the one pulling your hair out because the story isn’t working. You have to be the one strong enough to fight the well-meaning forces in your life that conspire against you. It’s so easy to give up when the writing gets tough. And make no mistake, ALL writing is tough. I don’t care if you’re writing childrens stories or suspense. None of it is easy, if it were everyone would be doing it.
So if you’re going to call yourself a writer, be prepared to go it alone.
I see my contest has scared the daylights out of everyone. Bravo, to the few brave souls who’ve taken the plunge and entered. For the rest of you, oh come on, it’s not that hard.
I’ve managed to rewrite the first four chapter of my single title…AGAIN. If this round doesn’t work, then I’m going to stop banging my head against the brick wall and write something new. I can’t do this anymore. It’s making me bitchier than usual.
I must say I have learned a valuable lesson from this exercise. (By exercise I mean trying to rewrite the first book I ever wrote.) I’ve discovered something about the way I write. I cannot go back. Stephen King talks about this in his ‘On Writing’ book. He says if he doesn’t just plow through a book while writing, the characters become stale and cardboard-like. He’s absolutely right. I’ve been so far removed from this manuscript that it’s akin to pain to work through it again. I know it NEEDS a ton of editing to make it readable, but I just can’t seem to get into it. No matter how hard I try. I’ve moved on mentally.
I’d always looked forward to the day I could become a ’smart’ writer. By that I mean, someone who puts together partials and doesn’t waste their time finishing books unless someone wants to buy them. Unfortunately, my personality isn’t suited for this type of writing. I have to ‘plow’ through the book, writing it as fast as I can in order to get it on paper. I don’t mind going back and editing, but I must do it right away.
As it is, the partials I have lying around are making me crazy. I feel the need to finish every last one, but there aren’t enough hours in the day. What’s your approach to projects? Do you finish the book or complete the first three chapters and a synopsis to submit?
For those of you who haven’t heard Tor is looking for erotica and romantica stories. They don’t have to be paranormal, but they can be. They seem to be looking for a little bit of everything. The only thing Tor editor, Anna Genoese said is that they have to have a happily-ever-after ending. Woo Hoo! Another market opens. I love it when that happens.
My talk on blogs is coming up on Tuesday. I’m nervous because I am not as prepared as I should be. (Shocker!)I can already tell this is going to be like my school exams. I’m going to cram everything in at the last second and pray I remember the facts. Grr…
Yep, I’m having another one. This contest is a little different than the others. Okay, truth is it’s tougher. You can read full details on my contest page. I will be giving away 2 ARC’s of Bad Boys Over Easy and 2 copies of Wicked Women On Top. That’s FOUR changes to win. Woo Hoo! I just LOVE giving stuff away.
Yesterday reminded me how even though I write books for a living, I may not express myself well when trying to convey my thoughts. My blog entry and the confusion/controversy it stirred up is the perfect example of this in action. To say this is frustrating is an understatement.
Is it that I save all my best words for the manuscripts? Gosh, I hope not.
More and more I find myself unable to remember the simpliest things. (ie Trying to tell my dh about something that I saw on TV.) I will search and search for the right words. And I’m not talking about trying to convey an amusing story. I’m talking about attempting to construct a simple worded sentence or two. It’s as if I speak another language and can’t complete a thought without struggling for each word.
Sometimes it scares me. I wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Other times, I think it must be some weird writer’s syndrome. You know, the kind you get from spending so many hours in your head creating make-believe worlds.
Have any of you ever struggled with this problem? Please tell me I’m not alone.
