Jordan Summers

This will be my last entry until May. I hope you all meet your writing goals and receive that magical, once in a lifetime call.

I’m psyched because I managed to hit my goal yesterday. I didn’t think I’d make it, but I did. I do not plan on writing today at all. I have a lot to do (clean the house, pack, etc.), since I’m leaving tomorrow morning bright and early. (Have I mentioned I’m NOT a morning person?)

I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I hate being away from my husband this long. I spoke to a friend the other day, who was not exactly sympathetic to my plight. She said I’d be fine without him and that ten days wasn’t that long. Now I know logically ten days isn’t a long time. I’m sure the time will flyby in a blink, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ll miss my dh. I never thought I’d be the type of woman who’d prefer a man’s company over my friends. Actually, before meeting my dh, I didn’t. My ex couldn’t get out the door fast enough for me. LOL! (I do still consider him a very nice man and a friend.)

But that all changed when I met my dh. I’m just not myself when he’s not around. I stop sleeping well within a couple of days. We’re constantly on the phone. And I start counting down the days until I get to go home.

You can now all tell me how pathetic I am. (wg) But I’ll let you in on a little secret, I already know. Am I the only one?

Well I only have one more full day until I’m outta here. No, I’m not packed and won’t bother until tomorrow. Had a wonderfully productive (for me) writing day yesterday. If I can manage something similar today, then I will hit my goal tomorrow. Yah!!! I’ll only have about 10K to go to finish the book. The word count may go over that estimation, but that’s no big deal. Just means more for the reader.

Rumors are surfacing that publishing companies are clamping down on vampire submissions and just saying ‘no’. Please say it isn’t so. I personally don’t think there are a lot of ‘good’ vamp romance books out there. Believe me, I’ve been searching.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good vampire romance book? Keep in mind my favorite authors in the genre are Christine Feehan, Angela Knight, and Sherrilyn Kenyon. (Even though Sherrilyn’s aren’t exactly vampires.) I’m mentioning them because I already own ALL of their books.

I better get to it or that writing goal will only be a glimmer in my eye.

It seems like the information overload from too much time spent on the net is going around. Sylvia mentioned how stepping away from the computer over the past week has upped her productivity. Yes, it would take Mr. Magoo not to see the writing on this wall.

I’m afraid my day is coming. I will have to walk away soon. I’m already looking forward to being offline while I’m at the Romantic Times Conference. I’ll be the one twitching in the corner as I go through internet withdrawals.:-)

They say these types of events recharge your creative battery. We’ll see. I think the visit with my family is probably going to do more for me than any conference.

On the writing front, I’ve procrastinated today, but do plan to get my minimum word count in. I’m going to take my notebook and a pen into the other room. I have to or I’ll check my emails and surf. Yes, it’s THAT bad. Even so, I’m still making steady progress on the story…now that I have a conflict. *g* Hope your writing is taking you to other worlds.

I have worked steadily on AQ4 over the past few weeks. The story is flowing pretty well. I’m happy that it’s a nice blend of humor and adventure. Last night I was watching television and re-reading one of my favorite vamp stories, ‘Blood & Kisses’ by Angela Knight from Secrets Volume Three. I was enjoying the book immensely, when a revelation hit me. My story has no point. LOL! I am laughing, since crying will not help me. (I’m also going to blame Angela Knight for inadvertently pointing this realization out to me. Is it wrong to love her AND hate her?:)

Perhaps I should explain my predicament. I think my story makes sense, logically. You can read it and won’t get lost. I also know ’story’ can be defined as anything that happens. However, my characters have no motivation that I can see, their attraction is strictly physical, and their goals…well let’s just say they’re not well defined. *ggg*

I’ve been having so much fun putting these two people into various situations that I hadn’t noticed until now that the story disappeared. (Oh where, Oh where has my little book gone? Oh where, Oh where can she be?)

I have decided not to go back and ‘fix’ this MINOR problem right now. I’m going to continue to write forward because I want to get the story finished. Obviously, during edits, I’m going to have to add a STORY to this manuscript. Minor technicalities.

Have you ever written a book only to discover there wasn’t a story there?

I went over to Romancing the Blog and read Alison’s post about surfing, web use, and information overload. I actually think she has a good point this time. I used to read only a few blogs when I first started blogging. That number has grown exponentially. It now takes me well over an hour to get through(I’m a VERY slow reader.) all of the blogs I follow.

How do I know this? I just spent the last two hours catching up on friend’s and writer info blogs. (Yes, that’s how I’m spending my weekend.) I do plan to write a bit since I won’t get the chance to once I leave for the Romantic Times Convention on Friday. I’d like to at least hit the halfway point in Atlantean’s Quest Book Four: The Return. My plan is to have the manuscript finished my the end of next month.

That won’t happen if I continue to spend so much time surfing. Patrice purchased a Dana, so she could write away from home. I’d considered it before, but decided against it because I didn’t think I’d use it enough to justify the cost. She said something that has actually changed my mind. She mentioned on her blog how she didn’t use it when she first bought it, UNTIL she took it out one day and discovered how productive she could be. Seeing how much she’d written away from home showed her how much time she’d been wasting online. We’re talking triple productivity here people. :-O

I know that writing on paper helps me at times to get the creative ball rolling, but I’m not super productive doing that because you’re limited to how fast you can write longhand. Just like you’re limited to how fast you can write based on your typing speed. My typing speed is a smidgen faster than my writing speed. I truly need to work on it.

All I know is that I have to do something to curtail this loss of time. I don’t want to spend every weekend playing catch up. Weekends are for movies, snuggling, and going out to dinner, not surfing (unless you’re on an ocean) and working.

I hate to pack. It’s probably from all the years of flying. I see a suitcase and actually have an abreaction. Just call me Pavlov’s dog. The closer I get to taking a trip, the more anxious I become. It’s not only nerves about the flight, (No, I wasn’t like that before 9/11.) but about the trip itself.

I look forward to seeing my family, whom I’ll get to visit on this trip, and my friends. I am just a little nervous about the whole conference crowd.

Prior to becoming a flight attendant, I was a very extroverted person. As the years went by, I grew more and more introverted. I think it’s because you had to be ‘on’ 24/7 at the airline. I swear if one more person had asked me to smile, I’d have ripped their lips off. (Breathe, you’re not on the plane. They can’t make you go back to work on the plane. That part of your life is over. Whew!) Sorry, I had to do my little mantra.

The hermit life of writing only adds to my introversion. Don’t get me wrong, I can talk to anybody and anything, including the wall. I just don’t find it near as easy as I used to. Has anyone else noticed their personality changing over the years or am I the only weird one?

There is a discussion happening on the FF&P (Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal) list where members are introducing themselves and telling about their special interests/talents. I thought it was kind of interesting and decided to give it a try over here.

I’ll start. My name is Jordan Summers…at least most of the time. (wg) I grew up on a farm in the Midwest. Had a horse the second I got big enough to ride one by myself. I’ve milked cows, rounded up cattle, helped castrate pigs, killed more snakes and frogs than I care to remember. (Yes, I was a mean child. I’ve also sang in rock bands, wrote country music, studied hypnotherapy, read Tarot cards, took Krav Maga, and acted in a few commercials. Oh, and I was a flight attendant for over 14 years. I think that about sums up what I’ve done.

Now it’s your turn. Who are you? What special talents or interests to you have?

I’m going to start off with an aside. Did anyone else catch Gretchen Wilson performing with Heart on the CMT Music Awards the other night? All I can say is WOW!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. I’ve heard it discussed many places that writers read differently than regular readers. For the longest time, I actually never knew what people meant. That is, until recently.

I knew this sort of thing could happen if you went to the movies with say an actor or a director. I’ve sat through movies with both and it wasn’t pleasant. I like to go to the movies to enjoy the escapism. Let me tell you, that’s hard to do with people sitting beside you discussing camera angles and cut scenes. LOL!

I haven’t completely turned into a ‘writer’ that reads, but I am beginning to notice glaring story problems that I wouldn’t have noticed before. Thank goodness I can still become engrossed by the story and lose myself for a few hours. I’ve heard other writers talk about how they can’t. They’re too busy tearing the novel apart to enjoy it. One ‘wrong’ thing and they’re completely thrown out of the book.

I pray I NEVER reach that point with reading. Why? Because I think I will miss out on too many good stories. What kind of eyes do you have, writer’s eyes or reader’s eyes?

Wow! My day has been a blur. First dh came home early, which allowed me to change the time of my hair appointment. (You remember, the one I’d forgotten about. *g*) The change in time meant that I could go to the local RWA meeting tonight. This has blown my writing schedule sky high today. I guess I’ll have to try to get my word count in when I get back.

I don’t normally share reviews, but I must admit this one at Love Romances made my day. The reviewer, Dawn actually understood the story I wrote. Sniffle. Bless her heart.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous day. I’ll catch you all tomorrow. Stay healthy.

I’d planned to attend a local RWA meeting tomorrow and figured out at the last minute I’d scheduled a hair appointment. Yikes!!! I hate when I don’t pay attention to my calendar. I’m scattered, trying to get things together for the upcoming Romantic Times Convention. Why do I decide to go to these events?

I’ve figured out more information that I need to add to AQ4. I wanted to have a clear idea where the story was going from here. Fingers crossed it all comes together.

I also saw something that shocked me yesterday. Apparently, some of the Brava multi-author anthologies are going to be released in mass market paperback. The first ones hit the stands in the next few months. I don’t know about you all, but I think that’s wonderful news. Fingers crossed the rest follow. It’s a win-win for readers and authors.

Well I’d better scoot. I have writing to do and a contract to go through. Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday.