Jordan Summers

I’m not sure what happened this weekend, but somehow I lost a day. All day yesterday I thought it was Saturday. I couldn’t figure out why dh wanted to go to bed so early or why he kept talking about getting up early. It wasn’t until we were lying in bed that I discovered (and by discovered, I mean he told me it was Sunday) it wasn’t Saturday night. That explains why there were so few monster movies on the Sci-fi channel. Snort! The thing I found the most upsetting was that I’d lost three days of writing instead of two. Sigh. It looks like the book won’t be finished this week after all, but it will get down by the second week of July. I’ll spend the month of August editing and sending it out to my critique partners. I should have it whipped into shape on time, even if my other edits come in next month.

I’m trying to figure out if taking a typing class would help my productivity. I can type, but my speed isn’t great (ie 50 to 70 wpm). I’m thinking if I could type as fast as I think, then it’d be able to at least double my productivity per day. Even if I could type 90 to 100 wpm, it would help significantly. I’m curious, how fast do you all type? Does it translate into greater productivity for you?

On a separate note, I found this cool website by Joss Whedon. Looks hilarious. Definitely worth watching.

Yesterday, my internet was down. In fact, it didn’t come back up until this morning. You’d think I would get a lot of writing done during that time. I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t manage to write at all yesterday. Most of my day was spent on the phone with the cable company. Did I forget to mention that my phone was out for part of the day, too? Yeah, it was that kind of day.

Dh came home early from a brutal week and we went to see WANTED. I’ve looked forward to this movie more than any other this year. Well, it wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t great. There were some cool aspects of the film, but the storyline dropped in a few places. This left me scratching my head on a few rather important revelations. I thought the performances were good. There were a lot of over-the-top visual effects that had people giggling in our theater. Yes, they were THAT over-the-top. The movie made me think they’d gone for a cross between the Matrix and Fight Club, but it never quite reached that level of cleverness. It seemed like it was trying too hard. It practically jumped up and down yelling about how cool it was, how innovative. It shouldn’t have had to, since there was a lot of good material to work with. I’ve read that it followed the graphic novel pretty closely. That’s good, but there were a lot of things left unexplained and unanswered that should’ve been addressed with dialogue–not bullets. IMO it shouldn’t have relied on special effects in place of content, but it did. In the end, I still say it wasn’t a bad movie, but it certainly could’ve been so much better.

If you’re interested in seeing it, I’d say go. It’s worth watching. The violence is ridiculously insane, but displayed a lot like it was in 300, so it doesn’t make you squeamish. At least it didn’t make me squeamish. I suppose if you found 300 upsetting, then you should pass on this film. It’s bloody.

There was so much good in the film and so much bad that they kind of cancel each other out, leaving me somewhat disappointed by the overall experience. I’d actually be very curious to see what you all think of the film, if you go see it. Please leave your reviews in the comments. Up next for us is Wall:E. I hope it’s better.

Man this seems to be the year for some great sci-fi/fantasy flicks. We have Wanted, Batman, X-Files, Twilight, Harry Potter, The Mummy 3, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Hellboy 2, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Babylon A.D., Hancock and Wall:E. I know I’m missing some. Those are just the ones off the top of my head. For the purposes of this entry, I’m not including the movies that have already been released this year.

Does anyone else see a theme here?

As you can see from the title of this entry, I’m just working. I hope to be back to regularly blogging in July. I should hit 200 pages today. In the past week, I’ve written 22,570 words–not counting today’s word count. I’m shooting for 80/85K exact word count before I begin edits.

My schedule at RWA is filling up rapidly. I’ll be doing a signing on Saturday afternoon for RED. I’m not sure if I’m down to sign at the public book-signing on Wednesday evening. I’m trying to find out. I registered early for the conference, but obviously missed some of the paperwork. I will be wandering around the signing, if I’m not participating. Bernard, if you’re still planning to attend the signing, I’ll save you a copy. Just look for the chubby lady oogling the books.

Other than that, I’m just counting down the days until Wanted releases. I wish we could go on opening day, but dh is teaching this week. Sigh. I’ll have to wait until Saturday morning. That movie, plus work, and Wall:E should keep us busy over the weekend. Do you guys have any plans?

UPDATE: Add another 3275 to that number. This brings the week’s total up to: 25,845 words. Should hit 40K tomorrow, which puts me about halfway through the book. Must write faster and smarter.

Today is my other mum’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mum!!! May you have many, many more. She’s off on a short holiday to celebrate her birthday, so I’m sure she’s having fun. It’s also Charli’s birthday today. HAPPY B-DAY, C! Please stop by and wish her well.

Went into work with dh yesterday and managed to write over 5K (ie 35 pages). I was so stoked. It’s amazing what no internet (ie emails and blogs) can do for ones productivity. *g* I’m going in with him again today. I doubt I’ll get as much written as I did yesterday, but I will pass page 150, so I’ll be happy. I only have 130 pages left to meet the Fast Draft goal of 280 pages. My goal is a little higher page count. I want a minimum of 310 pages when I finish the rough draft. I’m sure some of you are thinking, ‘but isn’t that way short of novel length’? It is, but it won’t be by the time I go back through the manuscript and edit. I know the book is missing a bunch of information, description, romance interactions, etc. I probably have thirty pages alone of needed additions in the first 140 pages that I’ve written. I’m a VERY sparse writer. When I write a first draft, it mainly consists of dialogue, action and a tiny bit of introspection/description. And when I say tiny, I mean TINY. It’s something I’m working on.

I’ve decided along with the writing projects that I’m trying to finish, I’m going to read through several craft books. I’m making a list of my top ten and slowly working my way through them. I don’t always find a lot in most craft books, but even a grain of help works to build ones writing. I’m currently reading SETTING by Jack Bickham. So far, it’s been helpful. It’s not a riveting read, but it has useful information.

And now that I’ve made you nod off, I’ll scoot.

Nope, but I’ve passed page 105 and I’m heading for 300. I’ve definitely had harder books to write *cough*the urban fantasy*cough*, but it’s still taking me longer than I’d hoped. Would like to be sitting at 150 by now. What is that saying? S**t in one hand and wish in another and see which one fills up faster. Yeah, that’s where I’m at. I’ve managed 9K in the last three days. I will get at least another two and change today (maybe three). I plan to work over the weekend, so hopefully I can make up for my Fast Draft shortages. (You’re supposed to hit 20 pages a day–every day–for two weeks.) I’m definitely off the mark on the page count, but must keep going.

I have to admit that I haven’t been feeling the need to blog lately. I’m sure that the return to writing has something to do with it. Just can’t bring myself to blog after I meet my daily goal. Hope you all understand. I’ll be more chatty after the book is finished.

Have a great weekend.

I’m frustrated because I just lost the post I was working on and I was three long paragraphs into it. Grrr…

I’d like to wish my Mom a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you and your new ‘bundle of joy’. I love and miss you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May you have many, many, many more. XOXOXO Love, Me.

Let’s try this again. As writers, we have to be chameleons. Publishing is a very volatile business. Like any other business, it must ‘adapt or die’. Writers need to do the same. I’ve been lurking on several writers’ loops that seem to have forgotten that simple adage. I’ve thought about speaking up and reminding the groups that, that was the case, but I didn’t. Why? Because as my dh so succinctly said this morning, “They don’t want to hear it.”

It used to be that an author would start out in a genre and take time to build their name before moving onto something else. This is still true to a certain degree, but it’s changing rapidly. Nowadays in order for an author to survive, they need to adapt—and diversify. If you aren’t making the same kind of money you were ten/fifteen years ago by writing westerns, then it’s time to write something else. It’s that simple and that difficult. People by nature don’t like change. I know I’m one of them. There are a lot of aspects of my life that I don’t like to see change in. Writing is NOT one of them. I get bored out of my mind writing the same kinds of books. That’s probably why I’ve published in four different romance sub-genres and I’m trying for two more outside of romance. I don’t consider this flighty. I consider it employable.

I guess that’s why I get so frustrated and downright bummed out when people talk about the good old days on the loops. I may or may not agree with their thoughts, but the bottom line is those days are OVER. Move on. Work with what’s in front of you and stop trying to cling to an out-dated model.

Now I’m off to get my word count in. I’ve managed nearly 7K in the past two days. I’m shooting for another 3 or 4 today. Got to love Fast Draft and earplugs.

It’s me typing away on Dead World: Crimson. *ggg*

Sorry I’ve been away, but I need to get this book done. I have a YA and an UF bugging the crap out of me right now. Yes, I know it’s a distraction. But it’s one I can’t afford during Fast Draft. Since the market is fairly crap–thanks to the recession, I’ve decided that once I’m done with Crimson I’m going to concentrate on finishing the books that are calling to me. (ie the new UF and the YA book) I have a paranormal romance that also seems fun. In addition to all that, I plan to write a novella that will tie into the Dead World universe. It will be a freebie. My goal is to eventually have several such freebies available, but like anything else, it’ll take time.

What is everyone else up to these days other than shuddering over gas prices? We went to see the Incredible Bore Hulk. I know it was only two hours long, but it felt so much longer. I’m still hoping that Wanted turns out to be great. Until then, we’ll probably go see Get Smart and the Love Guru.

The below letter has been put together by Alison Kent. I’m placing it here on my blog because Jo is a friend of mine and I want to do everything I can to help her out. I cannot imagine the kind of pain she’s going through. Please keep her in your thoughts. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated (ie your time, gift cards, money, etc.). Thank you, Jordan

Dear Friends,

One of our own, author Jo Leigh (aka Jolie Kramer) lost her husband on June 13 after he courageously battled cancer. If you don’t know their story which is the stuff romance novels are made of, you can read it: HERE and see their wedding picture: HERE

In addition to being a fabulous friend to so many and a mulit-RITA nominated author who has written for Harlequin Blaze, Temptation, Intrigue, Special Projects, Silhouette Intimate Moments and Meteor Kismet, Jo is known across the country for the amazing writing classes she teaches, including one on plotting that is incomparable. She has been incredibly generous to so many in sharing her knowledge and expertise.

Unfortunately, Jo has been left with a lot of medical expenses she will be struggling to cover as they had no health insurance, and we would like to help her out by holding several fundraising auctions. If you have items to donate - books or book baskets/collections, critiques, ARCs of upcoming releases, mentoring opportunities, web or promotional material design work etc., please email the item description to the following email address: forjoleigh AT gmail.com This is the address we’re using to organize the items.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Alison Kent, HelenKay Dimon, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler

For some reason that date strikes fear into the hearts of many. I’m not one of them. I decided a LONG time ago that 13 was a lucky number. Does that make it so? No, not anymore than it makes it an unlucky number. It’s just another day. Although it is special for a couple of reasons. Today is my brother’s birthday and Jeaniene Frost’s birthday. I’d say that makes it pretty special. Go wish Jeaniene a happy one. I’m off to write.