Well, here it is the 17th day of the new year. You'd think I could post up some goals for it at some point, eh? Perhaps my first goal should be...
1. Blogging more. Aiming for at least once a week might be a good idea.
2. Getting my website completely redone and the blog integrated. Hopefully within the next month.
Most of the things in my life that I have *some* measure of control over are writing related. While many of the highlights of last year (and previous years) are in family areas, those aren't areas where public goals make sense. So here goes on writing ones:
3. Novel Submissions: Keep Majai's Fury in submission. (I've sent queries out twice already this year, and it's been rejected once. So I'm succeeding in this goal, thus far.)
4. Writing: Finish Dottie and Tempest. (It looks like Dottie is going to move forward and be the first for concentration. I'm taking her story through the How to Think Sideways course as we speak.) I'll consider doing NaNo this year, if these are complete and nothing else seems to be more pressing.
5. Contests: I plan to submit at least two entries into the Genesis. Of course I would like to increase my *streak* of finaling and increase my standing. *If* I final again this year, I'd like to try to get to conference in September. But that's not quite a goal.
6. Revising: I'm not sure what will hit the front burner on this one. It depends on how long the writing from Goal 4 takes. At the moment it's a toss-up between Quest to Be Queen and Chloe. I wish I revised faster is the real truth!
7. Critiquing: I'll take on up to four novels this year for crit, though I'm not sure right now which of my partners will have something ready. So this goal is a bit vague.
8. Forward Motion: Continue with moderator duties at FM, including writing and facilitating one new workshop this year. Other things may come up.
9. Book Tours: I'm committed still to touring at least a dozen new books on this blog this year. Maybe it's cheating to stick it in my goals when there will be two next week!
Showing posts with label Quest to be Queen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quest to be Queen. Show all posts
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fun Workshop!
I got back Sunday afternoon from a fun weekend in Couer d'Alene at a writers' workshop hosted by Idaho Writers' League. Had a lot of fun with my car-and-room-mates, Viv and Bonn, listening to Randy Ingermanson instruct on various writing and web-building skills, and just hanging out.
Here's Randy with *The Canadian Contingent*
We also had individual critiques on five pages (which we'd sent in ahead of time). I've found a few good ideas to tweak up the opening scene of Quest to Be Queen, thanks to the discussion with Randy.
Good times. Now I have a few days to re-group before heading out to Victoria.
Here's Randy with *The Canadian Contingent*
We also had individual critiques on five pages (which we'd sent in ahead of time). I've found a few good ideas to tweak up the opening scene of Quest to Be Queen, thanks to the discussion with Randy.
Good times. Now I have a few days to re-group before heading out to Victoria.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Party Time!
Late last summer I heard about an upcoming contest hosted by Tosca Lee, whose debut novel Demon: A Memoir was released in June 2007. When announcing the contest, she said that people had begun asking her if she could put in a good word for them with her agent, Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. Tosca decided to run a contest, and Joyce agreed to look over the winning proposal. The deadline for entry was November 15.
This gave me something to shoot for when completing revisions on Marks of Repentance, which, as you may recall, I spent most of 2007 doing. The deadline pushed me through market analysis, synopsis, pitch, the whole works (thanks to everyone who helped critique these, by the way!!). When it went out my email box, I heaved a sigh of relief and turned my attention to Quest to Be Queen.
Every once in awhile I wondered what was happening with the contest, but I was very busy in early '08 and didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the proposal's fate. In late February I heard from Tosca with the grand news that my proposal was the winner! There were a few things that needed to be ironed out before the official announcement would be made. She has now posted the results on her website.
I've gotten general praise from both Tosca and Joyce, though it's far too early to tell if this win is a major step towards publication or just an entertaining and confirming side trip. Either way, I wanted to share the news with all of you!
This gave me something to shoot for when completing revisions on Marks of Repentance, which, as you may recall, I spent most of 2007 doing. The deadline pushed me through market analysis, synopsis, pitch, the whole works (thanks to everyone who helped critique these, by the way!!). When it went out my email box, I heaved a sigh of relief and turned my attention to Quest to Be Queen.
Every once in awhile I wondered what was happening with the contest, but I was very busy in early '08 and didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the proposal's fate. In late February I heard from Tosca with the grand news that my proposal was the winner! There were a few things that needed to be ironed out before the official announcement would be made. She has now posted the results on her website.
I've gotten general praise from both Tosca and Joyce, though it's far too early to tell if this win is a major step towards publication or just an entertaining and confirming side trip. Either way, I wanted to share the news with all of you!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Mostly Unstuck
My brain, that is. We haven't had THAT much snow!
The last few months--all of 2008, till recently--I've had things to focus on that pulled my attention away from the revisions of Quest to Be Queen, most notably workshop facilitating and contest things--prepping to submit and then helping to judge a category. I'd made a little progress around all that, outlining the section that needed a total rewrite, but never having time to just dive in and DO IT.
But this past week Forward Motion hosted our annual March Madness event. Entries returned, I finally had the time to focus and write. I've written a little over eight thousand words this past week and am now back into revision mode for the final chapter of the novel. Hopefully by the end of the week I can boot it out to critiquers.
Methinks it is time to write again. I've been revising for way too long now. Two novels, 14 months (shuddering).
Time for the creative juices to flow again. I hope I can remember where I put them.
Oh yeah. That's for next week. I still have a few thousand words left to run the editing eyeballs over.
The last few months--all of 2008, till recently--I've had things to focus on that pulled my attention away from the revisions of Quest to Be Queen, most notably workshop facilitating and contest things--prepping to submit and then helping to judge a category. I'd made a little progress around all that, outlining the section that needed a total rewrite, but never having time to just dive in and DO IT.
But this past week Forward Motion hosted our annual March Madness event. Entries returned, I finally had the time to focus and write. I've written a little over eight thousand words this past week and am now back into revision mode for the final chapter of the novel. Hopefully by the end of the week I can boot it out to critiquers.
Methinks it is time to write again. I've been revising for way too long now. Two novels, 14 months (shuddering).
Time for the creative juices to flow again. I hope I can remember where I put them.
Oh yeah. That's for next week. I still have a few thousand words left to run the editing eyeballs over.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Book Tour next week
I've been cutting way back on the books I've been accepting to tour, but next week we'll be having a brief look at a middle-grade fantasy novel, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.
Meanwhile, I've been keeping busy with helping judge a contest, participating in a Submission Package Workshop at Forward Motion. I'm running Quest to Be Queen through the process there, and actually making progress in finishing off the last task in the story. A few more solid days and I'll be back into revising the wrap-up. (If you remember, I had to completely rewrite one of the seven tasks in the novel).
In other news, while I have a four-day weekend coming up for Easter, it will be rather busy. Hanna and Craig will be home and there will be a family wedding and therefore lots of out-of-province relatives. Monday it looks like it would be a good time to go visit my mom, being as hubby is back to work that day. Also because the sister that leaves near my mom is in Vancouver, and Mom is getting lonely. So it won't be precisely relaxing.
Joel and Jen called last night from El Bolson, Argentina, and we talked for about an hour. What a treat! They'll be back in BC in about a month and hopefully we'll get to see them a bit before they're back into the swing of their regular life in Victoria the beginning of May.
Meanwhile, I've been keeping busy with helping judge a contest, participating in a Submission Package Workshop at Forward Motion. I'm running Quest to Be Queen through the process there, and actually making progress in finishing off the last task in the story. A few more solid days and I'll be back into revising the wrap-up. (If you remember, I had to completely rewrite one of the seven tasks in the novel).
In other news, while I have a four-day weekend coming up for Easter, it will be rather busy. Hanna and Craig will be home and there will be a family wedding and therefore lots of out-of-province relatives. Monday it looks like it would be a good time to go visit my mom, being as hubby is back to work that day. Also because the sister that leaves near my mom is in Vancouver, and Mom is getting lonely. So it won't be precisely relaxing.
Joel and Jen called last night from El Bolson, Argentina, and we talked for about an hour. What a treat! They'll be back in BC in about a month and hopefully we'll get to see them a bit before they're back into the swing of their regular life in Victoria the beginning of May.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Not Blogging Much (in case you can't tell)
Things have remained really busy. The Effective Viewpoint Workshop has kept me hopping with up to 20 people participating (not everyone made it through to the end), so there have been assignments to critique and discussions to respond to. There are certainly parts that were a stretch for me--anyone who's hung out here for long knows I'm not generally a great fan of omni, for example, so it was interesting to try to teach it! The workshop ended up going deeper into every facet of viewpoint than I'd originally anticipated and I learned a lot during the month as well, as much from the participants as from the study I'd done in preparation.
In March, the baton goes back over to Margaret, who is preparing a workshop on preparing a submission package. As she provided backup for me in February, so I anticipate doing the same for her in March. Besides, I want to work on the package for Quest to be Queen, which I finally pulled out of mothballs yesterday and made a bit of progress on. I really want to finish it up and get it out to critters in March. It's soooooo close to ready; I just need a few days where I can buckle down and focus.
On the home front, hubby's new job is going fairly well. It's good to have him home every evening, and we've started (slowly) making progress on the kitchen again. Electrical takes precedence right now. A few more plug-ins in the *finished* end of the kitchen would be useful, but I'm already enjoying under-cabinet lighting.
It's been good having him home for calving this year. So far we've had six births (and lost one), eight to go. We've had way more snow this winter than average, and that's making the pasture hard for the cows to get around in. If the driveway is any indication, it's not long until the pasture also will become a mud pit. Why does brown season have to come between white season and green season? I'm so very ready for spring, but at least the snowdrops are starting to bloom against the south side of the house. They're hiding behind a snowbank, but they're there!
24 years ago this evening I was nine months pregnant. I recall cooking supper and telling hubby that I was having false labor. He asked, quite reasonably, why I thought it was false. I told him that I had no intention of being in labor for more than six hours and that the baby wouldn't be born until the next day. Hubby is certain to this day that I willed the child to be born on February 29th, but honestly--nine months pg--24 hours--how could I miss?
Sure enough, it went away, only to return in the morning. After about 80 minutes of labor, I gave birth to our second child, a boy, who has carried the dubious honor of being a Leap Year Baby all these years.
In March, the baton goes back over to Margaret, who is preparing a workshop on preparing a submission package. As she provided backup for me in February, so I anticipate doing the same for her in March. Besides, I want to work on the package for Quest to be Queen, which I finally pulled out of mothballs yesterday and made a bit of progress on. I really want to finish it up and get it out to critters in March. It's soooooo close to ready; I just need a few days where I can buckle down and focus.
On the home front, hubby's new job is going fairly well. It's good to have him home every evening, and we've started (slowly) making progress on the kitchen again. Electrical takes precedence right now. A few more plug-ins in the *finished* end of the kitchen would be useful, but I'm already enjoying under-cabinet lighting.
It's been good having him home for calving this year. So far we've had six births (and lost one), eight to go. We've had way more snow this winter than average, and that's making the pasture hard for the cows to get around in. If the driveway is any indication, it's not long until the pasture also will become a mud pit. Why does brown season have to come between white season and green season? I'm so very ready for spring, but at least the snowdrops are starting to bloom against the south side of the house. They're hiding behind a snowbank, but they're there!
24 years ago this evening I was nine months pregnant. I recall cooking supper and telling hubby that I was having false labor. He asked, quite reasonably, why I thought it was false. I told him that I had no intention of being in labor for more than six hours and that the baby wouldn't be born until the next day. Hubby is certain to this day that I willed the child to be born on February 29th, but honestly--nine months pg--24 hours--how could I miss?
Sure enough, it went away, only to return in the morning. After about 80 minutes of labor, I gave birth to our second child, a boy, who has carried the dubious honor of being a Leap Year Baby all these years.
Happy Birthday to Joel
Friday, February 08, 2008
Yep. I'm THIS busy!
It's been a crazy week, and I'm suspecting the whole month may look this way.
At the moment the first week of the Effective Viewpoint Workshop is finishing up at Forward Motion. We've got 18 participants getting into hands-on exploration of the tools of point-of-view. So sure, we may still wind up using multiple third person past for most of our writing, but at least we will know how to make it a conscious decision instead of having only a default!
Next month Mar and I are running a workshop on query packages, including the dread synopsis. You have to be a member at FM to join in, but there's no cost.
Aside from the workshop (Monday and Tuesday there was nothing *aside* from the workshop; I practically breathed the darn thing!), I've been working on my opening scenes for the Genesis contest, both The Girl Who Cried Squid and the romance, Joy Comes in the Morning. I've got a working copy of both now and some critiques happening. The contest consists of the first fifteen pages, so that's a reasonable amount of pages to prep up.
Sadly, that's left Teagren and Quest to be Queen sitting on the sidelines. But on my walk this morning I thought through a major issue that I'd seen lurking in the background of the story and discovered a solution I think will work. Once I got to work I popped my insights into a document so that I won't forget. It could easily be a couple weeks yet before I get enough focus to deal with it in the novel itself.
Part of the problem is that the story originally came from a group of random exercises looped together. When I decided there was enough plot linking them to create a novel, I kept a few too many of the old parts. Worked great in the linked exercises, but didn't quite pull through at novel length. If I get rid of one major holdover, it frees up the ending to being something more logical. The previous version came a little forced. So now I'm looking forward to getting back to it. The cool thing is that even though I've finished revising most of the novel, it will only take a few lines tucked in here and there to twist towards the new ending.
But first I have to get my contest entries finalized and out, and keep the workshops humming. First things first!
At the moment the first week of the Effective Viewpoint Workshop is finishing up at Forward Motion. We've got 18 participants getting into hands-on exploration of the tools of point-of-view. So sure, we may still wind up using multiple third person past for most of our writing, but at least we will know how to make it a conscious decision instead of having only a default!
Next month Mar and I are running a workshop on query packages, including the dread synopsis. You have to be a member at FM to join in, but there's no cost.
Aside from the workshop (Monday and Tuesday there was nothing *aside* from the workshop; I practically breathed the darn thing!), I've been working on my opening scenes for the Genesis contest, both The Girl Who Cried Squid and the romance, Joy Comes in the Morning. I've got a working copy of both now and some critiques happening. The contest consists of the first fifteen pages, so that's a reasonable amount of pages to prep up.
Sadly, that's left Teagren and Quest to be Queen sitting on the sidelines. But on my walk this morning I thought through a major issue that I'd seen lurking in the background of the story and discovered a solution I think will work. Once I got to work I popped my insights into a document so that I won't forget. It could easily be a couple weeks yet before I get enough focus to deal with it in the novel itself.
Part of the problem is that the story originally came from a group of random exercises looped together. When I decided there was enough plot linking them to create a novel, I kept a few too many of the old parts. Worked great in the linked exercises, but didn't quite pull through at novel length. If I get rid of one major holdover, it frees up the ending to being something more logical. The previous version came a little forced. So now I'm looking forward to getting back to it. The cool thing is that even though I've finished revising most of the novel, it will only take a few lines tucked in here and there to twist towards the new ending.
But first I have to get my contest entries finalized and out, and keep the workshops humming. First things first!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Juggling
Things are pretty busy right now. I'm juggling crits for friends and crit partners, pokes at opening pages for contests, honing the Effective Viewpoint Workshop for Forward Motion in February (aack, just a few days till I have to have these ready!)...and wishing I had time to actually WRITE the seventh task for Quest to be Queen. Maybe next week. This one is zinging on by.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Appreciate A Dragon Day
No guff.
Google it!
Rebecca Miller talked about how author Donita Paul created Appreciate A Dragon Day to promote literacy. And she wouldn't mind if folks got more literate reading her books, of course. Here are many ways you can support Appreciate A Dragon Day using crafts or photography or baking a dragon cake. Hunt for missing dragon eggs, perhaps?
Furries Online has some good ideas of how to celebrate as well. You can download a sketch for a child to color in. And it also contains a list of famous dragons from film and literature.
I loved Puff the Magic Dragon so much I had a cat called Puff the Magic Kitty. Who didn't love the old Walt Disney Movie Pete's Dragon and the affable Elliot who gave the boy so much confidence?
Anne McCaffrey wrote the Pern books, which were my first foray into speculative fiction. Telepathic dragons bioengineered to save the planet with their life-bonded human companions. What could be better?
Dragons have been portrayed by various authors as good or evil. Others, like Wayne Batson in his The Door Within trilogy portray the dragons as amoral transportation that can be used by either side. The creator of Appreciate A Dragon Day, Donita K Paul, has a series of books called the DragonKeeper series for young adults. I've read the first two (book five is due out shortly and I believe will be featured on this blog later this spring). It's been a couple of years since I read the first two, but I remember enjoying them. Search my blog for her name, it'll come up!
So far I've only got one dragon in any of the novels I've written. His name is George (no relation to my cat!) and he is vegetarian. Needless to say, he resides in my fantasy spoof Quest to be Queen. You can't have a fantasy--at least not a spoof--without at least one dragon!
Come on, chip in! You know you love dragons. (Don't you?) Tell us about one of your favorite dragons!
Google it!
Rebecca Miller talked about how author Donita Paul created Appreciate A Dragon Day to promote literacy. And she wouldn't mind if folks got more literate reading her books, of course. Here are many ways you can support Appreciate A Dragon Day using crafts or photography or baking a dragon cake. Hunt for missing dragon eggs, perhaps?
Furries Online has some good ideas of how to celebrate as well. You can download a sketch for a child to color in. And it also contains a list of famous dragons from film and literature.
I loved Puff the Magic Dragon so much I had a cat called Puff the Magic Kitty. Who didn't love the old Walt Disney Movie Pete's Dragon and the affable Elliot who gave the boy so much confidence?
Anne McCaffrey wrote the Pern books, which were my first foray into speculative fiction. Telepathic dragons bioengineered to save the planet with their life-bonded human companions. What could be better?
Dragons have been portrayed by various authors as good or evil. Others, like Wayne Batson in his The Door Within trilogy portray the dragons as amoral transportation that can be used by either side. The creator of Appreciate A Dragon Day, Donita K Paul, has a series of books called the DragonKeeper series for young adults. I've read the first two (book five is due out shortly and I believe will be featured on this blog later this spring). It's been a couple of years since I read the first two, but I remember enjoying them. Search my blog for her name, it'll come up!
So far I've only got one dragon in any of the novels I've written. His name is George (no relation to my cat!) and he is vegetarian. Needless to say, he resides in my fantasy spoof Quest to be Queen. You can't have a fantasy--at least not a spoof--without at least one dragon!
Come on, chip in! You know you love dragons. (Don't you?) Tell us about one of your favorite dragons!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Teagren is Walking in a Winter Wonderland
So I was up waaaay too late last night waiting for hubby to get home from work up at the mines. The weather has been...wintry...and the visibility was lousy and he didn't get home till pushing midnight. So we talk for a bit and I head up for bed (while he unwinds with a cup of tea) and *sproing* I'm wide awake.
Teagren is tapping me on the shoulder to tell me what's wrong with her story. Not precisely what one wants to hear when at 62K of an estimated 80K revision. At 1:00 a.m no less. Quest to be Queen is set up with seven tasks that complete the quest (you can read the blurb under Projects at my website.) Teagren mentioned to me that the seventh task didn't really match the setup the reader--and heroine, apparently--had come to expect over the course of the previous six tasks.
And she's right.
The final task takes place in a part of Dhaneira called the Chilplains. Remember this is a spoof, so we HAD to have the island, the jungle, the desert, the woodlands, the plains, the mountains, and now the icy wastes. It was expected of me, and I do hate to disappoint. And while I did some really cool (haha, get that?) worldbuilding for the Chilplains that I might get to use again somewhere else should I ever set a story on a icy fantasy world--I'd have to write THAT in the summer time, I can assure you--it doesn't have the flow of familiarity that the rest of the novel has.
So, dear reader.
What are some myths, fairy tales, kids' songs, comics, cartoons, pop culture type references that include winter? I'm not looking for Santa/ Christmas stuff. I already have some abominable snowmen (yeti) that are staying, and Frosty the Snowman may show up. Or we could build a snowman in a meadow and pretend that he is Parson Brown... Jack Frost will pay a visit.
But I'm looking to you--begging you!--to help me with some brainstorming. Any random G-rated winter stuff that would be familiar to a lot of readers. Any legends about the Northern Lights that come to mind?
Teagren thanks you for your consideration.
Teagren is tapping me on the shoulder to tell me what's wrong with her story. Not precisely what one wants to hear when at 62K of an estimated 80K revision. At 1:00 a.m no less. Quest to be Queen is set up with seven tasks that complete the quest (you can read the blurb under Projects at my website.) Teagren mentioned to me that the seventh task didn't really match the setup the reader--and heroine, apparently--had come to expect over the course of the previous six tasks.
And she's right.
The final task takes place in a part of Dhaneira called the Chilplains. Remember this is a spoof, so we HAD to have the island, the jungle, the desert, the woodlands, the plains, the mountains, and now the icy wastes. It was expected of me, and I do hate to disappoint. And while I did some really cool (haha, get that?) worldbuilding for the Chilplains that I might get to use again somewhere else should I ever set a story on a icy fantasy world--I'd have to write THAT in the summer time, I can assure you--it doesn't have the flow of familiarity that the rest of the novel has.
So, dear reader.
What are some myths, fairy tales, kids' songs, comics, cartoons, pop culture type references that include winter? I'm not looking for Santa/ Christmas stuff. I already have some abominable snowmen (yeti) that are staying, and Frosty the Snowman may show up. Or we could build a snowman in a meadow and pretend that he is Parson Brown... Jack Frost will pay a visit.
But I'm looking to you--begging you!--to help me with some brainstorming. Any random G-rated winter stuff that would be familiar to a lot of readers. Any legends about the Northern Lights that come to mind?
Teagren thanks you for your consideration.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Methods of Revision
My friend Margaret is running an intensive workshop at Forward Motion this month about the use of an outline for revising a novel (or short story).
I decided to begin work on my 2006 Nano, The Girl Who Cried Squid to take advantage of the workshop, so I've been spending time beginning the analysis of the novel's structure and how the subplots tie into the main plot. This kind of thinking hurts my head. I'm not sure why. I don't know if the whole story comes into my mind with such a whoosh (don't I wish!) that it doesn't seem to have parts, or if I'm just darn good at weaving in the subplots so well that the main plot can't stand up without them. Either way, it's hard to separate out the parts and look at them objectively.
After the revision of Marks took me the majority of last year, it occurs to me that there might be an easier way to do things. Or at least a way that keeps better track of where I've been and where I'm going. So this time around I'm trying Mar's way. I suppose it would be an improvement if I got most of the headaches out of the way at the beginning!
That's not to say I'm ignoring Quest to be Queen. That edit remains my top current priority, and I've processed nearly 7K so far this week.
I'm curious. How do you revise things? How much do you analyze and plan? Or do you just jump in and hope for the best? And how does that relate to how you wrote the story in the first place?
I decided to begin work on my 2006 Nano, The Girl Who Cried Squid to take advantage of the workshop, so I've been spending time beginning the analysis of the novel's structure and how the subplots tie into the main plot. This kind of thinking hurts my head. I'm not sure why. I don't know if the whole story comes into my mind with such a whoosh (don't I wish!) that it doesn't seem to have parts, or if I'm just darn good at weaving in the subplots so well that the main plot can't stand up without them. Either way, it's hard to separate out the parts and look at them objectively.
After the revision of Marks took me the majority of last year, it occurs to me that there might be an easier way to do things. Or at least a way that keeps better track of where I've been and where I'm going. So this time around I'm trying Mar's way. I suppose it would be an improvement if I got most of the headaches out of the way at the beginning!
That's not to say I'm ignoring Quest to be Queen. That edit remains my top current priority, and I've processed nearly 7K so far this week.
I'm curious. How do you revise things? How much do you analyze and plan? Or do you just jump in and hope for the best? And how does that relate to how you wrote the story in the first place?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Goals for 2008
I went hunting my blog for my 2007 writing goals so that I could have a good laugh. It worked! The complete list is here.
To sum up, I thought I would :
What of that did I actually accomplish?
1. I set aside the revision pass of Quest to be Queen and started back at it in November of '07. It isn't quite done.
2. The only thing on the list I actually completed! Marks of Repentance did, in fact, get revised. It took nine months, but I did complete a pass! It finaled in a contest and is currently out at another one, so I guess you could say I *kicked it out the door*.
3. Write something? Not so much.
4. Revise something else? Not so much.
5. Recipe book project? Decided it wasn't my passion and shelved it.
Yikes.
In the spirit of providing amusement to us all again in twelve months, what are my plans for 2008?
To sum up, I thought I would :
1. Finish this revision pass on Quest to be Queen.
2. Complete one (or, if needed, two) passes on Marks of Repentance and GET THE THING KICKED OUT THE DOOR!
3. Write something. Maybe two somethings.
4. Revise something else if time permits. Squid?
5. Work on the recipe book project.
What of that did I actually accomplish?
1. I set aside the revision pass of Quest to be Queen and started back at it in November of '07. It isn't quite done.
2. The only thing on the list I actually completed! Marks of Repentance did, in fact, get revised. It took nine months, but I did complete a pass! It finaled in a contest and is currently out at another one, so I guess you could say I *kicked it out the door*.
3. Write something? Not so much.
4. Revise something else? Not so much.
5. Recipe book project? Decided it wasn't my passion and shelved it.
Yikes.
In the spirit of providing amusement to us all again in twelve months, what are my plans for 2008?
1. Keep sending out Marks of Repentance. After awhile, analyze whether the novel and/or the query package need another revision.
2. Complete revision of Quest to be Queen, get it out to critters and hopefully into submission in 2008.
3. Revise the opening chapters to Chloe's story (romance) and The Girl Who Cried Squid and submit both to the Genesis contest in April.
4. Revise both novels, send to critters.
5. Write something. Maybe two somethings.
6. Keep critting
7. Keep up with moderator duties at Forward Motion
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Busy busy
In my little world at work, things generally slow right down at this time of year. Folks usually have other kinds of shopping on their brains other than flooring. At least that's how it was in 2001 and for a couple years thereafter. There'd be full days in December when no one came in and the phone didn't ring.
Not so in 2007. Yesterday was the only quiet day this week (Yay! I edited almost 3500 words of Quest to be Queen bringing my total in the complete column up to about 47K!). Today was flat-out busy. Had a sales rep, but even without him I had almost non-stop customers in the morning, quotes to write, product to order, freight to arrange, etc.
I've got one more week of work before two weeks off for the holidays. My boss guys have always booked off their kids' school Christmas vacation. Most of our customers don't really want us in their houses over the holidays anyway--with the likely exception of the new houses that no one is living in yet, but they're waiting. Oh, well, The guys haven't had any time off since LAST Christmas either, with the exception of a couple of extra long weekends. I'm thinking we all deserve it.
I'd really hoped to have Quest off to the critters before shutting down for the holidays, but that no longer looks remotely possible. I'm about 2/3 done the edits, and even though on a good day I can do nearly 5k, a whole week of good days wouldn't see me to The End. And of course, if I'm pushing that hard, it increases the odds that I'm not noticing sentences that don't quite work.
Must say that after the heavy themes in Marks of Repentance, it's fun to be playing with fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and silly songs. The segment I concluded today touches on: the princess and the pea, old MacDonald had a farm, a needle in the haystack, spinning straw into gold, sleeping beauty, and the dairy fairies. Never heard of dairy fairies? Well, then, maybe there's a few things I invented and tossed in the mix just for entertainment.
Not so in 2007. Yesterday was the only quiet day this week (Yay! I edited almost 3500 words of Quest to be Queen bringing my total in the complete column up to about 47K!). Today was flat-out busy. Had a sales rep, but even without him I had almost non-stop customers in the morning, quotes to write, product to order, freight to arrange, etc.
I've got one more week of work before two weeks off for the holidays. My boss guys have always booked off their kids' school Christmas vacation. Most of our customers don't really want us in their houses over the holidays anyway--with the likely exception of the new houses that no one is living in yet, but they're waiting. Oh, well, The guys haven't had any time off since LAST Christmas either, with the exception of a couple of extra long weekends. I'm thinking we all deserve it.
I'd really hoped to have Quest off to the critters before shutting down for the holidays, but that no longer looks remotely possible. I'm about 2/3 done the edits, and even though on a good day I can do nearly 5k, a whole week of good days wouldn't see me to The End. And of course, if I'm pushing that hard, it increases the odds that I'm not noticing sentences that don't quite work.
Must say that after the heavy themes in Marks of Repentance, it's fun to be playing with fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and silly songs. The segment I concluded today touches on: the princess and the pea, old MacDonald had a farm, a needle in the haystack, spinning straw into gold, sleeping beauty, and the dairy fairies. Never heard of dairy fairies? Well, then, maybe there's a few things I invented and tossed in the mix just for entertainment.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Over half done Quest edit
So, the 10-12 inches of snow turned into 6-8 inches of slush. Our driveway is still bad (yay for 4 wheel drive) but the main roads are bare, though temperatures hover at the black ice stage. Whew. Survived that storm. My cold is *nearly* gone. I hate the lingeringness...
So. Quest to be Queen. I wrote this novel during Nano '04 and this is the first I've looked at it since. I have to say I didn't take it all that seriously at the time. Here's the blurb:
I mean, what's to take serious about something this spoofy and silly? But I'm having great fun editing the thing up and I'll see what my pack of critters has to say about it. I've rammed through 42K of it in the past three weeks or so and with any luck can email it out just before Christmas break. Though this seems to be the week of salesmen at work, and they do cut into my time. (sob)
So. Quest to be Queen. I wrote this novel during Nano '04 and this is the first I've looked at it since. I have to say I didn't take it all that seriously at the time. Here's the blurb:
Teagren is convinced that High Prince Cecil desires her to be his bride, for he has bestowed upon her the Kiss of Promise. However, the King invokes the traditional Quest and a young woman from each of the seven lands of Dhaneira is chosen to participate. Each has one magical kit bag which includes one magical gift to aid them on the journey. Cecil may choose his bride from the contestants who return to Zabetha within a year and a day with a Token from each land. Teagren thinks the Quest is just a formality. Of course she will return on time...and of course Cecil will choose her.
She hasn't counted on Kosse, the bespelled prince who requires a kiss to wake him...and she can't get the token from underneath his body with him asleep. She hasn't counted on Esdras, the young hero-in-training. She hasn't counted on the vegetarian dragon named George, the needle in the haystack, or the frog who has been turned into a prince. She especially has not counted on the magical gifts of the other contestants.
Will Teagren get what she wants...or will she want what she gets?
I mean, what's to take serious about something this spoofy and silly? But I'm having great fun editing the thing up and I'll see what my pack of critters has to say about it. I've rammed through 42K of it in the past three weeks or so and with any luck can email it out just before Christmas break. Though this seems to be the week of salesmen at work, and they do cut into my time. (sob)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
NaNoWriMo
November is almost upon us and with that comes NaNoWriMo, more commonly known as Nano and actually short for National Novel Writing Month. Never mind that it's international, not national, and that the actual goal is to write 50,000 words of a brand-new novel in the month of November. Which doesn't usually complete a novel unless it is Young Adult or an unfleshed-out draft.
Nano is great fun. Zillions of people sign up and egg each other on. Lots of people don't make it to 50K. But then again, a lot of them do. I have, three times. In 2004 I got 50K into the first draft of a fantasy spoof, Quest to be Queen, which I completed in March of '05. That's the next novel I'm planning to revise because I'm needing lots of good laughs, and Quest will provide those.
In 2005 I decided to try my hand at writing an inspirational romance, which is still unnamed though I did make it through 54K. It has a few really good scenes in it and, I suppose, some potential. If I ever decide to seriously aim for a career in writing romance I'll certainly dust this one off. However, in the meanwhile, I'm not feelin' it calling to me.
In 2006 I wrote a 57K YA fantasy dubbed The Girl Who Cried Squid. I had a great time with this novel, also, and it's on the list for revision right behind Quest.
So, 2007...and I'm not doing Nano this year. Why not? Three of my seven first drafts were written during Nano! It seems as though the process works! Well, it does and it doesn't. I was going stir crazy this summer and wrote a bunch of words on a contemporary women's novel, Connect the Dot. I totally did this just for fun and because I really really needed to be creating something. The revision of Marks of Repentance was taking waaaaay too long.
So what have I learned? I think I need to have a writing project on the go: something I can work on a little at a time and that it's okay if it takes a year to finish a draft instead of a month. Because every novel I write needs at least two more full passes, maybe more. So truly, my first drafting should be taking up (approximately) a quarter to a third of my writing time. Jamming that into one month in the fall, with overflow, isn't cutting it for me. It makes it too long between creative times. If I could write one, revise one it would probably work, but then the first drafts would start building up and it would take forever to get something ready for market.
So this is my new plan. Not sure if it will work or not, but I need to try something new. I'm one of those people that, upon proving to myself that I can accomplish something difficult--and 50,000 words in a month is not a walk in the park--doesn't feel compelled to keep proving that I can do it.
Lots of my writing pals are signed up and raring to go: Mar, Jean, Bonnie, Erin...maybe others. I'm happy to cheer them on! But I'm sitting out this one.
Nano is great fun. Zillions of people sign up and egg each other on. Lots of people don't make it to 50K. But then again, a lot of them do. I have, three times. In 2004 I got 50K into the first draft of a fantasy spoof, Quest to be Queen, which I completed in March of '05. That's the next novel I'm planning to revise because I'm needing lots of good laughs, and Quest will provide those.
In 2005 I decided to try my hand at writing an inspirational romance, which is still unnamed though I did make it through 54K. It has a few really good scenes in it and, I suppose, some potential. If I ever decide to seriously aim for a career in writing romance I'll certainly dust this one off. However, in the meanwhile, I'm not feelin' it calling to me.
In 2006 I wrote a 57K YA fantasy dubbed The Girl Who Cried Squid. I had a great time with this novel, also, and it's on the list for revision right behind Quest.
So, 2007...and I'm not doing Nano this year. Why not? Three of my seven first drafts were written during Nano! It seems as though the process works! Well, it does and it doesn't. I was going stir crazy this summer and wrote a bunch of words on a contemporary women's novel, Connect the Dot. I totally did this just for fun and because I really really needed to be creating something. The revision of Marks of Repentance was taking waaaaay too long.
So what have I learned? I think I need to have a writing project on the go: something I can work on a little at a time and that it's okay if it takes a year to finish a draft instead of a month. Because every novel I write needs at least two more full passes, maybe more. So truly, my first drafting should be taking up (approximately) a quarter to a third of my writing time. Jamming that into one month in the fall, with overflow, isn't cutting it for me. It makes it too long between creative times. If I could write one, revise one it would probably work, but then the first drafts would start building up and it would take forever to get something ready for market.
So this is my new plan. Not sure if it will work or not, but I need to try something new. I'm one of those people that, upon proving to myself that I can accomplish something difficult--and 50,000 words in a month is not a walk in the park--doesn't feel compelled to keep proving that I can do it.
Lots of my writing pals are signed up and raring to go: Mar, Jean, Bonnie, Erin...maybe others. I'm happy to cheer them on! But I'm sitting out this one.
Monday, October 15, 2007
97K and change
As you can see, Blogger decided to be nice to me this evening and allow me to change up the rest of the layout. Here we are till the snow flies.
Revising went well again today. Sometimes it is amazing to find out that I planted seeds for certain thread tie-offs way back in the story and didn't even notice that they were there. The power of the sub-conscious at work, I guess. Today I was mulling over that last sub-plot that I didn't really know how to end when I realized that the answers were already there in the text. They just needed a bit of tweaking. Back and forth I went over the past eight chapters or so seeking the right spots to change just one sentence here and there. So I'm pleased with that and feeling really positive with how the ending is pulling together. I'm smack in the midst of the climatic scene right now.
Thank God--truly--for good critiquers who aren't afraid to tell me when things aren't working.
I read somewhere again recently that the denouement--the wrap-up scene--needs to directly answer the questions that were set-up in the first scene. So as I'm within reach of that last scene, I'm thinking back to the beginning (and the comments from the contest judges) and believe I've found the best opening scene to deliver a bit more punch. So being *finished* won't mean finished at all. I think I'll have to flip the novel back to the beginning and start again at that end. Hopefully the stuff in the middle will be solid enough to ignore now though!
I really want to start revising a different story soon. Like Quest to be Queen. I'm in the mood for a light-hearted romp through spoofiness about now. But first I have to have Marks kicked out of the nest. Really. Must stay focused. It's soooo close.
Revising went well again today. Sometimes it is amazing to find out that I planted seeds for certain thread tie-offs way back in the story and didn't even notice that they were there. The power of the sub-conscious at work, I guess. Today I was mulling over that last sub-plot that I didn't really know how to end when I realized that the answers were already there in the text. They just needed a bit of tweaking. Back and forth I went over the past eight chapters or so seeking the right spots to change just one sentence here and there. So I'm pleased with that and feeling really positive with how the ending is pulling together. I'm smack in the midst of the climatic scene right now.
Thank God--truly--for good critiquers who aren't afraid to tell me when things aren't working.
I read somewhere again recently that the denouement--the wrap-up scene--needs to directly answer the questions that were set-up in the first scene. So as I'm within reach of that last scene, I'm thinking back to the beginning (and the comments from the contest judges) and believe I've found the best opening scene to deliver a bit more punch. So being *finished* won't mean finished at all. I think I'll have to flip the novel back to the beginning and start again at that end. Hopefully the stuff in the middle will be solid enough to ignore now though!
I really want to start revising a different story soon. Like Quest to be Queen. I'm in the mood for a light-hearted romp through spoofiness about now. But first I have to have Marks kicked out of the nest. Really. Must stay focused. It's soooo close.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Goals for 2007
Time to think about the upcoming year and what I hope to accomplish writing-wise. There are so many things I need to do MORE of, and yet the days are the same length as they ever were. I'm not sure what to make of that. Priorities are a nasty thing.
In 2006, I wrote one new novel, The Girl Who Cried Squid, during Nano. That means I had gone 11 months without creative writing. It was too long. I either need to write two books next year or slow down (skip Nano) and let the writing of one novel take much of the year. Which means I would need to learn to multi-task, and THAT is a problem in its own right.
In 2006, I revised two novels and a partial. Yikes, that doesn't sound like a lot at all. I revised False Perceptions and I'm not happy with it (after feedback) so it's shelved, at least for now. I revised Marks of Repentance and all the crits are now back. I plan to go through it again as soon as I complete the partial, Quest to be Queen. I always have this problem. I like writing first drafts better than I like revising, but the honest truth is that if each novel takes at least two additional drafts, then I need to block that into my schedule.
I thought I would start contacting agents in 2006, but I haven't. Nothing has been ready. I refuse to send out something I don't like. So I'm hoping again for this coming year.
What else is there? Conferences: I'm keeping an eye on a couple that may work out in 2007. Reading in the genre: trying to. Reading outside the genre: trying to. Networking: trying to.
So what are my plans for 2007?
1. Finish this revision pass on Quest to be Queen.
2. Complete one (or, if needed, two) passes on Marks of Repentance and GET THE THING KICKED OUT THE DOOR!
3. Write something. Maybe two somethings.
4. Revise something else if time permits. Squid?
5. Work on the recipe book project.
Writing contenders at the moment? Well, there's the long-ignored 2yn project, Puppet Prince, but it's not yelling all that loud. Currently there is a fantasy romance floating around in my head, something to do with this site on the matchmaking tradition. I asked Kaesa nicely, but she doesn't want to play in the Puppet Prince world; she wants her own. **Rolls Eyes.
What are your goals for the coming year?
In 2006, I wrote one new novel, The Girl Who Cried Squid, during Nano. That means I had gone 11 months without creative writing. It was too long. I either need to write two books next year or slow down (skip Nano) and let the writing of one novel take much of the year. Which means I would need to learn to multi-task, and THAT is a problem in its own right.
In 2006, I revised two novels and a partial. Yikes, that doesn't sound like a lot at all. I revised False Perceptions and I'm not happy with it (after feedback) so it's shelved, at least for now. I revised Marks of Repentance and all the crits are now back. I plan to go through it again as soon as I complete the partial, Quest to be Queen. I always have this problem. I like writing first drafts better than I like revising, but the honest truth is that if each novel takes at least two additional drafts, then I need to block that into my schedule.
I thought I would start contacting agents in 2006, but I haven't. Nothing has been ready. I refuse to send out something I don't like. So I'm hoping again for this coming year.
What else is there? Conferences: I'm keeping an eye on a couple that may work out in 2007. Reading in the genre: trying to. Reading outside the genre: trying to. Networking: trying to.
So what are my plans for 2007?
1. Finish this revision pass on Quest to be Queen.
2. Complete one (or, if needed, two) passes on Marks of Repentance and GET THE THING KICKED OUT THE DOOR!
3. Write something. Maybe two somethings.
4. Revise something else if time permits. Squid?
5. Work on the recipe book project.
Writing contenders at the moment? Well, there's the long-ignored 2yn project, Puppet Prince, but it's not yelling all that loud. Currently there is a fantasy romance floating around in my head, something to do with this site on the matchmaking tradition. I asked Kaesa nicely, but she doesn't want to play in the Puppet Prince world; she wants her own. **Rolls Eyes.
What are your goals for the coming year?
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Crit came home
I've received back my second (of three) critiques on Marks of Repentance and spent most of yesterday skimming through the comments.
This is the third novel I've had out for critique in the past several years, and one of those went out twice. I look at the two crits I have here and I actually can't wait to start back into this novel, though I WILL wait until after I've finished revising Quest to be Queen. That's a new feeling for me. Previous crits made me despair. It wasn't the fault of the critiquer. It was the fault of the novel...and the fact that now that I could see the issues with it, I couldn't figure out how to fix them. The job became totally overwhelming and paralyzed me.
So is this story that much stronger? Or am I mature enough as a writer to accept the analysis in the spirit in which it was meant? Sure, it needs work. But instead of my brain freezing over at the thought of it, it's haring off in ten different directions seeking solutions.
First I finish revising Quest while learning to multi-task so that I can write Puppet Prince in the same time frame. Then I can bring my mind back to the lands of Khairdazh and Nuomor and the characters I love so much.
I guess that means I'd better get revising!
This is the third novel I've had out for critique in the past several years, and one of those went out twice. I look at the two crits I have here and I actually can't wait to start back into this novel, though I WILL wait until after I've finished revising Quest to be Queen. That's a new feeling for me. Previous crits made me despair. It wasn't the fault of the critiquer. It was the fault of the novel...and the fact that now that I could see the issues with it, I couldn't figure out how to fix them. The job became totally overwhelming and paralyzed me.
So is this story that much stronger? Or am I mature enough as a writer to accept the analysis in the spirit in which it was meant? Sure, it needs work. But instead of my brain freezing over at the thought of it, it's haring off in ten different directions seeking solutions.
First I finish revising Quest while learning to multi-task so that I can write Puppet Prince in the same time frame. Then I can bring my mind back to the lands of Khairdazh and Nuomor and the characters I love so much.
I guess that means I'd better get revising!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Little things
It's amazing the things we want to find out to make a novel read believably...and how hard it is to find some of these details. I've spent half an hour googling trying to figure out how far a person can see out over the ocean: i.e., distance to the horizon. And here's the answer!
You'd think I should be writing already, but I also got majorly sidetracked researching Pop-Eye.
Yes, it's all needed. I wrote Quest during Nano, remember? I just *wung* it.
You'd think I should be writing already, but I also got majorly sidetracked researching Pop-Eye.
Yes, it's all needed. I wrote Quest during Nano, remember? I just *wung* it.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Quest...
I'm finally past the new material in the opening scenes and into revision material. For now that means it's going faster. All of the preliminaries have taken place: Teagren has been introduced as the champion for the Timberlanes, she's received the Kiss of Promise, her father has cautioned her, and the High King has instructed the contestants. She has just opened the magical door to her first quest. Word count: 4616.
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