Editing

Saturday I mentioned that I have three new stories coming out this summer with Totally Bound. That means I'm in the editing mode as I write this.


I love my editor for many reasons. One of them is that she won't let me get away with repeating pet phrases or starting sentences with the same word over and over and over ad nauseum.


I'm particularly appreciative of it at this moment as I'm reading a really popular novel (I won't mention names) that starts almost every sentence with one of three words: I, My, He.


I counted at least four eye rolls in less than one chapter.


Oh my!


Maybe it's because I'm hypersensitive to it while I'm in the middle of eliminating repeat phrases and trying to come up with more imaginative descriptions, or maybe it bothers other readers too. I found myself counting how many eye rolls there were, which unfortunately, pulled me out of the story.


Do you notice things like this?


Do they make you pause?


Ashley

Make Every Word Count

Nanowrimo is coming to a close today and for many it's been a month to write as many words as they can, at least 50,000.

With or without nano, I like to write my rough draft straight through and get the words on paper. Then I edit.

At this point, however, it's time to tighten the writing and make every scene, indeed every word count. Recently I've been writing 1,000 word short stories for promotion which has reiterated to me, the need to write tightly.

When writing tightly, every word of dialogue, scenery and plot must count. Nothing can be extraneous. Perhaps even characters can be combined.

I'm a big fan of "V" also known as "The Visitors". I loved the show in 1984 and I love the new version now. My husband bought the old mini-series and series on DVD so the kids and I have recently been watching it.

There are many similarities between the old series and the new. But the characters are tighter in the new. Some have been combined. For instance "Tyler", the boy who's enamored of the V's and becomes a V-youth-ambassador is also in love with one of the V's. He's also the son of Erica, the main female character.

In the old series, Tyler's character was a conglomeration of Mike's son (Mike was the reporter), Daniel the boy who was the V-youth ambassador and Robin, the young woman who was in love with Bryan, a foxy V.

Erica as I just mentioned, seems to be the new "Julie" who was the leader of the earth resistance movement in the old series. Julie was a doctor who happened to be a good leader. As much as I liked Julie, Erica's character is in a better position to help earth being an FBI agent who has access to the V's.

Ryan, the 5th Columnist V traitor in the new series is a combination of Willie, Bryan and Martin from the old. Ryan's a 5th Columnist V traitor who's in love with an earthling and helping the earthlings. He's also the father of the half-human/half-V baby.

The V's themselves are better drawn. Their voices aren't as rough in their reincarnation. They don't wear goggles and announce to us earthlings that their eyes are light sensitive. The observant will notice that Anna's eyes occasionally oddly flicker. She's the V's leader in the new series if you've not seen it.

Of course, the writers of the new series have had 25 years to observe and think about how to tighten the story. But we writers who are writing a never-before-told story have the responsibility to write tight prose, interesting characters and a fascinating plot.

Recent posts you might like to read:

Nanowrimo Thoughts 

To Nano Or Not To Nano - That Is The Question

Why You Should Consider Library Booksignings

Make Sure Pretentious Words Don't Turn Off Your Readers

Are You Writing Me Into Your Book?

Dont Give Up Too Early

Must Write Must Write Must Write!!!


You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Help! I Can't Shut Up My Internal Editor!

I’m having trouble turning off my internal editor.

I know that I’m supposed to write without editing during NaNoWriMo. I’m not supposed to worry about being perfect and string one word after another.

It’s not that different than any other first draft except that it’s a first draft on steroids.

And yet, I keep going back, erasing words, moving them around. I keep adding a paragraph here and there.

Yesterday, I wrote twice as much as I needed to be on track. Today, my editor’s getting in the way and I’ve written a whopping 197 words so far. Of course, I’m also at the ball field watching my daughter catch. I’m just a little distracted. But it’s this or wait to write until we get home which will be late. By then I may be too exhausted.

Unfortunately, my day job boss won’t understand my need to write a lot of words any more than my doctor who insists I walk and work out daily. I don’t think my boss would be too happy if I were to fall asleep at my desk tomorrow.

Of course, I didn’t have to stop in the middle of writing my NaNo book to write this blog. But I also don’t want to leave my blog blank for even a day if I can help it.

But my posts will be short and sweet this month so I can concentrate on my project.

How’s your internal editor behaving, all you Nano’ers? Are you able to keep your off switch off?



Recent posts you might like to read:

Nanowrimo Thoughts 

To Nano Or Not To Nano - That Is The Question

Why You Should Consider Library Booksignings

Make Sure Pretentious Words Don't Turn Off Your Readers

Are You Writing Me Into Your Book?

Dont Give Up Too Early

Must Write Must Write Must Write!!!


You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Is Life The Way I knew It Over? I Have A New Editor

I met my new editor today. She seems very nice.

So why have I been so scared? Why am I still?

This isn’t the first time my editor has changed. I have some experience in this.

Sometimes a new editor is great. Sometimes they like my work, they accept most of my submissions, and they’re pleasant to work with.

Sometimes not.

New editors are like wild cards. You never know what you’ll draw.

I had a great editor at this house. She liked my work. She was supportive. She was friendly. She was easy to work with. She taught me a lot. I hate to lose her. But I understand she’s moving onto new pursuits that are better for her and thus I’m happy for her.

But I’m still nervous. I’ve had a couple editors hate my work and haven’t been afraid to tell me. My career’s been going good at a house then suddenly a new editor is assigned to me and then…nothing.

I just submitted my first book to my new editor so now it’s nail biting time. Wish me luck – good luck.

I know it’s part of the businesses. I doubt any authors who have been writing for long have stayed with the same editor(s) forever. People leave. People die. People get promoted. Like any other business. It’s always tough when a new boss comes on board.

Recent posts you might like to read:

Nanowrimo Thoughts 

To Nano Or Not To Nano - That Is The Question

Why You Should Consider Library Booksignings

Make Sure Pretentious Words Don't Turn Off Your Readers


Are You Writing Me Into Your Book?

Dont Give Up Too Early

Must Write Must Write Must Write!!!


You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Must Write Must Write Must Write!

It's not always easy to write when we have families or other people who dictate how we have to spend our time. Writing is not a job for the faint of heart or lazy souls.

 

It is portable, however. It's also a job that can fit around and into the rest of our lives. To a point, anyhow.

This is one of those months for me in which I've been charged to do three pre-edits and about four edits. I finished the third pre-edit at my daughter's softball practice this morning. Out in what felt like a hundred degree heat, sweaty, grimy - oh you don't want to hear all that. Oversharing! Or that wild softballs kept hitting the fence in front of me, sometimes making me jump.

Despite lousy accomodations and very noisy neighbors, I was able to work. There was a table and electrical outlet so I could set up my lap top, which I did. See?

I thought I caught some of the team in this pic but the sun was so bright I could hardly see my cell phone screen much less my computer screen. Perhaps next time I should take a big umbrella to block out the sun's glare.

Tomorrow is my daughter's every other weekend Fall Ball softball tournament. All day tournament, starting at 7 am. No desks, no electrical outlets. But there's no way I can be away from writing for an entire day, not when it's usually my time to write.

So I'll do what I have to do. For now that means writing the old fashioned way: by hand. Until I can buy a new lap top battery which would only last for four hours tops anyway, this works. Yes, I know the story still has to be typed in but as I edit while I do that, it's not wasted work. Getting the idea down is the hardest part.

Some people wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning in order to write for a couple hours before they go to work. Others burn the midnight oil. There are those that write during their lunch hours.

If the burning desire in your heart is to write, if you spend a lot of time thinking about writing, then barring extreme situations, there are ways to work in at least a couple hours a week.

If you have challenges finding time to write, how do you meet them?

Recent posts you might like to read:

Ghost Hunting at a Haunted Hotel

People Don't Fall Out of Trees - Without Reason 

I'm Part of a Tribe


Sayonara Baby

Don't Bomb Your Audience With Turkeys

Are You Writing Me Into Your Book?

Dont Give Up Too Early

Welcome to the Spookiest Month of the Year (+ don't burn your Ouija Board!)

Friday Fill-ins Oct. 2 (& e-Readers)

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook,
Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch,
Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape
are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Recipe For Disaster

First, let me announce the winner of my new release today: "Recipe For Disaster". I had a contest on Twitter and anyone who retweeted my contest notice or left a comment on my blog since this started would be entered. Those who did both would have two chances to win.

And my winner is:

@RachelJameson 

 from Twitter

Congrats! Please email me so I can email your prize copy to you. I also DM'd you on Twitter, Rachel.

When I titled this post "Recipe For Disaster" I did so for two reasons.

The first will be obvious as it's the title of my new erotic romance released today at Total-E-Bound, "Recipe For Disaster".

It's also what I just realized I did to myself and why I almost had a nervous break down yesterday (the day I'm actually writing this post).

Why?

I was pre-editing my book "Bad Conduct" (sequel to "The Perfect Gift") which is scheduled to be released by TEB in April 2010 when I discovered a big chunk of the book was missing!

At first I thought I'd put something out of order and hadn't noticed it which is bad. As I read on, I realized I had done something worse. I'd left out a couple very important scenes.

I could remember writing the scenes. I was sure I had. Or was I going crazy?

I've always had excellent blood pressure. Once it dropped into a range of concern but it's never elevated into the danger zone on the high end. This time it skyrocketed and I was about to hyperventilate. I wanted to kick myself for turning this into my editor in such condition.

Again, I was sure those were there when I turned it in! But after double and triple checking it wasn't. Not on this computer. Not on the downstairs computer.

The answer was obvious (besides the one that I am a big idiot). I'd handwritten it and hadn't typed it in. What else was I to think?

So I tore apart my room looking for it. My family will tell you all about my millions of steno pads filled with handwritten stories and lists...and how I misplace my lists.

The part of the story I sought wasn't in my bedroom. So we tore apart my car and found at least six more notebooks. I really wasn't up to rewriting part of the story tonight when all I felt capable of was hiding in my bed with my covers pulled firmly over my head or breathing into a paper sack.

But success! After going through at least fifteen notebooks, I found the right one. So now I'm typing in the missed part. It's still a chore, but it's a lot easier than rethinking when I'm so drained and furious at myself.

This is my recipe for disaster - handing in something less than perfect - way less than perfect. Maybe I can convince my hubby to let me spend a couple hundred dollars on a new laptop battery now so I can get rid of my handwritten notebooks. I have to be able to write at the ball field as I spend so much time there, but it's crazy to have pieces of the story in different places.

Or maybe my hubby will just have me committed - on my release date. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

I'm probably not the only person who's ever gotten herself into a jam. I know I'm not and this isn't exactly life-altering. (Unless of course someone commits me.)

In my book "Recipe For Disaster" Jamie, the heroine, and her eccentric mother have gotten her into a much bigger mess than I'm in and she's about to lose her house and everything she holds dear. She can't merely type in or even rewrite a couple scenes to pull herself out of her mess. It's very serious.

Blurb: Recipe For Disaster by Ashley Ladd

Desperate, Jamie will do almost anything to save her house, her dogs, and her life but will she sell her soul?

Jamie's desperate. If her 401K emergency distribution isn't disbursed in time, she'll be a victim of the Florida foreclosures. If that's not bad enough, she's also in danger of losing her job and her beloved dogs.

Worse yet she hits Max with her car. Luckily, Max is better than fine and ready to jump into her life and her bed. Unluckily, he's afraid to tell her that he buys distressed properties and he was in her yard to check out her house.

Excerpt:

Jamie Covais would sell her soul to the devil to keep her house. She’d even sell her mother.

She did her best to keep her lips from trembling, from turning into a blathering blob of jelly at her attorney’s feet. She blinked back tears and shook her head. “I didn’t get any notices about a lawsuit. Doesn’t there have to be a summons or something? I didn’t sign anything…”

Carl Johnson, her attorney, levelled an asking stare at her. “Are you sure you received no summons? No one came to your door with a paper to sign?”

She thought hard until her mind began to melt, but there was no enlightenment. Her brains rattled when she shook her head. They were a perfect match to her broken heart. “No.”

Then a horrid thought struck her, and she couldn’t breathe. Wishing she didn’t have to admit this wouldn’t change the truth. “Sometimes Mom forgets to tell me things. She visited a couple times this year.” Carl pursed his lips, shook his grey head and hitched up his pant legs as he sank into his chair. He folded his hands in his lap as he leant back in his chair and regarded her with something akin to pity.

“She’s forgetful.” And irresponsible. And flighty. Unfortunately, the list of adjectives stretched beyond the horizon. Carl’s secretary, Nina, rapped on the door, and with an apologetic look, she carried papers to her boss. “Here’s what you asked for.”

After Nina handed them to him, she smiled shyly at Jamie and returned to her desk. Within seconds, rapid typing tickled Jamie’s ears. Carl perused the papers for several moments. The longer he read, the deeper his scowl etched into his forehead. Muttered oaths tumbled off his lips. Then he pushed his glasses down to the tip of his nose and gave her a penetrating look. “Is your mother Penelope Covais?”

Her breath hitched in her throat, and it was several moments before she could speak. What had dear old mom done this time? “Yes.”

“Is she a resident of this property? Or an owner?”

Again she squeaked out a ‘yes’ as the stars fell out her heaven. Nervous and scared to death, she pleated the folds of her skirt. God, she didn’t want to be another victim of the Florida housing crash, but she knew she was on the list.

Carl sighed heavily and leant back in his chair. He linked his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “Lordy. This is a royal mess.”

She closed her eyes and tried to drag in breath, but it was ragged and painful. All her dreams became dust in the wind. Everything crumbled before her eyes. Then Carl leant forward and hope lit his clear blue eyes, much like those in the picture of his deceased son in the spot of honour on his desk.

“Is your mother suffering from dementia?”

Jamie blinked. God, she hoped not. Penelope had been erratic and eccentric even at twenty, but she hadn’t lost her mind. “Not that I know of, at least. It’s not been diagnosed.”

“Do you have any money? Anybody who can loan it to you? Your mom? You said she’s an owner, too.”

She’d been over it so often her head was going to explode. “Only in my 401K. But doesn’t it take a couple months to get the money out?”

Light flickered in the lawyer’s eyes, and he leant forward. “I don’t think so. Talk to your HR 401K administrator right away. Take these papers with you and show him.” Jamie accepted back her death decree. If she’d had this notification earlier when her mother had first signed, she could have raided her retirement account then filed bankruptcy or something. Now, with two weeks to the fateful day, she was out of time.

Acid ate at her stomach, and she wondered if she’d rather die than be homeless. Where would she live? Where would she go? Wouldn’t she have to file bankruptcy anyway? No way could she come up with the money to pay rent and whatever hefty penalties were assessed for reneging on her loan after the new buyer waltzed away with her house.

Most of all what would happen to Peter and Tinkerbell, her huskies?

Trying to at least look positive even though she was dying inside, she gave her lawyer her best smile and rolled up the letter. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Please do. I sure hope you can get this worked out.”

God, she did, too.

"Recipe For Disaster" available for purchase at: Total-E-Bound

there is.


Recent posts you might also like to read:


Sayonara Baby

Don't Bomb Your Audience With Turkeys

Are You Writing Me Into Your Book?

Dont Give Up Too Early

Welcome to the Spookiest Month of the Year (+ don't burn your Ouija Board!)

Friday Fill-ins Oct. 2 (& e-Readers)

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook,
Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch,
Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape
are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Computer serial killer? Or nervous breakdown?

I claimed I was going to be more transparent about the writing process - for me, anyway. I'm pretty sure a lot of it is personal and therefor unique for every writer. Of course, lots of things are the same, too. Maybe I'm crazy to mention this, or maybe I'm just plain crazy, but I had a bit of a mental breakdown recently. It wasn't a complete breakdown about everything. I got very nervous about a particular edit. It seemed like it was doomed. You know how my family swears I'm a computer serial killer - as in I kill defenseless laptops. I swear it's not on purpose but I'm beginning to believe I'm the Bermuda Triangle of computers. I flubbed on an edit from a brand new editor and brand new company (for me). So I got an email paraphrased like this: "Why would you do this?!?" That freaked me out. Literally. I didn't mean to do anything wrong, but I obviously had missed some stuff. Why, I'm not sure. So I was given another month to fix and return the edit again. But I was totally spazzing out. I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown every time I went to work on it. I'd force myself to do it, and then, the Bermuda Triangle struck again. I had a lot of work done, and my computer died before I had a chance to save it to a thumb drive or send it to myself on AOL. I hated to redo all that work when I truly believed I'd get my computer back in a few days. But a few days kept dragging out. When it finally returned, the repair company had wiped out my Word program. My husband and my son thought this free similar program would be okay so they didn't have to pay a mint for Word again (the repair company should've replaced Word or so my hubby claimed but they wouldn't). So, I opened my file on this new similar program. I couldn't see the Track Changes. And it added junk. So now, I was really freaking out and I begged hubby and DS1 to get me real Word YESTERDAY! Unfortunately, they took a couple more weeks. Remember when I got pneumonia and I couldn't do anything except throw up and have cold sweats? Yep, that was in the middle of all this as well. I was so weak for a month I could barely sit up or read or do anything. Finally, I thought I could get back into this edit. I slaved over it all one day, determined to get it done and back to my editor even though I was in dire fear she'd say she no longer wanted the book and wanted nothing more to do with me. Guess what? Yep, the computer died again! This time the monitor burned out as I was editing, before I could save my redone edits to my thumb drive or email it to myself (I never did get those lousy characters out or get Track Changes back so I had to start from scratch anyway). That was another couple weeks to wait for the new monitor to come in the mail and then for DS1 to install it. So, a one month edit took me months. I'm usually not like that. I've returned edits in a day and usually in a week. To say 2009's been lousy and I've been under a ton of other stress that may have contributed is an understatement. But that shouldn't matter. I'm supposed to be a professional. Somehow I managed to stay professional and hold things together for the day job. But that drained me so much I was dying by the time I finally made it home. Still... However, even though I'm a professional writer, and even though I know excuses are lame, I am at the end of the day human. Sometimes I falter no matter how hard I try to hold things together. I wasn't going to mention this. There seems to be an unwritten code among writers: don't talk about royalties - how many books sold or $ - and don't talk about things like this. But that reminds me of another organization I was in that controlled people by telling them "Fake it 'til you make it" and never talk about what's really going on in your business lest you scare others away. That sending out that was insidious mind control - they didn't want their reps comparing notes and finding out everybody was getting screwed over so they could keep screwing them over. Honesty's good. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Editing

Like yesterday, my blog posts for the next few days are inspired by the movie “Julie and Julia”. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that Julia Child and her co-authors were not happy when their editors asked them to make big changes in their cook book. They said goodbye to the publisher and took their book elsewhere. How realistic is that? Oh, I’m sure other authors have done that and still do it. But is it RIGHT? I don’t know that it’s exactly WRONG, but every editor, every publisher I’ve ever worked with requires edits. Some more than others. It seems childish of me to take your toy and run to another playground just because the publisher wants changes. Julia Child got lucky that they found another publisher that wanted their book as is. However, I give Julia and company credit for having tested each recipe and rewritten the book at least once in the beginning. For those who are just beginning the writing journey or who haven’t tried yet, that’s par for the course. Sometimes we have to rewrite our books at least once and edit several times. Even though three of my books were edited by their first publisher and had been previously released, the second publisher who re-released them still required more edits. For better or worse, edits are part of the package. I used to hate edits. Ask my critique partners. I’m still not in love with them but see the merit and opportunity to really polish and perfect my stories. I try to make the process fun now.

Please turn off my internal editor!

I'm afraid I'm exhausted. I really didn't feel like getting online tonight and the computer looked (looks) like my enemy instead of my normal best friend. After two nights of working late, I'm pooped, plain and simple. I know I need to write. I know I need to edit. I know I need to go to the gym and exercise. Instead I'm lying flat on my back with my laptop checking email just in case. I guess it's a good thing as I almost forgot to make my every Wednesday post at the Happy Endings blog and that I wasn't pre-scheduled here for once, either. I was reading a bit before I signed on line. Overall, I was enjoying the story, but I couldn't get over the fact that at the beginning of the romance the heroine was 17 and the hero 31. When I was a teen, maybe even a young adult, I found that romantic. Tonight, however, I keep wondering if she's young enough that he'd be charged with statutory rape if they did "it" and "it" became public knowledge. It's kinda killing the romance for me. What is the age limit for statutory rape? I think it's anything under 18 if the parties are more than five years apart in age? That's what someone told me awhile back. I haven't actually checked it out... Anyway, the point is, it's sort of creeping me out. The second thing that tore me out of the story is the fact that the heroine starts the book by saying she and her husband haven't slept in the same bed for a year. (the story went into back story to the 17-31 thing). But then the heroine's completely flabbergasted when her husband hands her divorce papers. Hello! Why should the heroine be so surprised if they haven't done "it" in a year or more. That sorta says something, ya know? It's hard to turn off my internal editor. Believe me, I desperately want to. I long to find a story so good I get sucked in so deep I don't ponder the flaws. I want to get lost in the magic. I don't want to be dragged out of my romantic haze by big flaws or things that make me shake my head or shudder. This story is published by a big, well-respected house, so I'm surprised the editors let this go through. Or maybe I'm just wrong. Otherwise, it's pretty enjoyable, or would be if I could get over the heroine starting out so young. That also means that present day the hero is over 60, and I'm not sure I'm finding that very romantic, either. Maybe hail and brimstone will rein on me now for saying that - I actually love older heroine books, but not that old. The heroine's now 49, my age, so that's cool. But the hero's just too old. The only over 60-year-olds that rev my engine are Harrison Ford... Um... I'm not sure if there are any others. Oh! "J" at my day job. Now he's gorgeous and oh so charming and oh so taken. (lucky woman). Oh! And "B" at the day job. But he's taken, too. He was snapped right up by one of our ladies. Okay, so maybe on second thought the hero's age isn't bothering me any more. I see a lot of flaws in movies and television shows, too. And all I can think when this happens is, "My editor would never let me get away with that. How'd their editors let that mistake pass?" Well, I really am tired. I'd only intended to write a sentence or two, post a cute picture, and run over to the Happy Endings blog and come up with something quick. Do you have trouble turning off your internal editor when you read? Don't forget..."Naughty Boys", my M/M Christmas story is available at: http://www.total-e-bound.com And on December 15th, my second Christmas story "Christmas Miracles" will also be released at: http://www.total-e-bound.com

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Decisions Decisions

Right now, I'm overwhelmed...and tired. There are so many projects vying for my attention, I don't know which to do first: judging contests, editing 2 books, 5 stories are in progress, blogging, critiquing, updating my web page, exercise, housework... Do I join NaNo this year when I'm so far behind? And I'm already late. As much as I'd love to join in the NaNo fun, I have other commitments, other needs, not to mention that I'm just beat. Obviously, I have to finish judging and editing before my deadlines. I have blogging commitments on three other blogs besides this one. So those come first - after family and the day job, that is. But let's pretend for a few minutes that I could just concentrate on the 5 stories in progress, which one do I concentrate on? I have good, impelling reasons to finish all. I have goals and plans and schemes. In an ideal world, I would work on only one until I finish it and no other works started. But I don't live in an ideal world. For instance, I'm working on one novelette on which I came to a roadblock. I need time to brainstorm and think about it. I need more inspiration before I continue. Meanwhile, I don't want my writing to come to a screeching halt, so I need to work on something else. In my case, my fickle Alphasmart cord stopped working (again) and my laptop computer battery is gasping its dying breaths so I can't use it unless I can plug it into electricity, and I have to spend entire days at the ball field with my daughter so I end up using the caveman method - paper and pen. During these times, I either get nothing done (and I'm ADHD so I can't stand to waste time and I get bored FAST unless I'm multi-tasking) or I write by hand. So I started a new story by hand. The new story's going really well and I'm compelled to work on it. Yet, I need to finish the other stories that are closer to completion, and one in particular for which I've handed in a proposal. Somehow, I have no problem remembering the details from book to book. I don't get them mixed up. This is a new me. I don't know if it's improved, but oh well. I used to be able to work on one book until it was done and then move onto the next. So what about all my fellow writers out there? Do you ever work on more than one book at once? Do you ever abandon a story for awhile because you're either blocked on it or another one seduces you and carries you away? Be sure to visit my blog tomorrow to welcome my guest blogger Kassie Burns and every Wednesday for a new guest blogger and author interview. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Commas and conjunctions - video from my editor

My editor sent the video below to our author loop. Um... Do you think she's trying to tell us something? I really love my editors. They've taught me so much, this one in particular. She's awesome. I really enjoy this lesson. What a fun way to learn. I'm one of the world's worst when it comes to comma usage. I'm afraid I drive my poor, hard working editors nuts. I hope not, but I wouldn't doubt it. I keep meaning to take a refresher course in grammar but I'm so busy between the day job and the kids and writing... One of these days I'll do it. Until then, I'll check out these cute little videos and online grammar help. I wish I could be more help to aspiring authors in this regard, but you probably wouldn't appreciate my help with this. Not until I've taken the refresher anyway. For now, please enjoy the video above.

Repetitive words and phrases

Have you ever read a book where the author repeats one or two favorite phrases? Where it's something odd that might be cute or descriptive the first time but becomes noticeable the second or third and downright annoying thereafter, enough that it jars you out of the book, even though it may be an otherwise terrific story? I'm reading a great book tonight that I'm loving. A repetitive phrase is the only flaw I find, but it just jarred me from the story - again. I hope I haven't committed this sin, but I probably have, at least in the past. My wonderful editors and critique partners are very good at pointing out echoes (repeated words) and having me change them, so much so that I try very hard to catch them first. Still, I invariably get an edit where at least a couple are caught. It seems that many of us writers have favorite phrases or at least favorite words. One book I read a year ago seemed to be in love with the word "rueful". Another one with "akimbo". Another one yet with "insinuated". Once we know we've succumbed to a favorite word or phrase we can do a search and find to eliminate them. The thesaurus is our friend. Imagination even more so. I know it's damned difficult to write a book much less critique every single word, and yet, the more we do so, the more polished our stories and the better they are. But it's time consuming. Sometimes it's also annoying - and confusing. I've reread some of my stories so often, I #1) get bored with them and worse, #2) get confused whether I'm reading in sequence and need to change something or whether it's because I've read it so many times before I'm forgetting what part of the book it should be in. Oi! (one of my words I have to watch for). The more unusual the word, the more it glares in repetition. There are so many things to watch and worry about when writing a book. It's a big job and not an easy one. Not everyone has the patience or guts to fret over each and every word, to reread ad nauseum and then take criticism from critique partners, editors, reviewers, and ultimately our readers. Not everybody wants to be so detailed. At least I don't think so. Okay, I know so. My kids can't write a short story or essay without stressing and pulling out their hair and everybody elses' in the house. They act as if they'd rather have a tummy ache than have to write something for class. But I digress. Writing is both a detailed and creative endeavor all at the same time. You have to really love it to stick with it, especially for the pay most of us receive. With as hard as we work, with as much heart and soul that we put into our stories, it seems chintzy to criticize a work for repeating the same word or phrase, and yet this is the real world. Readers notice. They care. And they'll often speak out. So we have to be careful and not fall into this trap, even one story at a time.

Writing Hoky Poky

You put the right foot in you put the right foot out you put the right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the hoky poky and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about... (History: Written By: Roland Lawrence LaPrise, concocted the song along with two fellow musicians in the late 1940s for the ski crowd in Sun Valley, Idaho. The group, the Ram Trio (with Charles Macak and Tafit Baker), recorded the song in 1949, and they were awarded U.S. copyright in 1950, Acuff-Rose Music Inc.) I used to love to do the hoky poky...on roller skates. I shook my booty to this song all the time. Of course, I lived at the roller skating rink and they finished every session with the hoky poky. As much as I loved doing the hoky poky on skates, I don't like doing it with my writing. My alpha smart cable's been acting up again..bad alpha smart cable! Bad bad cable. Again I had a lot of information trapped in my alpha smart trying to figure out how to get it untrapped for the past few days. I'm an impatient type and I hate to stop writing and fall behind, so I tried to bravely forget ahead with my wip. Now of course, I didn't have a couple sections of the story downloaded to my laptop where the rest of the story is, and so I couldn't read back in a linear progression...so I ended up rewriting parts in different ways without realizing it. I'm getting confused which parts I wrote, which parts I only thought about writing. Last night, after buying a new USB port for the cable, it still wasn't working, so hubby squeezed the other part of the cable (I don't know if he did it originally on purpose or by accident) but it worked to finally we were able to upload the data from the alpha smart to the computer. Hooray! But... As happy as I am to have the rest of the story, now I have to cut and paste and figure out where the parts go since I went ahead. It feels like I'm doing some jumbled version of the hoky poky and it's worse than falling on my bum on roller skates. I hate it when I get myself mixed up like this. It's not the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's not always because of alpha smart problems. I'm sure at least one person out there is thinking, why do I keep bothering with my alpha smart after all this? It's still a very handy dandy helper when working properly. I carry it with me to the daughter's ball games so I can work those 2 or 3 hours while she plays and not lose that time. I don't have to retype the story when I get home (that's if I write by hand). My laptop won't hold a charge for even half an hour anymore so there's no point in carrying that anywhere without electricity. I also write a lot at the bookstores, but some days I can't get a chair near the power outlet so I also take my alpha smart just in case so I can write from any chair. I just can't edit that way, but fresh writing works. I segued. So getting back to my original premise, I got all mixed up again (yeah yeah, for those of you who know me well, that's no big surprise) and now I'm trying to untangle the mess. If you happened to notice my wip progress widget in my blog sidebar, it's not moved in several days. I actually ended up losing word count after all this. I think I have better word count now, but I'm moving backwards not forwards even though I wrote at least twice the word count that widget shows. I usually plow right on ahead and then go back and edit, but I had no choice this time but to rigorously cut at this point as I'd repeated two scenes. [Well, as usual I'm writing this post in advance (it's the only way I can keep up with this and ensure a daily post) so I hope by the time this post airs, I'll have a lot more than 2,000 words out of the 15,000 I need. We'll see.] Ugh! I hate hate hate when this happens! Then again, this business isn't about who gets the most word count. It's about the best story so I have to be ruthless slice to the heart of the story. Right? All the reader cares about in the end is a great story. But I thought some readers might be interested to know a behind the story, story. And I wonder how many other writers ever have the same thing happen. You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Rejections, rewriting, edits, and my monthly book contest

It happened again. I received a rejection on one of my books.

As it went, it was probably the nicest rejection I ever received, but it was still a rejection. Or maybe it was more of a revise and send back letter. At least that's what I'm going to do: revise the book and send it back. I've already begun the revision. Maybe I'll even complete it today.

Although not an ego booster, it's all part of this business. What writer hasn't received a rejection or two? It keeps us humble. It keeps us on our toes to produce our best work.

But this isn't only about me and my feelings. This ensures that you, my readers, will get the very best books possible. You don't want to read drivel or mediocre stuff. You want great romances and adventures you can't put down until you've read "And they lived Happily Ever After" and you go away with a big smile and a big sigh of contentment. You want unforgettable characters. You want a story that will transcend the ages.

At least that's what I want as a reader. That's what I try to give my readers in each of my books.

As you may have noted, my poll ended yesterday. Historical and paranormal tied with 8 votes each to win. Vampire novels and comedy romance tied for second place with 6 votes each. I'd hoped to have more votes to get a better picture of what my readers like.

I'd love to hear from all of you what types of books you enjoy reading and what elements you want to see in stories. Kelly Kirch has been conducting reader interviews which gives us authors a lot of insight into what you want. Way to go Kelly!

Meanwhile, I will work hard to revise and edit my just-rejected story to make it be all it can be and more. Editing was never my bag. Just ask my critique partners. But it's a necessary evil.

No, it's not an evil. It's a golden opportunity to polish the story until it gleams. That's what I'll be doing most of today. Polishing the story, making a happily ever after that will make your heart melt and your knees go weak and make you believe in soul mates.

It's also that time of the month when I need to award one of my books to a lucky poster from the month of March 2008. And I've made a nifty award banner to go with it. This is also available to my past winners, so please save it to your computer, paste it in, and if you would be so kind, link to my blog. I'd really appreciate it.

Drum roll please...

And this month's winner for a free download of one of my books is:

Worn Out Woman at: http://wornoutwoman.blogspot.com/

Here's my new award banner. What do you think?








DJ Kirby and Crazy Cath please email me so I can send you your copy as my winners from the last two months.