Thanks...giving, have you done it?

My friend's husband passed away a week ago. I'm still hurting for her, but I'm glad he's in a better place. It was rough at the end.
After a total of 3 trips to the hospital, my dad finally found out what's wrong. We feared a stroke, but it turns out he's got some nerves that have been pinched and fused due to his use of crutches to walk. The bad news is, he won't have surgery until Feb. to fix one of his hips, so he'll still be walking with crutches until then. The good news is obvious, he didn't have a stroke. Praise God!
Writing news...you think I should have writing news? Lol, well I haven't got a whole lot. Work this past week was crazy between my friend being gone, another coworker calling out the day before the holiday, and learning that the float we're supposed to build to represent the float, will be built this week, a few days before the actual parade. It makes for a stressed me, which equals slow going. I've only made it half way through chapter 2 and I will still need to go back and insert the changes on the computre. So...shame on me? I'll do better this week, or at least I'll try.
You keep on writing!

ER

I'm sitting in the ER with my dad and I'm terribly bored. We're waiting on test results :-(. It occurred to me I hadn't blogged about Breaking Dawn yet. I was just as I suspected, right down to the part where they ended it, leaving me furious that I have to wait another year for part two. It really was fantastic though.
Sad news... My friend's husband lost the fight against cancer last night. I'm flat out trying not to think about because it hurts too much.
I have been toying with an idea for my next WIP during my break in between drafts. The developing of the character and the middle and end of the story is agonizingly slow. Either because I'm still tuned in Tony current WIP or because I'm determined to iron these details out painstakingly in order. I'll be printing out D2 tomorrow so that I can begin D3.
Well keep on working at it! And sorry this is short and choppy but it is late and I am stressed.

Thank You Veterans!

There is so much for me to say today :) First and foremost, in the USA it's Veterans Day. I know people who have served and are serving in our military and I am eternally gratefull for their sacrifice. Even when they come back physically whole, looking fine, there is still a sacrifice made. Service and war changes people, yet many go back again and again for you and me. I pray God's blessings fall upon them.
Next... I'm on day 2 of taking a break and my head is a boiling pot! Part of this is due to some emotional overload I'm experiencing in my own life. Extreme emotions always need an outlet and writing or thinking about my stories is my outlet. I'm off work and at home today with my toddler, so I have a big decision, work on a story(a new one), take a nap, or keep reading My Soul To Save?
As for my personal life, well I'll go there just a little bit. There are several people in my life struggling with personal problems. When they suffer, I suffer. It's hard for me to balance my compassion with leaving things in God's hands. I have a friend whose husband is battling cancer in a very scary way right now and it breaks my heart for her. I'm praying for them and I'd love it if you all could too. That's not all there is going on, but that's all I'll say. I'll leave it at saying once again, emotional turmoil.
I hope if you're struggling in life right now or know others who are that you're turning to God or being a light for Him to them. Keep on keeping on!

Say Hello to The End

So I finished the second draft!! This is only the second time reaching this goal(seeing as how this is the second book I've ever finished) and I'm not quite sure how I feel. Relief, excitement, eagerness to plunge ahead, dread at starting another draft... I intend on taking a break even if my brain is currently churning for the next issue to solve. I need time to refresh myself. I'm looking forward to reading something I haven't wrote. I've tried really hard and succeeded in not reading anything else for at least a month and just working on my book. Now I'm going to read the 2nd soul screamers book by Rachel Vincent and try to read the 3rd book in a different series that I loved the first 2 but couldn't get into the third. I'm hoping that was because my brain was too caught up in my own book. And I'm not sure what else other than seeing Breaking Dawn(though I'll probably be working on ready to start working on my book again by then). You guys keep On and remember to keep yourself rejuvenated creatively!

Valley

Life and writing books has it's highs and it's lows. Right now both are stressing me out. It doesn't help that I'm a high strung person(think thoroughbred). In life my toddler is sick, I'm working two six day in a row weeks(and even with some early days it's still hard), and I feel like I can't get ahead. As for my book, I'm in a "this sucks and I'm not good enough" frame of mind. It's an ugly truth but you all know we can't live on a constant high. I just want to be honest, ya know? Ok so there's a little honest pity partying( that's a jab only at myself) hopefully next time will be more upbeat. Write through the good and the bad, no matter what!

I am aware it's late October

So, ummm, yeah... Let's move on *clears throat* I am still working on D2. I've been making sure everything is in past tense. For some reason I have a problem staying in the same, correct tense when writing in first person. Beyond that I've also been thinking about the next book(s). I know that's dangerous because I have no guarantee that I'll sell the first, but still.... So I came up with yet another tweak to the story line that doesn't majorly change this book but leaves another thread or two open for the next book. Right now I'm dealing with the worry that I haven't explained enough about the "rules and history". It's hard for me to step back far enough to see if I have. I'm really hoping looking at the book on paper will help me out.
Anyways, on a much lighter note I've somewhat recently read the first book in Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series. It was great. I haven't let myself read much of the second; I'm saving it for after D2. Also this weekend I watched Real Steel. Great movie! I'm always impressed when an action movie has a storyline and can cause emotional reactions. It exemplifies what I want my stories to do to readers.
Okay, enough is enough, I guess. Keep on writing!

Why, hello!

It's meeeeee....as opposed to not hearing from me for weeks versus hearing from someone else on my blog. I've finished the "new" part of chapter 1 and I'm ready to merge it with what I'm keeping from the first chapter 1 of D2. Hope that made sense :-). It's been nice to be writing instead of editing but I don't know if it's cause I like writing more and/or I'm much much happier with this new 1st chapter(even if I know it will still need work.) After I'm done with c1 I don't know if I'll do a much needed second reading of what I've already edited for D2 or get back to where i left off in the middle. I guess I'll figure that out Monday. Keep on writing!

I phone

I now have an iPhone which will hopefully mean I'll be blogging again. Just a quick writing update: I finished draft1 and have moved on to draft 2. It's slow going for a lot of reasons. The biggest dilemma for me in editing is going between creative writing(new stuff) and fixing stuff. I really need to write a prologue and finish my ending, along with the typical mistake fixing, and I'm seriously considering cutting the importance of a couple of secondary characters. This second draft is going to be a doozy to get through!
Oh, and my job is getting stressful too. Rrrrr! That's life for you!
Keep on writing!

Long Time

Fortunately my writing is happening more often than my blogging! I have finally, sort of finished the first draft of my 2nd book. As in, I made it to the end but it was really The End even for a first draft. My goal in my second draft, besides of course making it better is to get a The End that actually ties up the book. It's harder than the first book I wrote because the first book I wrote was still open ended up enough to have a sequel. This book can have sequel, but it will be from a different characters perspective. So I have to wrap up the main characters personal conflict but not neccessarily the outside conflict. A little harder than I thought it would be. Needless to say I haven't made it very far in D2 because my hubby's been out of town a lot and has had the computer. Hopefully this week I'll get it back. Especially because I had a story line epiphany! This whole past week without the computer, I've been contimplating the story. I knew there was something that wasn't right with it. Namely, I wasn't sure I liked my main character anymore. Sad, huh? The problem was with part of the story, not my character. The storyline was making her appear selfish and silly rather than a teenager struggling with being a teenager. I did brain storm up a solution which will stop me from going further than the chapters I've already revised because I need to add some more details to them that will set up my solution :) Gosh, that might make more sense if you knew what the story actually was. But you don't, and being an write, I'm a little secretive ;) Keep on writing, you know I am even if I"m not blogging!

Electricity

At my house, most everything runs off electric, including our water because we have a well. There were some bad storms last night, not that I knew until a few hours after they started. Even then, I only found out because my hubby's phone rang at 430 a.m.(work). At that point I realized we had no electricity. When I crawled out of bed a little before 7, there still wasn't any electricity. Needless to say, we've been at my in-laws all day :) I don't mind.
Writing is going good and I've got a good idea of what's going to happen for the rest of this chapter. Something BIG for sure, but I have to coordinate one little detail...how it's going to happen. I know what and I know how to get there, but that exact moment is going to unfold as I type it. And I"m ok with that. Mostly because I know how everything else is going to happen...sort of :) I hope all is going well with you!

Long Time

I hate that I don't get to blog like I used to. :( One day, we'll get internet again and I'll be better, I promise! Ok, so here's an outline of what you'll be updated on: 1. Writing 2. Querying 3. Family 4. Animals
1. Why yes, I am still writing my second book, even if I'm not blogging about it. I'm a little over 44,000 words on my first draft. It took me a year to complete 4 drafts of my first book compared to 6 + months to have not even finished my first draft of this book. I admit, it has to do with the fact that I only write about 30 minutes each day on my lunch break at work. I also admit that I don't devote as much "daydreaming" time to this book. Quite simply, I am working full time and being a mom and being a wife and taking care of my animals and writing a book. Yes, I could eek out more time to devote to my book, but something else will suffer. Nothing truly important, just my downtime from 830 to 9 pm when baby is hopefully asleep already or my sleep time will be less. I'm not read to make that sacrifice.
2. Don't worry, I've also slacked off in other areas. I haven't queried out my first book in at least 2 months. Now granted I don't have internet at home, but I haven't been taking weekly advantage of my in-laws internet either. Again, that would mean sacrificing something. Either family time or coming over on a week night. Ugggg, this post is kind of making my self esteem go down hill!
3. Family time! Baby is now officially 2 years old! Too bad the terrible two's started when he was 18 months old! Really though, he is happy, healthy, and working on making his needs absolutely clear to me. I"m at least smart enough to know that doesn't mean him talking clearly will be a blessing. If he's anything like me, it will be more like a curse!
4. Animals, animals, animals....Well, I know I've mentioned before, but it's still weighing on me. I had to put my Foster Boss down this spring. And a few weeks ago, I finally sold Rain. I didn't reach my goal with her, which was to more than double her purchase price by having her absolutely broke, but I did make more money on her than what I bought her for. It's a little strange to be back down to my original herd of two. Like, when it comes to figuring out how much hay I need, not only am I back down to 2 horses, I have to take in to consideration what the land can do for them too. Which isn't much where I live at! The cats are fat and happy, and Jackie has been recently shaved due to massive shedding. As for the dog, I love her today but hated her yesterday. I put Chloe out to run off some energy only to find that she didn't do much running as compared to the amount of chewing! Toddler's pool and several poopy diapers(which get thrown away in a trash can that stays in the garage) were destroyed. She's lucky she's alive today after I had to clean up her mess!
Summary: Life is good but I'm slacking on the sacrifices department in regards to my writing. I hope you're doing better than me and keep on writing!

Journaling

While I haven't been blogging with my current WIP like I was with my first(due to the fact I have no internet at home), I have been journaling. If nothing else, each time after I finish writing I write down my new word count. Depending on how many minutes I have left until my lunch is officially over, I may also type out a few notes. What I say just depends on how easy or hard the words are coming. And, like I said, sometimes I only put down my newest word count.
Journaling, even if it isn't public humiliation, aka a blog, is still helpful to me. Often times people just aren't that interested in hearing my repeat my frustrations or excitement. I can't blame them, sometimes I get tired of saying the same thing over and over again too. At least on the computer no one else has to listen to me :) Some day when I have excess time I'd like to compare my current journal to the one I wrote during my first book. It would be interesting to see if there are any similarities. Of course, seeing as how I never have an abundance of extra time, it's not all that likely to happen, but still.
Any who, I don't remember if I ever mentioned the new member of my family. She came along before I lost Foster Boss, so she's not a replacement at all. Her name is Chloe and she is an adorable almost 2 y/o chocolate lab. Ironically enough, her birthday is 2 days before my boy's. And no, I didn't know that when I got her. She is absolutely lovely. She puts up with anything toddler does to her and she's not dumb as a box of rocks. She ain't perfect, but she's not the worst 2 y/o lab I've ever met.
And now, to end this blog; I watched Water for Elephants yesterday and fell in love. With both Robert Pattinson(again) and the story(for the first time.) I fully intend on getting the book and reading the story. It's not an option to do otherwise. Also, I will be purchasing the DVD as soon as it comes out. I'm not going into details, I"m still in the savoring stage, but trust me, you need to watch this movie.
Okay, over, out, and keep on keeping on!

--------

Sigh, there is so much going on I can't think. Let's suffice it to say I'm still working on my 2nd WIP but it's going slow(sometimes because of life, sometimes because of laziness).
I had to put down my gelding Foster Boss this week. He was old and skinny and going down hill. Literally he was walking in circles and couldn't walk in a straight line. Funny how it's easier when you know it's coming, but it still hurts. It's all about life, death and the - inbetween. Right now I'm struggling with the - but life has it's ups and downs, plateaus are boring. Ok, back to my Saturday night visiting with the fam :)

Sunday

Family, beautiful weather, a mud puddle...What more could one ask for? This has been a lovely day to begin healing a stressful past two weeks. I'm still working on my book, slowly but surely. I"m at a point now where I'm worried I won't make an acceptable word count by the end of the first draft. I'm shooting for at least 60,000 + words, but right now at about 9 chapters I've only got 29,000 words and about 7 more chapters planned. I started taking a look at my current outline so far but haven't found anywhere to add in a few more chapters aka words. I'm going to take a hard look at the outline of what I"ve got so far and what I've got to go and see what I think. At this point, I"m thinking it's going to be a shoot for the moon and reach the stars. I figure(a word which I can never pronounce correctly) that by the end, I will have a first draft of my second book which is quite an accomplishment in and of itself. Then I will do just like I did with my first book's second draft and that's a major overhaul. Of course with my first book, I reached about 70,000 words by the end of the first draft. Oh well, I know from the great advice of the Dames over at Deadline Dames and several other of the authors I stalk "cough, cough* follow that every book is different. Possibly not hitting 60,000 at the end of this book will just have to be one of those differences. Can you tell I'm trying to keep positive? Is it working? Do you have to ask? Well, lets just say that for someone who is a bit high strung, it's working as well as can be expected. Anywho, I am off to covort about on the internet. Have a good one and keep writing!

Why Hello March!

I know, it's been a while. It's hard to keep up blogging when I don't have internet at home. I miss it, especially how it keeps me publicly humiliated into consistent writing. Let's talk about that for a moment. I'm at a point in my book where I'm feeling really bogged down. In other words, the middle! I'm feeling pretty good about the end I have set up and I already have lots of ideas of what needs fixed in the first half, but the middle is killing me. I can't remember if it was the same for my first book that wrote or not. For now I plan to keep trudging forward until I come up with a better idea. Ok, on to books. I just finished the third book in The Mortal Instruments series. All three were great books, but for me there were parts that were hard to get through. Not in a bad way what so ever. It's just I'm at a point right now where I want "easy" reads. There can be conflict and turmoil and world building and all that good stuff,but maybe what I mean is I'm looking for shorter books. Lol, I don't know. I also just finished the 2nd book in the Fairiewalker series, Shadowspell, and I CAN NOT wait for the third to come out in July. What's next on my tbr list? Captitvate by Carrie Jones, which is the second book to Need. After that? I need to finish the Iron Witch. Then....I don't know? Actually, I'd like to read Paranormalacy, but I haven't yet purchased it :) Also, I currently work with a group of ladies who like to read what I do, so I have several "library" type options too. Actually that reminds me, I need :) to borrow the book after Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and another sequel that I know a coworker has :) Oh yes, the list goes on. As for real life? Well, it's good too :) And now off to read some of my favorite blogs that have too much "stuff" for my phone to load. Have a great...well I'll see you eventually ;)

1599

I only had to work 4 days and I wrote on my lunch 3 out of four of those days. I managed to get 1,599 words out. Woot, woot! I haven't "daydreamed" out this chapter(8) but the words are coming. It actually feels like it's coming slower than what that word count indicates(for me at least.) But the details of these scenes are flowing out.
Question for anyone else. Do you ever close your eyes when you write? Sometimes I stare intently at the screen and others I close my eyes and picture what I"m writing.
As for the rest of life; well it's normal. Which is better than bad :) I wish well in all your writing and life endeavors and I'll see you next week :)

vacation

Not really, but it sounds nice. I haven't written a word on my current WIP for two weeks, but hubby isn't working out of town so I have the laptop again. I needed the break in some ways for sure, but I'm ready to start upping the word count again.
Other news for my family is we added a new member. We now have a 1 1/2 old chocolate lab :)
Right now she's sitting right next to me sleeping. Joy!
I sadly don't have much else to say :( I miss blogging but really the only reason I do it is my writing, so since I took a hiatus from writing, I don't have much to say. Hopefully next week!

Sunday

Access to the internet is Weeee!!!! I don't know yet if I'll have my laptop to write with this week, but I did manage to plot out 2/3's of the next chapter. Of course that's plot, bare bones, etc... When it comes to getting those words out, that's another story...
Now this week, what did I accomplish; that is besides, keeping an eye on my kid, working, and cleaning house? Well, I managed to read City of Ashes and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ok, I know I"m terribly boring and I used to give you an "awesome" review of every book I read(or at least wrote them out in a notebook, intending on blogging them), but not this time :( I have a diaper to change/try to get my hubby to change and hay for sale to hunt down. Have a great week!

Blah!

Life has just been, well life. You have your ups and downs and I've had lost of little downs. In the grand scheme they don't matter, but that's sometimes hard to see that when you're in the midst of it all. This is just proof I'm human and that life gets to me too.
Writing-wise, I haven't done any this week. Hubby has computer while out of town and I've just been reading. I think I needed this mental break but on the other hand I feel guilty for not writing. On top of that I've gotten 2 rejections this past week for my first book. Believe me, I know the liklihood of my first book being published is is low, but it still hurts. Not to mention because I've been struggling through my current WIP, I'm feeling a bit down in the writing department :( I'll make it through this though and hopefully next week I'll have a report of good news and writing! Good luck!

Crapola

Let me be honest; I'm not perfect and neither is my life. Occasionally I have a bad day, both as a writer and as a regular ol' person. This week I had a rotten week. That agent I talked about? Well I sent her the five pages and she didn't fall in love. It hurt :( It's harder to know someone was at least somewhat interested and they aren't in love with it than someone who just was drawn in at all. Also, we were supposed to meet a dog this weekend to possible "adopt" and the family backed out on us. Grrrrr! Also I didn't work hardly at all on my WIP this past week so I'm mad at myself for that. And hubby is going out of town this next week for work. Just a whole bunch of poopy little things building up.
On the other hand, there has been some awesome news. The friend who wasn't doing well is no longer sedated and is off the ventilator. We went to see him today and while he's not out of the woods, he's alive and awake and I praise God for that.
Hoping for a better week!

Quick

I can't wait until I have internet at home again and can blog regularly. But since I'm borrowing internet yet again at my in-laws, I thought I'd write a quickie to say I wrote about 500 words today :) Go me! HOpe you had success today too!!!!!

Library

Ok, so life is a little bit of chaos right now. I got an email from an agent that wasn't a no! Lol, it's not a yes either, but it gives me a little hope, which is much appreciated right now. Here's the deal. I queried said agent and forgot to paste my first five pages into the email. Rather than use that as a reason to just forget about me, agent emailed asking for those first five pages so they could determine if the story might be a good fit for her. So, at least the query peaked her interest enough to ask for 5 pages :) And, if you think otherwise, I'm begging you not to burst my bubble!
Now, as for the title, here's some of the chaos. I received the email yesterday at work on my phone. I replied that I would email the pages when I got off work. Well, I don't have internet at home(remember?) so I went to my parents' house to use their internet. Well, my computer wouldn't pick up the internet and my dad's doesn't have word. So today I got off early at work and went to the library to use their internet. First they don't have WiFi and second they charge a fee to have a library card because I live outside city limits! The worst part is I understand, possibly, why they have to have fees, but it still makes me mad!
Needless to say, I came to my in-laws to do my emailing and decided to blog while I"m at it! :)
The rest of the chaos is mostly about hubby's job changing and our close friend isn't getting better. Life goes on and I take the good with the bad.
I didn't write yesterday, I spent my time plotting out this next chapter and I didn't write today because I didn't get a lunch at work since I got off early. Excuses :( I'm hoping to get it together and write tomorrow.
I also need to clean house :( Ugh, life is busy right now, but I'm happy and I hope you are too. On to life!

Busy Oh My

This week has been something else, let me tell you. A good friend is in ICU and has been for a whole week. The dr.'s expect he'll be there another 2 + weeks. I've prayed to God and I know that if it's His will; he'll be healed a lot sooner than that!
I had Monday off work and spent half of it all by myself. Yes, I took baby to the sitter's and had some pure me time! I got a little over 900 words written that day. Now, I'll admit the scene I wrote has been lightly sketched out and stewing for over 2 months.
I had orientation 2 days at work and took ribs for lunch a different day, so I didn't get a whole lot of writing done. I have finished said scene and been randomly brainstorming the next chapter for some more details to help me along.
I had a great day yesterday after I got off work, spending several hours with just me and hubby and then ending the night with a huge group of friends eating out to celebrate one of their birthdays.
As for today, church, family time, querying out my first manuscript(talk about a time suck!) and more family time planned for this evening.
Hmmmmm..... I don't think there's much else, at least that I can think of for now. I'm going to leave you with my insistence on you keeping on writing and my current word count.
15,071 :)

Saturday Night

Well me, baby and hubby are at my fam's house, and they have internet! So I'm taking full advantage of it and blogging! I've had a pretty good week at work but missed a lunch of writing because I had a lunch and learn my work required me to go to. I've hit over 13,500 words and the next chapter will be a lot easier *crossed fingers*. I've already written a big part of it before I even started writing the book. It was just one of those scenes I couldn't resist. I also had an epiphany for later on in the book :) I just love it when an idea clicks! I've emailed several agents(I'm not on my own laptop, so I can't tell you the actual numbers, hence the estimate on my word count earlier) and I've snail mailed 3 or 4. I got my first rejection letter in the mail yesterday :( Oh well, I know there's more coming. I'll just keep on trying. Ok, over and out, keep on writing!

Hello *echo, echo, echo*

Well, the bad news is that I received two email rejections this past week from agents. :( The good news is my word count is at 12, 247. I've been writing at work on my lunch break still. Just as the words start flowing my lunch break is over. For right now this isn't bothering me. I can't decide if this is a learning experience showing me that I write best in shorter spurts or if this will eventually drive me crazy. I just don't know *shrugs* Ok, must go, lunch(chicken and dumplings) is done! Yay!!!! Keep on writing!

New Year

All right, it's the new year and I'm still without internet at home :) I have it on my phone, but it's impossible to post that way. *shrugs* I'll just keep on keeping on. Anyway, I accomplished my goal for 2010 which was to finish my first book and get it queried out. My goal for 2011 is to finish my second novel. :) I really believe it's an obtainable goal. I wish you luck on whatever your goals happen to be. As a happy ending to my brief post(thanks to internet at my in-laws) I'll leave you with my current word count:
10,122