Tag: Nanowrimo

Wednesday Words 11.8

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Did you hear that loud crashing sound? Yup, that was my stomach falling though the floor as I pressed send on an email to that editor at Source from SIWC. Gulp.

I am working hard on rewriting the murder mystery in question. I know, I know, why did I pitch something that wasn’t done?

Well, the truth is I went to Surrey to pitch something else but went down hard in flames. Rather than keep doing the same thing over again, hello insanity,  I took my first chapter of the murder mystery, which I brought for an editing session, and I threw that up against the wall. It stuck. Three times.

What’s a writer to do in those circumstances? Look a gift editor in the mouth? Wait, that so didn’t translate.

To be fair, I was honest and upfront and told everyone I was in the middle of rewriting.

So that’s the big enchilada, writing. Fast.

For the rest of you, you can still get that pre-order special (99 cents) of Ostrich Mentality, for one more week before you gotta pay full price for my genius. Just saying.

How’s your Nano?

 

Wednesday Words 11.1

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Happy Nanowrimo! It has begun.

Back in 2016 I sent Ostrich Mentality, unnamed spy novel at the time, to a ton of people for beta. You might remember this, I complained a lot about the conflicting responses. Along the way a couple of people sent me super detailed line edits. But I was so overwhelmed that I shelved the whole project for a year.

This summer I picked it back up, rewrote, re-edited, and now I’m on the verge of publishing. I send copies to a half dozen author friends, asking for a quote to use in marketing.

One of them responds, “Um, it seems like a lot of my edits didn’t happen.”

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

You have got to be kidding me. In all the various revisions and comments and edits, I missed hers.

Twelve brief hours later I had finished the worlds longest, highest stakes game of spot the difference. Because of course, 50% of things she commented on were gone – rewritten out of the book. 25% were already fixed. And 25% were rewritten but maybe or maybe not fixed.

My eyes are still blurry from that much intense screen time. LOL

Oh yeah, did I mention, pre -order is open! That’s right. You can get your very own copy of Ostrich Mentality for just 99 cents right now.

Wednesday Writer’s Update 12/7

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It’s December, how did that happen?

So I failed Nano this year. I did not finish my edits by the end of November. However, thanks to an unexpected snow day Monday, I did finish my edits and my spy novel is out to reader feedback. Now I just need a name for it. Feel free to suggest some. The guests at my Sinterklaas party certainly did. LOL.

99% Lethal. Although that one might have economical/political overtones I don’t mean to imply.

Goldie Pox and the 3 Spies. My book isn’t really a comedy though.

Anyway, I am glad to have a few weeks break because there is baking and present wrapping and shipping and parties and friends (who’ve been way too neglected) to lavish with a little time.

How about you? How was your nano? What’s your holiday plan? Any snow for you yet?

Fiendish Friday: Black Friday

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Happy day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. I’m not out shopping. I go to the PJ write in now and eat delicious omelets.

But once upon a time, I loved Black Friday. Back when it was a sport of iron will. Back when you had to have the determination to get up at 330 in the morning and brave the freezing cold to get the best deal. Man I loved Black Friday then.

Seriously, the hubs and I would go to the Target in his parents area. They would keep the kiddo and we would creep out of the house at like 345. Be at the Target by 4 and then the Toys R Us by like 530. The shopping was so fun because the in-laws lived in a nice area. So the Target had a different vibe. It was down the block from Tiffany’s, Burberry, and Gucci. People didn’t shop it much. So there were employees standing at the end of every other aisle waiting to help you. They would load your new 70 inch TV onto a dolly and roll it out to your car for you. They handed out free lattes and mochas and coffee cake. Heaven. And the deals were amazing. I could buy pajamas and games and books for the giving tree without needing to worry about my bottom line.

Then we’d go get breakfast and be back at his parent’s by the time the rest of them were rolling out of bed.

Now it’s lame. The stores start their Black Friday deals a week or two in advance. They open on Thanksgiving evening. Not only is that jacked for people who work for these stores but anyone can go shopping after a day off work doing nothing more than eating and watching football. The sport has been ruined, diluted down to nothing. Bah.

So like I said, no shopping for me. Pajamas and omelets and write in.

Wednesday Writer’s Update 11/16

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Greetings and Salutations my dear readers. I have been busy. Busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. Moving faster than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Saturday was Bard and Starlet. People say it went well. I nod. It was pure torture. And then when it was all over I got to see the video of me. Fat video of me. Bleh.

Sunday was writing on the road. I am half astounded at how many words I am pouring into my spy novel. And on the other hand, I knew it needed some help in the back half. I guess I am astounded that I am finding so many words to add. But I am.

Monday was a day of chaos at the coop. Half the school was out sick, leaving to few of us to do a lot of jobs. But Monday’s over and I think I have some good classes lined up for next session.

I am painting all the trim in all the rooms now that the painters are finally done with their part of the job. I am trying to get it all arranged before the Sinterklaas party we have every year. That’s the first weekend in December for those of you who aren’t Dutch.

I think that about covers my life. How are you? Drowning in Nano? The second week slump should be about up now right? Tell me all about it.

Fiendish Friday: Nanowrimo

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I’m sad. To be honest, I’m not sad. I’m pissed off and jealous. I want to be a willy nilly writer again. I really want to do Nano this year.

I have two great ideas on bat too. Just waiting for 30 days of insane pressure to hone them into a rough diamond.

But the grown up writer in me. The mature one that talks about my career and all that jazz, says, you need to finish editing and publish your sophomore novel or you don’t have a career.

But I wanna play…..

Because that’s what Nano is, play. It’s fun, and exciting, and obsessively insane.

Sigh. I need to keep my eye on the line now, because I let that whole drama over the summer, cough cough pool board cough cough, screw up my time line.

Thank you for entertaining my two year old tantrum. Stomps feet, spins round in a circle, jumps up and down once or twice.

The grown up is back in charge. But if you have a moment…tell me, how is Nano treating you this year?

Wednesday Writer’s Update 10/26

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Ugh, my stomach has launched a war against me and I think it’s winning. There will be nothing fancy about this post.

Nano is coming. I will write a little and edit a lot. I know that’s basically the opposite of Nano but live with it, I am. Assuming my stomach doesn’t actually kill me in the next five days.

Vacation is coming: it will be warm and sunny which means I must shave, but at least it will be warm and sunny.

That is all I have. Must go now….

Wednesday Writer’s Update 10/19

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 5 Comments

Good morning! It’s going to be one of those days today, so I’m just going get this up now and check at least one thing off my to do list. I love lists. I love the brain emptying, peace inducing process of getting everything that needs to be done out and on to paper. Then the pure joy of crossing things off one by one as I finish them or decide maybe they don’t need my time or attention. “Nevermind, I’m not doing that.”

I’ve been tracking what I do for a few days now, because I assigned my Nano to Pub class at the coop to do so as well in preparation for setting their Nano goals. And damn I am busy. I’d like to say there’s plenty of fluff space in there where I could be working harder on my goals but the reality is there is NOT. wrinkles nose. I need to ponder how I can make some adjustments.bard-starlet-radio-hour-flyer-2016-ghosts-final

The big news this week….is Bard and Starlet. It is on.

We have actors and a director.

This is the first time something I have written will appear on the stage. Kind of exciting.

But at the same time, two members of FVP are publishing this month. And I am not.

I was not a good guardian of my own time. And I am paying for it now.

 

 

I’ve decided to report on my stated 2016 goals each Wednesday at for a little prod of accountability.

– Participate in one flash fiction challenge per month.

√ sigh, I gotta be honest. This had just ceased to be a priority. Say good bye to flash fiction.

– Prepare and teach “Nano to Publish”.

√ Just had our October meeting this past weekend. It was more of a prepare for Nanowrimo than a publish. But it is time to get ready to write.

– Any time I am not actively working on my 2015 Nano Novel, write 2500 words per week on my spy novel until it is done. (After four years, it’s time to put this mess to bed.)

√ Working on it. Still planning to be ready for beta readers before the end of November.

Non writing goals

– Prepare and teach two classes at the coop for the 2016-2017 school year.

√ Teaching. I have actually have 6 students in both of my classes, which sounds sad but is really impressive given 75% of our students are 4th grade of less. I am super pleased with my turn out. I have just enough kids that they spurn each other on to talk but everyone can have a say because there’s time for 6 kids to have opinions.

– Take better care of my body, ie. stop compulsively painting, crocheting, and writing until my back or shoulder is so tore I can barely use either.

√ I haven’t been painting, crocheting, or writing much. Too much time spent cleaning out four rooms for the painters. I seriously think we have too much stuff. I feel a major purge coming….after my book goes to beta. LOL

– yoga daily.

√ Yes, I am actually doing this. Which is how I am keeping my cool with everything else going on. LOL

Wednesday No Writer’s Cafe Again 5/25

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Seriously, I should just stop calling the Wednesday post Writer’s Cafe because I never get there anymore. Feels like months. Waves at the pizza crowd. Miss you!

Ok so why am I not there? Yeah, emergency executive meeting of the club board. Yes, again they are derailing my life for more drama. I think since I returned from Hawaii last Monday I have seen about 300 emails. Way too much of it backstabbing, half truthing, bull shit. (pardon my language)

Several members may or may not be resigning tonight, including me. I won’t go on like this. Either people commit to putting on their big boy/girl pants and acting like the adults we are supposed to be, or I’m done. I can’t carry the emotional burden of this crap for a pool. It’s not that important.

Since I have returned, I have not written a single word on my spy novel that is practically at the finish line. I haven’t spent a single minute on the novel I am developmentally editing. I’ve barely been able to get my blog posts up and half of those were done ahead of time. Speaking of I’m leaving on Saturday for a road trip with my kiddo and I haven’t preposted for those ten days yet.

All of my spare time has been sucked up my the drama and drama fall out or the emotional hang over of dealing with the former. Enough. Done. I’m out. Drops the microphone.

I’ve decided to report on my stated 2016 goals each Wednesday at cafe for a little prod of accountability.

 

– Participate in one flash fiction challenge per month.

√ I think I missed May. And it ain’t gonna happen between now and Saturday. LOL. I did do a couple in April. Short ones. Single liners on a topic and the like. It was fun.

– Prepare and teach “Nano to Publish”.

√ Rolling right along. I think we will have 8 new books out of this class by the end of the year. I’m so excited by that. A year’s worth of work and it will be worth something.

 

– Any time I am not actively working on my 2015 Nano Novel(trashed), write 2500 words per week on my spy novel until it is done. (After four years, it’s time to put this mess to bed.)

√ Not a word this week. I wrote a lot on the cruise though. It’s really cleaned up. I need to write one more bridging scene and then finish the big action blow out on the ship.

Non writing goals

– Prepare and teach two classes at the coop for the 2016-2017 school year.

√ Yep. People have actually signed up for both my classes, Nano and Geography. One family actually joined the coop just so their daughter could take my Nano class. LOL.

– Take better care of my body, ie. stop compulsively painting, crocheting, and writing until my back or shoulder is so tore I can barely use either.

√ Been doing good on this although the kiddo did buy me a new paint by number for Mother’s Day. LOL. It’s half done in the last week. LOL. I find it very soothing and with all the club drama, I needed to be soothed.

– yoga daily.

√ Yeah. Actually this is happening, although some days are still only 15 minutes.

Weekend Workshop – Nano To Publish

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The Nano to Publish workshop happened in April even though I was busy posting for the A to Z Challenge. We talked mostly about how to find beta readers and what kind of readers we should be looking for.

First thing to consider, writers will give you write it better feedback. They might even give you feedback that focuses on how they would have written the novel. This is marginally beneficial. Another set of eyes is always good but don’t get all writer feedback on your beta, that’s what your critique partner is for.

Get readers for your beta. Ie, People who READ. In a perfect world you’d have two who read your genre and at least one who doesn’t. Readers tell you how they as a reader experienced your novel and that’s ultimately your focus.

You also need at least one eagle eyed, anal retentive line editor to catch every oops. Every double space, wrong punctuation, misspelling, incorrect word choice, etc.

I also spent a bit of time talking about your mom. Your Spouse. Your best friend.

They all love you. Ergo their feedback is less useful. Why? Because they will like your book because you wrote it. And even if they honestly think its the best thing ever, will you believe them, give the whole love thing? And if they do hate it, and they’re honest, how will that effect the relationship long term? Think carefully before using this avenue.

So where to find these bastions of honest virtue? Well if you have a blog, you can try asking for readers there. Your followers already like your style. At least a couple of them might like to read something longer from you.

How much beta do you like as a writer? Do you use the same readers every time? Where do you find them? Inquiring minds want to know.