Saturday, October 31, 2009

NaNoWriMo!

I've signed up to participate in National Novel Writing Month and I'm pretty excited about it! You can find out more information on it here. I'm working on a YA thriller called Vengeance for the Mostly Dead. Well that's one of the titles I've played with for it so far. I haven't started writing it yet, well, not on paper anyway! But November 1st is tomorrow so I've got to get those queries out!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Like...cool!


After much weeding "JUST" is smaller! I feel better about that. Now I'm trying to figure out why "Back" is so prominent? I know why "like" is. It's the similies. I find this whole wordle thing very interesting. It's actually very helpful to the editing process because it shows me what words I need to check into. So, I'm going back to work still working on edits but I've got a clean 50 pages and a query letter ready to go! I did remember that I need to write a full synopsis and apparently I should be scared about it but I'm really not. I know my book so it shuoldn't be terribly hard to summarize it. Maybe I'm missing the boat? check out www.wordle.net to get your own word cloud! It's dandy!
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, October 15, 2009

JUST peachy...


So, Nathan Bransford, literary agent extraordinaire, used this website with his contest and it was super cool so I did it too. Thanks Mr. Bransford! http://www.wordle.com It generates a word cloud based on the frequency of words in a passage, manuscript, poem etc...

So, I copied and pasted my entire manuscript into it and this is the image it produced based on word usage in my MS. So yeah...remember when I posted about weed words? I do. Guess why? JUST! Oh yeah...my old friend really wants recognition! I love that! Not. So anyway, good times. It's actually some very interesting feedback. The good thing is that he copied and pasted his entire comment section with over 2500 first paragraphs and "Like" was the biggest in all of those so at least there I'm not so weird. Well, at least not in that one way... ;)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Hourglass teaser...1st paragraph.

I entered a first paragraph contest on Nathan Bransford's blog and it gave me an idea. So, this is the first paragraph of Hourglass. This series will be a trilogy of paranormal romance which, (for those keeping track at home) is the same genre as the highly popular Twilight Saga. My books, however, DO NOT include vampires of any kind. So anyway...here it is, paragraph one:

HOURGLASS

Dawn is an enemy to me. I consider it little more than a silent, unrelenting monster I can’t hold off. Morning sneaks in like a thief, stealing the only peace I have left, the obscurity of night. Every new day I wake to the same cutting reality, the same wounds. Still, the days pass like an endless blue stream. Sometimes they rush and sometimes they creep. The villainous sun shines in through my window, without fail. I fantasize about pulling my shades down, blanketing myself in the comfort of my bed and pretending I don't see the blinding light of day. Then I could stay forever lost in sleep and dreams.

TO BE CONTINUED....

What do ya'll think? I have rewritten the first page so many times I can't even count them anymore but I think this one will finally stick! At some point I have to just say I'm done editing!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

James Dashner



Yesterday I went to author James Dashner's release party for his book, The Maze Runner. It's so exciting for him and it was great to be amongst the excitement. I couldn't help wishing and hoping that someday that will be me and that gave me renewed motivation to pick that manuscript up and GET IT DONE! It's funny, I used to think the book was so good but now I'm super sick of it because I've read it sooo many times! But I've got my goal to meet and it's important to keep it in perspective. So, I'm recommited! Yeah for me! My three other works in progress just need to wait till I get the edits done on this book and a first round of queries out!

One other fun thing, while we were at the release party, one of my daughters, 9 year old Emma came up to me with a book in hand saying "MOM, MOM...we HAVE to get this book!!! I love it!" In her hand she had an autographed copy of the lovely and talented Shannon Hale's book: "Rapunzels Revenge" It was fun because Shannon happened to be sitting on the ground reading t o her children and Emma thought that was super cool! Also, my 11 year old(well almost) Celia was startstruck by James Dashner. It was so fun!

I hope to join the ranks some day of published authors!!! Congrats to James!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

NEEd More opinions!!! Please help!

When a grieving Allyson Hales meets the handsome, time traveling detective, Grant Pierce, her future has never been more unclear and every night,in dreams, Grant rewrites her past, changing her history. But as attraction pulls them together circumstances threaten to tear them apart forever. Ally doesn’t know Grant’s dangerous secret. He must protect her from a war between benevolent time travelers and malicious ones. By falling in love with Grant, Ally has unknowingly made herself a pawn in a very dangerous game and Grant’s love could destroy the one thing they both want most, a future together.

What do you think? Comments are very much welcome and requested! This may be my only chance in some cases to get an agent to even request a partial of my manuscript so it has to grab you and make you wonder enough to want to read the book! COMMENT away!

Work In Progress, Flash...

Work In Progress, Flash...

What I'm Reading now....

What I'm Reading now....