Quick wrap-up before I head off to bed.

Still not quite in love with the beginning. Usually I loathe it when it comes straight off the keyboard, and then when I read it later, it's not so bad. We'll have to see.

New book (S-Fi)

Word Count: 2,232 for today's count (though I suspect I will shrink some of it in a rewrite), total ms of 5,291. Projecting this one to end up at 90,000.
Mean Things: Someone refuses something rather spoilery.
Nice Things: A crate of Pop Tarts.
Things I need to fix: Scene feels flabby. Probably needs to be trimmed in half to make it move faster.
Things to think up before next writing session: Actually, I'm pretty sure how the next bit goes. It's the part after that I get blank on.
Currently Reading: Kresley Cole's novella in Playing Easy To Get

And I don't normally post one, but I liked this line a lot, so here's my darling for the day: “You know,” I carried on, angrily re-braiding my hair. “I thought going on this dig would be good for my career. I could finally set myself up as a serious archaeologist. But I swear to all that’s holy, it’s like I’m the Hooters girl at the church social."

I'm going to try and remember to post book metrics as I go along. Might work, might not. We'll see how it goes.

My book (and brain) is still in the 'floundering around' stage. Normally everything kicks in once I hit the 10k or so, and until then I just keep plowing ahead and hoping for the best. :)


New book (which I'm calling S-Fi)

Word Count: 2,000 or so today, total ms of 3,059. Projecting this one to end up at 90,000.
Mean Things: Lots of humid jungle and not an air-conditioner for miles. Poor Jackie. Not a happy camper (yuk yuk)
Nice Things: J's able to wrap someone around her finger without much effort, which shows that she's getting used to being what she is.
Things I need to fix: I'm not totally happy with the beginning. To me, it's a lot of talking and set up, and I prefer when stuff happens. We'll see.
Things to think up before next writing session: How to speed things up so I get to Plot Point A faster.
Currently Reading: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine


We also watched Smokin Aces tonight, which we'd both wanted to see for a while (and had completely forgotten about). The reason we wanted to see it? Both the husband and I love Jason Bateman, especially after his brilliant turn in Arrested Development (which is genius and everyone should buy on DVD).

The verdict? It desperately wanted to be The Departed. Didn't succeed. Everyone and their brother had a cameo in this movie. Holy crap, Alicia Keys is gorgeous. And holy crap, this movie was a hot mess. You know it's bad when the first 20 minutes of the movie feels like an info-dump. The rest of it felt like posturing. Kind of a disappointment.

While it hasn't been a stellar weekend (the back and forth weather plays havoc with my sinuses), I did manage to get a fair chunk done on my book. This after feeling lousy on Thursday and Friday, napping through most of the evening on both days, and thus getting nothing done.

The next scene should steamroll right through, and I predict to hit 45k by the time it's done. Hooray for 45k! When not working on Heat, I've been tinkering with my synopsis for another project, and toying with some character building for a third.  Back in the days when I first started writing, I bought every single 'How to Write' book known to mankind. I guess I figured if I read enough of them, I'd somehow figure out the magic formula. Alas. ;)

But I did dig out a nifty book from my library of 'How To' books - The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes. It's actually a pretty neat book. They give heroes archetypes (The Warrior, the Boss, the Best Friend) and heroines archetypes (The Waif, the Nurturer, The Seductress) and then go into detail on how to layer these, and how they interact together.  Makes for interesting reading.

Anyways, I dither. On to the metrics!

Heat Metrics

Word Count: 42.5k out of an estimated 85k. I might have to slide that scale back down to 80k, but I still think it'll end somewhere in there. Still moving along quite swimmingly well.
Mean Things: Cold. Lots and lots of cold.
Nice Things: Someone realizes that they are holding out on a stupid whim, and changes pace.
Things I need to fix:  Add more house description.
Things to think up before next writing session: Nada. I have it all in muh brainz.
Currently Reading: See above.

So this new book is making me very happy. I'm excited to work on it. Everyone I tell - my friends, my husband, my agent - thinks my idea is faboo. That's always a good sign, right?  And since my idea is so faboo, I'm not going to share it with anyone. That's right. You'll just have to hear about it later, because I R paranoid cat.


I had a nice chat with my agent(s) this weekend to discuss a proposal that I'd sent over way back when for Betrothed (fantasy romance).  And while I may have leet, mad query-writing skillz, my synopses suck like major sucking things. I managed to convey nothing about the emotions of the plot (which is pretty much the heart of the story) and made the synopsis as dry as possible. As soon as they said that, I knew *exactly* where I'd gone wrong and I wanted to laugh at myself. Soooo...pretty much have to start over with the synopsis. Doh. But the story itself, I think, will be okay. I'm sitting on it a bit longer, and I've sent it to a certain person that has promised not to spare my feelings. She will tell me which part suxxors, because she's awesome like that. And yes, this is me buttering her up. *butter, butter*

I made good progress this weekend - maybe not crazy-ass progress, but I'm still feeling the story out. Still having fun with it. Still making my Barbies make out (heh).

The husband's 36th birthday is tomorrow, so we are heading out for a day of spending at his favorite stores. Which is all right, now that I've done taxes and I know what the damage is (and am pleased).

This was a good weekend.

Heat Metrics

Word Count: 14,931 out of 80,000

Mean Things: Her boss is onto her. Something burns down. Someone has a secret life. Someone gets blackmailed (again)

Nice Things: Late night nookie (this always seems to happen in my books. Hmm.)

Things That Need to Be Fixed, Stat: Actually, I went back through this section and it's pretty decent. I am happy with it (gasp). There's still one section back at the beginning that needs major reconstructive surgery, but I'm overall pleased

Stuff To Think Up Before Next Time: Supernatural Studliness. Or Not-Studliness. Doesn't matter, really

Currently Reading:  Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joey Hill. I love me some naughty books.

 

So I had a few epiphanies this last weekend, right? Well, sorry to say that I did not wake up younger, or thinner, or a member of MENSA. My house isn't clean, I'm not rich, and last time I looked, my car is still a piece of crap.

(Just kidding, car. I love you. Never die on me.)

But I am writing again, which works for me. It's something new and purely fun. I've given up my emo ways for now and have abandoned the wangst for the sheer pleasure of writing. We'll see how far I get. So far I have two people with weird names, a bit of plot, and a title that makes me smirk every time I think of it.

I can haz metrics nao!!

Heat

Word Count:  6,000 (approx, since I don't have the file in front of me ATM).  Originally this was going to start out as 50-55k, but I'm going to take it in a different direction, I think. I'm having too much fun with it. New goal is 80-85k.

Mean Things: Blackmail. Mean bosses. Some other stuff behind the scenes that has not yet appeared on camera (yet is happening in the background of my head).

Nice Things: A blind date turns out to be really cute. Score!

In Dire Need of a Rewrite: Actually, I'm kind of rewriting each section as I go, so no rewriting so far. There was a bit of nerding-out that someone (coff coff) made me take out. I think she's right, though.

Things I Need to Think Up Before Next Writing Session: Everything that happens next. IE, no outline.

Currently Reading: The Italian Billionaire's Bride. Or something along those lines. Yup. Category. Fun, too.

February is off to a great start, mentally. January, I pretty much wasn't there. But I am excited about February.

I seem to always be cheating on my books in progress. I even started a new novel the other day, which hasn't turned into a real complete storyline yet, but shows tons of promise. I intend to finish it still, but somewhere along the way...

I got sidetracked.

I'm always getting sidetracked from novels. A newer, shinier idea catches my eye and I leap on it. Not smart, of course, but I finish enough novels that I'm not too worried about it. I used to really gnash my teeth and hate that I'd abandon these poor 'aborted' novels, because I almost never finished them. But then I realized that this was incorrect.

The first book I ever finished was a half-stopped novel.
The sixth book too.
The ninth one too.

I even stopped in the middle of #10 to revamp #5.

So maybe, maybe I'm not so crazy. At any rate, I'm feeling positively cheery as I flounder between two novels again. The secret project #1 has been temporarily derailed in favor of...

Wait for it...

The valkyrie novel.

(waits for applause)

( A little bit of mooning about the novel )


I have metrics! Sweet, glorious metrics!!

( Metrics = love )


( Book nattering - what I'm currently reading and what I've read recently. )

/book natter

So there you go. A long update, because I realized the other day I've been kind of quiet on the blog front, and it wasn't intentional. Maybe now that I'm sinking into a book again, I'll post more often.

I think this might be a personal record for me. Well, it could be. I'm sure I've done more in a day. But 7,300 words feels like a damn hella lot.

Whew.

The story is definitely steamrolling right about now. I got past the awkward transition and rolled forward with the plot and I think things are definitely moving swiftly now (she says hopefully). However, I am having a bit of a conundrum, because I anticipated this part of the book happening, you know, much later in the book. Instead, I'm at 47.5k and she's at her final destination. Hm. Of course, there's still plenty of story left to go. Maybe this just means that I have a lot of room to flesh on the other side when I get around to the second draft. We'll see. I'm skimping on descriptions in several places, I think. I'll need to add those back in for sure. I got to a scene today and someone was removing someone else's clothing, and I realized I had no idea what she was wearing, and what she HAD been wearing for the past 50 pages or so. Nice. There's a well thought out book for ya. ;)

(I actually just outlined the tail end pieces of the story - that I know of - and with a conservative estimate, I'm looking at 75k. I always run longer, and I always run longer in rewrites, so I think this might still end up being ideal. I'll worry about it later when it's done.)

Some metrics for today:

Word Count: 7300. That's a big hunka change in my world.

Mean things: So many that it boggles the mind. It's fun, though.

Nice things: After the road-trip from hell, she finally hits her destination.

In dire need of a rewrite: Some of the location stuff. Like New Orleans and Mississippi and the like. Just fleshing out.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: My mad description skillz.

Things to think up before next writing time: How she meets back up with her peeps.

Currently Reading: How To Abduct A Highland Lord. It's very cute so far - reminds me of old Julie Garwood.

And since Ilona loves 'em, a snippet for the brave.( Snippy Snippy Snippy! (Be warned, lots of nice friendly language under here.) )


Enjoy.

So I complained to my husband earlier that I had nothing to do. And when I have nothing to do, I tend to stress. Over my career (writing and otherwise), my life in general, and today, about our cats and how long until we could get another one.

My husband just gave me an odd look and told me that I sucked at relaxing, and I needed to learn how. That when I'm not feeling overwhelmed with stress, I don't know what to do with myself.

Good lord, but I think the man is right. I've been a bundle of stress all weekend for no good reason, again over things I cannot control. I need to put those out of my mind.

So to prove him wrong, I played video games and wrote in the other screen during downtime (IE, when my character was resting to regain hitpoints). It was surprisingly easy to sink back into Sex Drive, despite leaving off at a really 'finished' piece of the book. I'd like to thank my Mind Map for making it all possible, but I think a lot of it plays into the sequel factor. I know these characters and where they're going. I don't have to worldbuild 'new' stuff outside of the new locations I'm constantly plunking my characters down into. This makes it a lot easier than starting from scratch.

Now that I've done enough for the day that I feel productive, I'm off to hang the laundry, read a bit, and then get ready for the day-job tomorrow.


Metrics for Sex Drive

Word Count: 2500 for today. Somewhere around 37000 for the book. Somewhere about halfway through.

Mean things: A huge litany of things-you-would-not-want-to-happen-on-a-road-trip. Alas, no details or I'd spoil the fun. Suffice to say it involves the long arm of the law.

Nice things: A pit-stop at Stuckey's! This IS a road trip after all, and all my road-trips as a child involved Stuckey's. I totally have to give them a shout-out.

Darling: No darlings.

In dire need of a rewrite: A lot of faceless, description-less walk-on characters in this section. Will need to flesh them a little.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: My description skills. Let me show you them (and how badly they suck).

Things to think up before next writing time: How to make this scene more sexy!

Currently Reading: HER IRISH WARRIOR by Michelle Willingham (I share an agent with her). Next up on the nightstand is SILK DREAMS by Diana Groe and DEMON ANGEL by Meljean Brook. I have some beta-reading stuff I need to do too, but I will most likely save that for next weekend when I have a print cartridge. :/

Busted my hump to get a good word count today, and succeeded. Of course, this means I didn't get much else done today, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Metrics behind the cut for those that don't care.

( Metrics for SEX DRIVE (which is finally starting to have a plot, glory be) )


In other news, I start my new job tomorrow. I have to be there at 8:30 for orientation. It's a half day to break you in easy. It's a good job. I know several people that work there now. More money. Closer to home. Better overall. So someone please explain to me why I am absolutely terrified?

Sigh.

In other other news, I cannot help but giggle at THIS. For hours. Fart jokes FTW!

(Yes, I am that juvenile)

Since I went to dinner with my agent on Thursday night (I'm going to start every conversation with that phrase, by the way), I'm afraid that I've been a little obsessed over the news trickling in about the conference. Who was at what panel. Who walked out of what panel in a huff. Who won the Golden Heart or Rita. I have no idea why I'm so into this, but I am. I've been checking Dear Author on a fanatical, several-times-an-hour basis. I'm weird.

In other news, I sat down early to get some writing in. It's now late and at the end of the day, I only have 3k. It was a hard-fought 3k, but I think I've made it past the mucky parts I was struggling with and can hopefully swing at least another 3k tomorrow. The desire to play video games is great, but I will resist.


Metrics for Sex Drive


Word Count: 3,000 or so. I don't know the exact numbers (I've been really lazy about keeping count this time around). Officially over a third of the way done (even if I run long and hit 90k). If I hit another 3k tomorrow, I'll be at almost 35k, which is entirely respectable. So come on, brain! Make it happen!

31,010 / 85,000 (36.5%)

Mean things: What happens when succubi skip out on sex.

Nice things: The introduction of MHG! Originally just a plot point, but I really like him. He's going to add a lot to the story. And my brain already slid into place a particular piece of the story-plot-puzzle, so I am quite pleased. It's almost like I've got a real book here.

Darling: Six hours later, I stared at the red numbers on the alarm clock and hated life. And beer. In that order.

In dire need of a rewrite: All of Noah's scenes. He's coming across as a stalkery dickhead. Not exactly what I intended. This bears more thinking. *thinks hard*

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: I have fallen back on my crutch of overusing particular words. This book is guilty of the following thus far:

voice - 58
arched - 5 times (all in the same chapter)
whisper - 13 times (you guessed it, all same chapter)
hot - 52 times
sensation - 14 times (guess how many chapters)

I obviously need new buzz-words. Or a life. Pick one.

Things to think up before next writing time: How Drake's plot point gets resolved. How the cops get involved. How to bring back the MHG without being overly obvious about it. This bears much thinking, as I am the Queen of Obvious.

Currently Reading: The Vampire Queen's Servant by Joey W. Hill. Dude. Just, dude. This book is scary and awesome all at once. People do scary things to each other in this book. It would so suck to be a vampire queen's servant. Or a vampire. Yet I cannot stop reading. Her main character, Lyssa, is so freaking broken that it's awesome. However, this book has shown me that I probably cannot write pr0n. My idea of wild and titillating is nothing like Joey W. Hill's.

So at some point, I've really got to stop taking naps. Because when I start the new job, 4 o'clock in the afternoon (my normal nap time) is really going to suck.


I did get my hair cut all cute and short-like today. Maybe a little too short, but I didn't spazz. Hair's just hair. It'll grow back soon enough. The real trick will be to see if I can style it even remotely close to how the hairdresser did.

Worked on Sex Drive today, and managed to get six pages in. Hooray six pages! For some reason, I haven't been able to hit massive word-count goals like I normally do. Some books just write themselves slower than others, and this seems to be one of them. I'm determined to get it finished on time, though. Tomorrow I have lunch with my parents and laundry to do, and I plan on using the rest of the day to write! (of course, I say that every day)

And since I haven't done them in a while, here's some Metrics:

Metrics for Sex Drive

Word Count: 1,536. Currently sitting at 27,175 for the total manuscript. I'm hoping finished manuscript will be about 85k or so.

27,175 / 85,000 (32.0%)

Hey! 32%! not bad.

Mean things: Gross men at the Indian Casino. No lurv in sight. The Itch.

Nice things: Coors Light!

Darling:Remy shrugged and licked the foam off her lip. “Beggars can’t be choosers, my dear. I am afraid that you definitely fall into the realm of ‘beggar’. Now come on. Chug that beer, grab another, and let’s go rustle us up some men.” Her voice changed to a nice southern drawl.

In dire need of a rewrite: I must have wobbled, because the next thing I knew, he had his hands around my waist and was leading me towards the casino entrance. (I use 'the next thing i knew' ENTIRELY too often. apparently this crazy character doesn't know shit.)

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: This book obviously wants to be 300 pages of talking heads living in a bubble. I suppose I can fix that later.

Things to think up before next writing time: The new Mysterious Hot Guy (thanks ilona_andrews!)


Oh, and one last thing before I go. My cat has a new favorite place to sleep while I'm trying to write at the computer:

Whew!

All the story is out of my head, all ugly outlines and questionable motives on paper. The story of Betrothed is done for the most part, and now all that's left is the cleaning up and the filling-in of holes.

I like it. I like it a lot, actually. It's very different than anything I've written before (and I'm sure when/if my agent reads it, he will scratch his head and wonder where I'm going with it). Sometimes it's fun to flex your story muscle - to see if you can go in a totally different direction. This book kicked my ass the first time around and I stopped it twice, but it seems like the third time was the charm!

Metrics for Betrothed

Word Count: 3,200 or so. The book ended at 67,426 (just a hair over 300 pages). I could have stretched it to hit the 70k mark, but I didn't want to torture myself. It ended well, and it'll be even better when I swing around to the rewrites. So yay!

67,426 / 67,426 (100.0%)

Inspirations du jour: Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Mean things: A burgeoning war. An almost-death.

Nice things: Great and mighty lurv saves the day.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: I feel good today. Today, nothing is crap, it is just first draft. ;)

Things to think up before next writing time: Nothing! It's all done! (Though if I were a glutton for punishment, I'd start plotting out the second POV...)

Now I'm off to finish ilona_andrews 's book because it is like crack, but the good kind.

Decided to stop at the 5k mark, because the last few scenes will be one massive plop of action and angst, and it's too late in the evening to start the next big chunk.

But I do think I have 5k left, and then I will be done with this draft.


What I accomplished today:

1. Read first half of Ilona's book Not quite done! I am 129 pages in so far, and oooh doggie, things just got GOOD (not that they weren't awesome before). I am about to scurry back to the living room to continue devouring critiquing.

2. Write 5-7k in Betrothed. Done! 5k and a great lead off for tomorrow.

3. Do laundry. Cough.

4. Do that post about writing in layers that I mentioned. Will write this in just a minute...

5. Not pester agent. Done! I can safely say my agent was not pestered.

So I do consider this quite a productive day. I need to post metrics, and then I'll follow up with a post about writing with layers, and then I'm off to read more about Kate and Currant, because mmm, Curran.

Metrics for Betrothed

Word Count: 5,100 or so. Book sits at 64,353 I think. I believe it will end at 70k (again, I say for this draft).

64,353 / 70,000 (91.9%)

Inspirations du jour: Nothing. Today was about cold, hard professional Butt-In-Chair.

Mean things: Abandonment, betrayal, spousal fighting and jealousy. Whee!

Nice things: Someone confessed a great and mighty lurv.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW:Actually, it's all pretty much crap as I rush to finish the novel. But I do tend to forget the names of secondary characters (and I can't be bothered to look them up) so I've taken to calling them after Erectile Dysfunction Medications. After all, when you see someone named Cialis or Viagra in your novel, you KNOW that's a placeholder.

Things to think up before next writing time: Nothing! It's all in my head and screaming to get out.

So despite mucho procrastination I managed to write today, and reminded my book that I exist, and I'm going to resolve the plot whether or not it wants to be resolved at all, darn it.

Metrics for Betrothed:

Word Count: 2,217. Official word count thus far is 57,886. I am assuming first draft will top out at about 75k or so. I'd like to get to 60k before the end of the weekend.

57,886 / 75,000 (77.2%)

Inspirations du jour: http://www.theyfightcrime.org/

Mean things: Someone insulted her at a really bad time.

Nice things: They did it all for the nookie.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: The use of slang in high fantasy. Somehow when the prince says "I'm okay" and it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb, I think it's time to go to bed.

Things to think up before next writing time: The scene with Rilen. I have copious notes on it, mind you, but it's not 'in' my brain just yet.

I had a mini-revelation that's been going through my head all day, and it really inspired me. I'm not sure where it came from, or what I was thinking about (my brain is pretty random at times) but at one point, I was thinking about my writing and despairing how I'd ever get finished with Betrothed (which I've been slacking off on lately) and Valkyrie (which I've reaaaaaally been slacking off on lately). Since I finished Unnatural last summer, I haven't finished another completed novel. Sure, I've completed a first draft on another book, but that doesn't count. Unless I can show it to all my friends and have them squee with me, it's not done. And I REFUSE to show first draft to anyone (except mebbe everyonesakitty but she asks really nicely).

Where was I going with this? Oh yes.

So there I am, moping to myself and being a huge slacker and my brain asks, "How badly do you want it?" Not the novel, mind you. The career.

How badly do I want the career? Do I want it bad enough to park my happy ass in front of the computer all weekend every weekend, and work on it? Or do I want it just enough to sit in front of the computer, poke at a page or two, and then play Bookworm for hours? Or do I want it bad enough to finish one book, endlessly edit it, and then never do anything about it?

(Yanno, thinking back, I bet this was inspired by this post on Miss Snark.)

And it made me wonder. Because this last week, I've been a lazy SOB. Heck, this whole month. I've whined about my head hurting, and got that taken care of. I've whined about other stuff behind filters that's stopped me from writing because I couldn't concentrate. Gosh darn it, I whine about a lot of stuff on this blog that keeps me from writing. And I know I'm better than that. I know I can put my butt in the chair and get a ton of work done.

So I did. And while this burst of professionalism might not last, I'm proud of myself for doing what I did today and getting a nice fat chunk of wordcount. Because sometimes we have to slap ourselves upside the head and ask how badly we REALLY want to consider this as a career.

If you couldn't care less, please, by all means, go play The Sims. One less in the slush pile for me to compete against.


Metrics for Betrothed:

Word Count: 5,122. Combine this with the 1,800 or so I got last night (after the storms), that puts me at a neat 7k so far for the weekend. The book hovers around 43k, I believe (I forgot to check). I think it's going to end at around 70k, which will be good because when I add the second POV (of the other main character) that should put me right at the sweet spot.

43,000 / 70,000 (61.4%)

Inspirations du jour: Memoirs of a Geisha Soundtrack, Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack

Mean things: Someone got stabbed. Someone got murdered (off camera).

Nice things: Hm. Nothing nice this time around. The book has definitely taken a darker turn.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: Oh, all my leet writing skillz are crappy. How can I pick just one?

Things to think up before next writing time: The meeting with the prince's Mom and Sister. And, is it even necessary anymore? (I think it is, but I also tend to cling to old subplots)

I had good intentions, I swear I did.

(everyonesakitty may never forgive me for not working on Valkyrie today)

I thought this 'candy bar' scene that I'd been waiting to write in Betrothed would be a good chunk of the day, mind you. Maybe 1 or 2k, get it out of the way, and then I can flip over to the other book.

But I've worked on it all afternoon, and now I'm exhausted. The actual scene itself ended up being over 4k, and while it's done, I dunno if my brain can handle more writing today. I'm really happy with how the storyline is going in Betrothed so far, though. It's nice to be able to write an emotionally intense scene and still be happy with how it turns out. Things are definitely snowballing and the book is picking up some major momentum. Which is not to say that it won't need massive rewrites, of course, but if the first draft makes me happy, that'll be enough for now. shadawyn recently mentioned that she felt she's written nothing but crap since RIN (her urban fantasy) and boy, do I know that feeling.

Metrics for Betrothed: (censored for spoilers, of course!)

Word Count: 4300 or so. Almost 36k in the book (it's really jumped lately!) and I'm not sure but I don't think I'm halfway through. Well, maybe I am. There's still major stuff to pull in, and so I want the original word count of the first draft to be on the low side, because I want to go back and add in a second POV once it's done. Of course, I might switch it all to 1st POV which would mean no second POV to add in. Decisions, decisions. I should probably decide at some point, right?

Inspirations du jour: How about being inspired by my own characters? That was a nice change. :)

Mean things: She tried to (censored) the (censored) and it didn't work. She learns a nasty little secret about someone.

Nice things: She got to (censored) the prince. Woot!

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: I've got some major endless run-on sentences. Oh, and every paragraph begins with either "Seri", "But" or "And". Sigh.

Things to think up before next writing time: Repercussions of her not (censored) the (censor). And (censoring) the prince.

Gee, wasn't that a fun read? ;)

Alas, nothing exciting happening on this end. Brain is no longer hurting (yay antibiotics!) so I thought I'd get some writing in.

My brain thought otherwise for about 3/4ths of the day. At one point I had to pull myself away from the dreaded time-suck that is the internet and go to the other computer, where I was able to hack out a good chunk of writing. It's ugly and it has warts, but it's on the page and a big scene is done with the book. Tomorrow's scene should be easy to write as well (I've been looking forward to this scene for weeks!) but after I'm done with that, I'm going to have to read my outline carefully to piece together what comes next.

I was going to dual-book it today, but alas, I did no more than poke at Valkyrie. I'm trying to introduce a new locale and was stumped creatively as to how it should look/feel/be. Thanks to some help from amberdine and everyonesakitty and Wikipedia, I've got what I need, I think. I'll give this one a shot tomorrow.

In the meantime, there's always metrics.

Metrics for Betrothed:

Word Count: 3300 or so today. I was hoping for more, but I am teh lazy. The book is 140 pages (including 3 pages of gibberish outline) and 31k. This one is either going to be ye-gods-long or too short. I'm not sure which yet.

Inspirations du jour: Nothing, I'm afraid. I'm decidedly uninspired. I should watch Pride & Prejudice again just to re-inspire me.

Mean things: Made her marry the prince after all. He's not a nice prince. Well, at least she doesn't think so.

Nice things: She got to eat something? And she got a pretty dress. But I'm afraid the mean things trumped the nice things.

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: Very passive, tell-y sentences. I've got about 8 pages of those in a row. Oy.

Things to think up before next writing time: What happens after big whopper scene tomorrow.


Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go compulsively check my email for the nine-billionth time this weekend. Not that I'm anxious or anything. Nooo. Not me.

Feel free to insert a witty title.

I have nothing cute or charming to report today (one could argue that I never have anything cute or charming to report, but hey). I did get a lot of stuff done, I think, though in retrospect it does not feel like so much. It never really does.

Chapter One of UNNATURAL was still bothering the ever-loving stuff out of me, so I printed it out and marked it up. Again. Sometime this week I'm going to sit down and retype it, and then post the cleaned-up version on my website once more.

(Speaking of website, I'm constantly at a loss as to what I should put on my cover page. "Hi! I write stuff!" doesn't seem to make my brain happy. I'm constantly noodling with the text, and it's never quite the way I'd like for it to be. So I welcome any sort of suggestions or critiques that will make me seem less moronic.)

So, about the dual-book thing. Yeah. I'm sorry to report (please don't kill me, everyonesakitty!) that VALKYRIE is taking a somewhat-temporary hiatus. Nothing's wrong with the story itself, I just find myself constantly obsessed with BETROTHED. I see the characters in my mind (Do anyone else's characters constantly pose like they're in some sort of weird music video? No? I must be crazy then), I hear soundtracks for them, I come up with fascinating bits of dialogue that I rush to write down. This particular book fills up my mind, and it makes me happy. This is how writing a book should be, a constant fun obsession.

VALKYRIE is not quite filling up my mind, so even though I have 44k, it will go to a temporary back-burner. Heck, if I keep picking at it between projects, I should finish it at some point, right?

At any rate, BETROTHED is in 3rd person, and I keep slipping back to first person. I'm not sure if it's because the last umpteen books I wrote were in 1st person, or if it should TRULY be first person. I'm not sure. Right now I'm just writing in one POV (and I plan on adding the second one later), so I guess that's messing with my mind. Not that it would be good or bad or indifferent if I switched POVs, but I wonder if I'll be able to get the full nuance of the story across. I don't write beautiful 1st Person POV like raecarson or Jacqueline Carey. I write very functional POV, so it probably loses a lot of lyricism.

Metrics!

Metrics for BETROTHED:

Word Count: Somewhere over 3100. I'm not sure how much. At one point, I freaked out because I'd gone a while between saves, and the laptop started getting errors. Next thing I knew, it had renamed the save file on my flash-stick and shut itself down. Cue author panic. Luckily, my husband was able to find it again and I promptly resaved it to 3 different computers and renamed the backup. Oy. After that, my will to live write kinda left me.

Inspirations du jour: Why is it that every romance novel could be written to the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack? Cause they totally could. If anyone has any other heavily romantic non-modern soundtracks, I'm open ears.

Mean things: I'm making her marry the cold-blooded prince. That isn't mean enough?

Nice things: She's given a bit of a purpose and is filled with resolve, even if it scares her to death (I like resolve. It gives characters something to do rather than stand around and pose like in a rock video)

Crappy writing skill that needs to go away NOW: Run on sentences. I have no examples to share with the class. All of mine are too frightening to be shared with the public.

Things to think up before next writing time: The meeting with the prince. How to squeeze in the lore that I'm including in the book without beating readers over the head (I guess this is what second drafts are for).

Man, it's only Sunday night and I already cannot wait for Friday.

And I totally need more icons for the new book.