NaNoWriMo 2012: Still Up in the Air

Textbook Romance was written during NaNo 2010.

Here it is, the end of October and Halloween is plainly in sight, and I still am waffling on NaNo. I have a couple ideas in mind, but nothing that has yanked me by the scruff of the neck towards signing up this year.

Wanna help?

Below are three of the general areas my project ideas fall into; if any of them reach out and grab you, comment to let me know, and it might stir up my enthusiasm.

Project A) Historical litfic novel, set in a 1950s American university campus; some "love story," but focusing on a bit of academic intrigue and social issues. (This one has been percolating for a long time, but I still haven't gotten a foothold in.)

Project B) A silly piece of space-set futuristic fluff, with a romantic plot. Of absolutely no redeeming social value, and not likely to ever be published - but it might be fun to write, and to share on the blog!

Project C) A contemporary m/f romance (not erotica), taking place on a small town movie set. There will be writers, actors, assorted devious industry people, and an irritating gossip blogger. (This is the most likely of the three to be published in my life time.)

Well, there you have it. All three have been somewhat plotted (though Project B is rather loose), and I could do any or none... I just lack motivation, and have a ton of Real Life work to do. Thus, still waffling three days before NaNo is set to begin.

What to do, what to do...?

My NaNo 2011 novel is still unfinished, in rough form, and may never see the light of day.

The Next Big Thing

In which I sort of interview myself on my current work in progress.

I was tagged for this interview by a forum friend, Ruth Madison. I’m normally reluctant about doing memes, but when Ruth so kindly asked me, I decided to give it a go. I’m always excited to see what questions other people come up with.

However, there was a major issue – I have five current works in progress at the moment! Nevertheless, I picked the one I am writing most on this week, and plunged in. You might have noticed I am a bit tight lipped when it comes to my WIPs, especially these days, but it seems like a good time to let a few cats out of some bags.

So, on with the interview on September’s WIP:

What is the working title of your book?

Right now, I’m calling it Memento Mori, but I’m also toying with the title Last Look, since the other is rather used up.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I had been working on a novel set in the 1950s, but I’ve always been drawn towards the Victorian era. I love historical photographs, especially (and forgive the grimness) Victorian postmortem portraits. These are portraits taken of loved ones after death, and were relatively common, especially for children. With the cost and inconvenience of photography, many families never got a live shot of the departed before it was too late, so they would have one done after death. Today, this might seem rather shocking, but I think it's quite touching. And some of the photos are beautifully done. One night, looking at such pictures, the whole story came to me in a flash, via the entire person of the main character, William Tidy, all surrounding this practice of photographing the dead.

What genre does your book fall under?

I don’t really know. It has some romantic elements, but it isn’t a romance. I’d have to say “litfic”, whatever that really is, or general fiction. Possibly historical fiction, though it’s more about the people than the history. I will have that all ironed out before I have to market it. I hope.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I always cast my WIP as a movie in my head, but this main character is uniquely himself. Sometimes, when I make the little puppets dance in my mind so I can write it down, he is Johnny Depp, but other times, he is someone else, like Daniel Radcliffe or someone. He's himself, really. The lady in the book is certainly Rachel Weisz, who I think is one of the loveliest women in the world.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A man more comfortable with the dead discovers that life happens whether you want it or not.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Not certain, really. I am not exactly drooling for an agent, but I’m not sure this book would be best served by a small epub, and I lack experience with non-romance publishers. I’d love to see it published with a bigger publisher, naturally enough, but I doubt that would happen before I got tired of waiting, and certainly not without an agent. I have considered self-publishing something, but I remain undecided. Who knows? Maybe it will sit in a drawer forever. I guess we shall see what we shall see.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Still working on it. It started out as a novella, but I think now it might become a novel. I’m hoping to have it done by the end of September, if I can fend off the laziness.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I really can’t say. I don’t think in terms of comparisons, especially with litfic. I’m writing it in a very consciously Victorian style and feel, so the language reminds me of some books, whereas the story doesn’t.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

My pure love of Victoriana, and the gruesome beauty of these photos. And motherhood, though I might be giving too much away there. Mostly, I'm writing it just for myself, since it's a story I'd like to read and the character has endeared himself to me.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

If lots of corpses doesn’t interest people, I don’t know what will. There might be a hot air balloon involved at some point, and a portion takes place in a wax museum, does that help?

Also, my hero never once says, “I see dead people.”

Thanks, Ruth, for giving me a nudge!

Now, “Tag! You’re it!”

Krista D. Ball

Jessica Coulter Smith

Michel Prince

Ashlynn Monroe

Melissa Keir 

HEA Forever?

Ah, the HEA - "happily ever after." According to the Romance Writers of America, this is a cornerstone of romance. They define a romance novel by its:

"...emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."

When most people, including myself, refer to "romance novel," this is part of the idea. No matter what happens, you know there will be an HEA at the end. There's a certain R&R aspect to knowing how a book will end, and that it will end happily. This is part of why romances are such a good pastime for busy people. One can settle into it like a warm bath, and embrace the familiarity of it all.

But where, then, do we place non-HEA romance? Is there such a thing? I believe there is. I've read a number of books that I consider romances, yet which don't end happily. Romeo and Juliet, anyone? How many lovers has Nicholas Sparks killed off? Yes, I believe they exist. I know they do. Granted, people who want HEA might not like these romances as much, but I don't think that negates them as romances; they're just a different sort. In film studies, they are often called "melodramas," to distinguish them from "romantic comedies." "Romantic lit," maybe, instead of "genre romance", for our purposes?

Needless to say, I have nothing against HEA, and certainly nothing against traditional romance novels, as anyone who's familiar with this blog knows. Heck, all my books so far have been HEA or at least Happy For Now. (Oh no! Did I just **SPOILER** my entire opus there?)

However, I'm now working on a few projects where I don't know if they will end happily, especially in terms of any relationships therein. I can't guarantee the required HEA with those books, so I've already come to terms with the fact that I will be publishing them as non-romances, even though some of them have romantic aspects or even love stories. Romantic elements, yes. But the HEAs are iffy at best, if HEA allows only for coupling, and not for character development and triumph over adversity. (I.e., if "getting your man" is the only form of happy ending, it's not likely going to happen here.)

Will readers feel ripped off if they perceive me as a "romance writer," and I don't deliver? This is a worry I have, but I'm moving past it. I've decided not to split myself off into a new pen name for these books. I might shift/update some of my "image", but I will be keeping this name for these works. They will still be My Books, and they feel as much a part of me as my romances. I'm disinclined to exile them. Nor can I just shelve everything non-romance, because that wouldn't be satisfying for me.

It's time to test run the whole "brand the writer, not the books" theory of author marketing, I guess. I believe readers are savvy enough to handle this, and I'm okay if my "romance purity" cred slips because of these expansions.

This month, however, my distance from "romance" seems to have grown, somewhat against my will.

The HEA issue has been brought to the forefront in recent weeks due to some new rulings by RWA. As far as I know, RWA has long held that the HEA is definitive of romance as a genre. However, it did have an awards category for works containing a "strong romantic element," which basically means they aren't "traditional romances," but do have enough romance in them to be applicable to their awards and their common readership. Recently, RWA announced that this category would be gone as of 2014. Then, according to reports, they took the further move to clarify that those writers who do not write what they consider to be "real romance" (including HEA) are only eligible for associate membership, at most, leaving them either paying for membership without voting rights, or, well, leaving altogether.

In short, if you don't write romance-focused fiction, with a HEA romance between main characters as your "A Plot", you are not a romance writer, and are therefore ineligible. Oh well, it's their org, and their rules, so it's fair enough.

All it is means to me is that I guess I will never be a member of RWA now.

There have been several reasons why I've been reluctant to part with the money it takes to join RWA, so this is just the "case closed" seal. Other issues I've had included the absence of a convenient local chapter (one of the main things many RWA members love about membership), their stance on ebooks (though I gather that's changing) and non-advance paying publishers, and on erotica, and their often problematic views on LGTBQ fiction (I don't write LGTBQ fiction at present, but I stand with them on issues of equity). The likelihood I would ever attend their annual national shindig is basically nil, as well. It's always seemed to me that it's really an organization for traditional publishing, with agents and advances, and regular category romance through Big Publishers. There's nothing wrong with that, if that's what you want and where you are heading, but it's not me or my career, and I get plenty of contact with other writers through different means, particularly social media and forums. Why pay steadily increasing dues if I'm not sure it's right for me?

Honestly, I simply resist paying and joining groups unless I feel an affinity with them, and I've not felt affinity with RWA. Now the HEA thing just makes that possibility even more remote. I'm not heartbroken, though RWA was one of those benchmarks I held in mind when I first pictured myself as a romance writer. I've just come to face reality and change, that's all.

So, long story short - with my previous books, you will get an HEA (or HFN, "happily for now"), and I love that. With some of my future books, you might still get an HEA/HFN, when I return to romances. In the meantime, there will be some books that trip out of the genre, and might not be HEA or even HFN.

What was Marge Simpson's line? "It's an ending. That's enough."

And I'm okay with that. I hope you will be, too.

This is not "Goodbye to Romance." It's just a big Hello to other things, as well. But, I do believe it is goodbye to RWA, which I never really said hello to to begin with.

New Short Details

Thanks to some Facebook feedback, the new short I am writing for the Rebel Ink anthology will be on St Patrick's Day - and, naturally, it's set in Ireland.

So, announcing Cormack's Luck, my new erotic-romance holiday short.

Here's the new blurb:

American writer Katie Cormack inherited more than a cottage from her wild Irish father. She also got his wit, his stories and his family’s secret burden. Hiding away in the Irish countryside she’d always dreamed of, she communes with the fairies and beasts of her fantasy and folklore. When a local doctor comes down on her for filling his young son’s head with “nonsense”, Katie must show them both that not even St Patrick himself could drive all the dragons out of their imaginations. In the process, she might be able to reverse a wrong that has been hanging over the Cormacks for five generations, one that has brought them altogether for the season of renewal.

Busy writing, and with life. I'm hoping to have the short written, done, and sent off by next week, and it's chugging along. It took me a while to research this one, so the writing is slower than normal. It might be a tight squeeze, but I remain hopeful.

Have a great weekend, all!

There's Something Special About Paperbacks (and Other News)

I want to be a paperback writer.

I know what you're thinking. We're in the New Age of reading, and eBooks are the way to go, right? That's fair enough. EBooks have opened a lot of doors for a lot of writers, myself included. But I can't help but confess that paperbacks are why I got into this business. I longed to see my name on a spine or two. Last Christmas, I sort of got my wish when Unwrapping Scrooge was included in a paperback anthology from Decadent Publishing. It was thrilling to finally sign something with a real pen. I admit, I felt Accomplished.

Right now, I am looking down the road at two paperbacks - the release of Textbook Romance in paper from Pink Petal Books in September 2012, and the paperback/eBook bundle of my Rebel Ink Press holiday shorts in October 2012. Currently, I am considering cover concepts for the RIP anthology and mulling over titles.

I'm excited.

While I'm not decided on whether I will send my RIP collection to my Mum (they're rather graphic, and, though she's no prude, I am a chicken), I can't wait to send her a copy of Textbook Romance. Sadly Strings Attached never made it to print, so this will be the first novel I've had that I can mail to her.

So, that's my big whirl at present. My teaching term ended with June, and I've been resting up and cleaning/organizing with much of my vacation hours so far, but also preparing for these releases. Soon, I will start looking for promo ops for them, and gearing up the release festivities.

Some musings on the wanderings of muses.

Since I'm among friends, I have to say that I feel these books have some importance to them. I mean, as in Importance to My Life Story kind of importance. Recently, I have been struggling with some Questions. Where am I going? What am I really doing in this business? Some of my answers have been dismal. Many times, I thought to quit. I still do, some days. But, I know something's about to change. Things can't stay this way forever, and these books feel like a milestone.

Over the past year, I've started working on several "Top Secret" projects. No, I'm not bringing down any governments. I've been working outside romance, and outside erotic romance. I've been working on a few different things, including my academic book, and some stories with bittersweet endings, and some with horrifyingly dark corners, ones without romance, a personal story, and one in particular that has consumed much of my thoughts for some time.

Why don't I talk about them here? I guess because it's awkward to discuss "leaving" romance with people who know primarily as defined by my romance.

I have not, and will never, stop loving romance as a reader. I'm not likely to permanently stop writing romance, either. (I have no less than seven romances of various lengths in draft, semi-complete, outline and/or treatment stage, so I do expect to return, eventually.) But, right now, I need to get these other stories off my chest. I need to see if I can do something successful. Something a bit outside my comfort zone.

I'm not going to write anything that will shame me, or betray the ethics, optimism and light I hold dear and have always tried to bring out in my romance works, so have no fears. I'm still Anne Holly - just one trying on some new shoes for a bit.

I would love for you all to join me as I brave the new frontiers, and I will be sharing more about this in the coming months, as I break in those new shoes.

And have no fear - I have a romance all outlined for NaNoWriMo this year! With luck, at least two of those aforementioned projects will be in the can by then, at least in draft form, now that I have a bit of a break from teaching.

One last note before I end this ramble: Some New News.

The Editors at Rebel Ink Press and I have tentatively agreed to include a new story in the collection, which will be exclusive to that bundle/paperback!

Reached by Facebook consensus, the holiday I am tackling is St Patrick's Day, and, like the other stories, it features a miss-matched couple flung together over thew course of a holiday. Also like the other ones, it will be a slight homage to some of the romance subgenres I have loved over the years. This one plays with "single dad," "small town" and "travel romance" tropes, especially those made great by the HQ SuperRomance lines - only, you know, erotic. I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of it!

I'm rusty at it, I find. I hadn't expected to be back writing sizzle and snogging so quickly. But, it's also kind of fun, and I look forward to seeing what becomes of it.

And, for the paperback I've dreamed of for so long, it's totally worth it!

Question for You: What's on your Editing Hit List?

This past week and a bit, I have been slaving away trying to whip my WIP into shape, scouring it for typos and plot holes, strengthening the little threads, and punching up the dialogue. This week, I'm opening up my dirty little editing secrets in a series of three posts exploring my worst weaknesses, but there are other little habits that I also have to watch for: forgetting to use contractions when necessary, using way too many purple adverbs, reusing phrases that I love a bit too much... The list goes on and on.

I think it's useful and important when a writer knows their bad writing habits, especially in editing.

So, today's question: What little foibles are you constantly fixing in your work in post-production or on the look out for during writing? If you are an editor or a reader, which bad habits do you hate most?

Leave a comment, and let me know what you think!

Excerpt Sunday: NaNo Project 2010 in Editing...

It feels good to be posting excerpts again!

Here is a short chapter from my contemporary romance novel currently being edited for submission. It doesn't have a definite title yet - so, if you have suggestions, let me know.

The premise is Libby, a single mom who has been burned by romance to the point of rejecting the possibility of lasting love, is in the odd position of writing romances by night, while, by day, she is a university professor who does research debunking the social construction of "love." Against her will, she meets a man, Seth - an ex-cop taking one of her classes - who is determined to change her mind. Unfortunately, Seth has troubles of his own, including a spoiled teenaged daughter who he's raised alone and who is nearly driving him to drink, and an ex-wife from hell.

Please, remember this is rough and not full edited.

Enjoy!

Sitting up in bed, Seth was trying to read The Bell Jar, but the young girl angst of it was rather lost on him, and he found himself re-reading the same sections over and over again as his mind wandered to the day. It had been nice to see Libby and Charlie, but he wouldn’t blame her if she chose to run for the hills in the wake of Kelsey’s behaviour. Something had to break there.

Turning back a page, and trying unsuccessfully to force himself to comprehend the words, he was almost grateful when his cell phone rang. He fished it out of his jeans, which lay in a heap beside his bed, and flipped it open.

“Seth?” He recognized Jami’s ashy voice immediately, and sighed involuntarily. It was a funny thing, having an ex and a child – most people get to leave their ex and not talk to them again, but when you share a child, you are never able to truly get away from that person. But, no matter how many times they had talked about Kelsey since their breakup, he never really got used to hearing from her, and almost always felt like he was holding his breath until it was over.

“Hi Jami,” he muttered, snapping his little hardcover book shut with a bit more force than needed and tossing it to the foot of the bed. “Everything okay?”

“I just got off the phone with Kelsey.”

“I’m not surprised,” he sighed again.

“She said you guys were fighting,” Jami accused him. “She was crying.”

“We weren’t fighting. We were disagreeing.”

“Not the way she tells it!” Jami snapped at him. “She says you brought a woman home.”

“Oh yeah,” Seth said. “I had a few strippers in.”

“This isn’t funny,” Jami said in a warning tone.

“How many men have you had since you left?” Seth said, wondering why he was the only one they all expected to live in total celibacy.

“That’s not the point,” Jami replied, her tone dripping with condescension.

“No, I guess it isn’t, since Kelsey has been living with me for the past six years,” Seth shot back.

“Seth!”

“I know,” he relented. “Low blow, I know.”

“Kelsey doesn’t like it when you parade your women in front of her, and she says you know that.”

“Jami,” Seth said in a reasonable tone, “I have dated a total of three women in the past six years, and none of those I brought home – Kelsey demanded I break those off by remote, and, since I wasn’t all that attached, I gave in. This one woman I invited to lunch, with her son, because she’s... special to me. I would hardly call that parading anything in front of Kelsey. And this time,” he added, “I will not be just letting her have her way.”

“So you don’t care that Kelsey is feeling very vulnerable right now about losing her father?”

“I am her father,” Seth said, controlling his temper, “and that will never change. She is not threatened by my love life. No more than she is by yours, right?”

Jami huffed, but did not argue.

“I have let Kelsey run things all along,” he said, “but no more. Not this time.”

“Then let her move in here,” Jami answered casually.

“Ah,” Seth said, almost feeling like chuckling. “So now we get to the root of all this indignation.”

“I have the right to have her with me, Seth,” Jami argued.

“Why now?” he asked. “Why after all this time do you want her now?”

“Ken wants us to be a real family.”

“Jami,” he warned, “if you want to win me over, saying your new boyfriend has an odd desire for our teenaged daughter to move in there is not the way to do it.”

“You’re sick,” she snapped. “All you cops, you have sick minds, and think everyone is the same.”

“If by “sick” you mean “cautious,” then fine – guilty as charged,” he shrugged. “But I am not rushing into this. Better to have everyone crying at me than to be sorry for it later.”

“You can’t keep us a part forever,” Jami warned. “And she’ll end up hating you.”

Seth closed his eyes a moment, wondering what everyone wanted from him. He was the one that stayed, but it was him, and not her mother, that Kelsey fought and accused. He tried to sit aside this bitterness to focus on the conversation.

“I need to meet this Ken,” Seth said. “I told you that before. If you keep stalling on that, I will never consent on Kelsey living there.”

“Do I get to grill your new lady friend to see if she’s safe for Kelsey, too?” his ex sassed at him like a child taunting an unwelcome authority figure.

“If you feel the need,” Seth said, evenly, calmly nailing the point home. “But be warned, you can’t hold a candle to her.”

“Why? Because she was trapped in some meaningless university while some of us were leading real lives?” she spat back.

“No,” Seth said in a voice that was soft but pinned with iron. “Mostly because when things got rough for her, she never questioned her loyalty to her child.”

“You can’t keep Kelsey away from me, no matter how much you and your new little rich bitch want to punish me,” Jami hissed as she poured her venom into the phone and slammed it down.

Shaking his head, he wondered what he had ever seen in his ex, who now seemed vulgar and shallow to him. Seth switched off the lamp and snapped his phone shut, and rested against the head board. No longer able to even pretend to read, he stared into the darkness of the room he had never shared with a woman and felt the loneliness of nighttime sink into his bones. How he ached to be able to turn to Libby in that bed and seek comfort in her arms. Instead, he sat there, alone, and miserable, wondering again what everyone wanted from him.

Sliding a finger against the smooth dark wine colored plastic of his cell, he flipped it open again and hit an auto-number.

“Hi there,” Libby’s voice came over the wires like a cup of warm milk. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he said, kicking his legs under the covers, and sliding down on the pillow. “Trying to read The Bell Jar, but I gave up. You?”

“Trying to write a lecture on The Bell Jar, and refusing to give up,” she answered with a chuckle.

“Thanks for coming over today,” Seth said in a near whisper. “I like seeing you.”

“I like seeing you, too,” she admitted softly, and, for a moment, they held an intimacy of their voices, and Seth rested his head in the dark room and pretended she spoke to him from the empty pillow beside him.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

They sat in silence a moment, and he thought he could hear her faint breath, and a wonderful drowsiness filled him.

“So,” he smiled, “what are you wearing?”

She laughed in surprise at his cheekiness. “Uh uh,” she said, “no premarital phone sex for me.”

“Okay,” he said without batting an eye. “Marry me, and then I’ll call you.”

“Be careful joking about that,” she laughed, “or some girl might take you up on it.”

“I can only hope,” he said with a yawn.

“I hope you can sleep,” she said softly.

“I know I’ll have sweet dreams when I do,” he promised, thinking of their hungry kisses from the afternoon.

“I hope so,” she said, almost in a purr that went straight to his nervous system and sent tingles through him. “Good night, Seth.”

“Night, Libby,” he whispered, and longed to kiss her good night.

Closing his phone again, feeling instantly better from his encounter with Jami, he sat the cell on the empty pillow beside him and looked at in the moonlight streaming in through the window.

And he slept, almost as if he was no longer alone.

Daily Dose of Frustration: Non-"Zany" Need Not Apply

Right now, I looking for a publisher for my new novel - my NaNo story, which is currently in editing and re-writing. I am hoping to submit by the fall, so I'm casting around for the best shot for publishing. I am looking for something mid-class this time - not too small, but not too lofty, either. Some company that sees half decent sales, makes some token effort at marketing and can help me produce a quality book. Not too huge a list of wants.

This week, I came across this lovely little snippet on a submission instructions page of a mid-range ebook pub:

Contemporary Romance: Fun and whimsical, these books should showcase your sense of humor and focus on a modern couple in a zany situation.

"Zany"?

Really?

Zany only, huh?

Damn you Bridget Jones. Damn you.

So, fine. I understand that people like zany. I can appreciate that. I love Bridget Jones, actually. But, honestly, is this the only market out there? Readers only want to read zany romance (if it doesn't involve sulky vampires, that is)?

My NaNo novel is not a zany romance, nor is Strings Attached. Now, this does not mean I am devoid of humour (in fact, my new WIP is a comedy), but these first couple of full lengths are serious contemporary romances. Not quite melodrama, but focusing on honest emotions and mature, realistic people. Not zany people.

(Zany people are, like, girls who wear red dresses a lot, which randomly get blown up by the wind, right, and inexplicably carry bunches of daisies way too often? Zany guys, I can only assume, wear a messenger bag all the time.)

(Yeah, I don't have any of those.)

So, it seems I am simply not zany enough for the category of contemporary romance in today's market.

Perhaps I should see if I can re-write into it a pouty nosferatu as Plan B...

News!

Well, not only do I have my new release announced recently from Wicked Nights, but I just today got another holiday short accepted from another company - details to follow after the paper work all goes through! I am very excited that these two great stories will make it into print in time for Christmas 2010, and I hope you enjoy them!

In sundry tidbits, I have done a few more interviews, so those should run soon - I will link them when they show up. And I will be guest blogging at Wicked Muses soon, as well. In addition, I may have a few new covers to show you soon, so that's always exciting. I have been taking a short break from writing, but will be hitting the keys again very soon. I am behind in updating my websites, so I will get to that very soon, when I can keep my eyes open.

Also... In other news... I just officially joined NaNo!

*gulp*

The State of Things

I've been thinking about my WIPs schedule... I think I have decided to put the Valentine's Short I wanted to do this week on hold.

A major reason is that my schedule is kind of tight (that short at 7-12k, then a free short for my website at 2-4k, along with some academic stuff I have to, plus all my "real life" stuff, etc).

But most of all, I am feeling kind of tired of writing - since mid-Sept, I have produced a short paranormal erotic (9k), a short holiday romance (12k) and a short Xmas erotic (12k) - one of which is released, one soon be released and the other currently under consideration... I have also finished one short magazine article, and a rough draft of an academic chapter.

I feel like maybe my squid is out of ink for now and I might want to take a couple weeks off.

I am not the type to admit defeat, but I think I might on this one, and just reschedule things a bit. Three shorts and a full length this one term, I don't want to chuck in a super-short and a V'Day short and get all stale and lose the fun of writing. Not to mention ruin the quality!

The only thing that makes me hesitate on setting the Valentines short aside is that I was hoping to submit it for an anthology, and the deadline is looming. However, perhaps I could just publish it as a single short somewhere around January if I have to take a miss on the anthology.

The 2-4k free short is not a big burden, so I will do that, and I do want/need to do the academic piece... but I ask myself, why take on the Valentine's Day short right now? Do I need it? Perhaps I have been prolific enough for the time being. I don't have to throw it away entirely, but maybe save it until after my full length is written in November (poss for NaNoWriMo).

So, I think I might put it off until December, after WriMo, during the editing phase. My schedule now is finishing the academic chapter and the free read in October, do the full-length in November, and the V'Day short in December while I edit my NaNo project. I think that seems a bit more doable.

All I know is, if I over-reach too far, the writing might go blah... then what is the point?

Thanks for listening to me think out loud, folks.

Now for Something Brand New...

Here's a little taste of something I wrote this week! (Unedited and raw, so please forgive me.)

So, get into the Christmas spirit in October, and enjoy a small taste of my holiday short, tentatively entitled Un-Scrooged:

Can a free spirited Canadian grad student in England loosen up a misanthropic writer, and bring him home for Christmas?

That early autumn day in late September seemed to start a chain reaction in which Kale and Molly were flung into each other's path by some mercurial fate that scoffed at their mutual desire to avoid one another. Despite his efficacy at staying out of her way the whole first month she lived at the house, Kale now had no luck whatsoever. At the local shops, in the yard, in the front hall... she seemed to be everywhere now, which was not in keeping with his plans.

When Kale was in the middle of a book, he preferred to isolate himself from all outside influences. Otherwise, he found strange impulses creeping into his writing, such as the sweet natured character with long dark hair and warm hazel eyes that kept sneaking into the periphery of his latest work in progress, who he had to admit was Molly in disguise.

Once, the pair even literally ran into each other at the mailboxes, when she came barging into the small space as he turned to stride out. Neither had noticed each other until their torsos had collided. Instinctively, he brought his glove-clad hands up to her fleece-covered arms to steady her, and she noticed again the attractive scent of sandalwood. He detected the slight tinge of cinnamon on her breath as she puffed in surprize, and for a moment all thought fled from his brain as he stared into wide, hazel eyes, fringed with impossibly dark lashes. He couldn't remember the last time his mind was completely blank while working on a book, but at that moment, he would have been hard pressed to recall his own name.

"Steady on," he murmured, realizing he should say something.

"Hi," she breathed, simply, and, almost reluctantly, made to move past him.

Her flatmate Colby, in their infrequent discussions of the other inmates of the building, had dismissed Kale McKinnon as "weird and old," but right then Molly saw him as nothing like old or weird. True, he had some eccentric qualities, but at that moment, his oddities were more intriguing than anything else. And no one who felt so firm and vital could be considered old. Her heartbeat, at least, rapped out a tattoo that told her she was in the presence of vibrant maleness, a feeling to which she was not normally prone.

"Hi again," he said, softly, taking unfamiliar pleasure in her pretty blush.

Molly stood aside and let him pass, and watched as he exited the building. If she were more like Colby, she thought, she would say he had a "great butt," and smiled impishly at the thought. But, no - she was just Molly, and she didn't have those kinds of thoughts about men she barely knew.

Even though it was true.

ETA: This story was later renamed Unwrapping Scrooge.

Two New WIPs Added

I know... I am nuts.

I just dove into my holiday story (which I was slacking on), and now I just added two new WIPs to the pot.

One, I am hoping to get into an anthology somewhere for Valentine's Day. I won't share the plot yet, and it has no title right now, but I have an inkling of what it will be about, and it will likely be M/F contemporary sensual, and I hope it will be around 7,000 words.

The second is to be a short erotic holiday story, around 5,000 words.

I'll let you know how they progress.

Excerpt Sundays: A Small Taste of "Waking"

Just for fun, I thought I would switch gears and post a small snippet from the paranormal erotic I wrote this week - largely unedited, but I like it.

The story involves a rigidly structured estate assessor who finds a bit more than she bargained for in the back of an old cupboard... Enjoy!

His hair was a crowning glory, long and wild, with pitch black curls tangled together, as if he had just come from a fight or a session of wild sex. Or as if he had just fallen from the sky.

He seemed very real. And she wanted him.

"Are you a demon?" Suddenly, the realization that she should probably be scared for her life occurred to her.

His sudden smile was nearly a sneer as he drew his lovely, plump lips up over even, white teeth. "Some might call me that, yes," he answered. "But I am older than that mythology, I believe."

"What do you call yourself?"

"Myself," he shrugged with disinterest, smoothing a palm over her blanket-clad hip. "Mortals are so obsessed with labels and designations," he sighed. "It would be amusing if it didn't make for such dull thinking."

She sighed as his hand slid to cup her buttocks.

"Some have called me Eros. Others, Lucifer," again he shrugged. "I am both of those things, and neither. I am what you want me to be. I am whatever is needed by the woman I serve."

Current Progress

So, my paranormal erotic is over the length I had planned on, but it is done in draft. I hope to have it proofed for a couple obliging test-readers by Sunday night, so if you've volunteered, expect it coming your way soon. I plan to spend at least a week away from it, so no rush.

I also now have a derailed 5 page synopsis and overview (with outline) of the holiday story, which, at 10-15K, should be written in draft in about 2 weeks. *cross fingers*

Then I have a few dull academic things to finish up.

Then it is back to the full length, diligently, in November (finished by New Year's Eve).

So, there's the skinny. *whew*

Writing Wednesday: My Progress

I have been astonished to see how well the 1k a day goal is working this week, as it forces me to write even when I don't really "feel like it."

My paranormal erotic short story is now just over 5,000 words (so much for my 4,000 plan!), and is only one scene and the ending away from completion! I want to finish it today, so I can let it simmer for a few days before I edit. Perhaps this Sunday, I can give you a small excerpt!

I have decided to name it "Waking," for reasons I hope you will perceive when you read it.

I actually think it's quite good, though writing erotica did take some getting used to. My contemporary romance always contains erotic scenes, but nothing this far out, and nothing this descriptive. It has been a challenge, but I think I have risen to the task.

My next project is my holiday romance (as of yet untitled), which will be contemporary and far sweeter, though sexual attraction will play into a good deal. I hope to have this finished by mid-October, if luck and words are with me.

Then, of course, it will be back to my full length contemporary.

I am so glad I got my nose back to the grindstone. There for a while, I was feeling like such a poser - talking about being a writer, but not actually writing. It feels great to follow through with actual words on paper. I can't wait for my releases!

I close with a few words from Philip Roth (my mantra these days):

"Amateurs wait for inspiration; professionals merely get up

and go to work every day."

~*~

Progress...

I decided to put a WIP ("work in progress") progress box on the blog - see sidebar to the left.

This addition is so I can be better motivated to make steady progress, instead of slacking off or fiddling with designs for the future when I have current works that need my efforts and attention. I got the idea from one of my favourite new blogs, Heroines with Hearts.

So, the long and the short of it is that this past month has been a wash in terms of actual words accumulated, and I really need to hustle to get these things done.

This progress box shames me. Time to get to work, so I can enjoy watching those numbers climb... and start slapping DONE on them!

EXCITEMENT she Wrote!

So, folks, I have decided to haul some butt and try to get a short erotic piece and a short holiday piece out and published some place before Christmas. The erotic will be a dark paranormal, and the holiday will be a contemporary - I'll share more details when I have them available, but I'm already really hyped up on the concepts!

This is in the hopes that this will give readers a chance to "sample" me at a low price.

I know it is difficult to part with the full price on a full length novel with no idea about the quality of the author - I hope the chance to buy a piece of my work for a buck or two will give you some incentive to take a chance on my longer work, coming out (tentatively) in May 2011.

Of course, work on the new full length contemporary I have already started for this season will still continue - these will be in addition to my continued efforts to produce full length pieces. In my "spare time," whatever that is! :)

So, sleeves pushed up... It's off to work I go.

The New Book!

I am already working on my new project. It's a contemporary romance set in the most romantic place on earth. What? Paris, you suggest? Pfft! Not a chance! It's set in fantastic, exotic Ohio, peeps!

It's about a gal, Libby, and her little son, and a guy, Seth, and his teenage daughter, and the ups and downs of trying again when you've got kids. There's a bit of mayhem, and a little stress, but with any luck I will be able to give them the happily ever after we all love to see.

It's quite a bit different from my first book, Strings Attached, but I hope you'll like them both. I'm not sure when or where it will be published, but I'll be sure to keep you posted on that front!

OK... Now back to writing...