Oh infamous day

Today is my birthday.  It feels kind of weird.  My kids aren't here.  The Hub is gone (at work), and I'm all alone with my coffee, my bowl of M&Ms, and my Mac.  Kind of nice.  Kind of weird. But then, my birthday always feels somewhat weird to me . . .  weird, huh?   ;-)  

We might go to the beach this weekend, which would be the coolest thing evah.   Love the beach!

Character takeover

So, I'm writing.  A lot.  I think I have this entire story in my head; the main things anyway.  But something happened last night that totally stunned me.  One of my characters took over.  She committed a terrible, terrible crime.  She wasn't supposed to.  In fact, she wasn't supposed to play a major role or have such an intense past.  She's just a child, really.

I kept writing, though, and let her take me where she wanted to go, and holy hell . . .  My heart was pounding by the time she finished having her way.  I can't believe I wrote what I did.  It's raw, and unexpected.  And so totally cool for the story!  It fits in so well, and will tie in nicely through-out, and wrap up the ending even better than I'd envisioned.

I've had characters go their own way before, but this was just really out-there.  How 'bout you guys?  This ever happen before? 

Linkage

My agent, Colleen Lindsay, has a great post on the importance of your "hook".  Well worth reading.

And FinePrint Literary Management has launched their agency blog.  Definitely one to bookmark as you'll get the experiences, opinions and advice of all the great agents at FinePrint!

Writing the bible

Hindsight is a bitch.  And she's been laughing at me all week.  Looking back, I realize I should have organized Underground Atlanta (the setting for THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS), and Charlie's world as I was writing the book, or when a new fact came to me.  

You see, had I done this, writing B2 would be much easier.  But, no.  I didn't.  I have notes scattered everywhere in three different notebooks.  I now have to go back into B1 and check facts and locales and little incidentals.  If I had a nicely organized notebook with subject tabs, I could just flip to a subject and get my info quickly.  Yeah, I know, it should all be in my head, right?  I mean, I created this world and these characters.  And yet I forget small details, little things, like:  What did that particular character smell like?  Or what shade of blue was her eyes?  Did she wear the Heftie (weapon) in her left holster or was it her right?   

So, I'm organizing a series bible.  Character descriptions, settings, beings, histories of my worlds, factions, etc . . .  are all being gleaned from B1, and my notes, and put into this bible.  I should have done this sooner!  

Has anyone else put together a bible?  How did you organize yours?  Any tips or secrets you want to share to make this job easier?  This curious mind wants to know.    :)

Lazy Days

It's hot.  It's humid.  Rainforest humid.  Go outside and you're drenched in a matter of minutes.  Even the air conditioning is struggling.  

Things seem quiet everywhere.  In town.  Online.  A lot of my writing pals are getting ready for conference, and I'm kinda missing the fact that I won't be attending this year.  Ah well, I can't complain; the next two weeks are going to be heaven for me.  Yes.  Heaven.  Despite the heat.   The children are spending time away with their grandparents, auntie and cousins.  The house will be eerily silent.

YES!!!  

Kelly shall be writing.  And that, my friends, is heaven.  ;-)  

Doggie bubbles

So I was doing my usual blog surfing and came across Jeaniene Frost's post about her dog eating raisins, which reminded me of a similar experience when Yeager (my dog) ate an entire bar of soap.  After calling the vet, she told me to give him peroxide to induce vomiting.  We were concerned about getting him to take it, but it turned out it wasn't a worry because (obviously) the dog eats anything -- soap, rocks, socks, and apparently peroxide, which he licked straight out of a cereal bowl.  She also told me to be prepared for the bubbles.

So he and I walk into the back yard and he starts farting bubbles.  OMG.  I almost died.  I swear to God, bubbles came out of his ass.  And his nose.  I felt sorry for him, but it was the funniest damn thing I'd ever seen.  Finally, he threw up the soap.  And for the rest of the night, he let these horrible little bubble stinkers . . .

Beware the dog who eats soap!  

Rough drafts

I write short rough drafts.  65,000/70,000 words give or take.  I write fast, getting the rough draft down in a few weeks, all the dialogue and scenes that are already in my head.  If it's not coming to me, I skip over it and continue.  I don't like to stop and think about whatever it is that's not coming.  So in those places, I put notes in the comments of Track Changes.  Research this.  More description.  Why is she doing this?  He needs to get pissed and let her have it.  And a lot of other stuff.  

When I got that skeleton-story existing in my head complete, then I go back.  This is the fun part.  Now I have a playground in which to play.  I love to look at a page and figure out how to make it better, what things I can flesh out, mold, and shape, and really get into.  I love reading the notes and taking things one step further.  This is where I dig deep, work on internal motivations, reasons, main and sub plots and relationships.  I'm a crafter.  A weaver.  I'll make several passes on the manuscript, and eventually, almost always, I come in between 90,000 to 100,000 words.  It just ends up that way.  

Some writers naturally write longer rough drafts.  They flesh out everything as they go from the very beginning.  Some go over word count and then cut.  Their process is right for them.  The creative mind and the creative process is unique, in some way, for each person.  And there's no wrong way to do it.  I love my process.  This is how I write, and it works for me.  So, how do you write?

A bright spot

Amid the joy that is laundry day, clean sheets day, vacuuming, blah, blah, blah, there was a bright spot -- Melissa Marr's Ink Exchange came today!!  Yippeeee!!  

((sigh))  Back to household chores . . .

Interviews & Chocolate go hand in hand . . .

Good Morning!  I'm happy to report that my first author interview is up at Keli Gwyn's blog, Romance Writers on the Journey.

Please stop by if you can; I'd really appreciate it.  And if you comment, you could win some very yummy chocolate!  What could be better than that?  I'll be stopping by throughout the day to answer questions and respond to comments.  It should be fun.   See you there!

Writing in a vacuum

So, I had lunch with my CP, Jenna Black, on Friday.  It's been a while since we've seen each other. We used to meet once a week, but then things kind of trailed off . . .  Anyway, we touched on the subject of writing in the vacuum.  And I'm sure many of you know what I mean.   Besides, having another eye when it comes to your writing, I think it's healthy for us introverts to actually get out once in a while.  We need to talk to other writers, and share experiences, and learn new things.  Even in a non-critiquing capacity.  Just to be around folks who know what the writing life is all about; folks who can relate.  It's nice to have that in a life often filled with solitary work.  Those once a month writing chapter meetings are a great time to socialize, pick up new info and chill with other writers.  Conferences, events, whatever . . .  ya know?  Anything to make you get out of those pajama pants, fix your hair, and escape from the writing den.  

This from a person who is never able to make her monthly chapter meetings, and is often forced by others to leave the house.  I can get very hermit-like.  But, after having lunch, I realized how much I've missed the interaction, how I need to make it a habit again, and how invigorating and inspiring it can be to just sit and talk to another writer.  

New website look

If anyone has time, please check mine out.  So far it looks good in Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Safari -- still having a few issues.  I'm curious to know how it looks in other's browsers.  There's a few more links and some additional content I need to add, but mostly it's complete.  Oh, and do you like the angel in the pic or no?  I'm not sold on it, but the Hub likes it.     

Organic writing

Or, as many call it, writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.  The Pantser.  This is not me.  Okay, well, that's not totally true.  I'm becoming more of a non-planner these days.  Usually, I have everything mapped out.  I need to know what to write, where the story is going, and what the next scene entails.  But lately I find myself not bothering.  Some neat things are evolving with B2 that I hadn't planned on, scenes I hadn't envisioned when I wrote the synopsis for the book.  I mean, the synopsis was only two pages long, but that overall story I had in my head -- well, some scenes are just popping out of nowhere.  It's like I'm writing blind.  Not reading it as I write, not thinking ahead, it's like I'm watching it unfold as my fingers type the words.  Totally bizarre.  But it's cool when something suddenly fits together with something I'd planned ahead of time, and I didn't even mean it to.      

I think I'm a comma-aholic.   I've been using them at the oddest places and when it's totally unnecessary.  It's like I have to use one .  .  . must resist!

My Precious

Hope everyone had a nice Holiday weekend.  I did, for my Alpha Smart came and I got a boat load of writing done.  I love it, cherish it, get tickled pink by the light weight, no wires, the two AA batteries that will keep it running for nearly a year, and more than anything I love that sense of glee when I plug it into the PC, hit send, and see all my words start magically speed-typing across the screen.  Dude.  It's the best.  I took it to the coffee shop on Friday and wrote 17 pages, came home and wrote 6 more pages.  I think over the entire weekend I amassed a little more than 50 pages.    

Busy little bee

I love Gladiator (the movie).  Anyway, busy here working on B2 (Book Two), so I'll make this short.  Some cool giveaways happening on blogs -- Rachel Vincent and Jocelynn Drake.  Oh, and Gena Showalter has a little Q&A on her Lords of the Underworld series (which, if you haven't been exposed to the awesomeness that is Gena's imagination, go now and immerse yourself.  You won't regret it.)  

What is it with me and parenthesis today?