Still thinking of a title...

Er, for this blog post, I mean. Heh. So, pretty productive weekend. I wrapped up the climactic scene in Book 2, and today I will tackle the aftermath, and then, hopefully tomorrow, the wrap up.

And very, very good news . . . I found my toothbrush. It was lost for two days, and I had to use my spare, which I do not like. So, um, guess where I found it this morning? In the middle of the dirty clothes hamper. Ah, the joys of children. :D Looks like a new toothbrush is on the list o' things to get at the store today.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Weekly tally

Was just sitting here realizing my tally for the week:

Monday: 10 pages
Tuesday: 20 pages
Wednesday: 15 pages
Thursday: 13 Pages
Friday: 12 pages
Saturday (today): 10 pages

That's 80 pages for the week. :D This makes me happy. I shall make my goal of finishing this book by the end of the month. In fact, I have 2-3 more chapters to go. (I think.) And, yeah, most of the time I count in words, but I felt like counting in pages this week.

By the Power of Grayskull!

I have the Power! Okay, I'm having a He-Man moment. :D

But seriously, I really am The Master of My Universe. (You liked how I capped that didn't you?). This is why I love fantasy. I make the rules. As a writer, I am not bound by every single law and rule of our world, but by the laws and rules of the world I created. This might be Kelly with a god complex, I'm not sure. Heh. But, I do get to be the creator in my own world. And I get seriously excited creating world features and details that no one has ever seen before. Those are the gems, the treasures I get to discover and bring to light in my world. And some of the best writing moments I have.

I am Prince Adam by day, but He-man by light of the PC. Off to protect my manuscript against the evil forces of Skeletor (aka distraction, snacks, and internet surfing)!

Time warp

I don't know if any of you writers out there ever experience the 'time warp'. You know, when you just lived through 2 insane days with your characters, and then you get up to get something to drink and realize only two hours in real time has passed? Yet you feel like you just lived those 2 days? Is it just me? Am I losing my mind and need a physical therapist? :D

Anyway . . . Wrote an entire chapter yesterday, which came in at exactly twenty pages, and today I logged fifteen. I need about six more chapters and then the rough draft will be done. It's flying now, and I'm really digging what happened to Charlie yesterday and today. I don't think she's digging it, though, 'cus the last two days have been rough on her. ;-)

Another day

Another chapter to be written.

I've taken down my word meter for the time being, and put up links where you can find THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS available for pre-order. Yes, I said pre-order! How cool is that? :D

I hope to finish the rough draft of Book 2 by the end of this month. That'll leave me with a month to rewrite, set aside for a few days (to give me some distance and perspective), and then enough time to polish.

And more words o' wisdom from the 8 yr old: If you're losing your mind, go see a physical therapist.

Zombies, buttered bread & the Jonas Bros.

What do these three things have in common, you might wonder?

They were all in my dream early this morning . . . It was Jo Bros v. Zombies in Kelly's Thunderdome, all competing for a delicious piece of buttered bread. Yum.

Okay, back to writing. Will try not to add any Zombies or teen pop stars in my next scene. :D

Oh, and my car started yesterday, so I was able to pick up the boy child, and take him to daycare this morning.

My car caught fire

Yeah. You read that right. My dang car caught fire.

In the daycare parking lot (which seems to be a curse for my car), I turned the ignition (which I have to do in neutral now b/c it won't start in 'park' - won't even go into 'park' ever.), and there was a loud pop, a sizzle, and smoke started pouring out of the seams in the hood. Small electrical fire.

And you know what. I was so mad, so pissed, that I stood there and let it burn out, then I started the freaking thing and drove it home. Ha! Damn car. I have no idea if it will start again. Hub, of course, is out of town, and my kid might be stuck at daycare.

As some of you might remember, the thing has been giving me trouble for a while now. It does have 140,000 miles, and I always said I'd drive it until it died . . . Oy. I'm screwed. Can't buy a new car right now. Can't buy new car means can't take kid to daycare. No day care means no big word-counts.

Bah.

Popping on . . .

That's me. Popping on to say hello, and Happy St. Pattie's.

Writing. A lot.

And whilst I'm here lemme just say that my favorite technique of late -- when coming to a spot/wall/wondering what the heck happens next -- is to think of thee most unexpected thing that could possibly happen, and then make it so. Keeps me on my toes, and has made for some very interesting twists . . .

Oh, and words o' wisdom from the kid on this holiday: "If you toot in the car, that means there's a police officer nearby." :D

Popping off . . .

Revisions accepted

Aaaaaahhhhh. That's me taking a minute to enjoy the relief. :D

The revisions for THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS have been accepted! My editor really seemed to dig the changes and had some really great things to say about the book. Yay! Y'all don't know how anxious I was about the whole thing. You know, hoping he liked the changes, hoping I wouldn't have to do another round, and hoping I hadn't screwed up the entire book . . .

So now it's moving on to the next phase of its young life. Copy edits will come next, I believe. I'll be getting a production schedule, and the book will be going out for some initial quotes.

Now that that's done, I can really sink my teeth into Book 2. I held back a little, just b/c I wasn't sure if Book 1 was a 'go' and didn't want get too invested in certain plot ideas for B2 when I wasn't sure if they'd be accepted or not. But now that I know everything is cool -- off I go. :D

Release Date!

Been sitting on this for a few, but now I have permission to share. The release date for THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS will be November 24, 2009.

It's already available for pre-order here on Amazon.com. And here at Borders.com, which just tickles me to no end.

So a little longer wait than first anticipated. Sorry you guys! But the really good news is that the book is coming out in mass market paperback versus what was originally planned (trade), thus a lighter load on the wallet, and in this economy, that's great news for the pocketbooks of my future readers! Plus, the date is perfect for holiday shopping and the new mass market size should fit quite nicely into a Christmas stocking. :D

I dub thee Steve

I always write my books with a title already in place -- okay, correction -- I have always written my books with a title. Current manuscript does not have a title. It's really starting to bug me. There's something so uninspiring about working on "untitled" or 'Book 2".

So I henceforth dub said manuscript as 'Steve'. Why? Well, because everything unknown in my house is called 'Steve', due to the night my daughter was watching Jeopardy with us and spontaneously shouted out "Steve!" to some question about 18th century artists. Picture us rolling on the floor in tears.

I do need a real title, though . . .

On the right writing path

After cutting a major portion of what I'd previously written on Book 2, I finally found the way back into Charlie's story. There were a few moments of panic (picture lots of head banging, eating snacks for inspiration, pacing,staring off into space, and asking Charlie and the powers that be to reveal everything in my dreams -- yeah, that one didn't happen . . .), but after looking at things from every angle, reading through Book 1, and finally admitting to myself that I had to scrap several chapters (though saved in another file in case they're needed later on), I found the right path for this book. And how do I know, you might ask? I can only say it's a feeling, a feeling of not 'forcing' things.

I think if I'd been stubborn and stuck with what I had previously, I would've kept banging my head against the wall, and wasted a lot of time on something I knew wasn't 'right'. So, don't be afraid to cut (though always save just in case!), and start fresh. I'm a big proponent of working through the tough spots, but if a tough spot, or the entire story, hardens around you like cement, then it might be time to start thinking about scrapping and starting again. But only you can know when that time comes.

Thankfully, I'm out of that mess and moving forward into gruesome crime scenes, ancient scrolls, inter-dimensional gateways, and a very cool (if I do say so myself) archaeological find.

So yeah

Missing a post from yesterday. I'd blame it on Blogger issues, but, um, it was me being all accidental like.

I'll be back to post this evening. Stop. Have to write. Stop. Considering nixing everything but first chapter. Stop. Someone send help soon. Stop.

:D

Book 2

Writing a second book in a series is a first for me. And it comes with all sorts of concerns. Can I carry the voice, and create (and stick to) a story arc that encompasses the series? Will I get tired of writing the same characters again? Will the second book be as fresh and engaging as the first?

Last night, I turned my attention back to Book 2 with all those worries and hopes in mind. I'd already written the first 100 pages, so I immersed myself in those pages to get back into the voice and characters. And you know what? From the very first line, I was smiling. Smiling because that line (of dialogue) was so Charlie Madigan, my heroine. There she was being Charlie -- impatient, brave, bold, and totally vexed with her captivating, untroubled partner.

Those writing worries are still worries. I think that's what makes me try for perfection everytime I write. But they aren't in the forefront of my mind. I'm back in my universe, in the world of Underground Atlanta, where things are familiar, my characters known, and my story taking fight once more . . .

As for the YA, I had to stop just shy of finishing the rough draft. I can see the ending clearly, so it won't take much to get back into it. But I did finish the proposal, had some great feedback from Jenna, revised a bit, and sent it off to yon agent for review.