TAG!

Angela tagged me for this Name Game:

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Christine

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle)
Chrizzle. LOL

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last)
Cabo. I sound like a chocolate bar.

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Green Platypus. Not very intimidating. :)


5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on):
Alyse Timber. Sexy!

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name)
Dabchwal. I say that and have the urge to apologize.

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink)
Green Sangria. Fear me!!

8. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dad’s middle name, 1st letter of a sibling’s first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Hbaacah. ???

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray)
Orange Melon. ROFL!!!!!

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name)
Rose Michael. I like this one.

Anyone looking for a tag? How about Kelly, Joely, and Alyssa. Or Maureen!

The Great Agent Search

One of my goals this year was to try and find an agent. I hadn't really planned on doing very much on that front until later on in the year. To be honest the prospect of sending out to agents was scarier than submitting to an editor. I'm not sure why. :)

However, as I'm approaching the end of my edits of All Bottled Up, my mind is debating what to do with the completed manuscript. I know I could submit it to a few publishers myself, but is that the best route for me at this time. After talking it over with my husband, I think I'm going to spend another week or so polishing it up, and then I'll try submitting to a few agents. EEK!

Now this means I need to do some homework. As this is completely virgin territory for me I want to make sure I'm making an informed decision. I'll be looking for someone who will want to be with me for the long haul. Someone who will be there to not only sell my book, but to help me build a career.

So tonight when I get home, I'm going to log onto to RWA site and start writing down some names. Then off to their sites and submission guidelines. :)

Getting a website

The past week has been a flurry of emails back and forth between myself and Moonglade Designs. The amazingly wonderful M.L. is building me a website. I can't wait to show everyone what an awesome job she's done!

But it did bring a few things to light for me. Things that I hadn't considered before I went down this road. I didn't know the first thing about a web host and what they do. And that there are lots of people who can build a functional site, but will the visual appeal be what I want it to be. Present the image I want as an author.

I wanted a professional sleek look. I've been fortunate enough to see some really excellent websites from members of the various writers groups I belong to. This was my gauge. I wanted mine to be on that caliber.

My advice if you don't have a site and want to get one, is do your research. Get examples of sites you like. Then, go out and get at least three quotes from professionals. If you have family and friends offer to do the site for you, let them know that this is a business - your business. You want to have the best site possible, with the best image. If they don't have the skills to do that, don't feel bad saying "no thank you".

Once you've made your decision, don't second guess yourself. In the end you'll be happier.

Goals

Now that my muse is back from her party with Amy, Vicky, and Wylie's muses, I think I'll be ready to get something done. For the last three weeks, it feels like I haven't been able to stop. Between work, trying to get a website up (it looks awesome I can't wait to show everyone), spending time with the family, writing has been very low on my list.

Not anymore.

This week I'm set my minimum goal of completing two chapters of revisions. But the question is how to do that. I always work best when I write these things out, so that's what I'm going to do today.

This week I will...

1. Actually take a lunch hour and write for at least 40 minutes.
2. When I am feeling a writers block approaching, I will put on my ten minute yoga tape to clean my mind.
3. I will write for one hour after supper before I watch TV. (And Heroes, Doctor Who, and 24 are on tonight so I better haul butt!)

If I can do these three things I should be able to get through most of my book this week.

Writing and Laundry

As strange as this may sound, I seem to do my best writing on the days that I have to do laundry. I'm not sure if it's because I have set periods of time to write (in between loads), or if my mind wanders more as I'm sorting, loading, and folding. Every week I seem to be able to get so much more written on Sunday's than I do any other day of the week.

I've always loved Sunday. It's very relaxing. We do a lot of different things as a family on Sundays and everyone seems more mellow than the other days of the week. And maybe that is the trick. Because I'm more relaxed, the creative side of me is better able to produce what I need it to.

So I'm officially dubbing Sunday my day to write. Which might completely jinx me, but I'm willing to take that chance. :) I may have to start doing the laundry more frequently if that happens.

Out of Gas

So this has been a bad writing week for me. I haven't even opened up Bottled Up since Sunday. I've been so tired this week after the excitement of the last little while, I think my muse needed a vacation. I hope to get some writing done today at lunch and tomorrow off and on while I'm playing with the kids and cleaning the house.

My goal for the next few days is to finish one more chapter of revisions and to try and get another thousand words written.

Thursday Thirteen # 12

As a part of my day job I work with people in my office to make sure their desks and chairs are setup properly. After talking with a few different people, I've come to realize that while we may be ergonomically setup at work, we don't do the same things at home. And anyone who works from home (especially writers) we may not even be aware that there is a problem. This can cause pain in our back, wrists, arms, and legs. For this Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would post some stretches that you can do to help with sore muscles that you would get from sitting at the computer for long periods of time.

Thirteen Stretches 1. Shoulder blade squeeze - Sit up tall with your chin tucked in against your chest. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and in. Hold this for 3 seconds. 2. Arms overhead shoulder blade squeeze - This is an advanced version of the shoulder blade squeeze exercise. Start with your hands comfortably positioned over your head. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and in. Hold for a count of 3. 3. Backward bends while standing - Place your hands in the small of your back and slowly bend backwards until you feel a gentle stretch in your trunk. Remember that stretching should not cause any pain. Hold the stretch for 3 seconds. 4. Hand squeezes - Begin with your fingers fully extended. Initially make a normal fist and squeeze as tightly as you can for 5 seconds. Next, straighten your fingers and then touch your fingertips to the base of your palm. 5. Wrist extension and flexing - Grasp your hand and hold your fingers with the other hand. Slowly bend your wrist down until you fell a stretch. Then slowly bend your wrist up until you feel the stretch. 6. Tennis elbow stretch - With your arm held down to your side, turn your arm in so that your palm faces backwards. Slowly bend your wrist, bringing your palm up towards the ceiling. You should feel a gentle stretch in the back of your wrist, forearm, and up into your elbow. You can increase the stretch by pushing your shoulder towards the floor. 7. Golfer's elbow stretch - With your hand at your side and the palm facing forward extend the hand and fingers backwards. 8. Shoulder shrugs - Lift your shoulders up towards your ears as high as you can. Hold them there for 3 seconds and then let them drop down as far as they will comfortably go and hold the stretch for 3 seconds. 9. Neck relaxer - Drop your head slowly to the left, trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder. Repeat on the right side. Slowly drop your chin to your chest, turn your head all the way to the left, and then turn all the way to the right. 10. Tilt neck forwards - Gently tilt your head forward to stretch the back of the neck. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Hold only tensions that feel good. 11. Shoulder blade stretch - Interlace fingers, and then straighten arms out in front of you. The palms should be facing away from you as you do this stretch. Feel the stretch in the arms and through the upper part of the back (shoulder blade area). Hold stretch for 10-20 seconds. 12. Shoulder stretch - Interlace fingers then turn palms upwards above your head as you straighten your arms. Think of elongating your arms as you feel a stretch through arms and upper sides of rib cage. Hold for 10-15 seconds. 13. Chest stretch - The next stretch is done with fingers interlaced behind your back. Slowly turn your elbows inward while straightening your arms. An excellent stretch for your shoulders and arms. This is good to do when you find yourself slumping forward from your shoulders. This stretch can be done at any time. Hold for 5-15 seconds. Finding pictures for each of these stretches might prove helpful. You should try and stretch several times a day. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Brought to you by the letter L

SciFi Chick Angela had a great meme that she passed along to me. The idea is to have someone give you a letter and then you need to post ten things that you like which start with that letter. Angela gave me the letter L, so here we go!

Love - I've always been a big romantic. Love stories are fun and wonderful. They show that there is hope in the world and that if you work hard enough at something, you can make it happen. As silly as it may sound, we do need more love in the world. :)

Lettuce - I don't know why, but I could eat an entire head of lettuce if you put it down in front of me. Not as a huge salad, but rather pick at it leaf by leaf. I just love the stuff. Mind you, I still haven't lost any weight...

Licorice - ...probably because I love licorice just as much. I don't even have a preference between red and black. I could eat an entire 2lb bag of this stuff. :)

Lions - I'm a cat person. I love the idea of a huge cat that I could curl up with on my couch while I'm watching TV. As long as it didn't eat my licorice we'd get along just fine.

Lemonade - one of my favourite drinks in the summer. I prefer the pink variety, but I'd never say no to the traditional. I also love mixing it with ginger ail and cranberry juice to make a great punch. Yummy!

Life - I feel that I've been so lucky with my life, that I'm so thankful for everything. I have two great daughters and a husband who I'm crazy about. I'm in good healthy and have a job I enjoy. You can't ask for much more.

Llama - There's just something about this word I like. It kind of rolls off the tongue. Llama...

Lolly pops - The best ones are the free ones that restaurants give you after supper. Because they're free. And they keep my girls quiet. :)

Listening - I like to think I'm a good listener. I try to give who every is talking to me my undivided attention. This can be challenging sometimes but I think it's worth it in the end.

Looking - I could spend hours just browsing around, looking at different things. Stores, parks, malls, it doesn't matter. I love looking at the details of things and seeing how they all connect.

Well that's my ten. If you would like a letter of your own, leave me a note in my comments section and I'll give you one. :)

I'm It!

I love doing memes and I think everyone knows it. I was tagged by both Vicky and Kelly to do this one. :)I'm almost done Eragon and it's pretty close to me. Here we go!

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Each waterspout was a snarling gargoyle, and every window and door was framed by carvings of serpents, harts, ravens, and knotted vines.
The door was opened by Elain, Horst's wife, a small, willowy woman with refined features and silky blond hair pinned into a bun. Her dress was demure and neat, and her movements graceful.

So here we go! I'm tagging MG, Joely, and Alyssa (and anyone else who'd like to do it!)

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.
3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Include the title and the author's name.
5. Tag 3 people

So tired

Well I only got a few words written yesterday, but I was able to finish up the revisions on my chapter and can finally move onto the next one. I realized I really sped up the time line in the last half of the book. I could easily add another chapter to the story, but I think I'll hold off for now. When I make my third pass through I'll see if it needs it.

I also forgot about jet lag. My character travels from NS to Mexico and back and then goes to work the very next day. Now in my world of work, this would be the case unless I took an extra day vacation. But now I'm going to give her a day to recover before she has to "face the music". This is where I could add a chapter, but I don't want to slow the pacing down.

On a side note, Monday is now my favourite TV night. Starting at 8 pm I get to watch Heroes (and WOOT Christopher Eccleston joined the cast!), 9 pm Doctor Who, and 10 pm 24. Three hours of some of my favourite shows. However, I paid the price by not having slept well and being woken up by a sick daughter. I could crawl back into bed right now.

Kim Howe - Final 4!!

I need to share the good news! Our TRW member Kim Howe has made it to the final 4 of the American Title 3 contest. This next round is voting on dialogue. I may be biased, but I think Kim's excerpt is the best of the bunch.

Please help Kim by visiting this site and vote for Kim - One Shot, Two Kills!

Congratulations Kim!!

Revisions - Word By Word

I don't really mind doing revisions. It's like panning for gold in a lot of ways. You're fingers freeze and cramp up from all the work. You get cranky when people disturb your concentration. You've even been known to go off the deep end and let your children eat cake for breakfast. But in the end it's all worth it. You find that nugget of pure pleasure among all the crap.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I would rather write ten first drafts than have to sit down and focus on my word choice, sentence structure, character development, and the over all flow of the book. I also suck at math. In my (all be it limited) experience, people who are very analytical are really good at making their way through revisions. They see the patterns emerging in the text, how the characters react to certain stimuli, and where that will take them. Analytical people seem to have that focus that I lack.

Now I'm not saying I won't do this. It may come in smaller bursts and over a longer period of time, but I am able to force myself to think this way. I have to, or else my manuscript will completely suck. But this isn't a skill that comes naturally to me. I have to work hard at it. But in the end it does pay off. I do see the reward of having a much stronger manuscript than when I started.

Why is this on my mind? I was trying to work on revisions all day yesterday. Between trying to clean up my house, do the laundry, play with my kids, and give my loving husband time to crack fill the room we are trying to finish, it was a crazy day. But I managed to stick to my guns and cross the 70,000 word count with Bottled Up.

The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if the Patriots had won (How can you be up that much at half time and still loose?!?!?!?!)

The Bonds That Tie Us - book trailer

Woot! I got it to work. I hope you enjoy it. Remember, this is my first attempt at something like this, so be gentle. :)

Book Trailer

Hi everyone.

Instead of writing, I took a little break and decided to try my hand at creating a book trailer. I'm not sure what I was doing, but here is my first attempt. Let me know what you think!


Update: YouTube doesn't seem to like my file format. Going to have to convert it...

Pictures from my trip

I tried to post these last night but Blogger didn't like me and I couldn't get logged in. I hope you enjoy them!

The first one is a picture of fellow bloggers Amy and Vicky. It was so wonderful to get to meet you both in person. And you're right Amy, our blogger pictures don't do us justice. I'm going to change mine this weekend. :)




This is a picture of myself and Amy.





Here we have Kim Howe. Kim is a finalist in the American Title III contest. We haven't heard about the next round yet, but I'm sure Kim will make it!



Here I am with the very funny and charming Margaret Moore. Margaret gave an amazing presentation on Romance 101 and Goosing your Muse. I was psyched after her chat.



And there we have it! I hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 11

I arrived back home last night at 10 pm from a business trip. For the most part it was a great trip and I had a wonderful time. So this week's Thursday Thirteen is about...

Thirteen Things About Christine's Business Trip 1. Toronto Romance Writers January meeting. This was awesome because I got to tell everyone in person that I sold my book. Not only that, I was able to meet fellow blogger Amy face to face (and yes we look different from our pictures) and meet a new blogger friend Vicky. I'll be posting pictures tonight. 2. Margaret Moore. Now that I'm home I'll have some more time to talk about Margaret's presentation Saturday. Not only did she remind me of the fundamentals of romance writing, she got me psyched up and ready to write again. Needless to say, she was amazing. 3. Meet old friends. I was able to catch up with a number of my friends from Waterloo, and was even able to have drinks with my critique partner Sue. The weather put a bit of a damper on my visits though and I wasn't able to see everyone for as long as I wanted. I'll have to plan better next time I'm up. 4. Time to edit. Sitting in my hotel room gave me an opportunity to get some serious editing done on All Bottled Up. I only have four more chapters to go and then I get to start round three of edits. That won't take nearly as long though. And then off to the publisher... 5. Missed my family. The hardest part of going away for business is being away from my family. By Wednesday morning I was pretty lonely and couldn't wait to get home that night. Traveling alone is...well, lonely. 6. Eragon. I found out long ago I can't write on the airplane. However, I was able to get a start on reading Eragon. Amazing book written by an amazing young man. I'm half way through and can't wait to finish it. 7. Eating out. My girls thought that I would love eating out every meal when I'm away. I hate it. I have a very sensitive stomach, and restaurant food kills me. Once in a while I'm fine. Every meal of every day...blah. 8. Sleep. I switched time zones which messed up my sleep pattern a bit. Not only that, I don't sleep well in hotel beds. They suck pretty much. So I died when I got home last night and was able to crawl into my comfy bed. Plus my husband was there - bonus! 9. Observations. It's funny how things look different to you when you're traveling. I constantly found myself watching people and things with new eyes. I'm not sure if this was because of the sleep deprivation, or because I'd been away for seven months, but everything looks different in that wow cool kind of way. It got me thinking about my setting in my story and the fact I was missing some of those types of reactions from my characters. I'll be layering those in during the next round of edits. 10. Elevators. I hate them. Whenever possible I take the stares. Elevators in hotels are the worst. 11. Eating Alone. Very depressing thing and I'm glad I didn't have to do it on this trip. 12. People who kick the airplane seat directly in front of them. Whoever you were - you suck. 13. Coming home. Being away makes you appreciate the things you have. I'm glad I'm back. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Anyone been to Cozumel?

I've been working on the second draft to All Bottled Up. It's been going well for the most part. One thing I still feel is missing is a bit of the atmosphere of my island setting. After talking to a friend of mine last night who has been to Cozumel, I have some great details that I'm going to try working into the story. Has anyone else been there? What details would you want to see about the island worked into a book? I'd hate for someone who's been to the island to read the book and say, "Geez, she obviously hasn't been to the island or else she would have talked about....blah"

Of course, I could always plan a fact finding trip...

On a personal note my business trip is done today. I fly home to NS after supper tonight and I'll be sleeping in my own bed. Unfortunately, this means I'll be missing Criminal Minds tonight. :(

Moving Along

So I actually slept last night. I don't do hotel rooms very well (hate sleeping alone), but last night I was so tired I collapsed. Needless to say I got up a bit later than I intended to this morning, so I'm only going to get a little bit done in the way of writing. I'm hoping to do a little before I go to bed tonight. I'm almost done editing a really steamy love scene where my heroine is doing a strip tease for my hero the genie in his bottle. So far I'm really liking this one. :)

The second half of the 24 premiere was on last night. I know I said this yesterday, but WOW!!! I love the Jack character. He's pretty much the best Alpha male on TV right now (Apollo in BSG is a close second though). Without giving anything away to those of you who tapped it, the end of the episode Jack cried. Cried!! My heart was breaking for him. And for me, that's the sign of an excellent TV show, movie, or book.

Jack is Back!

Did I mention I love 24??

The season premier started last night. Very engaging and certainly didn't feel like two hours. It flew by and I can't wait to see the second two hours tonight. I love the little changes they've made to his character this season, things I can already see. He doesn't make eye contact they same way he did before. And his lack of confidence in his own abilities...wow. Based on what I saw last night I think this is going to be another excellent season.

As a writer, I'm interested to see they types of plot twists they are going to throw in, and they hooks they are going to use. This show really knows how to hook you from episode to episode.


The season premier was delayed due to a very intense Patriots vs. Chargers game. And my team WON!!!! I didn't think they were going to be able to pull it off, but it came down to a field goal. I was dancing around my hotel room. :)

On the road

What a crazy and exciting weekend this has been. I'm on the road for a business trip and have been going straight out since 6:00 am Saturday. I caught a flight to Toronto and was able to make this months TRW meeting. Margaret Moore gave an excellent all day presentation. I missed most of the morning's session Romance 101. What I did see of it was informative. I haven't had a chance to review the handouts, but I hope to take a look at them tonight.

Her afternoon session, Goose Your Muse, was very inspirational. It's reassuring to know that it's not just myself who can feel dragged down by everything that's going on in my life. When I'm not able to write, I don't need to feel guilty at all.

So between Margaret's talk on Saturday, and Anne's last Sunday, I'm feeling very motivated. I'll have some pictures of some fellow TRW members to post on my blog when I get back to NS.

Currently, I'm in a hotel room. I haven't slept much in the past two days. I'm not good in beds that aren't my own. :) The up side is that I'll be able to get some writing done before I have to go into the office.

Thousand Miles a Minute

So today I got some more good news. Not "OMG I sold a book" good, but good. The ulcer I thought I had turned out to be acid reflux. The doctor gave me some pills and they are starting to kick in already. As I'll be gone on a business trip for the next week, I'm glad to have them. It will make eating out less painful.

I didn't write a word yesterday (too busy celebrating), but I'll be getting back at it today. I'm going to get the edits I'd written for Bottled Up on paper into the computer and onto my memory stick for the trip. I know I'll be up extra early in the mornings so I'll have lots of time to write. I'm also going to try and get some done in the evenings too. I hate being alone at night, so this will help.

I'm really motivated now to get Bottled Up finished so I can get back to Perfect Match. Now that I've had some time away from Match, I think I know what the problem was. I'll be able to fix it up and get it ready to go off to.

Dreams Come True!!!

My hands are shaking as I type this because

I SOLD MY FIRST BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

I just got the email from Ellora's Cave that they want to buy The Bonds That Tie Us. It's been a long wait and I think I'm still in shock. Plus I found out at the office and couldn't really scream. But mentally I'm doing one major happy dance. :)

I haven't told my husband yet. Tonight on my way home I'm going to buy a bottle of champagne. I'm going to come in the door, put it on the counter and not say anything until he figures it out. I figure it will take about 5 seconds. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 10

Over at the Drunk Writers site they've been posting what they feel have been the best and worst of 2006. I thought I'd jump on board and do my own list. So for this week's Thursday Thirteen we have...

Thirteen Things Christine Liked About 2006 Let's start with TV. 1. 24! I know not everyone loves this show, but season 5 was amazing. As I viewer I don't feel any character is safe and could be killed off at a moments notice. They've done it before - they'll do it again... 2. Heroes. What a great new show. I'll be curious to see if it has legs and will survive past this year. It will depend on how they wrap things up. but so far I'm hooked. 3. Dexter. I'm not as hard core as my husband, but I really enjoyed the episodes that I watched. I'm going to try and get caught up on the last few I haven't seen in the next week or so. 4. Season two of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Like many other fans out there I've been dying for this to come out on DVD. And what a wonderful Christmas present NBC gave me by releasing it right before Christmas. Writing 5. Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. I moved this summer from Ontario to Nova Scotia. I knew there was a RWA group, but you've never sure how you'll fit in. This group of ladies and gentlemen are fabulous. While I miss my friends in the Toronto group, I feel right at home here now. :) 6. Blogging. Who knew that this would become such a fun (and addictive) pastime. It keeps me honest when it comes to my writing and keeps my creative juices flowing. 7. All bottled Up. Writing this story was an amazing experience. Not only was I able to win NANO as a result of it, but everything seemed to click together for me. I'm very anxious to finish cleaning this up and start sending it out. 8. Chasing Phoenix. This is a quickie I wrote over Christmas. It's the shortest story I've ever written at 14,000 words. This was another story that seemed to come out of nowhere and turned out really well. I'll be sending this one off to a few places in the next week or two. Life 10. My 10th Wedding Anniversary. I'm still in shock that we've been married for ten years. It still feels like it just happened. Love's great! 11. First tooth. Ironically enough, both my daughters each lost their first tooth this year. My youngest slipped and fell on the ice and had her front one knocked out (she was okay other than the tooth), and my oldest lost her first one (with on help). My babies are growing up. 12. Closer to home. I've been lucky with my job that it's given me an opportunity to move closer to home. Now we are able to see our family on a more regular basis. It's been wonderful. 13. Confidence. Things have been going really well for me and my family. I feel really blessed that we are all happy and healthy. I think this has given me the confidence I've needed to pursue my dream of getting published. 2006 was a great year for me and I hope I'm just as lucky in 2007! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...

Okay I'm a very happy and sad camper right now.

Happy because the new season of 24 starts Sunday!!!
Sad because I'm going to be on a business trip and I'm going to miss it!!!

*sob*

Here is a great interview with my close personal friend (God I wish) Kiefer. I can't wait for day 6. :)

Take Two

This has been a bad writing week for me. It's actually been a bad computer week too. I've barely sat down in front of it either at work or at home. I've just finished teaching a two day customer service course that seems to drain the life out of me. I slept in past my alarm again this morning.

And now it's time for the proverbial kick in the pants.

I'm going to write for an hour today at lunch. No excuses or things getting in the way. I'm going to close the door and get to work. I have a clear idea of where I want to go with this sections of my revisions.

Butt in chair!

On another note, I got to watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent last night. I have to say I love the show still, but poor Vincent is looking really tired. I think he's signed a contract till the end of next season, and then I have a feeling he'll be done. Which is a shame, becasue I'll stop watching the show if he goes. :(

Ick

I learned long ago that when I'm not feeling well I need to roll back over and go back to sleep. So when my alarm when off this morning I did just that. Apparently my ulcer has decided to come back with a vengence, and this has put a serious cramp in my writing schedule. I haven't written a word for the past two days, I can't really concentrate to read, and even laying on the couch isn't comfortable. I'm going to get a doctor's appointment for late next week once I get back from my business trip to see what's going on.

Now after listening to Anne's talk on self defeating attitudes on Sunday, I've come to the conclusion that not writing these past few days is a good thing. Until I get my body figured out, the creative side of me will have problems focusing and producing. So I have no guilt about staying in bed.

I just wish I had some Tums with me...

Plan of attack!

I had a brainstorm about how to fix a problem I was having with All Bottled Up last night. I was treating myself to reading Julianne MacLean's Surrender to a Scoundrel. I was trying to figure out what it was about published authors books that differed from my own. It then hit me that I don't normally have any subplots. Or at least very minimalistic sub plots.

In Bottled, I have a subplot of the heroine's friend winning the lottery. I was thinking it would be a good tie in if I wanted to write a second book. The problem is I never fully flushed out that storyline. Seems really obvious now, but until last night it never hit me. So as I tackle my revisions this week I now know what I need to do. Flesh out the subplot and make it have a direct impact on the main plot.

I feel so much better now. :)

Self Defeating Attitudes

We had our RWA chapter meeting today, and I have to say it was wonderful. One of our members gave an excellent talk on how to over come self defeating behaviours and attitudes. Now, I've been known on occasion to have some negative self talk and start to wonder what the hell I'm doing try to get myself published. Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband who keeps me going on those days.

Writing is not an easy career to break into. It's hard, really hard. Anyone who has ever written or tried to write will attest to this. Though if you listen to some people anyone can write a book. Especially a romance novel. Silly people.

So why do it? Why go through all the heartache and headaches trying to get published? Personally, it's because I have stories that I want to tell. Some of these have been bouncing around my head for a long time. Others pop out of nowhere. Every writer writes for different reasons. The key is to have the courage to ignore the negative self talk, ignore the doubt, and try to look on the positive side of rejection.

The most important thing I took away from the talk was to stop comparing myself to other authors and writers. I work different from others. I have different commitments, different abilities, and different stresses. The key is learning how to deal with them. Learn my limitations and then learn how to work around them.

I also need to learn patient! I'm a terribly impatient person and I need to learn to deal with waiting in a much more productive manner.

Thanks to Anne for a wonderful talk today!

100!!

I was shocked when I looked down at my post count yesterday and realized that today would be blog entry 100. A lot has happened in the few months that I have been blogging. I started this as a way to keep track of my journey as an unpublished writer. But since then it's grown in to so much more.

I've met some wonderful people online. I've been introduced to new publishers, agents, ideas, and writers. On a side note, I've also been recently introduced to Cover Men (I'm sure many of you already are aware of this site. Hey I'm a bit slow!) and have added as a link. If you haven't visited here before enjoy!

I want to thank everyone who's ever stopped by to read my site, and to everyone who reads on a regular basis. Your support, encouragement, and friendship is appreciated.

Thursday Thirteen # 9

I thought I would do something a bit different this week. I have spent a lot of time on Snopes over the years. I find their information on urban legends and old wives tales fascinating. However, I would take what you see here with a grain of salt. Sometimes they like to be silly. :)

Here are some of my favorite!

Thirteen Urban Legends 1. It takes seven years for gum to pass through the human digestive system. False! Gum is just like any other food. 2. Disney's Belle from Beauty and the Beast makes a cameo appearance in the The Hunchback of Notre Dame. True! If you look closely at the picture you can see her in the bottom right corner. 3. Lemmings commit suicide by jumping off cliffs. False! These poor little things were forced to jump to help make a Disney movie back in the 50's. 4. Birds can steal coins out of machines. True! I didn't believe it until I saw these pictures. 5. A picture of a fox standing in a pack of dogs. This is false. The picture is a photoshop. But still it looks awesome! 6. A twister ripped through a drive in theatre that was playing the movie Twister. This is false. Thought it would have been poetic. :) 7. A second-hand coat purchased for the Wizard of Oz was later discovered to have been owned by L. Frank Baum. True! 8. A ghost appears in the movie Three Men and a Baby. This is false. Though the first time I saw the picture it creeped me out. 9. An abused goat killed it's owner. True! Don't anger the goats... 10. The book/movie The Amityville Horror is based on a true story. False! The book was good, the movie...not so much. 11. A hitchhiker is picked up and dropped off, only to be learned later that she died years ago. False! I first heard this one at Girl Guide camp when I was eleven. Still a classic. 12. Poorly translated instructions for a game. True! I'm sure there are tones of other examples of this out there. But this cracks me up! 13. Chihuahuas are actually a type of rodent bred to resemble dogs. False! I may not like them, but they are still dogs. :) Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


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A stumble...but not a fall

Okay so 6am came and went this morning. My alarm went off, but when I opened my eyes to turn it off I discovered I had a headache. I promptly rolled over and snuggled with my hubby instead. That doesn't mean I'm off the hook though. I plan on shutting my office door at lunch (and I'm really going to shut it this time) and get a solid hour of writing done. Then to make up for my missing hour this morning, I'll have to write for a while after supper.

I'm about half way through the new chapter that I wanted to add to All Bottled Up. I'm using it to show my heroine's self doubt, so I want to make sure it comes across okay. I'm finding this very slow going, probably because I'm scared I'm screwing up the pacing of the story. I need to get it finished so I can read through the whole thing.

My goal is to be completely finished my revisions for this manuscript by the end of January so I can start sending out queries in February. There's not a lot to do, so I need to keep focused and push back the new story ideas that keep popping into my head. :)

Back to work *sigh*

I have to say it was lovely being home over the holidays. I had a ten day break and got to enjoy spending time with my family. It was also great being able to write whenever the mood struck me. But the fun and games are over and I'm back to work!

People think I'm crazy for getting up and writing at 6am. I think I'm crazy. But it really is the best time for me to get things accomplished. This morning I flipped back to All Bottled Up and an working on adding two new chapters. I was able to finish up my novella Summer Theatre (bad title I know) and have passed it over to my husband for a grammar and sanity check. Next, it goes off to my critique partner.

I shouldn't have stopped to work on the novella, because it felt like I'd lost my momentum on Bottled when I opened it this morning. I wrote two pages and then remembered it was supposed to be a funny paranormal. I kept what I wrote, but the rest of the chapter is taking a lighter approach. We'll see if it works once I'm done.

I'm hoping to get some more writing done on my lunch hour. I'm going to make a real effort to actually take my lunch, close the door, and get something accomplished.

And we're off...Happy January 1st!!

We had a wonderful New Years eve last night. Our neighbourhood association held a fireworks display at our local park. We packed the kids into their new winter coats and stood outside in the freezing cold for an hour to watch. It was wonderful. :)

We then came home to watch the football games and have some nibbly things (on a side note I was shocked to learn that Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed after the game last night. The story can be found here.) I went to bed at midnight and slept well.

This morning I got up bright and early and manged to get about 800 words written before my girls woke up. I'll be finishing the first draft a bit later today. I'll be getting up at 6:00 am every morning from now on to get at least an hour writing done before I go to work. I'm really happy with this one and can't wait to finish it off. I'll be handing it over to my husband later today to proof read it for me, then off to my critique partner. Then we'll see if it's any good. :)