Sleep is Required

I worked my normal nine hour day yesterday and then had to work again from 8pm-4:30am. I was able to catch a few catnaps during that time, but not much. One reason was a terrible migraine I’m still suffering with. It just won’t go away. I’m currently on the couch with both my work and personal laptop trying to get some writing done. I’m 3400 words behind my nano total and would like to catch up.
We leave for NY on Wednesday to visit my family for the holidays. I’ll get a lot of writing done in the hotel, I always do. That’s when my stories for the chicken soup for the soul come to me too. Every year I’ve written one or two and every year I sell them. Hey the extra $200 a story helps. Can’t beat the money for a 1k story and 30mins of my time.
Tonight the family will come together to celebrate my son’s girlfriends 25th birthday. Her family seems to have neglected to remember this milestone for their daughter so it’s up to us to make her feel special. While it’ll only be pizza and cake, it goes a long way with her.
Tomorrow I look forward to sleeping late. No work, no appointments, nothing!

Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

This is a repost from my blog at http://sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com on Tuesday! I’ve tweaked it a bit, but if you read it Tuesday, go ahead and skip it! :)

There comes a time in every writer’s life when they must say good-bye to an editor. Usually it’s when the editor has decided to move on to something new. This past weekend I was approached by two writer’s at different stages of their careers that wanted to know if they should break up with their editor and/or agent.
The first writer is currently under a four book contract with a large NY publishing house. Her agent seems to be getting ready to retire. While said agent hasn’t confirmed the retirement all signs point in that direction. This writer is in a quandary because she knows there is so much that could be done to increase her sales, but her agent just isn’t doing her job. She doesn’t know if she should start shopping for a new agent or wait it out. The agent has rights to the four books. Only two are published at this point.
The way I see it she’s losing sales. Her blood, sweat, and tears are not getting the perks she should see from her agent. Another friend and I suggested she ask the agent point blank her plans for retirement and if she should start looking for another agent. It’s only fair that the agent give her a timeline. If the agent doesn’t give her any information, maybe it is time to part ways. I’d like to know what you think. If only I had an agent and a four book contract deal with a NY Publisher I could answer this issue for her! LOL

The other is a writing duo. They are working on their second ebook and their second editor. This editor is a writer’s nightmare. She is telling them what words to use or should I say, demanding they use “her” words, “her” dialogue and “her” descriptions. She’s basically made them rewrite the entire story to make it her own. Now when they were offered the contract, the publisher stated there would be minimal changes needed on their part.
When does an editor go too far? When is it time for the author to step up and say, “Hey I’m not making these changes.” I’m all about learning and personal growth as a writer. Believe me I’ve a lot to learn still, but if the story is becoming the editors and the writer is losing her voice, I tend to feel it’s not a good match.
Personally, I didn’t get good vibes from this situation from the beginning. They were offered a contract in May, received cover art in June and then heard nothing from the publisher for months. Their emails went unanswered. Then one day the publisher reappeared and said they now have an editor for the book. Things only progressed downhill from there.
I advised them to consider opting out of their contract when the publisher went MIA, but because they are new to the business they didn’t want to rock any boats. I understand that, because I’m still new myself. But I’m sorry at what cost is publication worth it?
Edits are one thing, but re-writing an entire story to fit the editor’s needs doesn’t bode well with me. Seriously, at this point is it still my story or the editors?
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this subject.

Guest Author Raine Delight and a Contest

 

Today I’m excited to have guest author Raine Delight over at my other blog. Raine is interviewing two of her characters and she’s giving away a Wolfie gift bag, with a holiday CD, candies and other fabulous goodies to one lucky commenter. So, hop on over and check out her interview!  http://amberskyze.blogspot.com
 

Slacking

I’ve been slacking with my blog lately, I know. I’ve been writing like crazy though, so that’s a good thing right? Writing means possible new releases in my future.
Speaking of new releases I FINALLY received my release date for Heat Waves – Dec 4th!! Still no cover yet.
I’m sooo excited. I’ll have two releases in December.

I’m happy to say I finished book three of the Lady Shea’s Manor series over the weekend and began writing book one. I’m confident I’ll get this one done by months end and I’ll work on book two in December, along with Laney’s Delights. I’m really excited about writing that story. I had to put it aside to work on other stuff. Oh crap and I forgot I have a Jan 1 deadline for a Valentine short. That’s half done so I’ll be working on that next month too.

I had a great idea for a St. Patrick’s Day story, but think I’ve missed the deadlines for that. There’s always next year. It’s almost time to start thinking summer stories. Hmmmm, I love the warm weather.

Weekend NaNo totals:
Saturday – 1782
Sunday – 2252

Happy Friday the 13th

I have a busy day at work and not much going on in my personal life. I did get my H1N1 shot this morning, so I’m now protected.
Other than that I’m writing, writing, writing.

Yesterday’s total – 3,137
Today’s total – 1,718
Overall total – 21,086

Hope everyone has a lucky day!

I’m on the Coming Soon Page

Body_ShotsYes! I finally made it to the coming soon page for Body Shots! I’m excited about this release. I enjoyed writing this book. The cover is nice too.
In other news, I may lose my writing space sooner than I thought. The guest bedroom is going to be turned into a nursery sometime after the holidays, but my son informed me needs to move out of his girlfriends house. He was afraid to tell me things weren’t going well, because he didn’t want to stress me out. I’d be more stressed knowing he was living with someone he didn’t get along with or didn’t want to be with just to keep me under stressed. I told him his bedroom (the guest room) is his to move in to and he can stay as long as it takes to decide what he wants to do next. So I suspect in the next day or two I’m going to need to find a new place to write.
Today I’m off from the day job and going to enjoy a day out with the DH.
In NaNo news – today’s total is 2,002. Grand total – 15,997. I’m a little behind, but I’m certain I’ll catch up. And even if I don’t I’m thrilled at the progress I’ve make thus far. My current wip is just about done and turning out better than I hoped.
Happy Wednesday!

Happy Release Day Carnal Reunion Authors!

Today a group of talented authors are celebrating releases. Check out the Carnal Reunion authors releases today: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/53.html

Fran Lee, Taylor Tryst, Paris Brandon, Cindy Spencer Pape, Anny Cook, Regina Carlysle, and Tessie Bradford.

You can’t go wrong with any of these wonderful authors!

Just One of Those Days

Had a busy weekend, but a FUN one. Saturday was full with an all day mini-conference at my local chapter. Great speakers and lots of useful information. Saturday night the DH had a party for me. By the time everyone left I couldn’t keep my eyes opened and I collapsed into bed.
Sunday, I took the day off from writing. While the DH had a house full of guys for the football game I went out and started shopping for the holidays. I got the grand-daughter just about done and my god-daughter is finished. While that’s only a small dent in my list, it felt good to accomplish something.

Today is all about doing nothing! Me on the couch with my work laptop. I managed to write 1500 words. I’m a few hundred short of my target for NaNo thus far. I’m sure I’ll catch up later this week. The story I’m working on is flowing nicely and I should be able to wrap it up by Friday the latest. I’m really hoping to have most of the series completed by the end of Nano, if not all of it.

Here’s to a new week! :)

The weekend has arrived!

CavemenMy book Body Shots will be available on Dec 15th at: http://www.jasminejade.com/ It’s part of the Wet theme series. I’ve seen some of the other covers, but not mine yet. They’re all the same, but have a different caveman in it. Have you seen the cavemen? Not that any would be a disappointment, but I’m hoping, no I’m praying I get Angelo! Check him out. He’s the hottie in the middle, with the long brown hair and the sexy body. Wait they all have sexy bodies. I’d like to help him out of those clothes and…damn I guess I’ll just have to add the next thoughts to one of my wips!

I’m still going strong with Nano. I woke up late this morning and thought I wouldn’t meet my minimum, but I was wrong. I got in such a groove I lost track of time and was late waking my daughter up for school. Ooooppps! LOL She was a good sport about it.

Today – 2,021

Now I’m gonna have to find a way to sneak a nap in during the day.

Blissfully writing!

I’m happily submerged in a story. This story is book three of a series called Lady Shea’s Manor. I started this book awhile ago. I went strong for the first few thousand words and fizzled out. I decided to go back to it and I’m so glad I did. The words are flowing nicely. Kim and David’s story is unfolding before my eyes. While I haven’t written books one or two yet, I have a premise for them.
Nano always has a way of bringing out the writer in me. When I’m not writing I’m going over what I’ve written in my mind. Playing the “what if” game, so that when I return to my laptop the next day the story isn’t stalled. I know at least the next scene and let the characters decide from there. As a pantser I can’t think too far ahead or I get blocked. Strange? Maybe, but that’s the way my brain functions. I don’t question or try to force it to change.
I suspect I’ll finish this book by the 13th and then I’ll move on to book one – Paige and Jed’s story. My editor asked that I write book one and synopsis’ for the other two. I’ll be able to do better than that, by the time Nano ends.
Nano also fills me with tons of ideas for other stories. So I’ve been filling my mini notebook with different ideas for future books. I hope to go strong until at least April. Then I’ll have to figure out a new routine.
I hope everyone out there doing their version of Nano is having as much fun as I am!

Today’s count so far – 2,204
Total = 8,351

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