So, who's already digging into their NaNo Novel? Who's just laying next to their computer in an exhausted heap, fingers bleeding, eyeballs burning? Well, I've scraped myself up off the floor and begun the process.

Well, I've printed my "Festival of Flowers - the 2nd Novella" opus out--all 50,135 words, single spaced to save paper and still used over an inch of it. Thankfully, I put it on scrap paper or I'd be ridden with guilt over the trees. I didn't even count the sheets. Stacked it all up and began reading.

Actually, it hasn't been as painful as I expected. Each page is like that pan of watery silt. Yeah, there's a lot of dross in there and plenty of fool's gold, but I keep finding little shiny nuggets. Enough to keep me going, fer sure.

I'm thinking I'll need to start indexing somehow. Someone's spoken/written about index cards to track/organize scenes and/or chapters and I'm thinking that might be very good, but for it to work, I need to go back and number the pages of the printout to be able to located things. Just pulling pages and paper-clipping them won't work either because some pages have more than one plot nugget on it. Uh huh, I was THAT disjointed at times.

And in the meantime, I've got to get my contemporary romance novella whipped into shape. I'm certain my crit groups think I'm slacking off because I haven't brought anything to them for over a month, but you and I know I've been busy. Just not on anything that could be exposed to critical eyes. It's very disturbing to be a non-contributing member, but it's only for a little while (I hope).

I did it! Whew! And I did it by 11/28! How's that for setting a goal and pushing myself through to make it? I am feeling a little of the "burn" as in burn-out, but it's a good burn, right? I made a commitment to do at least 1,667 words a day. Yeah, there were a few days when I skipped for meetings and, well, life, but I made sure that I upped the ante on either the day before or the day after to keep myself on track. Sprinting with a couple of friends made a world of difference for me this time. Sprints are DA BOMB! Okay, I've said all that before, but it was really crucial. Well, after my DH's total support. He was great about understanding that I needed to spend time in my office instead of with him or working in the yard and stuff. He's a REAL keeper, that one!

So now the hard work begins. How to mine a second Festival of Flowers 20,000 novella out of the 50,135 I threw on the screen this month. I know the story I started with was lost somewhere about November 14th or so, and another one started pushing itself onto center stage. Not that it was a bad thing, mind you. Just not quite what I had in mind and left me scrambling to fix the lights, rearrange the stage, reposition the mikes and, well, just everything! Thankfully, the same actors are on the stage, just ad libbing beyond belief and pulling in strangers off the streets of Valgate. Oh well, what's a creative person to do?

I'll let you know how it goes! And if you feel like sharing your experience, please do!

Yeah, it's totally gonna happen! It's November 25th (gasp, 1 month from you-know-what! eek!) and I've got 46,608 words on the page. Well, the screen. I've managed to plug away at it almost daily and when I know I'm going to be off-line for a while, I always make sure to pump out a double dose. That formidable 1,667 words a day is actually very doable. I mean, don't you find that when you're doing a scene, really into it, the words just flow and that means numbers, baby! I've discovered sprinting on-line with some friends and it's been a super way to keep the motivation going. Sharing frustrations, sharing goals (as many words as possible in 35 or 45 minutes), and just sharing has taken my writing life from solo to go-go! So, fellow NaNo's, the end is in sight! We can do it!

Well, Week 3 of NaNoWriMo and I'm breeched the 30,000 mark. Not by much, but I'm past it and that's all that matters, right? My scene by scene method is working pretty well. I've wandered W-A-Y off base from my initial plot, but hey, that's NaNo. Pushing the boundaries, letting the juices flow. I feel like I've really abandoned a very important part of the story but maybe it's more that the parts that I am writing are just coming more easily. I can do those parts next month. Though I don't know that I'd say any of this has been that easy. No, wait, rewind. Actually, it has been easy to just let the words flow, well, er, easier than writing and editing as you go. More ground gets covered and interesting little side-roads are discovered along the way. It's definitely freeing to ditch the internal editor for a while and just go for it. I've got to remember this for the days after NaNo. If anyone's reading this, how's your November going?

Yep, this is the 2nd week of NaNoWriMo and I'm still operating under a pretty good head of steam.  Well, it's moving, let's put it that way.  I'm keeping up with the daily requirements of sloppy copy, but my internal editor is having angina over the details.  My novella just won't gel, though individual scenes keep bubbling to the surface.  That's a good thing, but they're coming up all out of order.  I can see that, but I just don't have the time or the patience right now to go back and organize them.  And what was that funny little blurb I saw about every time a sentence is deleted, a NaNoWriMo angel loses its wings?  After laughing hysterically, I realized it might be true and who am I to deny one of our heavenly denizens the freedom of flight.  So, henceforth, no deletions.  To keep my internal editor from gibbering, I resolve to indicate deletions with strikethroughs that will be deleted once the count is complete.  Okay, so if you haven't noticed the wear and tear on my sanity yet, you're not paying attention.

Excuse me, please, while I indulge in a session of happy dancing and Cloud 9 floating! 

My short story, "Dreams and Shadows," has just gone up for sale in the newly available Special Issue of Emerald Tales - Masks Can Be Deceiving.  I'm in their Special Issue for SciFi, Fan, Horror, Spec . 

Emerald Tales can be found at www.scribblersandinkspillers.com and the link to the shopping cart is http://cart.scribblersandinkspillers.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=24

I can't thank Diane Lyles (http://scribblingseasprite.blogspot.com/) enough for including me in the publication and giving me this opportunity.  And of course, my beta readers and crit group members who suffered through the rough draft(s) are what made this piece marketable.  I've still got a long way to go, but every journey begins with a step and this one is a big one for me.  Thanks all!

I Pitched and Made it to First Base!  Yeah, I know the baseball references are all off, but it's what went down for me at the New Jersey Romance Writers Conference last Saturday.  I attended a stellar pitching session with Jenni Holbrook and got caught up in the group enthusiasm.  OMG!  OMG!  I pitched my novella, "The Festival of Flowers - The Courtesan & The Scholar," and the editor said to send her "the complete" manuscript!  Yes, I know.  I'll probably be left on first base when the inning is over, but hey, I'm In The Game right now!!!  Euphoria still hasn't quite evaporated not to mention the residual shakes and quakes, but I Did It!  I Pitched!

I'll give more of a blow by blow of the NJ Conference in another post.  For now, whew!  I actually did it...

I mentioned networking in an earlier blog and this time I want to focus on a networking event I host for James River Writers - Writers Wednesdays.

Every month on the second Wednesday, writers of all levels and genres gather at Taphouse Grill to lift a glass and their spirits by mingling with other writers.  Though the gathering is sponsored by James River Writers, you don't have to be a member of JRW to attend.  We have the occasional guest speaker but mostly, we gather to swap tall tales, commiserate, celebrate and just enjoy each other.

JRW is all about educating writers, but for this event, we focus on the social side.  I encourage everyone to come in, mingle freely, listen and share.  Everyone who comes can find a seat and a welcoming smile.  The group is diverse - published and aspiring, expert and novice, young and old, male and female.  Every month, I'm delighted to see new faces and returning regulars.  We have a core group of 6-12 with a wonderful swirling of newbies and sporadics to keep it interesting.

If you live in the Richmond, VA area and are available on a given 2nd Wednesday, I encourage you to join us.  5:30-7:30 at the Taphouse Bar & Grill in Shockhoe Bottom.  I'm the hostess and I try to greet everyone (new and regular), so if you come, just let me know you saw it on LiveJournal.

Let's face it--procrastination is EASY!  It's so easy to put off writing for other more Important Things.

Things like watching those mindless TV series I've gotten myself hooked on.  Sure I've got a DVR.  And I've programmed it to record shows so that I can watch them at my leisure.  I plan to sit down and eat dinner while I watch one, ONE show, and then get my butt upstairs to write.  But noooo, I watch that one, then another, and then it's so late, I may as well watch another.  And well, you can see where this is going.  How many of you guys fight that mind-sucking device?  What is your weapon of choice in this ridiculous battle?

Things like straightening my desk - a hopeless waste of time if ever there was one.  The papers just reproduce at night while I'm sleeping.  And I'm certain the cats help.  I really try to keep the magically supplemented pile in the singular, but then, I'm sorting for filing and have to leave it and there you are--BANG!  Multiple piles!  Someone please give me some ideas on how to keep that mess of a desk under control?  How do you organize incoming mail, bills to be paid, endless unsolicited mail to be reviewed for value, etc.?

Things like reading.  I'm a voracious reader and an acquisitive one at that.  No library card for me, no sirree!  I gotta have it!  I gotta own it!  Granted, I may pass it along through the used book store, but I enjoy re-reading my books.  So, I buy loads of interesting books to read, but when?  So, I tell myself I'm gonna reward myself for getting some writing done by reading a chapter or two in bed before lights out.  However, even though I wasted away several hours in front of the boob tube, I still make that right hand turn into the bedroom instead of to the left to my office to write!  Reading is an essential tool for us, but how do you manage to sneak in a few pages without ending up curled in a chair or on the bed for hours?  A timer?  A air-pump that jettisons you out of the chair?

Things like reading e-mails, blogs, surfing the web.  Some of this is necessary but how do you keep from letting a good thing become an obsession or total time suck?  Again, a timer?

Well, I've wasted enough time.  I would say I'm going to write, but I've got a meeting.  Ah, another lovely subject...

Here I am, all excited about my recent sale and fired up to get another story out there in circulation and how much actual writing on said piece have I done?  Nada!  Zip!  Oh, I have a print-out which I've been reading and editing, but have I taken the time to put those editing changes into my computer?  Not yet.

And why not, one may ask?  Good question and, sadly, I have no good answer.  Other than--life.  And even I don't completely buy that excuse, for excuse it surely is.  I actually planned to spend several hours writing on Saturday but by the time I finished running errands those hours for writing had slipped through my fingers, lost forever.

Upon re-reading this, I can't help but notice the whining.  Oh, you picked up on that too?  Well, I'll share a little secret with you.  Don't tell anyone else, but my experience is that writers (or a certain percentage of them) are whiners.  Now, I say that in the nicest way.

We all complain about not having enough time.  About not knowing the right people.  About not finding the correct market for our work.  About the stories that won't come fast enough.  Or the stories that come too fast.  Or the stories that never come at all.

This is not to say that there aren't a large number of exemplary writers who budget their time to perfection.  Who commune with their Muse on a regular, set basis, producing pages of prose (deathless or deadly).  Who manage a life, a family, a job, hobbies, friends, groups, in-laws and outlaws, pets, a home, a yard, etc. with complete aplomb.

But as for me, I plan to spend some time doing some writing as soon as I finish this blog.  Oh, crumb!  Is that the time?  Sheesh...

I'm so excited I can hardly type.  And I'm at work, so I don't have a lot of time.  But, GEEZ, I've gotta put this up...

I sold another Short Story!  Emerald Tales has offered to publish my short story, "Dreams & Shadows," in their November issue!

I had a reminder in my calendar about following up--so I could pick out the next place to send it when it got rejected.  And when I opened my e-mail - BAM!  There was Diana Lyles's e-mail accepting my submission!

The squealing and jumping around in my office would have been embarrassing if (1) I cared and (2) anyone had been here to see/hear it.  As it was, I had to jump up and run down the hall to tell a co-worker.  Not that he follows my career, but because I had to verbalize it to SOMEONE breathing!

Then the flurry of e-mails and calls to share the news began!  OMG!  I can't believe it!

Emerald Tales is a new zine.  I found them on Ralans.com and hoped they might like me.  And it appears Diana did!

Woo Hoo!  Well, back to the salt mines, but with a MUCH better frame of mind!  OMG, omg, ...

I made a commitment to finish 3 pieces and begin shopping for an Agent by the end of 2009.

Well as of today, I've finished 1 piece which I intend to begin bundle up in a heavy coat and send out into the cold, cruel world of submissions later this week.

And I'm waiting on pins and needles to hear what happened with my other "babe in the woods" sitting in a pile to be read as of 9/1/09.  The publication in question has committed to have a response, good or bad, to all submissions by the 10th and at this point, I'm saying, no news is good news.  At least I hope it is!

So, now, I've got to get down to brass tacks on the contemporary suspense I'm finishing and put fingers to keys on that elusive third WIP.

It's gonna be a hard haul, holidays, family visits, conferences and such in the next 4 months, but if I don't make it happen, it ain't gonna.

Oh, and I'm gonna use NaNoWriMo as a real jump-start for a 4th piece.  That should really be exciting.  I've enjoyed it every time I entered and I actually won twice!

Finally, I intend to commit to a regular addition to this black hole I call my blog.  Eventually, it might actually become a habit and then, maybe, if I get this "career" off the ground, it might become Useful.

Not that posting my personal angst and mental ramblings hasn't proven useful in a therapeutic way, but useful in a true communications tool with the world at large.

Happy Scribbling!

Denise, you should know better.  Open your big mouth and look what happens.

A good friend suggested I add my 2 cents about how to find crit groups, especially since I posted about how useful they have been for me.  So, here goes.

In the beginning, back in the dark days, I wasn't even looking for a crit group.  A friend who worked in a local store, mentioned that there was a writing group meeting in the Food Court of her mall.  She knew I was a closet scribbler and suggested I check them out.  With much trepidation, I approached the group and they welcomed me with open arms.  Soon I was a regular and HOOKED!  There was the reinforcement of my "addiction" to writing, support and commisseration over the frustrations, and patient instruction in my areas of weakness--suffice it to say that my skills level was lacking in technical expertise.  They helped me find out how to do what I do better without trying to change what I do.

So, the first group was pure happenstance, through the auspices of a good friend.

During the social periods of this group's gatherings, I heard of other groups.  Some of the members actually belonged to additional groups and I though, hey, misery loves company, er, the more the merrier, so I began to check them out.  I goggled the groups on-line to see what they had to say about themselves.  If they didn't have a site, I asked my crit group members for intros/contact names and then barged my way into meetings.

Have you ever noticed that, when you buy a new car, suddenly you see tons of others, just like yours, tooling down the road?  Or when you're thinking about buying that neat thingamagig, there are suddenly commercials, infomercials, articles, or folks using the exact thing ALL OVER?

Well, that's what happened when I joined my first group.  I began to hear things, see things, friends began to remember that I write and make suggestions.  It became a snowball effect.  Not that I didn't do a bit of snooping on my own, but the majority of leads/intros came from friends/co-writers who knew of or participated in other groups.  Let's face it, I've got some great friends!

Now that I've been in crit groups for a while (and I'm in 3 - two local and one on-line), I am more comfortable with doing on-line searches for different avenues to expand my CEU in writing.

Find out if there are any organizations for your particular genre.  I write Fantasy, so I checked out Science-Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).  I'm also exploring Romance, so I checked out Romance Writers of America which led me to a local chapter.  These are invaluable sources.  There are more on-line resources for crit groups than "Carter's got Liver Pills" (and I wonder how many of you have heard that one?)

As a writer, you should be checking out Writers Digest (subscribe if you can, read it at the library if you can't).  Some folks feel this mag is hit or miss, but even if it misses a few, the hits are well worth the effort.  There are genre publications as well, but I'll let you do the keyboarding for that.

Whew!  Well, I think I've done my journaling duty here.  Hey, Shawna, did I do okay?

Writing is a solitary endeavor.  Or, more specifically, the creation of writing is a solitary one.  No one, but you, can press those keys or move that pen.  But when all the sweat, nail-biting, floor pacing, incoherent mumbling, and just plain work is done, it's time to let someone other than yourself read it.

And that's when you find out who your true friends are.

Well, that's a little harsh.  Most all of us have friends who are willing to plow through our WIP because they love us.  But what we really need are the careful, discriminating readers.  And that's where crit groups and crit partners come in.

Thank heavens, I've been blessed to have joined several wonderful crit groups and am now working with a talented crit partner.  These long-suffering souls have added so much to my experience as a writer.  They ask me the hard questions.  They make me really think outside the box.  Even if one or two don't understand my genre, I find their comments and questions help me become a more critical writer.  In my experience, even the folks who don't know the genre help.  They're the ones to point out the glaring omissions I've made by assuming "everyone knows that" when in reality, no, not everyone knows what I'm driving at.

But be forewarned.  Not all crit groups are created equal and the crit group that works for me might not work for you.  You have to be willing to audition each group.  Attend a meeting or two, read the work of other members, listen to their comments/insights, ask what is the group's goal/mission.  This is a relationship you are forging and it may take a few dates with a few different partners before you find the "write' one!  Take your time and try to enjoy the process.  Honestly, even the worst critique can leave you something useful if only a chance to solidify your intention to "keep it just the way it is."

So, here's to you all, the unsung heros of my writing life.  With a little, or a LOT, of help from you, my friends, I just might get there!

Just get the story down on paper and worry about the edits later.

I don't know where I've read it and I don't know how many smart folks have told me so, but truer words were never written.

The need to write can be crippled by the self-imposed stipulation that I write well. That stipulation can cripple me to the point of not getting beyond the first paragraph, first page or first chapter. My internal editor hops up on the back of my chair and starts pointing out in that snippy little voice of hers that this word is the wrong word, that that phrase is redundant and that the entire premise is so trite, I should just stop right here before anyone reads such drivel.

However, after a short but strenuous tussle, I usually manage to convince her to retreat into whatever little slice of perfection she lives in so that I can get on with the work of getting it down on paper. Then, when that first draft is finished, I'll let her out for a short attack on that draft while I sneak off to work on something else.

Don't tell her, but I've got two stories in the construction phase. She's probably in there sharpening her red pencils as we speak.

It's Sunday Evening and it's time to be writing.  So, what am I doing here?

I should be spending this time working on my latest piece, but I can't seem to bring it together.  I thought I knew what I was going to do, but when I began putting it down on paper, er, on screen, it just wouldn't gel.  I can't keep my inner editor from quashing the life out of me and my story.

It's time to really call it.  Not "time of death" but "time of truth" and admit that it's not gonna be a novel.  It's not.  It was never meant to be and I'm just killing myself and it by trying to make it so.

The story ended up going way beyond the original parameters and was heading out beyond the left field wall.  Encouragement can be good stuff, but when it begins to draw you away from your real story, it becomes dangerous.  I have to reel myself and my story back into the ballpark or I may just abandon it all together.

This is getting down to the real nuts and bolts of it, then.  At least, I think it is.  The reality checks that you have to inflict upon yourself.  Some things just aren't anything more than what they are and I've got to just let them be.  So, I'm gonna jump off here and get back to my story.  I'm gonna lop off the last twenty pages I've sweated over and come up with an ending that makes sense to me, in the place that fits for my story.

Okay, they say confession is good for the soul, so let me say up front--I'm not good with deadlines.  Not that I don't TRY to be good with deadlines.  Not that I don't have lots of systems to HELP me meet deadlines.  Not that I don't UNDERSTAND the value of deadlines.  I even make most deadlines, per se.

No, I'm just not good with them.  I usually end up smashed up against the dang things trying to eek out the requirements and make it look like I was prepared long before, just not finalizing until now.

I know deadlines are going to help me get a grip on this writing thing.  I KNOW IT!  It certainly  helps that I feel compelled to submit things to each of my crit groups (poor sods).  Having something ready for RichWriters every other Monday and for the CNC group once a month makes me accountable.

The sad thing is that here it is Sunday evening and I'm just finishing the submission for the CNC group on Thursday.  I should have had it ready for them last week, but NO!  I was distracted with other things and just didn't get it together.

But the VRW speakers mentioned setting goals or deadlines for yourself and I remembered how setting a specific goal for myself in 2007 made it one of my most productive writing years to date.  So, I'm going to make a few goals for 2009.

By the end of 2009, I'm going to have finished and begun shopping around three more pieces and be actively looking for an agent.

Short stories, novellas, my erstwhile novel, not sure what, but three more pieces will have the obligatory "The End" and I will cease and desist from tinkering with them.  I think it's doable because my novella is pretty much finished up, my novel just needs a heavy edit and I've got a few "plot bunnies" (thank you, Cathy, for the cute terminology) for my other Random Bay world.

The agent thingee is really, Really, REALLY ambitious, but I did hedge a little by saying "looking for."  I certainly don't expect to find one easily.  But I've got my eye on one or two victims, er, agents for first attempts and we'll see what happens.

So, folks (I'm pretending someone out there is reading this), there they are, my official goals for 2009.

Today I attended my first Virginia Romance Writers meeting.  Today's speakers were Natalie Stenzel and Mary Burton.  The topic was "When Life is More Stressful than Fiction:  A Writer's Survival Kit.  Great suggestions for handling distractions, staying focused, being professional, organizing your time and more.  The questions for the floor were inciteful and yielded as much gold as the speakers making me realize VRW is a very dynamic group.  Members were friendly and welcoming and I even saw someone I know from another writing group.

I love going to these things.  (1)  Because it gets me jazzed to get back to my computer and try to use some of the great suggestions and, (2) because I get to meet other writers, published and non.  Meeting and greeting does not come naturally to me, so I have to push myself out there.  But it's crucial!  Being able to hear other writers' stories, find common ground, explore shared or opposed interests and maybe find some extra connections is so important in such a solitary careerpath as writing.  I'm intrigued to hear what others are writing, how they got into it, what they're doing, how far down the path to publication.  It's so empowering to share ideas, find out that I'm truly NOT ALONE with this issue or that challenge, and maybe even share some suggestions/encouragement.

AND the VRW goes out to lunch, pretty much en masse, and the conversations become even more casual.  Amazing how much good food and libations can rev up the interactions in a group.  That whole communal thing is hardwired into us, IMHO.  Even the most reclusive/introspective of us finds it easier to talk over a tasty dish or relaxing beverage.

Bottomline, I did some preliminary networking, and hopefully, friend-making.

Well, here I am. I'm a lifelong scribbler and I'll be inflicting my comments/thoughts/rants about writing and just about anything else on you, gentle reader.

I've been writing since I can remember. I was an infantile poet (take that however you want) but it wasn't until I read Little Women and took Josephine March as my muse that I began to dream of publication. My parents let me borrow their manual typewriter. Does anyone else remember those? You know the kind with the letters and numbers set on the top of metal keys that would fly up in response to a determined blow on the typewriter key and mash a letter through an inked ribbon onto a sheet of paper held against a rubber roller. But I digress.

At the tender age of, hmm, 8 or 9, I began my writing career. I set up a card table between the bunkbeds in the room I shared with my annoying little sister. (She's a lot less annoying now--I had to add that just in case someone who knows her were to read this) I populated my "desk" with a dictionary, typewriter eraser, and paper and created my first masterpiece. A Christmas play about the true meaning of Christmas narrated by Santa Claus. We're so very earnest when we are young. Hopefully, or thankfully, we grow out of that. Or do we?

Well, after that it was all downhill, er, I mean uphill. An entire forest probably owes its complete eradication to my pursuit of my craft. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't aspire to write "deathless prose," but I do aspire to developing my craft to the level where I can let anyone read anything I've written, without an inner cringe.

I have a few pub credits - a short story archived on Membra Disjecta, a very nice e-zine, and several short stories in a local writing group's anthology a few years back. But I have yet to attract the serious attention of any of the bigger name pubs (print or electronic). I'll keep you posted, so be forewarned.