Tag Archives: writing

another milestone in this publishing biz

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Today, I get my author photos taken. How cool is that?

These photos will be in my author promo kit the publisher will be sending out to booksellers, etc. You know, to create buzz. So my picture has to be buzz-inspiring.

I could wear a bee costume. Of course then I would just look like the “bee girl” from that Blind Melon video, all growed up. I’m not sure that’s the kind of buzz I want to create. (btw, I loved that video and I related so much to bee girl when that song came out. I wonder whatever happened to her)

Anyway, stay tuned for some pics. Probably, I’ll have you guys vote…and maybe I’ll listen. You never know with me.

Here enjoy the video while you wait…

working for the weekend?

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Not when you’re a writer! I am working TOWARD the weekend, but probably I will spend much of Saturday and Sunday butt-in-chair. It’s okay, though. Next weekend, I’m headed to KC with my best friend from high school to visit my best friend from college and one of my kids’ godfather, so I have to get this finished before I leave.

Cake, I tell you. Cake.

I made it to the gym this morning. One more day to go to meet my goal of 3 days this week. Maybe I’ll do a bonus 4th day just cuz I’m feeling good.

On my list of things to do today:

Work on manuscript
Buy a corkboard
Buy cake mix for school fundraiser
Do laundry and clean kitchen

On a sad note, I’m just sick about the death of Heath Ledger. Sigh. Not only was he beautiful to look at, but he was a brilliant, young actor and father. Anyway, I know there is death everyday and we put celebrities up on a ridiculously high pedestal and it seems weird to mourn a man that I never knew. But honestly, he seemed like a good egg–like he was one of the actors who could redeem Hollywood to some extent.

tuesday already?

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When the kids have a 3-day weekend, my week gets all messed up.

Today, I have a hair appointment. Then I need to come home and work on my manuscript. I had planned to go to the gym today, but I’m a little sore from yesterday’s workout, so I may not make it.

My fitness goals for the year are going well. I’ve had a couple of setbacks, but overall, I’ve lost a little over 10% toward my goal. I feel great. I’ve actually cut out coffee and diet sodas. It’s been over two weeks since I’ve had either. I didn’t really mean to cut them out, it just happened. So, I’m going with it.

Reading wise, I’ve been chipping away at my RITA books. My stack is interesting and I’m hoping that I’ll discover at least one new author…if not more.

What’s going on in your life today? Anything fun? Special? Nothing at all?

Happy Tuesday, y’all.

riding (writing) the high

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I started writing a little bit in 2000. My friend, Cholsted, was there when it happened. We were both working at Alltel and I had started this story that made it to 3 chapters but it is now defunct. Cholsted (nickname, not real name) read my stuff and was really encouraging. (that story really needed work but I did love my characters) Fishdog and I moved to Oxford, and I started taking the writing more seriously in 2001 and by 2004 I was bitten and smitten by the writing bug. I knew this was what I was meant to do. Now, I write full-time.

I tell you all this as a set up.

Since I wrote that first, now defunct story, I have only had a few days of uber-writing success–where when I sit down to write, the story flows like it was meant to–and I just can’t stop. One time, I had written 25 pages, and my computer battery died…and I couldn’t recover the work. So, I plugged my computer back up, and rewrote those pages. It was one of the hardest days I had ever had…and one of the most successful.

Yesterday, was another one of those successes. It was amazing and tiring and by the time it was over, I was absolutely spent. I honestly had a hard time moving from my chair–of course, after 14 hours at the computer, with very few breaks, it tends to be hard to move.

My editor sent me my revision letter on Friday. She has such an amazing eye, I honestly got so lucky when she picked my story because she absolutely gets this story. Anyway, I was reading the letter and something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. She was suggesting I add another vampire character to up the suspense…but I kept thinking another character would change the entire story and I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do.

Then the right thing hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t done this from the beginning! It was so obvious! And it would address the need for a little more suspense and it would make the book soooo much better. So I started revising…20 hours total: 5 hours Friday night and 14 on Saturday. By 9:30 last night, I had my revised story. And I was energized and exhausted.

Today, I’m printing out the story and reading it from front to back. I’m going to tweak and smooth and send it to Maria’s daughter to read. And hopefully, by the end of this week, I’ll be sending this off to fabulous editor…BEFORE my deadline.

Can you see me smiling?

more fun with google

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Seriously, it’s a little frightening what words will bring the search engines to my blog:

  • freeballing: poor Rader. He’s been immortalized on my blog. Well, at least he’ll have something to talk about in therapy.
  • cnbc melissa francis: Humph.
  • milf little rock: not yet. but I’m a MILF-in-training.
  • billy ray cyrus oldest son: huh?
  • chuck norris kills more people than cancer: And he can’t stop D-Mac either
  • naughty blues clues: one of my all time favorite confessions.
  • little rock teacher book author howard stern: Um. I have no idea…
  • lottery math: in which I fantasize about winning the powerball.
  • maria geraci: my bff brings me readers.
  • lick nipple: again, poor rader.
  • no dirty bitches: Oh, there are some dirty bitches here. I promise.
  • dog lick nipple: not on this blog, buddy.
  • how to get rid of puffy eyes after you cried and slept: no idea. have you tried cucumber slices?

I’ve been up and at it since 6:15 this morning. I’m doing a 2nd round of revisions, changing up a storyline and adding a couple of scenes. Bite Me! is gonna rock your socks when it’s done.

the sound of silence

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Well, except for my neighbor’s dogs…

The kids are at school.

I’ve already been to the gym.

Fishdog is at school for Lunchroom duty. (LOL)

And now, I’m going to write.

I love starting a new story–it really is my favorite part of writing because anything goes. No Rules; just Write. It’s fun to discover new characters, find their voice and discover the voice of the book.

So, I’m going to write on Back to Blue until I get word from my editor on Bite Me! And I’ll enjoy meeting these new people…and I’ll probably really like them until about page 100 when the writing gets tough. Funny how that always seems to happen.

back to me

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Okay, I’m fully recovered. No more headaches. No more snot-filled sneezes. No more sleeping 20 out of 24 hours. I spent 2 hours and Sam’s Club yesterday buying the shit out of some bulk items and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I also took the boys shopping and that lasted about an hour. As Ian said, “Mom, we’re boys. Boys and shopping don’t mix.”

Whatever.

Ian had a $100 gift cert at Hollister and he spent $60. He’s totally right, boys and shopping don’t mix. Sigh. I would’ve spent $150 and assumed Mom would catch my overage. But hey, I’m a girl. That’s what we do.

Ruby has just found her place as Supreme Ruler of the Francis Household. Well, almost. The cats pity her because she believes she is the Supreme Ruler, but they know they are far superior. Poor misguided Pug.

I’m getting to know my MacBook and I like it for the most part. It has a couple of annoying little things to it, like it just stops connecting to the internet whenever it feels like it and I can’t just ‘reconnect’ it, I have to restart it. I’m sure there’s a setting somewhere that we haven’t found yet. But the good news is, the restart time is so much quicker than my PC. I never wanted to turn that damn thing off because it would be a good ten minutes before I could do anything. And that was a huge frustration.

Oh, I bought Fishdog the hardcover (I was 286 out of the 300 sold!) version of Wil Wheaton’s latest book, The Happiest Days of our Lives. I am trying to let Fishdog read it first, but I finally caved and read a story. Now I know my husband is going to totally dig this book. But I’m afraid he’s going to have to conquer Legends of Rock III before he’ll sit down and read it. Sigh. I’m beginning to think getting Rock Band might not be such a great idea…we’re all way too addicted already.

Happy Sunday, y’all. I’m about to grab my 2nd cuppa and pull up Love Sux and write a little. Gotta get the first chapter to editor by 1/15 (along with my acknowledgments, which I’m afraid might be a chapter by itself) Then I think I’m going to start plotting out (I use “plotting” in the loosest way possible)Back to Blue which is going to be a lot of fun.

happy saturday!

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I feel almost normal again! I actually went to the store this morning so I could get some creamer for my coffee…yes, I am going to have coffee this morning! Now I know I’m on the road to recovery!

It was a brisk 28 degrees when I took my jaunt to Kroger, but the sun was out and the skies were blue. I love clear, blue, cold days. They make the temperature seem bearable. I think I’ll take the dogs for a walk in a little bit.

Yesterday, when the fog began to lift, I sat down and wrote three pages to the first chapter of Love Sux. That felt great. I love starting a new book. Of course, I’m not really starting a new story with Love Sux, but it is a new beginning.

Okay, I’m off to enjoy my coffee and danish, then I think I’ll see if I can finish chapter one. We’ll see…

clearing fog

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I’m getting there. Not 100% yet, but I’m getting better. My head hurts when I sneeze and cough (which, incidentally, is a whole damn lot) and it hurts when I move too fast (which thankfully, I am not doing much of at all right now).

But it’s better.

I actually ate something today and I TASTED it. Whoot! I didn’t really eat because I was hungry, I ate because I was so lightheaded and dizzy. I’ve been living on medication and water alone. Not. Good.

I literally slept the majority of yesterday away. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was vegging out to soaps, Law and Order reruns, and reading Twilight.

I finished Twilight this morning. Wow. Someone, somewhere called this book ‘seductive’ and you know what, she was right. It is technically a YA but I was totally drawn into the world Stephenie Meyer built. Very engaging…and seductive. I highly recommend this read–even if you think you’re ‘so over’ the vampire thing. You’re not over this.

Y’all got any big plans for the weekend? I’m going to start working on chapter one of Love Sux! (the sequel to Bite Me!) I also have a new women’s fiction story that has been brewing non-stop lately that I need to jot down. I’m tentatively calling it Back to Blue but I’m not sure if that’s the real title. We’ll see.