Spending some time with my crazy characters!

Sorry been distant for so long but I have been writing a new novel. 

Just painted my writing room which is so bad it's laughable but I did one corner of my wall with chalkboard paint so all my characters & a bit of what's going on with them is fully on display. 

I have also hung up a dry erase board with an outline that I have already deterred from, happens. 

Either way I will try to add more on here when they are not demanding my attention or I just don't need a brain break! 

Until then stay tuned....

New novel?!

I did Nanowrimo again this past November. This time I was back to my winning ways getting my 50,000 words in a few days ahead of time. Having more time after behind hefted out of my eight year job the day before Thanksgiving. 

I hated my job and was looking to leave but the timing was the worse and what came after threw me into a depression that I was angry about. 

Being depressed over losing a job you hated gave too much power to the wrong people and so I took the time to find out what I wanted to do and who I was. 

I started a few new novels not really knowing which one was going to be my main one. I also had one that was close to the first draft being done but I had not touched it since way back in 2010/2011. 

But I did end up choosing one and even though I only have 30 pages are so into it I have not been do happy to be writing. 

I've also changed my editing times. Before I use to edit after the first draft but now I'm trying something different. Monday through Friday are my writing days then Saturday I edit what I wrote for the week and Sunday I make those edits to start the week over again. 

I hope with doing if this way I have less edits to do after the first draft. Wish me luck I am off to finish my edits for the day! 

It will be a miracle if I can remember my name after all this

Pound, Pound, Pound goes my skull. Medicine will be no help I am aware, most of you struggling writers can attest to this as well. In some ways, never going to college for writing has left my creativity gates flooded open and yet my skill is lacking. So there is no way of going back to school now, and no before you think it, it is not my age, just my surroundings. So now what? If you have been following me or know me then you are aware that I am attempting some online free classes. It is week 3 and I started to feel that I needed to add some more in so as I finished my you tube video (that is where the part of the class takes you) I decided to look up some more videos and thought it can only add to my education right? I can safely say.... I really do not know. All the "knowledge" of said teacher to said students in a classroom seem interesting enough as I scribble away in my notepad as though I am really in school. Then what? Do I throw aside all of my work that I am doing now and deal with what is being put in front of me, or do I trudge on in hopes of finishing at least the first draft of my next novel and then apply such advice in the next draft even if it means tearing the heart out of the novel and watching as my characters drown in a form of writing that makes my blood cringe? This is what I "fear", that if I get cut while writing, that my blood will be an everyday red color and not a writer's ink color. Our novels are our blood and our soul. We may not literally bleed on the page but it is there and the best of readers can see the stains within the words as long as the writer is lucky enough to be able to leave it. I know I have said it before and I know the meaning that the first draft is always called the heart draft. This is because you are adding your entire self into it and then your heart dies bit by bit when you edit. Your hope is that you are the cause of it and not the outsider who sees it differently. But, (of course there always has to be a but) if you want to share your work you must get use to it, right? As I read and absorb the words of my favorite writers work I start to wonder what their heart draft was like? Stephen King has always been and will always be my favorite writer. I would love to interview him and ask about this heart draft. Which one could you possible ask about though? There are so many that I am not sure I would know which one I would love to read. Either way I would relish his thoughts on how he felt when his editor took a pen to his baby and handed it back. Did he feel sick, wonder what his characters had gone through, were they tainted now, or was he fine? I handed my work over to someone before and what I got back I felt was no longer my story. They were not just changing structure they did not see that they had demolished my characters so much so that I no longer recognized them. Yet years later I still plug at it and wonder if I am just an ideas girl with somewhat of a storytelling ability or am I an actual storyteller?

Something new & learning to breath

So I am sitting here trying so hard not to throw my computer against the wall. It is running so slow and I am trying to take an online writing class. 

This is new for me. I have thought about taking classes but never followed through on it. Now I have stumbled across a free six week how to write fiction class and I am excited about it but can't seem to figure out the page so it's frustrating! 

This isn't my normal update day but I just needed to ramble for a bit lol. 

I also have a comic con to go to & one of the panels is turning your novel into a graphic novel which is something I have contemplated. 

Ok time to breath & move on. I will post an update after to let you know how it goes. 

Sitting in traffic & watching the world turn

So I am always having an issue getting to work on time lately. Besides the obviousness I hate my job reason there are several others. 

#1 my road is closed: 

My road has been closed for about 4.5 months now & all they are working on is a four foot section of road that they messed up the first time. Verdict is this adds 15 more minutes & 3 more lights (10 total now till the front door of work) 

#2 The I am more important people:

We all have them, they are the people who will block the lanes so that you can not turn when your light turns green or will cut you off mid turn trying to get on the bridge! A fact that just happened this moment as I sit through yet another green light. 

#3 Bridge is under construction:

I won't say what bridge I am talking about but those that know me know exactly which bridge! Fact is a new one is being built & the old one is always backed up. But when it was said that they wanted to demolish the old bridge while they took 2 years building the new one there was a big FU from every resident. The alternative was not worth the additional harassment. 

So all in all I live a max 30 minutes from work but have to leave an hour early in hopes that I can get there on time. It's frustrating to say the least & with all the months of this happening it took till now for me to see what the world was screaming for me to take in! 

The world is full if characters but as a writer they are specific & come to life attached with a purpose that others want to know & so now I am paying attention & I am jotting down the notes of their existence & they are spewing in from my veins & now I am at work wishing I was at home to write about them. 

Soon I will be so stay tuned.........

The struggle continues

If it wasn't for the blogs I am not sure how much writing I would actually get done. Sad but true. 

I hope that this changes and I think something as small as getting my writing room finalized again will help. 

It will give me a place to let my mind wonder and get those words down on paper. 

But which one to do? 

My novel that I did a self publish back in 2010 has a minimum of 2 others to finish the story line then another 3-4 to tell the stories of certain characters. 

On the other hand I have one that is close to the end of the first draft. The lovely first draft often called the heart draft because everything that your heart wants & needs goes on it, then someone comes along & rips it to shreds to "market" it better while you sit in wonder as to where your story went! 

Next update is Saturday so we shall see!!!!

Updates

So it's been a long time since I have updated this blog or even been able to write anything! 

I have 3 blogs going so I have decided to give myself a posting schedule (at least I am getting some sort of writing in) 

This blog I am updating on Tuesday & Saturdays with a few exceptions mingled in. Check back on those days & leave your comments & suggestions. 

My writing has been renewed as of late so I hope to be updating the newest novel soon

Been a long time coming

To say that I have not been writing on here in awhile would be the understatement of the century. The last post I had written was way back in 2010. Life tends to get in the way and some things tend to get the short end of the stick. Anyway I am going to try to update more frequently so stay tuned!

Is it ok to take a breath now?

All is well on the Novel front. I finished the final edits yesterday around 2:30ish in the am and uploaded the manuscript to create space. Today I received the ok to order my proof copy. Only downfall is that my code didn't work, but hey it was worth a try. I just ended up having to pay for the book & shipping. Once I receive it and make sure it is what I want I will order 2 more. One for my shelf and one to be stored away for safe keeping.

Back in November 2009 I came upon an enchanting group of friends. Their names, Ruslan, Nox, Lily, Hali, Netra, Eva and Kai they brought with them some Superior's in the form of Emberlynn, Mika, Asher, Morgana, Gaia, Bridgit, Ryder, Axton & Kyson. With a few acquaintances we traveled through their lives, loves, betrayals and secrets.
Everytime I thought I had them figures out they would surprise me. For around ten months our lives entwined until that faithful night on August 2, 2010 when all was said and done and I bid farewell to the best friends anyone could ever have.
But I know this group and they are in for a tragic and hectic time in their lives. There have been loses of epic proportions and a battle that has been brewing for seven hundred years. There are difficult choices that need to be made and soon I will join them for the next chapter in their lives and regrettably in their deaths.

But for now we all will take a breath and try to relax a bit before our journey begins yet again. Hope to see you all on the path.

THE FINISH LINE FINALLY

It's 2:45am and I'm finally relaxing on the couch. The novel is finally finished. No more edits to do! I've uploaded it to create space to be published and I can't wait to have my book in my hand.
Now however my brain is mush and I must go to bed.

self publishng woohs

As you may have read I participated in the Nanowrimo competition in November. It's objective was to see if you could write 50,000 words in one month. I was able to do it in 18 days and was soooooooo happy about it.
The hardest thing was that we were not to edit till December which I was fine with, but when it rolled around I was exhausted and working on two more competitions.
One of the prizes for the comp was that we were able to get a free proof book from create space (a self publishing division of amazon)which the promo code expired on June 30Th.
I was unable to get to work on the novel until right at the end of June. It was a push on the 30Th to get the novel done not to mention the edits. I was up till 3am knowing that I had missed the deadline to get the free proof copy but I still decided to upload and see if it worked.
It had but then it went to review before I could even check out and try my promo code.
But at last I decided to send an inquiry to find out if it could still be used since it isn't really explained how the process works.
Two days later I got the good news to try it and see, I read between the lines that said the promo code really didn't have an expiration.
Then when I thought I could breath again I got the message back that my trim size was incorrect. It was another piece of self publishing that I did not seem to understand. I of course switch the novel to a pdf as stated but had it in the 8.5x11 that I wrote it in. I chose to trim it down to 6.14x9.21 but did not think that I had to do it before the upload since I would have assumed that it would have just asked what size your book was not what size should they trim it to.
So OK lesson learned I decided to do all the edits and then trim it down and fix it then upload it again and wait for a second review. On the upside it would be the final revision since I was unable to do it the first time so of course there had to be another road block in the fact of the page count. I originally put in 230 pages because that's what it was before the trim size. Now however it is more like 427 and counting and it wont let me change the page count. So if I ever get this fixed it may only print the first 230 pages. Oh my what I learn everyday.
So I am using this book as my Guinna pig of sorts that hopefully I can figure this thing out and things can run more smoothly from now on (keep fingers crossed)
WISH ME LUCK!!!

Back to the grind

So I have two unfinished novels sitting here and I know I have to get them done yet I also know that I need time. So how to keep writing without racking my brain for the unfinished novels? I finally came up with the solution.
The dictionary.com word of the day. It gives me the option of upping my vocabulary and a reason to write.
I had originally intended to try to write the stories everyday but now I'm incorporating the weekly words into one story should be interesting.

The end of ABNA

It's 12:10am marking the end of the amazon breakthrough novel awards. I sit silently and remember to breath every so often as I let out a long sigh. I would love to say it is a sigh of relief that my last valiant effort made it so but to no avail.
I had uploaded my pitch and even my excerpt all I needed was to end the manuscript. I had gone back an edited it so that it would be good to go in the last seconds. I knew however that even at my best I could not make the word count that I needed to make up.
I thought for a moment to just end the novel and upload it as is without the minimum word count being there just at least to see if I could make it through the couple of rounds before hand. But I still have so much more story to tell and I had to say no. So as the clock ticked down the seconds I sigh.
The submission period is over the tab says and I except it.
I could say all the excuses that caused me to not be ready but in the end my story wanted it's time and so now it gets it.

When you wish upon a star

When you wish upon a star you have to know that the star may not be taking requests at the moment. There's the possibility of a busy signal or just a star that hates their job and has no time for you.
Wishes are amazing when they come true but they are few and far between and therefore you have to rely on yourself.
Today was the opening deadline for my major compitition and with all my wishing and bribing my Muse I did not make the minumum word count to enter today.
So do I wish upon a star once again that I can upload by thursday and make the 5,000 entrents allowed?
I will try and that is all I can do. Either way I will always believe in the magic....

The first failed attempt of 2010

So it's sunday January 24th and I'm laying in bed after hitting the snooze button on my phone for probably the 5th time this morning.
Work is from 10:30-7 today with only about a 30min break. Not enough time to write.
Tonight when it hit's 12:01am singling monday morning abna starts.
It was a time that I had been aiming for as my deadline. Only the first 5,000 novels in each of the two catagories will be excepted into the compitition.
Most authors will be entering their novels that were already done. Just waiting for the deadline. I wrote a whole new novel and now I'm not ready to upload at all.
My muse took a well deserved vacation and didn't return to earlier this week and now I do not have enough words to upload yet.
I had quite a good stride for awhile going from only 7,000 to 26,000 in just two days but then the walls came up and I started to question big parts about the book.
I can't say I didn't try and that I'm not still trying to get the book done. I called in friends to help with the editing tonight while I still write but it looks like only one can make it and I can't take them away from their lives.
All I can do now is pray that I can take till thursday and still make the submission time. I have off tue-wed and I know that I'll only need that time I just hope that fate is on my side this year.
They are only looking at the pitch for the first round even though you have to upload everything. This terrifies me. I've been in sales all my life and I'm good at it yet when I sell any of my stuff it just goes bad. I'm hoping this will not be one of those times.
The submission period ends on Feb 7th but I know I have to do it b4 then.
Wish me luck

Learning about deadlines the hard way

So I am trying to enter the amazon breakthrough novel awards this year. The entry is Jan 25th-feb 7th but only the first 5,000 entries in both catagories will be taken so of course I would have to be ready to go on the 25th. I've decided to write a completly new book to enter which shouldn't have been an issue but suddenly it is. Life has gotten in the way once again and my mind has completly blanked. The minimum word count is 50,000 words and I'm not even @ 4,000. It is still doable but it is definatly teaching me about deadlines and the stresses of them. I hope one day to have to truely deal with them from an editor. Coincedently the prize for this comp is a publishing contract with penguin publishers and a $15,000 advance. It is what I want to do with my life and being an uneducated writer it is a difficult task to accomplish but so worth the try.
I'm not normally one to do a complete outline for a novel but I've tried with this one but it just won't flow.
So now I sit here on a bench outside the movie theater blogging to all instead of writing my novel but I guess it is good that I'm at least writing.
Goodbye for now..........

Just another day in paradise

Well the new year started off ok minus the fact that I had no heat in the house. All was suppose to be well today when the heat was turned back on. There were some minor mishaps but it still worked out. The heat guy told me to shut the water valve off b4 I go to work in case the pipes burst. Of course I didn't have long before I heard the water flowing and the downstairs is flooded and I had to tell my mom that my gas was off that whole time. All this is killing my inspiration during a crutial time. I have to upload my novel on jan 25th and I'm nowhere near done. I am losing my mind

Oh my little furry, four pawed children....

Oh my little furry four pawed children how mommy tries to play with you and you do not want to. I pick you up and you try to run. So I say forget it and try to go about my day. I will try to write or read or even play video games. But then suddenly I get the why are you ignoring us mommy? And suddenly we must lay on top of your laptop or knaw at the powercord. We'll stop you from reading your book anyway we can and don't even try to play video games.
Even now as I write this my little Dagonet is trying to get on top of the computer.
But I have to laugh because I know the minute I put this away and try to play off they will run.

My little writing machine

As you can tell it's been awhile since I've been able to write in this blog. I've finished Nanowrimo but not the story yet. It has taken on a life of it's own and gone a direction that I could not dream and I do love it. I'm sorry to have to shelf it for a bit but I have alot of competitions coming up the first being amazon's breakthrough novel award in which my insaneness has decided to write a whole new story for and so from now till January 9th I have to knock out 50,000-150,000 novel then January 10th-24th edit it and get it ready to upload @ 12:01am along with a pitch and an excerpt.
Then Jan 26-Feb 28th I shall finish my nanowrimo book (Homo-Sapiens the hidden threat) edits and all so I can upload it to create space for my free proof copy.
March 1-31st I will be writing for the Writer's Digest 79th annual writing competition which I am not sure what I am writing about but hopefully something will come to me. It will be put aside at the end of March so I can start to do script frenzy in the month of April then to be picked back up again and finished before uploading it on May 14th(the day after my birthday).
I also have a couple side projects to finish just for fun and hopefully I can update this blog periodically.
I should hear about the results of the writer's digest short story competition at the end of February I believe. If at that time I'm able to post my story here I will.
Also I really want to start a few stories for just this blog and I will do so maybe in May when things settle down a bit.
But out of all this insanity I'm happy about one thing, I'm writing constantly for the first time in years. I hope that you all enjoy it.
I'm on twitter now under dracara and that soon will go the writer's route and I'm looking into creating a website for all of my writing's and going on's.
I will keep writing and hopefully you guys will keep reading!!!

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the first day to be able to upload your novel so they could count it and verify if you ar a winner was today. I was going to wait but since I had comp issues and internet issues I just went for it and uploaded today. I collected my winners web banners and certificate.

Now comes the time to finish it then edit it and get my free proof book then just dream of the next step.