Yes... I'm still ALIVE

Yes... I'm still ALIVE but I think I'm riding some sort of emotional rollercoaster with my writing.

I've been TRYING (being the operative word) to write OHHN. One moment I'm stoked with it and start writing lots and the next I'm stumped and can't write more than two words. I think my problem is that there's something inherently wrong with the story. I REALLY don't wanna go back to the drawing board but at the same time, I don't wanna waste any more time on a story that is FATALLY flawed and I fear this one is!

After rereading an email from a writing friend, I suddenly realised that if I stripped away the complications my heroine has with her dependent mother, the long-distance barrier that will be between my h&H when she returns home and his playboy reputation, there's absolutely nothing stopping them from jumping into bed and/or having a HEA. There's no internal BELIEF about themselves that is stopping them from committing to the other. ARGH!! So first I had NO CONFLICT and now it's ALL external. Not doing too well here Rach!

So what do I do?! I've written 44k of a Superromance targetted novel (because until I hear back from the editor at Modern Heat, I was trying my hand at something different) and I think it has the bare bones of potential but it's gonna need a complete rehaul.

Do I scrap the lot and start afresh? Or try weave in?! Guess it's back to the drawing board.

Sorry for my rambles but I thought if I wrote a blog post, I'd at least have written something today and that's gotta be better than all the wallowing, I'm currently doing :)

Remember me?

Yep - I've been slightly absent in blogland this last couple of weeks. Been trying to force my current mss (OHHN) into submission.

A lovely writing buddy (Hi Cath) pointed out that although written in quite a lovely style, it had NIL conflict. That's right my lovelies... NADA, ZILCH, NOT A SINGLE SMIDGE of good reason why my gorgeous hero and his delightful leading lady shouldn't buy a house with a white picket fence and live happily ever after.

So I've been brainstorming ways to torture them a little more. I've hopefully given them pasts and present probs that make falling into love and HEA not quite a simple as boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl likes boy and they say 'I do.'

It's meant that I've done a lot of rewriting, adding and deleting. Gosh it's painful when the wordcount goes up and then rapidly down again, but I'm sure it'll mean a stronger mss in the long run.

In the meantime... I'm still WAITING to hear from M&B about the partial I sent in May! I'm at the stage, where I sort of wouldn't mind an R cos at least I'd know where I stand. I thought being able to send straight to an editor's desk would mean the process was quicker - but apparently that's a fantasy. Oh well... I've started thinking about my Maverick and his Christmas Fairy's conflict so that I can enter the new contest if I still haven't heard on my partial by then!!

Right... thanks for listening to my rambles. Hope you are all well and happy and that next time I'll either have meatier news or an interesting craft thing to discuss!

For all those off to the Aussie conf this weekend - have a BLAST! Am sooooooooooo jealous I won't be there. Especially since I'm up for an Award Sat night. Who wants to drink cyber wine with me and hang out on Twitter to see how I go?!

Recharge, Re-coup and eEditors!

After a crazy couple of weeks, I needed a few days down time before throwing myself back into writing. Funny that the downtime actually included catching up on housework and washing (although I'll never completely catch up me thinks) but doing so made me feel better and put me in a better zone to get back into writing. I also read a bit and critted chapters of my friends and CPs.

Now I'm slowly easing myself back into writing OHHN and hope to have it finished by the end of August... that's unless I hear from M&B about the partial I subbed to them earlier in the year.

I finally emailed the eEditor address to find out what's going on with this partial, so hopefully I'll hear something soon. Best case scenario would be a full request - so fingers crossed please!

Will keep you updated...

In the name of RESEARCH!

The things we do in the name of research - the things we make our husbands do in the name of research!!

As you've probably guessed my current wip involves a ghost, so in the name of research I sat down to watch 'Death of a Ghost Hunter' tonight and of course, cos I'm a total wimp, I made my hubby watch it too.

Aside from the bad acting, I was quite freaked in various stages but I think this was because they made out that the movie was based on a true story. Too bad I looked it up after and found out it was a hoax along the lines of the 'Blair Witch Project.' Oh and the three main characters were TSTL!! Really... they were just thick!

But the REALLY, REALLY freaky thing?

I tried to save an image of the DVD cover to post to this blog and couldn't. That's right... tried numerous different images and although they said they'd saved to my computer, when I went to post (it said they'd been posted), it wouldn't work. So alas... I can't show you the cover!!

Movie watching aside, I'm calling it quits in my attempt to write 30k in 30 days. I'm just not woman enough to cope with all the lack of sleep and still churn out a regular 1k a day that I actually think is good enough! So... no more daily word counts or fave lines. If you wanna know my progress, watch the word metres on the side, which will hopefully continue to creep up at a nice, sensible pace - lol!!

Day Twenty-Eight (nearly there...)

Day Twenty-Eight

Nearly there... well... not exactly! It's nearly the end of June but I'm almost 10k short of my 30k goal.

Why? It's not so much because I had those few days away from writing completely... more that I CAN'T switch off the internal editor and I'm actually struggling to decide whether this is a bad thing or not.

Let me elaborate...I'm almost 26k into my 60k story. They h&H have done the deed but I'm not sure they should have yet. I could just plod on writing and hope that I'll be able to fix this if it's wrong in the rewrites, well I could... but I just can't. I seem to NEED to have the scenes that come before the one I'm writing pretty much right before I can continue. So I'm umming and ahhing about whether to do some rewriting and insert a scene or two or to leave the book as is! It's a nightmare!!!

Anyway enough whinging.

Word count (last two days cos I forgot to count yesterday): 1638

Fave Line of the day/s:

‘You’re not one of those women who channel Oscar The Grouch before they’ve had coffee and a shower are you?’

Word Count Thus Far: 20849

Day Twenty-Six (I think)

Day Twenty-Six (yep... I think that's the right date, am a little lost on such things if I'm honest)

Word Count: 1472 (but I'm not at all enthralled by any of them)

Fave Line of The Day (see above, but I'll put one in for the hell of it):

‘I suppose you believe in aliens, UFOs and the Loch Ne

ss Monster as well,’ she said, trying to sound flippant.

Total word count thus far: 19211

I had a lovely (okay, rainy and rather exhausting few days) away with the hubby and the three heroes-in-training. Didn't get any writing done (but wasn't expecting or planning too) as you can see by my dismal June NaNo word count, but I did finish

reading ONE book. I know... only ONE but honestly... it was an exhausting kind of holiday.

Luckily that one book was one that now rests on my KEEPER SHELF. It's.... DRUMROLLL...

This is only the second Anne McAllister I've ever read but I'm on a serious mission to hunt down her backlist now. This is the devilishly delicious Hugh and the feisty Syd's story - both the kind of characters I absolutely adore. Hugh is a very unusual Presents hero (and frankly, I'd like to see more of him - no, not like that, you naughty minded blog readers you - I meant more of his type). He's sexy and good-looking (obviously) but he's a little dishevelled, lives in a beach shack, has a puppy for a best pal and likes to take it easy and enjoy life as well as work hard.

But probably the best thing about the book is that she had me from PAGE one with a totally unique opening. I'm not gonna spoil it for those who wanna hunt this baby down... but let's just say, it'd be worth the read.

Anyway Anne's book got me thinking about openings and how they affect my own writing. I've realised that I can't actually plan a book unless I have the opening in my mind already. All the books I've written thus far have either started with a title or an opening scene (and usually the other has followed quickly on the heels of the first), yet if I don't have a title or a clear first scene in my head, I totally flounder.

So... what comes first for you?! I'd love to hear!!

Day Nineteen

Day Nineteen

Not one word written on either of my wips today - whoops! And we're off on holiday for a few days tomorrow and both hubby and I are NOT taking our laptops, so I won't be writing. Hopefully I'll have some time to read some good books though :)

This little break will mean meeting my goal of 30k in 30days is unlikely... but I'm happy with what I've achieved this month and will continue to write regularly throughout the rest of June and beyond.

Anyway I know I promised you a pic of my current heroine - Imogen Lewis - and believe me... she's stunning... but for some reason my computer won't let me save the pic!!! :(

So write heaps and I'll see ya in a few days...

Day Eighteen - another slump...

Day Eighteen

Word Count: 318 (dismal again I know but I had a Playgroup meeting tonight and came home late - well for me - with a headache).

Fave Line: No man needed such an ego-boost.

Word Count Thus Far: 17739

Since it's a slow word day... thought I'd leave you with a pic of my lovely hero, Brodie Faraday!!!! I'll show you the woman special enough to tame his rogue-ish ways tomorrow.

Day Seventeen

Day Seventeen

Word count: 1632

Fave Line of the Day: (well a few lines actually)

Do this? He was past caring about beds, the shag rug on the carpet looked more than suitable for what he had in mind. ‘Do you always talk this much during sex?’

Total Thus Far: 17421

And... I've just finished reading Lynn Raye Harris' debut book 'Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge.'

I was lucky enough to win this over at Lynn's blog, so I've had a sneak peak before most other people down under *gloating*. I can see why Lynn won the Instant Seduction contest, she certainly has a way with words. I won't say too much about Rebecca and Alejandro's story because I don't want to ruin it for you, but let's say my heart was pumping wildly only ten pages from the end when I was SURE there was no way for these two to get their act together. I was seriously worried... but (of course) the HEA came good and it was a lovely feel good ending.

For me one of the best things about Lynn's book was that Alejandro was a seriously DARK hero and the lovely Rebecca totally reformed him. Isn't that just the best thing about romance? The heroine's ability and power to transform?!

Day Sixteen - the first kiss!

Day Sixteen

Word Count: 1060

Fave Line of the Day:

His tongue nudged a line between her lips and she opened, rejoicing as she tasted her apple-tea cake mixed with whisky in his mouth.

Total Thus Far: 15789

And as you can see from the quote above... I've just written the first kiss!! Yay! Boy am I glad that's out of the way :)

Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen

Word Count: 1423

Fave Line of the Day:

All this was doing nothing to dampen the burgeoning feelings of lust wreaking havoc on her libido.

Word Count To Date: 14729

Day Thirteen - Good News Week!

Day Thirteen

Word Count: almost too embarrassed to admit it - 103

Fave Line:

His eyes lit up when they saw her, but then they looked past, registering on him and nearly popped out of their sockets.

Total Thus Far: 12 301 (oh dear... behind the count now)

But I'm not gonna get too down about my dismal effort today, cos yesterday I found out I finalled in the Romance Writers of New Zealand Great Beginnings contest. The story that finalled is the one (partial) currently with Lucy Gilmour and the judge in this contest is Editor Kimberley Young - hoping they both like it!

Day Twelve

Day Twelve

Word Count: 1135

Fave Line of the Day:The orange convertible tore past her and she jumped back just in time to avoid a shower of sludge. Unfortunately she copped an eye-full of the sensational blonde driver who had to be one of Brodie's many reported playthings.

Total Word Count Thus Far: 12198

Day Eleven

Day Eleven

Word Count: exactly 800!

Fave line of the day: Now she not only had to pout about the absence of Brodie, she could add being thrown out of her own house to her list of woes.

Total Word Count Thus Far: 11063 (only just on track)

Just wondering oh wonderful blog readers... how much time do you devote to writing each day? I try to write every day but sometimes I can only manage an hour at night cos I'm just too knackered... I wonder... is this enough if I'm serious about pursuing this dream!?

Day Nine - a dismal day of words!

Day Nine

Word Count: 338

Fave Line: 'Ah... Spar, the heigh of Cameron's Loch culture.'

Total words thus far: 8964

And my exciting news is I finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia Valerie Parv Award with a mss I thought would never final in any contests due to its controversial nature. Can't wait to see what the judges thought of it but will have to wait till August when the winner is announced! Patience is a virtue and all that stuff!!!

Day Eight and a bundle of books...

Day Eight

Word Count: 892

Fave lines of the day: 

The question sounded like one of those lethal 'do-I-look-fat-in-this?' queries. He got the feeling if he cited her biological make-up, she'd pick up one of the many colorful umbrellas hanging on hooks in the hallway and whack him fair over the head.

Total Word Count Thus Far: 8626

Highlight of the day:

The post lady dumping two packages of books in my letter

box. The prize I won over at Lynn Raye Harris' blog arrived - her debut book and two books by other hawt Presents authors. Will do a post about Lynn's book once I've read it - no spoilers - cos

 it's exciting to have followed this project from Lynn's win in the Instant Seduction contest to the publication of her first book. And in another wonderful yellow envelope was a book from the lovely Anne McAllister! I seriously thought about ditching my plans of writing anything much this week and curling up with these babies, but have decided to make them reward books instead. 

Day Seven - keeping just ahead of target.

Day Seven

Word Count: 1111 (ain't that a pretty number?)

Fave line of the day: Then again, she was still wrapped in flanelette pajamas and judging by the shadows under her eyes and the red bird's nest on her head, she hadn't had the best night's sleep either. 

Total word count to date: 7734, which brings me just above where I need to be if I want to do 30k this month. 

I also downloaded the Typewriter program Anne McAllister mentioned in the comments section of my last post. I haven't used it yet, but I love the concept and plan to use it tomorrow when I start a new scene. 

Day Six and a whole load of rambles!

Day Six

Word Count: 856 (although I may add a few more after this post - who knows!)

Fave line of the day: Really hard to pick cos I'm not particularly fond of ANY OF THEM today but...

Pushing aside these disturbing thoughts, she climbed the stairs, braved the shadows in the attic and curled in the fetal position on the single bed, only to tear back the covers moments later when her nose spasmed at the smell of smoke.

Word Count Thus Far: 6623

Now for the ramblings...

*My new friend Janette (whom I met at the RWA Perth Roadshow) has just started a blog - check it out at Tales of a Romance Nerd. Don't you just love that blog title?

*I'm finding it hard to switch off my internal editor - harder than hard, almost impossible. I keep wondering whether I've got the setting right and it's not a simple case of finding all the Edinburgh's and replacing with the name of a made-up smaller town, because this will change the WHOLE essence of the story. But I'm worried about using Edinburgh, because a) I wanted a small-town feel and b) I fear I don't remember Edinburgh in enough detail for what I want to describe. 

*I LOVE writing beginnings of stories. They just seem to flow so nicely for me and the characters really speak to me... until I hit about 10k... and then nothing seems right and the characters suddenly turn into two-dimentional cardboard cutouts!! ARGH!! 

*My hero is proving very obtuse. In almost 12k  I've had about 1000 of those words in his pov and although he's been talked and thought a lot about by the heroine, he's been absent for at least a third of the words so far. Is this too much (for Superromance?) I keep asking myself this question and getting different answers. 

*On a totally random note... I made the most DELICIOUS dessert yesterday night. I wrapped whole, peeled and cored apples in a piece of shortcrust pastry, sprinkled with sugar and baked in the oven. Served hot with ice-cream this was possibly the yummiest Apple Pie-type dessert I've ever had. Go on... try it... you know you want to!

Day Five

Day Five

Word Count: 1356 VERY forced ones!

Fave line of the day: Probably somewhere in the dusty shed out the back, but I’m more scared of creepy-crawlies than I am of poltergeists.

Day Four

Day Four

Word Count: A dismal 213 (can I blame the fact I feel achey all over my body and just wanna sleep?)

Fave line of the day  (Slim pickings but): 

His fetish for chocolate was a laughing matter among his sisters. He’d happily sell his soul for a fix.