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The Cerridwen Chat group is having a "Free For All" all day January 1st. Cerridwen Press authors will be posting excerpts, offerering free downloads, holding contests, answering questions. If you'd like to drop by, join the yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerridwenchat/

I'll be there talking about Finding Sarah

On Unexpected Changes

What I'm reading: Improper Alliance by Jane Toombs; More GH entries; more Crapometer posts

What I'm wrting: Chapter 18.

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of posting, Blogger goes all Google on me. This is more of a test to see if I have to unlearn anything, so it'll be short.

I thought I had a handle on Dalton, but he went all gentleman on me in chapter 17, so everything got pushed up about 10 pages. I guess he can wait; it was his idea, after all. I just go where he takes me.

Had a nice meeting with my CP this morning--it feels good to have some live brainstorm time. And fresh eyes to say, "I got this, enough already" or "Huh? What are you talking about?" shows me where I'm over explaining or assuming the ESP thing is going.

I've borrowed my husband's PDA to see what it's like to read a book on the small screen. It takes a bit of getting used to, but the backlight is great for reading in bed, and for some reason, probably the unfamiliar format, my internal editor stays turned off. I'm waiting for the universal e-book formatting to take effect (I should live that long).

And last--we saw Casino Royale on Monday (our own Christmas tradition--a movie and Chinese food). After countless explosions, chases, gunfights, near-death escapes, and plenty of decolletage, all requirements of my husband's, after the movie he says, "too much mush."

I'll be making his New Year's Resolutions pretty soon.

On Murphy's Law

What I'm reading: Lady of the Two Lands by Elizabeth Delisi; Golden Heart entries; More of the Crapometer

What I'm writing: End of chapter 17. Buildup to "The Scene"

After figuring out my postcards, I ran into three glitches. 1. The printer generated too much heat, apparently, and after about 2 sheets, the ink glommed up the rollers. 2. The card stock had defective perforations, so the cards didn't separate neatly. 3. The printer ran out of a color cartridge or two. My background green faded away to nothing.

I returned the stock, although they did let me keep the ones I'd already printed on the back. I bought some matte ones, but they're 4 to a page, not 2. Figured it would be cheaper for trials, but they're smaller, so back to the formatting board.

Starting Over hit Cerridwen's spreadsheet Friday, so I've been working on my cover request form. I know I want the bald eagle and the nests on the cover. I hope the cover department can come up with something that looks like the undeveloped Florida terrain. If you say Florida, everyone envisions airboats zipping through the sawgrass, but that's not where the scene takes place.

I also think I'm going to start a scoresheet for writers who have their character 'thumb the safety off their Glocks.' I don't know a whole lot about handguns, but I do know that Glocks don't have that kind of safety.

More waiting; more promotion

What I'm reading: Dust to Dust by Tami Hoag; Miss Snark's Crapometer; Golden Heart entries; Sophie Metropolis by Tori Carrington

What I'm writing: Chapter 17

Now that I've finished scoring a RWA chapter contest, it's time to dig into the Golden Heart entries. I received 7 to judge. Although I've judged lots of local chapter contests, this is my first go at the 'biggie'.

Both my publishers are in holiday mode, so the waiting continues. I did get my advance copies of Finding Sarah, and on a scary note, that means that the publisher is sending out ARCs for reviews. Considering what my heart rate jumped to when I scrolled down to find out what Miss Snark had to say about my hook, I'm not sure I'll survive dealing with reviews.

I've been fighting with Word and Avery templates, but I emerged victorious and have my first promotional piece for Finding Sarah laid out, tested, and ready to print. Until I see some financial returns, I'm going low-budget and DIY whenever possible. I've got a postcard sized flat—cover image on the front and blurb copy on the back. Now I'll have something to put out on the 'goodie tables' at conferences. I don't know what the return is in terms of sales, but I know I'll get a charge out of seeing my cover. I also had a turn at a Writerspace chat the other night to promo Sarah, and that was fun.

Meanwhile, I've finally (I think—nothing's ever permanent) figured out how to weave a couple of threads together in Dalton's story. Minor characters have a way of demanding more page time, and I have to give them a good reason to be there. It's also time to start brainstorming meetings again. I'm meeting my CP next week, and looking forward to some recharging.

On Waiting

What I'm reading: Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag; contest entries

What I'm writing: Chapter 16

With everything done on "my end", the reality of relative helplessness sets in. According to my delivery confirmations, Rescued Hearts reached the editor on Wednesday. I sent polite follow-up emails to two agents who have had requested submissions for months. "Romancing the Geek" has been received and is sitting in the editor's inbox, waiting its turn. I guess the 'control freak' in me hasn't gone away.

I'm learning about the promotional end of e-books by participating in 'author' or 'publisher' days at several on-line groups. Not quite as chaotic as live chats, but time consuming nevertheless. And until Sarah is released, there's no effective way to judge the return on the effort.

Time to re-read what I wrote last night and get back to work.

On Getting Back to Routines

A quick entry tonight.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity of being four steps behind in everything, I have finished my Valentine's Day story, tentatively titled "Romancing the Geek," and I plan to submit it to the Champagne Rose line editor tomorrow. When I started, I planned a short-short, under 5,000 words, but (and not totally unexpectedly) the characters demanded more of their stories be told. It ended up at a shade over 11,000 words.

Rescued Hearts is on its way to the publisher, so I'm back in 'wait' mode. But my holiday company is gone, my work responsibilities have gone from bonfires and chaos to something I can keep up with. I've even found time for my middle-of-the-day reading routine, although today it was reading contest entries.

And I got my "author copy" of Finding Sarah. It's getting more and more real.

Tomorrow--Back to Dalton and Miri, for sure.

On Happy News

What I'm reading: Inside Delta Force by Eric L. Haney ; contest entries
What I'm writing: My Valentine's Day short (still). Also a promo prologue piece for Finding Sarah.

I got a couple of nice surprises while I was away at a 2 day meeting. First, an editor had offered to critique my first three chapters of Rescued Hearts as a pure favor. Instead of feedback, I got a request for the full manuscript. And, she said she'd offer some advice before I sent the final version in. How kind of her.

My Cerridwen editor approved my long-ago-written prologue for Finding Sarah, one that I wrote more for me than the book, but she said I could use it as a promotional giveaway.

AND -- she offered a contract on Starting Over, the sequel to Finding Sarah. The one I'd waited so long to finish the final draft because I wanted to get the local sheriff's department building operations. (You know, like how to you get a fax? Where's the lab?)

On Choosing Readers

What I'm reading: A Knight's Vengeance by Catherine Kean

What I'm writing: My geek Valentine's Day story.

I've been working on my Valentine's Day short story, which keeps getting longer—but easier to cut after it's all out there, I've found. My characters insist on having their back stories well established, although it doesn't need to end up on the page. Although I'm not sure what the title will be, right now, it's The Socialization of a Geek. (Anyone think that's a clunky title? Is 'Socialization' not a romance fiction word? Let me know.)

At any rate, I'm about 8500 words into the story, and on my way out to take my kids to the airport, I must have clicked one of the hot keys on my keyboard, because the printer whirred and starting spitting out the pages. Since I'd already used the paper (and not from my recycled paper tray, either!) I figured it was a good excuse to ask my husband to give it a first read.

All of a sudden, he comes into my office with one of his 'trying to look mad but laughing' faces and says, "What's wrong with giving someone an electronic tire gauge for Valentine's Day?"

Guess I drew that character quirk from a little too close to home. In his defense, the tire gauge accompanied roses and chocolates.

Maybe I need to get one of these:

One takes ones story ideas where one finds them. Just be careful who you ask to read it!

On Voice

What I'm reading: Learning Curve by Terry McLaughlin; Cinderella Tannenbaum, by Dara Edmondson

What I'm writing: My Valentine's Day story, still untitled.

I found my notes from the Voice workshop given by Barbara Samuel. Although she lectured, chatted, and imparted lots of valuable information, most of the day was spent in free writing to help us discover our voices. As she puts it, your voice is your body, your style is the clothing you put on. Or, if your voice is a potato, your style is how you cook it. Another thing I found interesting, since I thought my voice in "Words" was very different from what I'd consider my 'normal' voice, was her comparison to changing the way you speak based on where you are and who you're with is a change of style, not voice. An author with a strong voice will often hear readers say, "You sound just like your book." Another tidbit--avoid 'writerly language' because you'll lose your voice.

Barbara wanted us to see that our voices are determined by where we come from, what impressed us growing up, our neighborhoods, the languages and dialects we spoke and heard. She started out with a 3 minute timed writing with the prompt, "I am seven years old..." When we finished, brave souls shared their writing, and it was fascinating to see what resonated for us. We moved on to, "I am twelve years old..." which brought forth a lot of angst. From there, we looked at being born into other cultures, to writing about our relatives, and trying to define the culture we were brought up in, remembering what the house we lived in at age twelve was like, what it was like to be eighteen--all exercises to get us in touch with ourselves.

Then we moved on to seeing what kind of people we were. She had us list 15 things we loved, and I was surprised to find that I, the scientist, was really a very sensual person. I had trouble with my top 10 movies, mostly because we hardly ever go see any. But the ones I listed were pretty much all adventure flicks, which goes along with the romantic suspense stories I'm working on.

Our final exercises were to take a picture from a stack she passed around the room, and write about it. Then, we passed the picture to the person next to us and wrote about the one they'd picked. We learned how much easier it was to write about something we "liked", and also how two people writing about exactly the same picture, could come up with totally different 'voices.' I wrote about two people on a cruise ship, and my partner wrote about an alien invasion.

She left us with a 4 page worksheet to take home and use to develop everything we'd worked on.

A great day!

Odds and Ends - Frustrations and Research

What I'm reading: Born in Death by JD Robb

What I'm writing: Revising Starting Over; working on my Valentine's Day short story.

I was going to write about Barbara Samuel’s Voice workshop this morning, since I’ve been delinquent about posting, but I can’t find the safe place I put the steno pad where I took my notes and did my writing. It’ll turn up. With family descending for the holiday, there will be all sort of things rediscovered when I go through my desk and other piles of stuff in preparation for relinquishing my office.

First, a personal scream. I decided to enjoy the cold snap and transferred my manuscript to my laptop so I could sit by the fire (okay, it’s just a Presto log, but heck, this is Florida, and fireplaces are for atmosphere, not heat). After editing about 170 pages, it was time to call it a night. Of course you know what’s coming. I saved the file to my flash drive. At least I swore that’s what I was doing, but no, I took what was on the flash drive originally and overwrote the file I’d just revised. Back to square one, or page 181, which is where I’d started. Major stomping, swearing, hair-pulling. Yes, I know better.

My SWAT Commander contact did have an hour to spare for me Friday (he had to serve a warrant that afternoon) so I got a first-hand look at the main office building for the sheriff’s department. It was a genuine maze—I wouldn’t last two minutes without getting lost. Tom was kind enough to show me the kinds of spaces my deputy would have access to. It was Friday, so dress was casual, and it was also the CID Thanksgiving lunch, so there weren’t a lot of people around. But I did get confirmation on most of the stuff I’d made up, I met their resident sketch artist who showed me his portfolio, saw the lab where my deputy went to see if his results were ready.

Got the ‘local interest’ stuff, too—color of the walls, carpet, the sounds of training classes from behind not-quite-closed doors, and the amazing friendliness of everyone in the building. A feel for the need for keys for access to various areas. A peek into an interview room—nothing like the ones on tv. Small, no glass or one-way mirror. No cameras in the ceiling. Just a room with a tiny table—more like a counter—attached to the wall and a couple of chairs. Definitely serves the purpose, which is to make the person uncomfortable.

I suppose after last night’s stupidity, it was a good thing to know I didn’t really have that much to change. I didn’t know the front of the building was glass, or what the reception area looked like. As I wrote, of course more questions arose, but I’m ready to tackle the rewrite. And hope my editor approves.

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating.