The Coffee Wars - a Guest Post from Michelle Miles

Since I had so much last week with my first guest post, I decided why not do it a second time! By the way, if any of my readers are interested in guest posting on my blog sometime in 2011, drop me an email and let me know. In the meantime, here's the lovely Michelle...


Hi, everyone! I’m happy to be guest blogging today at Meghan’s blog! Thank you so much for having me.

Today I’m talking about my latest release, THE COFFEE WARS. It’s the fifth novella in my series, the Coffee House Chronicles.

I started writing this series back in 2006 with the debut novella, TALK DIRTY TO ME. I never really intended to write a series, but it seemed like a natural progression after the first one was released and seemed to do well. I look back and it’s hard to imagine that I’ve written five stories in the same series!

I wrote TALK DIRTY TO ME in about six weeks. It was mostly for fun but one of my critique partners at the time urged me to submit it to Samhain, which was new at the time. After much cajoling, I did and lo and behold it was accepted. Imagine my surprise?

Next came NICE GIRLS DO, the story of Cara and bad boy Mark, followed by TAKE ME I’M YOURS with Graeme and Marion, and then SEX LUST & MARTINIS with Delilah and Sam. The theme of the stories is all rooted in the same type of story: people can change and often do for the ones they love the most. I set them against the backdrop of a coffee shop called The Bitter End.

When I set out to write a story for the Christmas line from Cobblestone Press, I really struggled with the idea. I mentioned it to two writer pals whilst at Nationals over drinks and dinner. It seemed painfully obvious to them I should write something in my Coffee House series. It was a “duh” moment for me.

So when I got back home, feeling all inspired from Nationals, I set out to write THE COFFEE WARS. I had a very tight deadline. In fact, I cranked it out in two weeks. In order to do that, I made myself keep strict

rules: keep the storyline simple and don’t go over 12k. I stuck to it and am pleased with the results. I was delighted to receive my contract on the new novella.

The story is about David and Lilly. She’s the hot owner of the new Java Perks, the coffee shop up the street trying to put The Bitter End out of business. David is the co-owner of The Bitter End, disgusted about the new competition. The two meeting and all their friction causes a lot of hot steam between them.

Here’s the blurb:

Lilly owns the new up and coming, Java Perks. She’s determined to be the number one coffee house in town, crushing her competition down the street, The Bitter End.

Meeting the mystery woman in his coffee house, David immediately wants her for himself. After a hot encounter on his desk, he can’t stop thinking about her. Until he learns she’s the owner of the place trying to put him out of business.

When David confronts Lilly accusing her of using him, she throws down the gauntlet. Now the two are at war and may the best woman win!
-----

It’s a fun story and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you’re interested in the other books of the series, following is a little blurb about each one. You certainly don’t have to reach each one in order as I’ve written them to be all stand-alone.

TALK DIRTY TO ME (Samhain, 2006) is about Claudia, who is a phone sex operator, and Blake, a lonely doctor looking for love on the other end of the phone. A chance meeting brings the two together and Claudia realizes the hot doctor could be the sexy voice on the other end of her phone.

NICE GIRLS DO (Samhain, 2007) follows ex-stripper, Cara, on her journey to reinvent herself and gets a job at the local coffee house, The Bitter End. But things go awry when she meets bad-boy Mark and son of the coffee house owner. Especially when he and his brother, David, vie for her affections. When Cara and Mark learn the coffee house is in danger of closing, they team up to keep the doors open and rescue the coffee house.

TAKE ME I’M YOURS (Cobblestone Press, 2009) goes in a little bit different direction with Graeme, whose love is painting but whose bread and butter is designing adult websites. When Marion, the jilted bride of his ex-best friend, comes back into his life, he sees it as a chance to get the woman of his dreams—and paintings. Marion is encouraged by her fashionista best friend, Delilah.

SEX, LUST & MARTINIS (Cobblestone Press, 2010) picks up where TAKE ME I’M YOURS left off, but this time Delilah is in the driver’s seat. Meeting up with her ex-husband after a long separation makes her realize she still has feelings for him, but he’s never been the responsible type. Sam does everything in his power to make her see he’s changed…and he wants her back for good.

Get your hands on THE COFFEE WARS here: http://cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/coffeewars.htm

Where I am on the Interwebs:
Website: http://www.MichelleMiles.Net
Blog: http://www.michellemiles.net/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MichelleMilesRomance
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MichelleMiles

I've made a big decision - I'm going back to school!

Once the unemployment benefits extension was officially passed last week, I realized there could be no better time for me to go back to school for accounting than right now. NY state has a program where a person can continue collecting unemployment while going to school without having to look for a job. As anyone who's browsed the help wanted section/craigslist/careerbuilder etc. in the past few months can tell you, there are no decent jobs out there right now. The only jobs that are available want to pay you SH*T money. I'm talking $5-10 less (an hour) than what I was making at my previous job. It's disgusting. And it drives me nuts that the government and the media are trying to tell us that the recession is getting better. IT'S NOT.

But enough about that! I've realized that, as much as I love writing (fiction), it's not a career option for me right now. I don't enjoy freelance (article) writing, and even if I did I know that it's a really tough market to break into right now. I'm unpublished with two unfinished manuscripts to my name that are taking me forever to write. And I do not want to go back to working as a peon (or pee-on, which is how most of us feel), aka an administrative assistant. It's a horrible job where you get treated like crap.  You do the hard work for a sh*t salary while you watch the higher-ups get paid the big bucks for having passing off their meaningless tasks to you.

I plan on taking classes through the summer and winter breaks, so it may be possible for me to graduate (with my associates, not bachelors unfortunately) in Dec 2011. It depends on how many credits from my past college courses they will accept towards the accounting degree. What I also love about it is that the college I'm going to (the local SUNY school) offers many of their courses online now! (When I first attended college in 1996 - this same college, actually -, I don't think I could've imagined such a wonderful thing! LOL) I might be able to take 3 of the 4 classes I need to take this semester through the internet. Woooooo hoooooooo!

Of course I still plan to continue writing. I'm hoping that going back to school may actually help me get more writing done, as crazy as it sounds. Because I've been suffering lately from that problem most people only wish they had - too much time on my hands! You know how they always say so many writers wish they could quit their full time jobs and spend all day writing? (Hell, I was one of those very people before I got laid off in July!) And then those same people end up finding other things that need to be done during the day and don't get nearly enough writing done as they should? Yep, that's me! I've been surfing the web (yes, mostly looking at writing-related things, but still), reading books on craft, etc. But I still haven't been doing any actual writing.

I need to set up a daily schedule and stick to it. The cold weather has turned me into a bear over the past month - I've been hibernating! I sleep till noon almost every single day b/c it's so nice and warm under my covers and I don't want to get up. But that's not realistic, nor is it healthy. Yes I hate winter and I hate the cold, but wishing away 4-5 months every year isn't a great way to live. I'm hoping I'll be able to snap out of my little funk once the new year hits!

On that note, I want to wish everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa gets you everything you wanted and more (a publishing contract maybe?!?  ;-)  'Till next time!

A special treat - my first ever guest post!

Hello everyone! Can you believe Christmas is just a few days away? Where does the time go?  =P

Anyway, last week I was approached by the lovely Tiffany Jansen who asked if I would like to have her guest post on my blog. I said sure, why not! I'm always up for something new and exciting! Tiffany has written a thought-provoking article on making a living as a writer that I think my fellow writers will enjoy reading. So, without further ado (and what does that saying really mean, anyway?), here's Tiffany...!


Writing’s not a real job by Tiffany Jansen

The hours aren’t steady, you don’t have a set yearly income, and it doesn’t offer the paid sick leave, paid vacation, healthcare and pension that a regular 9-5 offers. There’s no boss, no employer. Just you, the
freelance writer.

Thus, many people toss writing off as not being a ‘real job.’

Though you will have many supporters throughout your writing career, you will also have a number of nay-sayers. Some of whom will counter your writing aspirations with “But writing’s not a real job.”

If you confront them with names like Stephen King or mention that many make a living as bloggers or
journalists, they’ll agree but then point out that those people are not you. Those kinds of instances don’t happen every day and the odds of you being listed among them are not great. You’d be better off getting an office job.

And, in a way, they’re right. The odds of any of us making it big like Stephen King or Darren Rowse are not in our favor. In fact, the odds are very much against us. Many writers have to take on two or more jobs and stay up into the wee hours of the night to fulfill their writing assignments.

There are stories of writers having to live out of their cars because they couldn’t afford a place to stay. Even JK Rowling was once forced to do her writing at a nearby café so she could save on her heating bill. Then, she was a single mother, barely able to make ends meet.

Of course you hear of overnight successes, but in those cases the writer was either simply in the right place at the right time or worked their buns off to achieve the accomplishment.

If the outlook is that bleak and depressing, why would anyone in their right mind want to be a writer?
Well, perhaps it’s not a ‘real job’ but it allows us to leave our mark in the world. It affords us the opportunity to do something we love and to feel fulfilled. And, if it’s done right, one can make a good living as a writer.
We may work longer and harder than most of corporate America, but we can do it in our pajamas. We create work that touches, educates and makes a difference. How many people with ‘real jobs’ can say that.

It may take us years to get off the ground and start making enough to be able to take to the bank, but we’re in charge of what work we take on and what assignments we forego. We decide when we want to take a vacation and when we’re in need of a break. We get to work when we’re at our best and put our work aside if need be.

No, I don’t make enough via my writing to pay the bills. I don’t have tons of clients and I don’t get paid $1 per word. My writing doesn’t cover medical costs or continue to bring in the dough when I’m sick or go on holiday. I don’t have any grand notions that I’ll be the next Phillipa Gregory or Nora Roberts.

But none of those are impossible goals for writers. With hard work and persistence, they can be reached. Just allow us the time to grow and build before you tell us that writing is not a real job.

Tiffany Jansen lives in the Netherlands and, according to some, doesn’t have a ‘real job.’ Instead, she writes, performs, crafts and teaches on a freelance basis and manages to actually make some money. Catch her at Putting Words to Paper or on Twitter to lament over the various woes of freelancing.

How do I make my hero NOT so nice? (Advice please!)

I was re-reading my WIP the other day when I realized something - my hero/MC's love interest is too damn nice. He cares about the MC/heroine from the get go, as soon as he has to carry her sick mother back to her room. This is not good. There needs to be some romantic (& sexual) tension. No one wants to read a book where the hero is all la-de-dah oh sure I'll help you, damsel in distress! You're sweet & beautiful & perfect, and I'm a hero so what else would I do?!? Hello snooze fest!!!!

I went back, edited a bit and got rid of some of his niceness. I emailed my first chapter to my friend to read over, and she told me that he's still too nice (which I'd kinda figured anyway). So now what? I don't want him to be an as*hole or anything, of course. But I don't want him falling at my MC/heroine's feet the moment they meet, either. Is there some sort of happy medium I can find?

For those of you who read (and/or write) romance, do you prefer if the male character starts out as a total d*ck and during the course of the book becomes a guy who actually does have a heart? (Keep in mind that he isn't my protagonist in this story, so I don't want the story to be all about his changes, but hers.) Or I could go the route that he is a nice guy, but due to miscommunications, etc., he seems like a giant douche bag in the eyes of my MC/heroine.

So whaddya guys think? Any thoughts? Or can anyone recommend an article/blog/book whatever that may help me figure out where to go with this? Help a newbie writer out and leave me some thoughts! I'll toss some virtual cookies your way (chocolate chip of course, unless you prefer another kind!)  ;-)

Cart before the Horse? (or the confusion of an unpublished, newbie writer)

Usually once someone decides they want to be a doctor, plumber, teacher, whatever, they research what needs to be done before they can start their dream job. That's what I did when I made the decision to get serious about my writing this past January; I started researching how to write a novel and get it published. I must say, I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information I found on the internet about writing and publishing. I started off following a just few author/agent/editor/publisher blogs and I now follow well over a hundred.

I've joined Pennwriters (a writing group based in PA with over 300 members) and the Romance Writers of America (as well as a few subgroups of RWA, including my local Long Island chapter and FF&P (Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal) online).

I took Holly Lisle's six month online course How to Think Sideways. I've taken nearly thirty (yes, 30 - ask paypal, I'm not kidding.) online workshops this year. I've attended two conferences (Pennwriters and RWA), and I've already signed up for one coming up in February (DFW in TX).

I blog. I tweet. I facebook (although it's mostly a personal profile, I have added authors/writers as friends, and I "like" publishers, agents, editors, etc.). I'm on Savvy Authors. I'm on Romance Divas.

I subscribe to Writer's Digest and The Writer (magazines). I have bought I don't know how many books on writing (mainly on the craft itself) this year (probably somewhere between ten and twenty), as well as borrowing a bunch from local libraries. I copy/paste, format and print articles that I read online that I think are helpful and put them in binders (along with lessons from the workshops I've taken).

Now that's dedication! (Right?) I've certainly done my homework! I would never presume to submit an unedited first draft to a publishing house. I know about revisions, query letters, the dreaded synopsis. I know most publishers won't look at an unsolicited manuscript unless it comes from an agent. I am a wealth of information!

There's just one thing I didn't get around to yet this year - finishing a complete first draft. I began a sci-fi romance manuscript in January, got almost 30k written. I took an online workshop in June that completely confused the hell out of me. In a good way, I mean - it helped me find my plot holes and discover ways that my story didn't make much sense. But it meant major revisions to what I'd already written and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with that story anymore... so I put it aside.

I started plotting and planning my second (unfinished) manuscript in August, but didn't start actually writing it until November 1st. (Yes, I foolshly thought I could win NaNoWriMo.) Thanks to an almost last minute (less than three weeks prior) decision to move in the middle of November, I failed NaNo miserably (see my previous post). I have a little over 15k written on my current manuscript.

Of course, there are both pros and cons to spending the whole year reading up on craft and taking workshops. One big pro is that instead of learning from my mistakes, I can learn before the mistake is made - which (hopefully) won't happen thanks to all I've learned! I know about plotting and outlining and character archetypes and the three act structure and... shall I go on? (Yes, I know you're all shaking your heads and saying "please don't!") But the big con is, as I mentioned in my previous paragraph, I have no completed manuscript. As I've read many times in articles and blogs, you can't edit a blank page. You can't edit one, you can't submit one, and you certainly can't publish one.

I don't regret any of the time (or money) I spent honing my craft this year. I just hope that it helps me in the future to be a better writer. I know I have talent and I've been told by others that they enjoy my writing. Now my #1 goal is to stop procrastinating by reading and researching how to write, and JUST WRITE. Please convince me it can be done  :)

It's Official: I Quit (a.k.a. Utter NaNoWriMo FAIL)

Moving in the middle of November was the absolute worst thing that could've happened to my nanowrimo. Packing took up way too much of my time. It utterly killed my story flow. Also not helpful was the cold I got the day after moving - which, btw, I still have!!!! I've been sick for 2 weeks now and it's driving me nuts!  Trying to write and unpack while continually coughing and blowing your nose is hell. The basement apartment I'm in now is very condusive to sleep, which means I've been getting up later and later these past few weeks (which means less time for writing!). Oh, and I (temporarily) jumped off the Weight Watchers wagon after we moved as well!

I plan to get things moving in the right direction again starting tomorrow (technically "today" I guess since it's after midnight  ;-). No more letting myself sleep 'till 10 or 11 every morning. I want to start getting up by 8-8:30 (on the weekdays - weekends I'll let myself sleep in). Tomorrow I'm gonna ease my way back into it by setting my alarm for 9 am. I'm also going back to WW with my friend on Tuesday, so I gotta get back on the ball with eating right starting when I wake up on Wed. I need to start exercising b/c I am way too lazy and out of shape. And, of course, I need to get more writing done. Less social networking, blog reading, etc., and more actual writing. 

How do you get yourself back on track after being off it for a while? Do you lack motivation sometimes (a lot of times)? What gets you going again?

'Till next time...!  :)

Blog Jog Day Contest Winner and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I've been a lazy bum today lol. Without further ado, the winner of Sunday's contest and book of her choice is...

Jennifer Mathis!

Congrats Jennifer! I will email you so you can let me know where to send your book to!  :)

Thanks again to everyone else who left me a comment and/or became a follower.

To ALL my followers, readers and friends (in America), have a great holiday!

Attention Blog Jog Followers/Commenters

Hi everyone. First off I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who became a follower of my blog and/or left me a comment on my last post. I know according to Carol, in regards to the numbers this Blog Jog day wasn't as much of a success as the last one. But I have 9 more followers now than I did 48 hours ago, so to me that's a big win!  :)

I did notice, however, that only a few of the comments I received on my last entry left me an email address or a book choice.  So before I pick the winner (aka having my boyfriend pick a name out of one of his baseball caps lol), I want to make sure that everyone who wants a chance in the raffle gets one. The only entrants at the moment are Disgruntled Bear (Kate - you didn't leave your email addy so I will need it if you win'!), Jennifer Mathis and Linda Henderson. So if you want to be entered for a chance to win one of the nine romance books I have for grabs, please let me know. Leave me a comment on this entry with your email address and book choice by this Wednesday (the 24th) at noon.

Thank you again to everyone who visited me on Blog Jog day. I found a lot of new great blogs, and I hope those who found me think mine is a great blog too!  ;-)

The Fine Art of Blogging: more complicated than it sounds!

First off, I’d like to say hello to anyone reading this who found me through today’s Blog Jog. I hope you enjoy your visit to my blog. I’m giving away a romance novel (details at the end of this post) to one lucky reader, so don’t forget to leave me some comment love before you go!

I started this blog in February of this year. I was reading whatever I could get my hands (eyes?) on about how to write and how to get published. I kept hearing about this thing called a “platform”. Everyone said that writers needed to build an “online presence” and start blogging, tweeting, facebooking, etc. I figured blogging would be pretty easy, considering I’ve always loved to write (especially about myself – LOL). Over the past nine months, I’ve discovered blogging is a lot harder than it sounds. Coming up with new topics. Finding the time to write posts. Keeping up with comments (if you’re lucky enough to have a post that gets a lot of attention, that is).

Reading blogs can be difficult too, especially if you follow a lot of them. I follow 135 (I just double checked). But that doesn’t stop me from always being on the lookout for more. Most blogs I follow have something to do with writing. I follow authors, editors, agents, publishers. I also follow other aspiring authors like myself. It’s nice to remind myself that I’m not on this journey alone. I can’t say that I read every post from every blog I follow. If I did, I’d have no time in my day for anything else! Usually I decide if it’s something I want to read by the title of the post (which works in most cases, though definitely not all).

Despite all the cons, however, there are also a ton of pros. I’ve met some great people thanks to social networking. I’ve also won some cool prizes by entering blog contests. Especially for writers, it helps a lot to know there are other people out there dealing with the same things you are. Writers block, rejection, doubt. You’ll always be able to find someone who can relate to what you’re going through. In my mind, that makes it all worth it.

What about you? How long have you been blogging, and do you enjoy it? Are you looking for more blogs to follow, or do you think you follow too many already? Leave me a comment with some of your thoughts, and you’ll be entered to win your choice of one of nine paperback romance novels. Title/author listed below – please let me know which book you’d prefer in your comment! Oh, and did I mention that if you follow my blog in addition to leaving a comment, you get 3 extra entries? ;-)         Good luck!

• Sugar Creek by Toni Blake
• Enemy Lover by Karin Harlow
• I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown
• Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran
• Dangerous Desires by Dee David
• Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl
• Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz
• The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick
• Master of the Highlands by Veronica Wolff (this one is actually signed by the author herself!)

Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to A Book Inside. If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com/

NaNoWriMo Week 3: Even farther behind (and hey, are you Blog Jogging tomorrow?!?)

Moving was quite the pain in the ass, as I'd known it would be. But as if that wasn't bad enough, I managed to catch my boyfriend's brother's cold! (I blame my dog for being a germ-spreader. He licks people he likes on the face. I know it's kinda gross, but I always thought it was too cute and never broke him of the habit lol.) I've been sick practically all week so I got very little unpacking done (and NO writing until Thursday night when I finally started feeling better). Thankfully I am feeling decent today, and I plan on cleaning and unpacking all day with my boyfriend (wheeeeeeeeee hah). If I'm lucky, I'll be able to fit a writing break in there somewhere.

My NaNo count is a little over 14k, which I believe is less than half of what I should have by now. Will I make it to 50k by Nov 30? It's looking doubtful, but I never say die! This weekend I will probably spend the majority of my time unpacking/cleaning, but on Monday I am getting back to writing!  If I can make a strong showing next week, it's possible I can pull it off. My family doesn't do much for turkey day, so I should definitely be able to get some writing done on Thursday too. We'll see how it goes - wish me luck!

Tomorrow is the second Blog Jog Day and I'm hoping it will be another success. I am giving away a romance paperback (winner's choice - check back tomorrow for the ones I have to offer) to one lucky commenter! It should be a lot of fun. If you want to check out some new blogs and win some cool prizes definitely take the jog tomorrow!

Now I am off to open some boxes. See you all tomorrow I hope!  =)

NaNoWrimo Week 2: over 11k behind and falling fast

Packing for a big move SUCKS. It has monopolized almost my entire weekend. I wrote maybe 100-200 words on Friday, and no words yesterday or today. We're about 95% done. Everything that isn't in a box at this point isn't breakable and will just go in a plastic bag or something (except for the desktop computers which my boyfriend is waiting for the last minute to pack, despite the fact we both have laptops). Tomorrow the movers will come get the bed, couch, bookcases, tables, chairs, & computer desks (yes my boyfriend and I each have a desk lol).

I'm hoping I might be able to get a little writing done tonight, but I'm not betting on it. Tomorrow is basically a wash out, the whole day will be spent cleaning & opening boxes and all that. So I hope and pray that I can back on the ball on Tuesday and play catch-up for a week or so and get back in it. At least with unpacking, there's no real rush.

Also, I completely went off the Weight Watchers wagon this week. Between stress and eating out, I just couldn't stay OP (that's WW lingo for "on plan" or "on program"). Apparently WW is revamping their entire program on the 28th. I have no idea what they're doing, they've kept it pretty hush-hush at the meetings. So it'll be interesting to see what they've come up with.

I guess that's it for me, back to packing/cleaning. If you're doing nano along with me this month, I hope you're word count is higher than mine! If not, we can try to catch up together this week! 'Till then...   :)

NaNoWriMo status update: Week 1 - behind schedule

How many words should've been written by the end of day 5: 8,355
How many words I've written so far: 5,672

I hurt my neck sometime last week, and it continued into this week. I usually sleep on my back, but the pain was so bad that I did most of my sleeping on my side. I woke up a lot during the night from being uncomfortable, so I didn't sleep very well. My monthly visitor also dropped by (sorry if that was TMI for anyone!) and drained me of a lot of my energy. On top of that I decided November was a good time to join Weight Watchers (wtf was I thinking?!?) so I went to my first meeting Tues night.  Dieting always takes a toll on me, especially for the first week or 2. So it's definitely been a rough week for me.

I went to the chiropractor on Wed - didn't wanna go cuz I have no health insurance, but my mom was nice enough to give me $20 towards it and the visit was only $40 - and he cracked by neck back into place which was unpleasant but it helped!  So I'm feeling better today, but my boyfriend and I have a TON of packing that must be done. I hope to get back on schedule in the next few days.

How's everyone else doing with their word count? And if you're not doing nanowrimo this year, are you completely sick of hearing about it yet?  ;-)

a few Halloween pictures as promised!

I had a lot of fun on Saturday night, but I paid for it yesterday if ya know what I mean!!!  =P

my sister and I

my friend Kelly & I

my adorable chihuahua (who's dressed as a mailman) & I

 just me  :)

P.S. I started NaNo today, only 568 words so far.  I gotta pick up the pace!!!!



Nanowrimo and moving out!

It's gonna be a very busy next few weeks for me!  My boyfriend and I are moving on November 15, and we haven't started packing yet.  Luckily I'm still out of work (that might sound strange, but in this situation it's true!), so at least I don't have to worry about balancing nano and packing (and then eventually UNpacking) with a full time job.  Plus I finally got my laptop back from HP yesterday and my boyfriend helped me put back on all the programs it had before I sent it away.  So it is finally nano-ready!

But am I nano-ready?  I have a little plot and character info prepared, but not as much as I should.  I hope to work on that a bit tomorrow (not tonight, since I'm hosting a Halloween party that starts in less than 2 hours!).  Apparently the downstairs tenants managed to knock a cable wire out somewhere while they were moving yesterday or today, so the television in the living room isn't working.  My man is obviously annoyed, but it's good for me 'cuz that means he'll be out most of tomorrow watching football at someone else's house!  ;-)

I'm a bit nervous about finishing 50,000 words while packing and moving, but to be honest I think I'd be nervous even without the move.  I've mentioned before - but it bears repeating - that the most I've ever written for one manuscript before throwing in the towel is 30,000 words.  So if I can finish November with 50k (I'd love to write even more than that, but I don't wanna pressure myself) I'll really feel like I accomplished something.

My plan as of now is to post once a week (most likely every Friday) on how I'm keeping up with nanowrimo.  Considering I don't usually post more than once a week as it is, it shouldn't be much of a change for my followers anyway  *wink*

OK time for me to do my hair and get all dolled up for my party tonight.  (I'm going to be the cowardly lion from the wizard of oz, my little chihuahua is gonna be a mailman!  I'll try to post a few pics tomorrow or the next day if I can.)  Meanwhile, let me know if you're going to be doing nano along with me (and if so, add me as a friend !) or if you think it's totally overrated!  And don't forget to have a Happy Halloween!

I am in computer HELL

My boyfriend is a Mac, I'm a PC.  My first computer was a Gateway, my next was a Dell.  Both desktops, and both served me well.  Then last summer when I was planning on going back to school for psychology (which I can't remember if I ever mentioned before or not, but it doesn't much matter b/c that never happened lol), I decided to finally treat myself to a laptop.  So I got an HP, a G series whatever that means.  It wasn't long before I started having problems w/ it (namely it would shut itself off inexplicably when I'd pick it up or put it down, or occasionally even just move the monitor part).

I put up w/ it for as long as I could, until it started happening way too much.  I called HP tech support, they did this, that & the other thing until it seemingly was fixed... and then a few weeks later it started happening again.  I again put off calling them until it really drove me nuts.  The second time I called they told me to mail it into them & they'd fix it.  This was in June if I remember correctly.  Being without my laptop for a week sucked, especially b/c I no longer had my Dell desktop (it was gathering dust in my parents' basement).  I had use of my work computer and my boyfriend's computer, but it wasn't the same.

When I got my laptop back, it was fixed... for about a month.  Then the problems started happening again.  But b/c I had hated being laptop-less so much, I decided to just deal w/ it.  Which I did, for a few more months.  Until my boyfriend actually got so annoyed by it that he called HP himself to try to get it fixed.  Again they did stuff over the phone and it seemed to have resolved the problem.  Again, guess what started happening a week later. 

So a few weeks ago I called them again and again they said send it back to us & we'll fix it.  I sent it back.  One of the tech guys called me and told me that they tested it for over 24 hours & couldn't "duplicate the problem" I'd had.  They did more testing after that & still couldn't figure it out, but they did discover an issue w/ both the hard drive and the mother-board, so they replaced both of those.  Finally they shipped my (supposedly fixed) laptop out to me on Sat and I got it (this past) Monday morning.

As soon as I got my laptop back, I wanted to put everything that was previously on it (Microsoft Office, Windows 7, etc.) back on it.  While upgrading to Windows 7 I got an error message about the keyboard that I kinda ignored b/c I'd done this previously (well, technically my much more technologically-savvy boyfriend had done it, but why get picky) and everything had been ok.  What I'd forgotten in my hurry to return my laptop to it's pre-completely wiped hard drive state is that my boyfriend had uninstalled a driver before upgrading the OS, and then reinstalled it after upgrading.  Whooops.

Long (yes longer than it's already been) story short, after 2+ hours on the phone w/ HP trying to fix it, it turns out the laptop needs to go back AGAIN b/c for whatever reason, it won't boot up from the recovery disks.  Do I want to scream and pull every strand of hair out of my head?  YOU BETCHA!  I actually went to my parents house, dusted off my old Dell (which hadn't been used in I'd say 10-11 months) and brought it to my apartment and set it up.  And that's what I'm using right now to type this!  =P

I've never had a problem w/ a PC until this POS (piece of sh*t) HP.  (I don't like Macs - I used my boyfriend's a bit over the past 2 weeks & it drove me nuts - so don't even suggest it!  ;-)  And I'll never buy an HP again.  Now I must wait for them to send me a box & shipping label so I can send it back to them again and wait another week or so for it to be returned.  I really hope it's here before Nov 1 so I can use it for nano.  *sigh*

Well that's my sob story.  Now you know (just in case you were wondering lol) why you haven't seen me around that often lately...  Anyone have their own computer from hell story to share?

'Till next time...

Book in a week? Or a month? (How long does (or should) it take to write a manuscript?)

I just took a great workshop from April Kihlstrom called “Book in a Week” (for more information click here).  The point is to give yourself one week where you do as much writing as you possibly can, and hopefully get a big chunk of novel completed in 7 (technically 9 if you count 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays) days.  It’s like nanowrimo divided by 4.3 (weeks in a month). 

The first 2 weeks of the workshop is set-up: April gives great lessons on the craft, as well as providing insightful questions to ask yourself when thinking up plot and characters.  I really got a lot out of her lessons.  Week 3 you’re basically on your own because it’s the writing week.  Unfortunately my laptop crapped out on me and I had to send it back to HP to get fixed, so I got very little actual writing done.

But that’s okay, because nanowrimo is almost here!  Just a few more weeks ‘till the crazies attempt to write 50,000 words in just 30 days.  I must admit I’ve attempted nano in the past and have not yet succeeded.  However, each November I gave it a shot, I’d had a full-time job.  This year (unless a miracle happens!) I won’t.  There will be NO excuse to not find the time to get it done.  In fact I’d like to be able to get to 75,000 words in November.  (I’d say 100k, but then I’d be pushing it – not that it’s not possible for anyone, it’s just *highly unlikely* for myself personally.)

I’ve never written more than 30,000 (approx) words for one story before.  I’ve never been able to finish a manuscript.  I certainly can’t become a published author if I don’t write.  I believe I have it in me, I just need to start having faith in myself.  My problem seems to be that the more I write, the more doubts I start to have.  My idea sucks, the characters suck, the plot sucks, etc.  I start beating myself up and end up putting the story to the side and starting something new instead.  IT NEEDS TO STOP!

So how ‘bout you?  How long does it usually take you to finish a manuscript?  Are you doing nano this year? Do you have any advice for me on how to finish what I start?

Hi, my name is Meghan and I’m a writing workshop-aholic

When I found and signed up for my first online writing workshop, it was love at first yahoo group. I’ve already taken a TON of them this year, but for some reason it seems a whole bunch of good ones got scheduled for October. Presently I am taking (or will begin taking tomorrow):

Book in a Week by April Kilhstrom (more about this workshop next entry)
Finding the Book Ho in You
The Purpose Driven Scene
Character Journey workshop (Alicia Rasley)
Plotting for Un-Dummies
Magic, Monsters and Amour
Story, Theme and Vehicle
(Foreshadowing and Other Tricks ended as of today)

On top of that, next week starts the Muse Online Conference (which is free! But it’s way too late to sign up for this year’s if you haven’t yet, sorry to say)!

Usually I try not to take more than 3 (4 max) workshops a month, but as you can see I got a little carried away this month. I was actually lucky enough to WIN my way into the Alicia Rasley workshop from a comment I left on a blog post. The blog was giving away a free entry into the workshop and I doubted I’d win cuz I never win anything, but I did this time so that was way cool.

What about you, readers? Do you love online workshops as much as I do? Do you prefer the workshops you can attend in person? Or maybe you'd rather just read books or articles on writing instead of the whole “workshop” vibe? I’m curious to see if I’m the only one with this crazy addiction ;-)

Time is something you can never get back...

I’ve been “trying” to write a novel for over nine months now (technically many years longer than that, but I really started working towards my goal in Jan). For months I wished I’d get laid off from my job (or win the lottery, though I knew that option was much less likely) so I could stay home and write every day, but still afford to pay my bills. At the end of July, I finally got my wish! My job let me go, but I can pay still pay my rent (thanks NYS unemployment).  Although rent is about all I can afford to pay right now, but that's another post...

Now you’d think the first thing I’d do after being laid off would be to start writing, right? Right. Except, no, wrong. Considering the company I worked for let me go on the Friday before my planned trip to FL for the RWA 2010 conference (nice place, right? Let’s let her go right before her vacation so she can worry the whole time about being broke when she gets back home!!!!), I figured I’d wait until I returned from my vacation (slash learning experience heh).

But then I decided to join the WWBC. For those who’ve read my previous entries, you know what I’m talking about. For those who haven’t, I’ll just say that it’s sort of like a critique group, except one person is in charge. Anyway, my intention for writing this post is not to talk bad about anyone, or to say “that sh*t sucked.” So I won’t trash talk it. But basically, it was a waste of my entire month of August, and most of my September.

Our first assignment was character profiles. I had to come up with an antagonist and write a background for him/her. I decided my antag was going to be my protag’s mother. I wrote up a profile. I sent it out. I was told that she didn’t make a good antag and I should come up with another. Hmmmm, I thought this was MY story here?... So I made a new one, an evil alien guy. Except, well, he wasn’t evil enough apparently. I revised him three times before I was told “ya know, he’s an okay antagonist, but how ‘bout you go back and work on the mother again.”

Hmmmmm.

I rewrite the mother’s profile a few more times. In the meantime I also wrote my protagonist profile, and my world-building profile (since most of the story is going to be occurring on an alien planet). Both of those I also rewrote three or four times (and each of these profiles is 9-10 pages btw). Not to mention I'm still working on making the alien guy more evil. By now, I am getting tired of this.

If I had simply filled out a character questionnaire (or something along those lines that you can find all over the internet), I would’ve finished my characters in a week or maybe less. But because between each of my profile rewrites I had to wait around for my next batch of “critiques” so I could rewrite my characters with everyone else’s opinions in mind, I ended up spending nearly 2 months just on my characters. No plotting, no scenes, no nothing else. Just three freaking characters (I hadn’t even gotten to the heroine’s love interest yet!!!) and a planet that was still a bit too similar to Earth.

Last night I decided to break free. I am no longer doing WWBC. I’m not waiting around for other people to tell me if my writing is good or not. ‘Cuz I know it is. You learn by doing, not by waiting. And if my writing isn’t “publishable” yet, I’d rather at least have written something than to say “well I’m waiting for the go-ahead from my crit partners.” Like I said earlier, it’s MY book. My story. No one else’s. If it sucks a-s-s, it’s mine. And if it gets published and people actually enjoy it, it’s - guess whose? - mine!

So now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some writing to do. I’ve got almost two lost months to make up for!  ;-)

Do you believe in psychics?

This Monday night, my friend and I went to see a psychic. It was my third time seeing one, and I was a little nervous. I’m very shy around total strangers for one. Then there's the fact that I was going to listen to someone I'd never met tell me things that may (or may not) happen to me in the future. It’s kinda freaky, if you believe. And I’m not saying I believe that all psychics are right about everything they tell you. Obviously some psychics are full of sh*t, and have their manipulative ways to figure out what the right things to tell you are.

I do believe that some people have a power, though.  A sixth sense maybe. They can’t predict the winning lotto numbers (or there’d be a hell of a lot more rich psychics out there!), but they can get a feeling for future events. That’s just my opinion of course. I know many people have many different thoughts about psychics, but fortunately that’s not what this post is about lol.

The psychic told me a lot of things on Monday night that really rang true. He mentioned my financial trouble. (Yes, I know the economy sucks and almost everyone is having financial trouble now. But I have over 10k in credit card debt, which not everyone else can say.) He said starting next year things will get better and I’ll slowly start to claw my way out of it (fingers crossed). He told me that he sees a lot of doors opening for me in the next few months. He said I have a lot of things going on that I need to focus on.

He told me I have a big decision to make soon regarding my career. (For those who don’t know, I was laid off from my job at the end of July. I’m still unemployed. I did some research into freelance writing full-time, but I don’t think it’s for me. Now I need to teach myself Quickbooks so I can hopefully get a job in bookkeeping, b/c I don’t want to go back to being a lowly administrative assistant.) He also said that he sees angels watching over me (that part I’m not so sure about but who knows).

The best part of this, of course, was that he said my writing is going to work out. He said he could see me at a book signing. He asked how old I was (32) and he said he thinks I will be either 35 or 37. He described the cover of my book to me – black with swirls (like dust swirls from rings around planets) and a big red star right in the middle. He also said he saw me writing paranormal and sci-fi, and I admitted I am working on a sci-fi romance at the moment. Pretty freaking cool.

So whaddya you guys think? Think there might be a spark of truth to what he told me? Or do you think he was full of dog crap? If any of you reading this have been to a psychic before, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. (Even if you hated it and felt the person was a total rip off.) Let me know your thoughts!

Check out my new blog layout!

I've made a few changes to the layout (as I'm sure you can see, this background is quite different from my previous pink one!).  Next will be changes to content.  But until then, let me know what you think of the new look!

P.S. Work on my actual website is soon to start!  I am talking to a web designer about how much I need her to do vs. how much I can logically handle myself (in terms of how much HTML / CSS I need to know).  I am very excited!  :)

I'm still here! and a REALLY funny article

No progress on the website yet, but maybe this weekend depending on the weather.  Earl will be passing my way, but since I'm on the west end of Long Island I probably won't end up with more than just a rainy day.

I usually don't share articles and such on here, but this one I read today had me laughing my ASS off.  I'm not sure how many non-NYers will appreciate the humor.  I know some people think of the Big Apple as some glamorous place that they're dying to visit one day.  Others think of it as a scary place where insane people run loose on the streets, and crime is completely and utterly out of control.  To be honest, it's not really either of those.  What it is is overpopulated and overtaxed.  And, well, ok, you're right - full of crazies.

8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live

where I've been and what I've been up to

I'm still here, fellow bloggers.  I haven't blogged because I haven't had much to say, and because I've been working on (aka thinking about) getting a personal website together.  I bought the domain a couple weeks ago (meghanschuessler.com, of course) but that's about the only thing I've done with it.  I've been taking a basic HTML class from savvy authors which has been helpful.  I need to practice more, though, before I actually put anything out there on the web.  I really know nothing about how to build a website or HTML or CSS or any of that!  I debated hiring someone to build my site for me but (a) I'm broke & unemployed and (b) I'd like to learn how to do this stuff for myself for future reference and in case I need to change/fix anything, ya know?

I've also been looking into freelance writing, but again looking is the key word.  All the sites I've checked out want to read a writing sample, and I've never done freelancing before so I don't have a sample!  Most sites say they want to see a how-to article or something like that, they're not really interested in reading your fiction.  So I'll have to whip something up eventually, or else start looking for another dreaded desk job (*shudders*).  Unemployment helps me pay the bills, but it's not enough to pay more than the minimum on my credit cards and there's certainly none left over after paying bills to put in a savings account!

On the novel writing front, I am officially one of the three members of the Beta (aka online) group of Warrior Writers Bootcamp, run by Kristen Lamb.  We've been working on character profiles so far and I've been really challenged to go deeper than I'm used to.  Also since I decided to write a sci-fi romance, I get to do an extra profile for my story.  I get to do world-building yaaaaaaaaaay!  (Please hold your applause LOL).  So I bought a book from amazon and rented a few more from the library because the fiction I can handle, but the science part is way over my head.  I know almost nothing about planets and space travel and possible alien life forms.  I just happen to be a fan of "Roswell" and "V" and "Battlestar Galactica"!  ;-)

I guess that's about it for me for now.  If anyone has any advice on the website building, please let me know.  I'm thinking about using Joomla! but I don't know much about them except what I've read on their site.  I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of August and a great Labor Day!  I'll be back soon, once I've figured out the website thing probably.  TTFN!  :)

Blog Overhaul!

I've been gone for a while, and I see I haven't been missed very much lol  ;-)

While I was away, some interesting (*cough*not really) things happened - I got let go from my job, managed to get strep throat, went to RWA Nationals (while still getting over strep), and most recently came down with a bad summer cold!  Needless to say, the last few weeks haven't been so great for me.

Moving on though, I have decided to give in and really work on this blogging/twitter/platform nonsense experience.  I'm reading a fabulous ebook about social marketing by Kristen Lamb called We Are Not Alone.  It's extremely helpful and easy to understand, I highly advise checking it out (& for $7.99 how can you not!).  I'm also going to be participating in the Book Bloggers and Authors Online Conference this weekend.  Basically it deals with online promotion and how to make it work for you.  (You'll get a better explanation of it by clicking on the link lol.)

I will be working on fixing up my blog - as well as possibly setting up an actual website - in the days and weeks to come.  I look forward to seeing what you'll think once it's finished.  If you're also in a platform predicament, definitely check out my links above.  See ya'll soon!  :)

Sorry I've been MIA lately

To be honest, I really haven't had much to blog about as of late.  I've made a little progress on my story - not word count wise, but GMC wise.  I realized that my FMC wasn't much of a MC after all.  She was kinda just there, along for the ride but not having much to lose.  So I was able to think up a way for her to have something to lose, and in the end of course she'll have much to gain too.  Unfortunately this means rewriting half of what I've already written.  Meaning I won't be moving past the 30k mark for a while, until everything's changed to make the story make sense. 

The hard part about that is explaining to people when they ask how many words/pages you've written.  It seems that most non-writers judge our progress by numbers.  It's difficult to explain why I have to go back and change things.  Tho for the most part it is my own fault, since I didn't flesh out my premise or plot enough before starting to write.  But it is my first serious attempt at a complete novel, so I knew I was bound to make mistakes (and I will certainly make more in the future too). 

I'm working out the kinks right now with the help of a great workshop I'm taking called "Laws of Motion - Plotting a Compelling Story".  The instructor, Laura Baker, is wonderful.  She takes her time to really read and understand what you send her so she can give you the best possible advice.  And it's a big class, so it's certainly not easy for her!  If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with Laura, DO IT!  I promise it will be one of the best workshops you've ever taken.  (And no, this was not a paid endorsement.  Considering I only have 25 followers, I doubt anyone would pay me to endorse anything LOL!)

That's about it for me.  I have to admit I'm losing my enthusiasm for blogging.  There are many reasons, one of the biggest ones being not having much to say.  We're all going through similar things as writers, we all know the drill.  I don't have anything to tell you that'll make you say "oh sh*t that's brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?!?"  So if my blog posting frequency decreases for a while, don't be too surprised.  I'm really starting to think this whole blogging thing (in the sense of "platform building" to get people to buy your books) is overrated.  But I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that a time or two before  ;-)

Until next time...!

Depression and Writing – are they related?

Not to say that every writer out there suffers from depression. But I do believe depression is common, for a number of reasons. I read a great quote this morning which is actually the inspiration for this post: “depression is anger turned inwards”. That explains so much for me. I have always had anger issues and depression, stemming from childhood. (I’d like to say “I have a dysfunctional family”, but that phrase doesn’t carry nearly the same amount of weight that it once did. Now everyone says (or thinks) their family is dysfunctional.)

I’ve suffered from depression for as long as I can remember. My classmates in eighth grade signed my yearbook with messages like “cheer up, it’ll get better” and “don’t kill yourself”. I’ve gone to shrinks, I’ve tried a ton of different medications. I’m at the point where my depression has become “manageable”. But I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will most likely suffer from it for the rest of my life.

I’ve also always loved to read and write, since I was very young. Reading has always been an escape for me. If the story is good, I get sucked right into it. I can forget about what’s going on IRL (in real life) for a little while. I block the whole world out when I read, and if the world minds I tell it to bite me.

Writing is a bit different for me. I need to concentrate on the words I’m typing. It’s a lot more difficult than reading. So while I do enjoy it, it seems a lot more like work than reading is. That itself may stem from my depression, though. My feeling of not being good enough. Everything I write is crap. How many times have I said to myself “this story sucks, I should just chuck it and start a new one”? More times than I can count. Depression makes me think my ideas suck, and thinking my ideas suck makes me depressed. It’s a lose-lose.

What about you, readers? Do you struggle with depression as well? Do you think the fact that you choose to write has anything to do with it? Or are you a happy-go-lucky writer who doesn’t see how depression and writing could ever be related? Share!

Why writers make excuses: What if it’s not fear? What if it’s just laziness / lack of motivation?

In my second-to-last post, I pondered the possibility of getting more writing done without my laptop. As you know if you read my previous post, I got some writing done – but at work, not at home. Last Monday & Tuesday I got around 200 words (total) written, some at work and the rest using my alphasmart. Then my laptop returned on Wednesday, which was earlier than I’d expected. 

I haven’t done any writing (just a little revising) since it’s return. I did a little on Thursday at work, but nothing on Friday or over the whole weekend.

Here’s the kicker – I even bought a new desk on Friday so I’d have my own little writing area instead of being stuck either on the couch or at the dining room table. It didn’t work. The unbearable heat this weekend probably played a factor in my complete lack of motivation, but I still feel crappy about it. I didn’t even look at my WIP until 6:30ish last night, and I only spent about an hour editing it before I gave up.

I can’t understand why I continue to self-sabotage myself. When I’m at my day job I can squeeze in some time to write. But when the weekend comes and I have a ton of free time, I can’t get anything accomplished! At first I thought it was fear; fear of success, fear of failure, fear of change. Now I’m thinking there’s more to it than that. When I really want to do something, I find a way to do it. I am good at organizing things, and I’m good at using my brain to figure things out (at work for example). So why do I keep NOT doing everything I need to do in order to finish this book???

It’s so much easier to just sit down and read a book than it is to try to write one. I’ve always loved reading and it comes naturally. Writing – although I have done some over the past 20+ years – does not come naturally at all. Because it’s harder? Because I’m lazy and don’t like to have to put forth a lot of effort if I don’t have to? What is it?!?

Maybe I should talk to a shrink, but I really can’t afford that at the moment (even with health insurance, the co-pays are outta control). All I can do at the moment is try to figure it out on my own. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just have to push myself to write, despite the nagging voice inside my head that tells me I should just pick a book out of my TBR pile instead of opening that word document. I only wish I could shut that annoying voice up for good, and keep on writing.

“Nobody said it was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard” - Coldplay

A generous (writing-related) gift from a stranger

When I was in my plot obsession mode a month or two ago, I came across something (online) called the Prescription for Plotting workbook. I thought it sounded great and I wanted to purchase it. When I saw the price (which is quite reasonable, but unfortunately I am eternally broke), I sent an email to the woman (Carolyn Greene) who created the workbook, asking her if it could be purchased in .pdf form for a lower price. She replied and asked me for my mailing address so I gave it to her.

A few days later, I received a package in the mail. Carolyn had sent me a plot workbook as a gift! I was so surprised; I’m not used to such generosity from complete strangers. I felt a little strange accepting something without giving anything in return, so I sent her $10 by paypal. I also told her that I was going to blog about her kindness, in the hopes that maybe someone out there who needs some plot help might find out about her workbook and realize it’s the perfect thing for them!

The workbook consists of a 3-ring binder that holds a folder, a spiral notebook, a pencil case with a pencil and post-its, and plotting worksheets. (More info is available on her site, so please go check it out.) I’ve only skimmed through the workbook as of yet because I had a busy weekend, but there is some great stuff on Carolyn’s plotting sheets! She really knows what she’s talking about!

If you need some help with plotting, or know anyone else who does, I highly recommend the Prescription for Plotting workbook. You can make copies of her worksheets so that you can use it for each and every story you write. If you'd like to pass this story along, please feel free to do so. I am very grateful to Carolyn for giving me something that she obviously put a lot of time and hard work into.

One last thing – how am I doing without my laptop? Eh, not so good. I managed to write almost 1,400 words on Thursday and over 700 on Friday... but that was at work (I love slow days lol!). I got just about nothing accomplished this weekend, except I did start reading “Contact” by Susan Grant because it’s a paranormal romance, and I know you’re supposed to read as many books as possible in the genre you’re writing in. I like it a lot so far, 2 thumbs up. But let’s hope I get my laptop back soon, preferably by Friday or Saturday!

That’s all for now, hope everyone had a nice weekend (& I hope Friday gets here before we know it!)!

Will I get MORE or LESS writing done without my laptop for a week? (An experiment forced upon me by HP)

My new-ish (bought it about a year ago) laptop needs to be sent to HP to have its random shutting off problem fixed. I shipped it today, and am already having withdrawals. (I am writing this now on my work computer and will probably finish it on my boyfriend’s computer later, if you’re wondering). I know I’ll be without it this weekend, but I hope I at least get it back by next Friday or Saturday.

The good thing is that at least I have an alphasmart (a.ka. Dana or Neo)! (For those of you who don’t know what they are, you should totally check them out. Much cheaper and lighter than a laptop, perfect if all you really need it for is writing.  And you can almost always find a decent amount of them selling for pretty cheap on ebay.)  I just hope that I’ll actually use it for the next 5-10 (???) days while my laptop is MIA!

And of course I can also use this laptop-free time to read. I’ve bought a few books on craft that I haven’t done more than skim b/c I’m always on my laptop. I also have a few books on my new kindle my boyfriend got me for my birthday a month ago. Not to mention I'll have time for some non-writing or reading activities (*gasp*  did I really write that?  LOL)  So maybe this time without a laptop will end up being beneficial to me. Guess only time will tell!

I'll keep y'all posted on how I’m surviving without my addiction to constant internet availability.  I've been thinking that I really need a break from it anyway, I've become way too wrapped up in tweeting, blogging (more reading than posting obviously lol), workshopping, etc. over the past few months & haven't spent enough time on my actual writing.  What about you guys?  Do you find yourself wasting way too much time on the internet?  And if so. do you force yourself to take a break once in a while, or do you just make excuses (like I usually do) and say you're doing "research" or taking a "quick" (which it never is!) break etc.?

Blogging etiquette, or what’s your stance on following and commenting?

I read a blog post a few days ago that got me thinking. It concerned how people keep up with their blogs – should we respond to every comment left for us and should we follow every blogger that becomes a follower of ours? I’m not going to name names (or sites) because the blogger who wrote this particular post isn't following me, despite the fact that I started following her a few months back. She writes about us (writers, bloggers, whatever) being so busy that we just don’t have time to follow everyone back, and respond to every comment we get.

Well the commenting thing I get. And honestly I read a lot of blogs without leaving comments, not because I am too busy but because I don’t have anything to add. Sometimes I don’t know enough about the subject of the post to really have an opinion. Other times I see that my thoughts/opinions have already been stated by someone else, better than I could’ve said it myself. It feels dumb to me to just leave a comment so that someone knows I was there. But I’m curious to know: would you prefer that? Would you like someone who read your blog to leave a comment just to say “I read your blog, good job” or something like that?

As for the following (or not following as the case may be) bloggers back, that I don’t understand. I follow nearly 100 blogs. Yes it’s time consuming to read all the posts (especially in the morning, cuz it seems that everyone posts after I go to bed at night lol). But you know what? If I don’t have the time, I don’t read every post! If something sounds completely uninteresting to me, I skip it. Does this make me a horrible person (please say no)? And, to be honest, there are a few blogs I follow only because they follow me. Would you be mad/upset to discover that someone followed you on blogger just to reciprocate your following them, but they rarely, if ever, actually read your posts? (Just curious again, folks.)

Personally, my answer to that is a resounding NO. Do I want all my followers to read every single one my posts? Eh, it’s not that big of a deal to me. Sometimes I know that I don’t have much to say, and I wouldn’t want someone to waste their time on a post that bored them to tears. I really wouldn’t mind if someone only followed me to be polite. Because I’d still have the numbers, and the numbers are what count to the editors and publishers. They want to know how many blog followers do you have? How many twitter, facebook, myspace (well maybe not myspace, does anyone even use that site anymore???) followers/friends do you have?

So please, feel free to follow me and never read a word I say! Feel free to tell your friends or blog followers that if they want an extra follower (who may or may not actually read their posts), they should come on over to my blog and follow me, and I will happily follow them back!

I am curious to know what other bloggers’ opinions are. Do you agree or disagree with what I wrote? (I promise I won’t be mad if you disagree lol.) Do you think it’s more important to actually get feedback on your posts than to just be able to say you have 100 followers? Do you only want people to follow you if they are going to read everything you say? Let me know what ya’ll think!

Goal of a big writing weekend = epic FAIL

Remember my lofty goal of getting 5,000 words written this past weekend? Well, take off one of those zeros and you’ll be a lot closer to the amount I actually wrote. I wrote 486 words of a new chapter, and then I did a little editing of the last few chapters I had worked on (my chapters are very short b/c each one is in a different POV – odd numbers in my FMC’s and even numbers in my MMC’s). So I might’ve written a little more than 500, but I also deleted a few things here and there so that could’ve brought my total word count down a bit *sigh*

My new goal is to write at least an hour a day Mon - Fri, from 7-8 on weekdays (obviously if I have to do something during that hour, I will have to reschedule the time) and try to get at least an hour total of writing done on the weekends. Hopefully with crappy weather weekends I’ll get more done, to make up for weekends that I’m at bbqs or whatever else. I told Mike about it, and I told him to make sure I stick to it. Hopefully he will help.

I also have a non-writing goal, one I’ve had for months but haven’t stuck to at all – losing weight! My cholesterol is 240 or so (I can’t remember the exact number) and I am 30-40 pounds overweight (I haven’t weighed myself in months but I know that half my clothes are becoming too tight on me and that is NOT good). So I need to start eating better like now. I wanted to start getting up earlier this morning to do a little exercise, but I slept like sh*t last night cuz it was hot in the bedroom even with the a/c on. So I’m gonna attempt to do a little after work, maybe I’ll pop on one of my many exercise videos lol.

How bout you guys? Did you have a good weekend, writing-wise or otherwise? Have you been keeping up with the goals you’ve set for yourself? If not, are you beating yourself up over it?

Friday night check-in, or how am I doing with my goals?

Last night I didn't get any writing done at all, I was feeling kinda depressed and tired, so my mind was not in the right (write lol) place.  I went to bed by 10:30, which I haven't done in a few weeks actually.  But I did manage to finish my outline!  I did it at work when I had some free time  *wink*

It's almost 9 pm now, and unfortunately I haven't done any writing yet tonight.  Of course I did spend over half an hour on the phone with HP because my laptop is fraked up (I will be shipping it out to them soon, which is gonna be devastating for me cuz then I'll have to share Mike's computer for a week or so, waaaaaaaah).  I also cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom (yuck), ran to the dollar store to get napkins, cups & a table cloth for the party, and baked cupcakes (also for the party).  So that took up a large part of my evening unfortunately.

The good news is that since I got all of that stuff done tonight, I won't have to do it tomorrow and will be able to devote almost the whole day to writing!  The bad news (well, it's good news, but bad for me getting my writing done) is that plans changed with Mike and his friends and they are now coming back late tomorrow night instead of Sunday night.  So it will be much harder for me to get writing done on Sunday, but I'm gonna try anyway!

Well I guess that's it for now!  I'll probably post again on Sunday and let everyone know if I actually got some words down in my WIP!  Have a great weekend!!!!!   :)

Will my “to do” list actually help me get something done?

In my last post, I said I was going to get my plot outline done by (last) Friday so that I could do some writing over the weekend. Not only did I not get any writing done this weekend, but I didn’t even start my outline.

I could sit here all day and make up excuses about why I didn’t get to write this weekend. I went to too many bbqs, I had to help my boyfriend clean the apartment, I wasn’t feeling well Monday (not hungover, just worn out), etc. But the truth is, I could’ve gotten at least a little writing done this weekend if I had really tried. Instead I wasted too much time on the internet, went to a few bbqs (of my own free will) and started paying more attention to Mike’s favorite new show (“Battlestar Galatica” – not technically new, but new to both of us) than my WIP.

Now it’s Wednesday and I’m back at work. And since Mike is going away with his friends from tomorrow until Sunday night, I spent last night watching tv with him and tonight we’re going to the local fair. I don’t expect to get any writing done tonight but I plan to make up for it this weekend (I hope!).

I am making new goals for the rest of the week/weekend, and these I have no excuse not to keep. I have all of Thursday and Friday nights free, all day Saturday - until I have friends over at 8 pm - and all day Sunday until he gets home sometime after 9 pm. The only thing I have to do in all that time is clean up the apartment and buy some snacks for my get-together Sat night.

So here is my “to do while Mike is away” list:

Complete WIP plot outline
Finish my character worksheets for 2 MCs
Work on my “vision board”
Fill out monthly and five-year goal worksheets
Write at least 5k words in WIP

I want you to hold me accountable for these! I am going to try to check in quick on Fri, Sat and Sun and let you all know how I’m doing and if I’m making progress on my goals. If I’m not, feel free to caps lock at me and tell me to get on it already!

Do you make to do lists or goal sheets for yourself to keep you on track? Do they work? If not, what does work for you?

Am I doing my research and learning the craft, or am I just putting off writing my story?

I still haven’t picked up my WIP. If you’ve read my previous entries, you know it’s been about a month now, maybe longer, since I have written actual words in my manuscript. When I think about how much I could’ve accomplished this past month, even if I’d written only half an hour a day, I want to beat myself silly for not having done anything. But I keep telling myself that I’m not ready.

Between when I started my manuscript in January and when I last worked on it at the end of April, I wrote about 21k words. Not a whole lot for four months time, but certainly better than nothing at all. During those four months I found lots of info on the internet about writing techniques, what a story consists of, etc. And I began to tell myself “I have no idea what I’m doing. My story has no plot, I don’t know what the conflict is…” and on and on. I decided I had to plot my novel and figure out what it was all about before writing any further.

So I’ve been taking online workshops. Buying e-books. Checking a ton of books out of the library (which I basically scan to see if they have what I’m looking for, and if not I return them right away). I read blogs every day searching for words of wisdom. I skim through twitter every day for links to articles about writing. But I DON’T WRITE.

(If you want to get technical, I did write a two-page synopsis of my story for a synopsis workshop, and a few 3-line pitches for a pitching workshop I took. And if you’re asking “why would she take synopsis and pitching workshops if she’s only a quarter of the way done with her WIP?” I don’t blame you. (Although I have read in a few places that it can be helpful to have a synopsis before beginning your manuscript.) I think I am becoming workshop obsessed, but that’s a whole other post!)

Am I avoiding writing because I’m scared? Or because I think I don’t know what the hell I’m doing? Maybe because I want my story to be perfect, and it won’t be perfect until I learn everything there is to know about novel writing!!!! Whatever the reason is, I know it’s not a valid one. I can write complete sh*t every day and save what I learn from workshops and books and articles for when I get to the revision stage. (One good thing is that I’m dumb enough to think that I won’t have to go through one, two, five revisions before my story is ready to be submitted.)

My goal is to have a basic outline for my story done by (this) Friday, so I can start actually moving the story along this weekend. If I can write even just one stinkin chapter this weekend I will be happy. Even accomplishing a small bit of writing will inspire me, and make me feel like I’m not stuck anymore. Or at least that I’m getting myself un-stuck slowly but surely. Because in my rational, left-brained mind I know that no matter how many workshops I take, or how many articles and books I read, nothing is going to get me a publishable manuscript except writing the damn thing!!!!! 

I should be writing... or plotting... or making *some* kind of progress on my WIP!

Here I go again.  Another night that I had planned to spend working on my (still stalled) manuscript, and instead I have wasted the majority using the internet.  While the internet is fabulous because it connects you to people you might otherwise never meet, and you can find almost any information you're looking for by simply "googling" it, it's also a major time suck.  Some people have will-power and can shut their computer off, or simply keep their browser closed so they can concentrate on writing.  I have no such power.  (More proof that I have no will-power: the last time I tried to diet (3 weeks ago) I lasted 4 days before giving up.  I haven't been able to stick with dieting since Oct 09.)

The way I justify the (sometimes excessive) time I spend on the internet is by telling myself that it technically is related to my writing.  I'm learning about the craft by reading all these articles and blogs.  I'm blogging and tweeting to help built my "platform".  I'm doing more writers workshops (which I love but are a major money suck!!!) to help find ways to improve my WIP or expand my writing ability etc.  While all these things may be true, all the time I am spending on the internet is time I am not spending writing my story!!!!!

I know I need to buckle down, and I did manage to do a little work on my plot tonight.  (I am using Martha Alderson's "Blockbuster Plots" method.  Has anyone ever tried it / read the book / seen her website / heard of her or her system?)  This whole scene and plot thing has been a struggle for me.  Whenever I've started writing stories in the past, I always just wrote.  I had a general idea and I would write whatever came into my head and moved the story along.  But obviously that way doesn't work, because I have never finished a manuscript!  I don't want to keep making the same mistake, so this time I am going to figure out how to plot this story.  Period, end of sentence.

I apologize for this rambling post.  I had an idea of what to write about when I started this, but then I got lost along the way.  Sometimes I really think that I have adult A.D.D. because it is so easy for me to change the subject or go off on a completely unrelated tangent.  Another thing I need to work on.  I should probably write a list so I don't forget all of it!  (On top of possible A.D.D. I also have a horrible memory, which is a problem that I am way too young for!)

Thoughts, advice, opinions?  Are you a plotter, or more of a pantser?  Do you have a system that works for you?  Or do you have some will-power you're willing to share with me?  Or do you think I should shut up and go write already?  ;-)

Home Sweet Home... (but the traffic still sucks!)

My boyfriend Mike and I left the conference at 11:30 yesterday morning, hoping to beat some of the traffic.  The drive through PA wasn't so bad, but once we hit NJ it slowed down a bit.  Then it was bumper to bumper on the NJ turnpike trying to get on the GW bridge.  So we took some kind of detour (gotta love GPS!) that moved a little faster, though not much.  After the GW the traffic cleared for a bit, until we got closer to the Throgs Neck.  Another nightmare.  Once we got off that, traffic finally started to move - even the Cross Island Pkwy which never moves was doing okay.  Still, we didn't get back until 5:30, and we only made one quick stop on the way (at Sonic, YUM!).  A trip that took 3.5 or so hours on Friday morning took almost 6 on Sunday.  What a mess!

That whole paragraph was either extremely boring or confusing or both to my readers who are unfamiliar with NY (and if you are, consider yourself lucky) so I apologize.  Back to the conference... I took two workshops in the morning, one about "hooking" your readers and one about relationships which was pretty much for romance writers.  Then I took two more after lunch, elements of romance and a social media class with THE Janet Reid.  It was packed, as I knew it would be because everyone thinks she is funny and super smart, which of course she is lol!

Saturday night was uneventful and I was completely exhausted (learning really wears you out!).  Sunday morning I had two more workshops before we left - showing vs. telling, and one on revising.  They were both informative and both instructors were very nice.  I didn't stay for the closing ceremony because, as I said earlier, Mike and I thought we'd beat the traffic if we left before noon.  Overall, I had a very good time and I'm glad I went.  I learned a lot and met a few nice people.  My next conference is going to be RWA in July!  Is anyone else going???

At the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA!

This will be a short and sweet post because a) I'm exhausted since I've been up since 4:30 am (although I did take a quick 2 hr nap earlier) and b) I need to go to bed soon so I can get up around 7:15 tomorrow for breakfast before the first workshop starts.

So my boyfriend and I drove up from Long Island to Lancaster, it took somewhere between 3 - 3.5 hrs.  I can't make a better estimate of the time because on the way we stopped at this HUGE smorgasbord place called Shady Maple.  YUM.  It was only $8.25 a person for an all you can eat breakfast buffet.  If you're ever in the Lancaster area (it was probably a little outside of Lancaster but I don't know the actual town name) I recommend checking it out.

Because of our breakfast break, we got to the hotel around 9:45 so unfortunately I missed the first workshop.  But I caught the second one with agent Alex Glass, who's super smart and nice (and cute, but shhhhhhhhh don't tell my boyfriend!  heehee).  I didn't go to the nextworking lunch cuz it cost $22 extra, so my boyfriend and I went to Friendlys nearby.  (OT - Friendlys seems to be much better food-wise outside of Long Island, I'm not sure why.  But their ice cream is delicious in ANY state!!!!)

My second workshop was "getting conflict on the page" but I can't remember the author's name (my bad).  He was nice and funny as well.  Then I attended the agent panel with Alex Glass, Jenny Bent, Janet Reid (the query shark) and another woman who's name I don't remember (yes, as you can tell I am bad with names).  Her name wasn't on the schedule either, or I'd go look it up.  Anyway, it was very informative and Janet Reid is as funny - and snarky! - in person as she is on her blog.

After that I relaxed for an hour and then it was nap time from 5ish 'till 7:30.  Once my boyfriend and I woke up, we showered and went to dinner downtown at Annie Baileys.  It's a pub/restaurant type place, it definitely seemed like "the place to be" on a Friday night.  Good food, nice waiter, and not a totally out of control crowd.  I give it an A+  (lol I feel like I'm writing an ebay review or something!)  And now I am trying to wind down so I can get to sleep by midnight (wish me luck!)

Well this post ended up longer than I expected, and it's time for me to hit the sheets.  If anyone has a specific question for me about the conference, the hotel, the agents, etc., leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer you if I can.  And if anyone who reads this happens to BE at the conference too, let me know.  Maybe we can meet up for a drink or coffee or a quick hello!  Until next time...   :)

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You can't change the past, and what's with all this "platform" nonsense?

I wrote a whole post whining about turning thirty-two next week – then I deleted it. It has nothing to do with this blog, and it had very little (10% maybe) to do with my writing. What it comes down to is that I’m not where I thought I’d be in this stage of the game, and I’m disappointed by that. But unfortunately no one has invented a time machine yet (at least not that we know of) so I can’t change what’s already done. Wishing I’d tried harder or spent more time on something won’t make it so. All I can do is promise myself that in the future I will do something with my life.

I have made progress, which is good. I started taking this writing life seriously in January (look at that, a New Years Resolution that I actually kept!), and in that time I have written 21k+ words. Now that’s certainly not a lot for four months time, but it’s more than I’ve ever wrote for one WIP. I am going through a bit of a rough time writing-wise at the moment, but I’m hoping to get myself back on track asap (if not before the Pennwriters conference, then right after). I have to work out the plot more before I can get back to the story, so I don’t have another “I got stuck” crisis.

Moving on... This has been a hot topic on blogs lately and I can definitely understand why: Should you blog, start a website, etc. to create a platform before you even have a completed manuscript? I find this subject interesting because I’m approx. 25% done with the first draft of my novel, and I started blogging a few months ago because I read a few articles about how important it is for (both aspiring and established) authors to have a platform. But I wondered then, as I still do now, what is the point? No one cares about me or my attempt at a novel except maybe a few of my friends.

What could I possibly have to say that would interest a complete stranger? There are thousands of people who want to write and be published. Many of them have blogs and can probably think of interesting things to say (I mean, isn’t that what writing is all about anyway?). I doubt anyone wants to read about me, my boyfriend, my dog, my debt, my sucky job, my problems sticking with a diet… I could go on forever, but I’ll spare you. It comes down to this: I just don’t see the point.

I see the point in general, of course. Publishers want someone with a “built-in fan base” so if they publish the book, it will sell to at least those people. They don’t want to take a risk with their money on someone who’s completely unknown and doesn’t even have a twitter account to attract new fans. I get it. But for myself, I don’t understand why I need to be doing this, at least not right now.

I’ve read a lot of different opinions on the subject, but I feel like these best sum up the arguments for (publishing before completing a novel) and against…

FOR
LEANING MORE TOWARDS AGAINST  (for some reason, I can’t get a link to a specific post, only to the whole blog. But if you click on “marketing” in the categories section in the right column, the post I am referring to is titled “Balancing Platform and the Novel”)
AGAINST
 
Personally, I’d love to have more blog followers, but I don’t have time to write a blog every – or every other – day. And I don’t have the patience to go around the internet asking people to please follow me. I think my current schedule of posting once a week (or so) is enough for now. When I have more to say, when I am further along in my manuscript, and if I somehow think of a way to find more hours in the day, maybe I’ll write more.
 
What do you guys think? (“You guys” being ANYONE who happens to be reading this, and I really hope someone is.) Agree? Disagree? Don’t care? Discuss!