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!!!!