WAY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

My writing is going splendidly. So why the title? Because I’m more than sure I’m going to fall of the band wagon. My birthday is in a couple of days. I know me. I’m going to get distracted. I’m going to wobble back up onto the writing train and then of course, SPRING BREAK.

The thing that all school age children and their teachers hold their breath for. A week maybe two weeks tops I’m going to get home before 6. I’m going to plan to write my butt off. See visions of my final draft of PROTECTING DELLA (yes I’ve settled on a title) licking envelopes to send my baby out there in the big bad publishing world.

Every time I see this vision another one comes bumping it aside. Me, sitting outside, sipping lemonade. The wind blowing in my hair. (okay, not realistic but it’s my vision daggone it) The background noise is my children fighting over whose going to clean the house and how they love picking up after themselves, oh pure bliss.

NO, NO, NO. I’m supposed to be at my computer, nose to the keyboard, mumbling to myself, “think character”.

*sigh* My spring break will be more like my kids driving me crazy and maybe getting a few minutes a day to write. But hey, anything can happen.

TITLES! ARGH!

I designated today to write out my query and synopsis for my NaNoWriMo book. Problem? At the moment that’s the title. How unprofessional would sending in my q & s with that title? Very.

What I have noticed is that most titles can be found within the text. It also usually best describes the book? I can’t be sure to say therein lies my problem I know more about this book than I have ever known about any of my books. But this title giving thing has always been my problem.

Essays for school have been named Autobiography of Such and Such. The most famous use, Essay One. When I was a reporter, I let the editors come up with the titles. Well given the fact I want to sell this book, I have to think one up that will make the editor want to stop in his/her busy schedule and read my q & s.

Well, a little background. My story is about a woman who starts to have vivid dreams that turns out to come true. The dreams are about women being murdered. The hero is a cop and of course she’s a reporter, talk about conflict.

Here are the three names I’ve thought up, tell me what you think?

BLOOD DREAMS
PSYCHIC VISIONS
TO CATCH A KILLER
PROTECTING DELLA

The last one holds some appeal, but who knows after re-reading my book something just might grab me.

I’m going for the record-Two Post In One Day

I wanted to see how much of a nerd I am. Oh and if you are reading this then you’ve also been tagged. Out of this see how many you have read.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)

6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s(Sorcorers) Stone (Rowling)

17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)

18. The Stand (Stephen King)

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) (Yes I’ve read this long drawn out saga, great book though)

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) (If you haven’t read this to your kids, do so now)

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)

31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) (My favorite male author)

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

34. 1984 (Orwell)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) (Compared to her, I don’t know what being in debt means, nor being in denial)

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

45. The Bible

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens) (I loved the movie more.)

55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)(Loved the book but I rather watch Brad Pitt)

65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)(my teacher Mr. Valenzula loved this book)

67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)

79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

83. Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

85. Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)

93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Calculating this I’ve read 22 (the red) of these books and I own 7(the lavendar) that I haven’t read yet. Some that should be on this list is The Awakening by Chopin, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney, and I can go on and on…

Editing, How I Can Count the Ways

Did I ever mention my love/hate relationship with editing? Well I do. I love it when I hit a sweet spot and I know everything that needs to be fixed and how to fix them. The top three things I hate:

• What I hate is sticking in commas that I’ve forgotten,
• cutting out too many commas,
• replacing their with there, your with you’re.

What I love is when I smooth out choppy scenes until they read seamlessly. The number 1 thing I love about editing:

• WHEN I’M DONE!

With all that said, I must go back to editing. (the only other thing I detest more is writing a synopsis)

WHY I LOVE BEING A WRITER

I’ve been learning so much lately about writing that I sometimes feel overwhelmed. When I think I’ve got something, another piece of the writing puzzle comes along and throws me for a loop.

When I first started I honestly thought all there was to writing was getting the story down, and getting it down. All I would have to do is find misspelled words.

Then I picked up a few how to books and that blew my theory to hell and back. I wrote another book. Then I stumbled upon writing forums. They talked about character arcs, pacing, three act structure, characterization for both the protagonist and antagonist and why you should spend as much time creating the p as for the a.

Everyday I feel like I should know more about writing before I write, but that’s the catch twenty-two. You don’t learn from your writing unless you write. You have to write to make sure everything you are learning is being put to use.

For me at least it doesn’t matter because I get a rush every time I open a word document. Every time I hit a nail on the head in my story and then the world seems like it has opened up for me and my writing just flows, I remember why I love doing it. What makes you feel like that?

R W Freaking A

I’m glad I’ve contained myself for this long but I have great, no fabulous news…I’m going to the RWA conference this year. AAAAAHHHHHHH!

Only winning the lottery could make me more excited. The trip is paid for, the conference fee is paid, and I’m just waiting for July to roll around.

The main thing though is I have no idea what to expect. Where am I supposed to go once I get there? What workshops should I attend? What type of workshops are they offering?

And most importantly, Dear God, if I can’t find no other room, let me find the GOODY room.

Life right now is a wonderful thing. (only if I act like I love editing)