taking liberties with a blonde vampire...

had fun with carolyn's contest
hope to get brownie points for the subject of one hunky viking vamp!

yeah, still on the writing break, yeah the irony of my blog title, don't go there... : )

sorry but i've had a bad case of writer's block, which is compounded by the fact i've had zero time to work on anything writing, other than beta reading (which is at least doing something for writing that isn't just creeping around the shark waters or spying on ms nelson, etc...).
with the holidays, performance planning at work, the hubby starting a new business, and all the stuff with the kids school, etc... i'm just a mom more than a writer right now, so please forgive me...

took some time off, sort of

haven't written a darn thing in a month or so.
but was excited to beta read saw it coming  by becky wallace, a ya mystery romance that was a fun read. so totally love sam and his sexy 'intuition.'
also was excited to have becky beta my beast, which she brought up the beloved things i figured she would but have been too miserable to change.
can't wait to beta some more of g's things, if he gets the fingers flowing again.
pretty much everyone's been busy with holidays and work to chuck out anything.

this is too funny!

this made me piddle my pants!
you want pie? i'll give you a pie!

oh poop

no bites on the lucky agent contest. oh well, back to the grindstone.




better luck next time...

holy space kapow!

agent great nathan bransford is taking on a new career opportunity.

blog devoted to ya

i decided to start a new blog just devoted to ya.
that way my teens don't get lost in a sea of out of touch adults.
check it out at holdin on to 16

so totally worth breaking my 'break' rules

yeah, so i was taking a break from blogging to rest the hand, but...

...rules were meant to be broken. right? well at least bent, guys.

so i'm blogging about a really cool ya contest.

check it out at writer's digest guide to literary agents.

oh, and cross your fingers and send the good luck vibes my way!

: (

due to myofascial something and carpal tunnel flare up, not blogging until it's better.

the beast of it

the beast of it, the best of it. well my beast got better, thanks to a good writing buddy.
i like the plot element suggestions. so huge thanks  to my favorite idiot out there!

christmas in october

goodie!
just like santa, g put a present under the tree a.k.a. inbox.
ye seek and ye shall find (more work, but i'm looking forward to it).
thanks, g!

write now is a beast

yes, i meant write now, because my WIP is a beast. i'm back to hashing out my ya paranormal beast of burden. i shelved it for a while. i needed to get a clear mind and then revisit it. and let's just say i've been revisiting it day and night for some weeks.

a nice chap is beta reading it currently and offering some great suggestions. can't wait until he's gotten to the end. this is like waiting for christmas morning to come.

when it's good as gold

when is a writer's job ever done?

likely never. i'm told to view the world through my writer eyes. i should carry a journal, write tidbits of juicy good stuff i see while i drive, when i wait in line for lunch or coffee, or when i watch the news.

i've been bad (no surprise, have you seen my track record?). i don't carry a journal per se. but sometimes i find a bit of paper and scratch something out. sometimes i sit down at the computer screen and my hands freeze. sometimes i tell myself i'll just remember this and make it a damn fine story some other time and rarely do.

and when i finally do find something to write about-- i mean something i really want to write about, i wonder when is that work done? it has a beginning, middle and end, right? so it must be done.

but then again there is no end... to the incessant editing and reediting.  and when i finally think it's done, it's not.

a friend of mine said before you submit, your work needs to be good as gold, and i think he was right.
i'm waiting for gold paint to go on sale at the hardware store.

paranoid over paranormal

my paranormal is being judged in the secret agent contest over at miss snark's first victim.

people are bringing up what i struggled over--the first line. maybe too much of a punch without follow-through.

also about the amount of beer a teenage boy-man can consume and not be passed out drunk. it's too bad they don't know mal's 6'5" and 300 lbs--a boy that size can down a lot of beers!

undertow

one of ee's gtp

5. Newlyweds Spencer and Emily Harris embark on their honeymoon-- a trek across the US in their RV. When they get a flat in the New Mexico desert, a mysterious tow truck driver comes to their rescue, pulling them into a seemingly inescapable horror. Maybe they should have taken that left at Albuquerque.

chance to win a "jewel" of a book

ooh, goody! a chance to win carolyn jewel...uh, her books, i mean, not the actual carolyn... right?

seriously, a chance to get your grubby little shaking hands on my wicked enemy and my forbidden desire.

check it out here at tina folsom's blog.

grrrr, had to vent...

i'm irritated. my blogs links never seem to update, making me believe nothing new is happening in the world. dumb blog links keep making me go in the old way and check each one individually. what's the point in having the blog link?

6(66) signs from slushpile hell

check out the hilarious slushpile hell 6 Signs That the “Professional Editor” You Hired for Your Manuscript May Not Be So Professional.

save the cat? hell, maybe save your hero...

miss snark's first victim has shared a tidbit from save the cat written by the late and great blake snyder.

does your hero suffer from inactivitis? here are four tips from mr. snyder's book she shared:

1. Is your hero's goal clearly stated in the set-up?
2. Do clues of what to do next just come to your hero or does he seek them out?
3. Is your hero active or passive?
4. Do other characters tell your hero what to do or does he tell them?

think i'll get a copy of this book, i've heard great things about it from various authors.
must go back and read my work...

bransford on chapters...

nathan bransford tweeted this:

"Every chapter is a microcosm of a novel: it should have a beginning, middle and end. Characters end in a different place. #writing "

what a great way to think of it, and so true.