New Year means big goals!!!

Okay so I am a slacker!! I haven't posted in ages. I finished NaNoWriMo with the 50k word goal though the book isn't done. Luckily I have some great friends reading and editing to help me perfect it!!!

I am taking my career by the horns this year. I posted my goals in the side bar but I am going to write them out in the first post of the year as well. I want to finish Sam's first book and writer her second. I want to finish the YA book "Guild of Thieves" soon. I want to write a synopsis for all 3 plus my 2 completed romantic suspense books. I also want to submit those out to agents/publishers this year. My last goal is a big one. I want to publish at least one of those books!!! I think I can do it. My writing is better than ever and my stories are getting to be where I want them to be. Being a perfectionist is a bit of a down fall, lol. Oops. All my editing group says they are good and really don't make many changes but I tend to worry all the time! AArrgggg..... Anyway J.W. is getting a different schedule which will actuall make me a bit more insomniatic so I see a lot more writing starting now. So here comes a new year and a big push to get my career of the ground! Wish me luck!!

NaNo and submitting.

In two days I am starting NaNoWriMo. National novel writing month is sponsored by a fabulous organization called the Office of Letters and Light. I love NaNo. The rules are simple. On Nov. 1 you begin from scratch to write at least 50k words in the month. I usually write more. I am mean to myself like that, lol. This year i will tackle the first Sam book. Yup that lovely post-apocalyptic paranormal crime series is coming out of my imagination and meeting paper. I decided today to switch to a different case. The crime Sam (Samantha Jackson) will be solving is the case of 3 missing girls from a single community. In a world where families are pretty paranoid about safety and where children are even more precious than ever this is a pretty big deal so using the fact that she can shift shape into any animal she chooses and use their senses plus the fact she has a photographic memory means we have a smart cookie. Her background has been rough and very few know of the paranormal aspect to her so hiding that is big for her. her partner is human and has no idea so that adds a layer. I am excited to dig in.

On to Submitting. I think I am going to take the plunge tomorrow and write up a submission letter for the romance books. My RWA chapter-mates said to go ahead and submit. if I sign just make sure i retain the rights to submit other genres elsewhere and such in the contract. So that is my plan. Wish me luck!!

NaNoWriMo

So I figured out some of my book issues. BUT I did it with only so much time until my self imposed deadline. Now my big scheme deadline says have all 4 books done by March. Little plan wanted this book done this month so next book could be tackled in November. I wanted it that way for a reason. November is National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. Write 50k words in a month as a group effort with a whole lot of other writers as support and cheering fun. Lexi's book was a NaNo book. The book I am going to completely re-tool and re-write was a NaNo book. I hit the 50k mark with it but didn't finish my personal goal on it. I have the case mapped out and am now going to reconfigure it post apocalypse with some survival thrown in. So I want to do NaNo. This means putting the current book aside for a bit. Part of me is glad because this book has not flowed well while Sam's book floats in my head all of the time. It begs to be written. Part of me is annoyed. In trying to do this I hate missing a deadline, even self-imposed. Hmmmm..... No way I write 45k more words though in a week. I am not that good, hehe. I am so torn.

This book has been giving me fits.

So this months project has been the youth fantasy adventure. Kind of Harry Potter meets The Mummy with a twist of Snow White, lol. Basically A king and queen finally have a child. The sorcer knows that the only way for him to become ruler is to kill the child so he has a henchman do the deed. Henchman instead take the boy across the sea and leaves him in a different kingdom. Boy is found by another orphan 12 years older than he is and raised to survive a brutal kingdom. They become the Guild of Theives as they take in other lost orphans and save them from bad lives. The one day the older one disappears, kidnapped by the sorcerer as word of his orphan rescue gets back to the sorcerer. That is where the book starts Our young prince is 14. He has no idea he is a prince and can't remember a thing. His mentor has figured it out but not told him for his safety and vanished besides. So the boy along with a gypsy girl go on a search to find the mentor.

I like the book. I see the kids in my head. I see their adventures with other magical things and perilous environments. But I am only 3300 words in. Yes I know the date. I think I have let myself be bogged by the idea of the audience. I have been so stuck on trying to keep it simpler than normal that the words just haven't flowed. A dear friend reminded me that my audience is much smarter than I seem to be thinking and that i don't need to "dumb it down". They are capable kids these days and used to bigger books. The shortest Harry Potter was over 76k words. I need to stop worrying about simplicity and instead let the story flow. Let my normal details flow, let the relationships build and just stop worrying. So that is what I am going to do. Tomorrow i tackle this book anew. From the top. No simplification. Just true Lila voice! Wish me luck.

Done with new thread added.

Final word count was 66708. Not quite the 70k I was aiming for but over the 60k publishers usually want as a minimum for a romantic suspense novel. I think I did good. I am super tired. I got my new thread added which let me kill off someone else who was based off of someone who loves to make life difficult in the world. That is my therapy. I base crime victims sometimes on people in my personal life or the world who make things hard for myself or people I care about. I torment or harass them to get out the aggression without actually having to be aggressive in real life. Not sure how healthy that is but it works for me. This book has a few long chapters so I am only putting up the first 5 in excerpts for people to read. Let me know what you think.

Next project it my youth fantasy adventure!! Fun stuff!

Done editing Lexi's book!

I finished the read through. Now I just need to go back and add a subplot in that will add to the end shock and the word count. I am on target to be done by the end of the month. That means October will be time for the youth adventure book. Very on track to do what I want on time!! I am thrilled!! Not sure if I posted the basics of Lexi's book yet but it is a romantic suspense. A serial killer stalks the female lead and her brother and kills people they love by copying other well known serial killers. They have to figure out who the killer is before one of them ends up dead. Along the way Lexi our female lead falls for Lucien the hot homicide Lieutenant partner to her detective brother Aarik. Very murder mystery with a dose of sexy romance. I love this one as more of my personality seems to shine through in it. Once I get the subplot written in I will put up some chapters and see what you guys think! Now off to pick up a kid and then tonight I write! :)

Done with the editing!!!

I have finished editing Kat's book. Final word count put me over 70,000. Very good if I do say so. I actually finished last week but just forgot to post about it, lol. I am very pleased with it. The friends I have reading and helping with my edits seem to like it and have added some amazing feedback which I think added a lot of depth to the story as well as much needed support. When I originally wrote the book I printed hard copies and gave them to multiple family members in the hopes of getting such feedback. I love them and they are wonderful but I really got nothing. No "this needs more here" or "This seems inconsistent". Not a peep really. Was a bit frustrating. Granted they all have pretty busy lives, we all do. I know that. I am not asking for anyone to quit their lives to hold my hand and guide me. I am very capable of doing the heavy lifting. As the writer I view the work very differently as a reader. I also write as it flows into my head so that can lead to inconsistencies even with the plot mams and things I keep. Having others read and help me figure things out  is a huge help to me. I am super grateful for it.

So anyway the book is done. Now to try to figure out a way to blurb it for my submission letters to agents/publishers. I also want a better title than the working title I have had for ages.

Time to figure those out and begin work on Lexi's book. This one is very "Whodunit" and I love that!!

**Oh and the first 10 chapters can be read here.