NaNo NaNo NaNo NaNo... Batman! Er...

It's NaNoWriMo day 6! That means by the end of the day today, I should have at least 10,000 words written on Kiss of Life.

My plan had been to have more like 25,000-30,000 done by today, but that's not happening. You see, life and frantic plotting have gotten a bit in the way. (AKA--I was sick, we had company, and I didn't get the book totally plotted in advance.)

Why was my plan so... vast in scope? Because I thought I could do it. I really want to get this book done and sent to my editor and I'm all excited about it. Plus, I've done that kind of word count recently, so I figured magic could just strike again.

I'm here to tell you that life doesn't always work that way. Hell, even if I'd had everything lined up perfectly for the ideal amount of writing time and no interruptions and a magical teapot that provided me spicy rooibos at sipping temperature... it still likely wouldn't have happened. My brain wasn't ready for that level of commitment with this book because I still had far too much discovery to do about the story.

Some books are easy to write fast. The story is nice and compact. Minimal number of characters. "Simple" plot. Etc, etc. Others are formed so fully in an author's mind that they just spill onto the page (I had that happen once, it was awesome.)

With Blood Kissed though, I've got a big cast of characters and a plot that requires some twisting and turning. (The people who read this series won't be too happy with me if I make it all nice and predictable. And Remy would kill me in my sleep.) So, I had to let it simmer. Then I had to let it stew. Then I had to let it age in a damn barrel as epiphany after epiphany hit.

I think I have it all now. The pieces are laid out in front of me, and I can more or less see the picture they make. So... 10,000 words by today, but it's the last day of taking it easy. Now, it's time to bust ass and write.

NaNoWriMo: T-minus 48 Hours and Counting

If you weren't aware, I'm a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) addict. I did it for the first time in 2007, and I've done and won every year including and since. The funny part is, I don't need to do it anymore. I write 50,000 words in a month on a fairly regular basis. (If you recall my crazy output last year, I wrote ~350,000 new words in 2011, not including revisions and edits.) But I'm still doing it this year.

You see, I love the energy of NaNo. Literally hundreds of thousands of people doing the same thing I am in the month of November. They're sitting their butts in their chairs and putting their hands on their keyboards and making magic. Some will be or become publishable magic--most of mine have (after much, much revision--never skip that step)--but that isn't even the point of NaNo. It's all about the words, and that has power in itself.

Writing is a solitary gig. We chat on twitter and some people have live writing groups they meet with every so often, but most of us do this shit mainly solo. But in November, that feeling of aloneness disappears and we become part of something bigger.

It's an awesome feeling.

Now, I know, NaNo is not for everyone. Some people can't turn off their internal editor (or if they leave her on, can't make the word count anyway), others hate the pressure and the deadline, still others have issues with the 50,000 word thing (because outside of small YA books and those for a younger audience, that isn't a whole novel, you know?). And all of that is fine. NaNo doesn't do anything for some people.

But if you're a writer or a wanna-be-writer, it's worth giving it a try at least once. See how much you can accomplish on that next bit of magic in thirty days. And if you hate it... it's only thirty days. Most workout plans expect you to try longer than that. At the very least, the month will get you in the habit of BICHOK (butt-in-chair-hands-on-keyboard) on a daily basis, which is a good thing for a writer.

As for me, the first words of Kiss of Life will hit my laptop in 48 hours. On the plus side, it's a world I already know, so I don't have to stress too much about prep-work. On the downside, I've been crazy-busy tying up other projects the past few weeks in preparation for NaNo, so I have nothing done on actual book prep-work. It should be a trip.

Either way, I get to see Remy again, and that just makes me happy.

Back to School...

I know, I know, the kids have been back for over a month now, but I went back yesterday. You see, a friend of mine ranted and raved about this "Fast Draft" writing class she took, and I've been waiting for it to come around again. It's here! And I'm terrified.

You see, we're supposed to write 20 pages a day, every day, for two weeks. That's roughly 5,000 words a day, people. I don't know when the last time I had a 5k day was, but it's been a while. Still, I'm on board with this thing since my writing has been slowing down a lot and I really don't have time for that sort of nonsense. Not when I've got people asking about the next books in my series and the new story I've teased about here and there. And certainly not with NaNoWriMo starting in two and a half weeks.

So, I'm buckling down and doing this thing, however it turns out.

Interesting factoid about me...

I was basically a straight A student through high school. (I really don't count my elementary school grades in handwriting, especially since girls and boys were graded differently.) Hell, I even had a couple straight A semesters in college. Which is a decent sign as to how I feel about failing--I don't like it. At all. Which means I'm going to be fairly scarce the next few weeks. But hey, by the time it's all said and done, that new story should be done and off to beta, and I should have another piece with a serious chunk out of it. Pretty much just don't expect to see me until I collapse in December. That's safest.

Happy Birthday, Evernight!

Quick blog post this week. (But there will be another this weekend with a nice surprise in it!)

So, it's Evernight Publishing's second birthday today, and they're giving their readers all sorts of presents! Starting today is the Evernight Scavenger Hunt that starts at SmexyBooks and continues on from there. That runs until Friday, just five days, people.

Then there's the weekend surprise, so make sure you come back to visit.  I lied! This isn't holding out to the weekend (so no extra blog, sorry...). Evernight has taken a best-seller from each of their categories and put them on sale at Amazon for only 99 cents! You can get the full list of sale books here. Or you can just go buy GunShy right now at this link. Happy Birthday indeed!

And next week is the Evernight Birthday Blog Hop. There are a LOT of authors participating and each one is giving away something on their blog, and each entry puts you in for grand prizes including a Kindle among other awesome stuff. So make sure you stop back here and hit all the blogs on the tour so you can enter as many times as possible!

(Once all the birthday goodness has ended, I'll be talking about NaNo prep for a couple weeks and then probably only doing mini-blogs through the month of November. It's not that I don't write like a crazy person all the time, but... it's NaNoWriMo and that ups the crazy factor all on its own :P)

I Am Not a Muppet

First and foremost, the winner Stockings and Suspenders

from the blog hop is Judith Hulley! Congrats, Judith!

Now, onto the rest of today's post. On Sunday, I made my husband a very happy camper when I said we could go see The Muppets. He's been waiting patiently for me to decide it had been out long enough that it wouldn't be filled with screaming kids (and we still ended up with a lot of talkers in our theater...). We took our kids and went, and... he loved it. The Boy loved it. Mini-Me liked it a lot. And I... didn't hate it. The continual singing and muppetry that followed the movie, however, had me ready to run the car into a tree.

When Mini-Me asked, "If you could be a Muppet, which one would you be?" I couldn't answer. I don't want to be a Muppet, at all. They're just too freaking happy for me. Don't get me wrong, happy is good, but that level of happiness doesn't fit in my reality (or any of my alternate realities).

The people who read my work regularly know that most of what I write doesn't fall easily into romance. There's always romance in what I write, but a large chunk of my work is "strong romantic elements" instead (this is especially true of YA me). One of the reasons for that (or for steampunk romance, sci-fi romance, paranormal romance) is that I like action and suspense. Always have, always will.

I'm a written-word danger junkie.

And I cuss like a sailor if I don't keep close tabs on myself.

Those things and the Muppets just don't gel together. I mean, I'm the girl whose favorite holiday movie is Die Hard. But getting back to romance...

The project I wrote for NaNo (and am still writing) is a contemporary romance. Not a romantic suspense, mind you, straight contemporary. I have a love-hate relationship with this manuscript. I love the characters and I think their story is one that needs to be told, but... I want to blow something up. I had to take a break from the manuscript and write a piece of flash fiction just so I could kill someone.

Which means I am neither a manly Muppet nor a Muppet of a man.

And while it may make my little family sad, at the end of the day, I'm okay with it. After all, I never much wanted to have strings someone could pull anyway.

Just Keep Swimming

Every once in a while, I get really excited about a project and impose a timeline on myself that is... less than realistic. (Okay, I do it all the time). This time though, I figured I was on a roll. I finished my 50k for NaNoWriMo on November 23--a week early! So, it seemed perfectly logical that if I continued writing at that speed, I could have the first draft done sometime between Dec. 5-10.

It was a no brainer. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming...

Except, there's one thing people don't tell you about NaNo (and especially about what happens if you finish the day before Thanksgiving). As an author, 1667 words a day is not a lot. On a good day, I can do that in an hour. On an average day, it takes 1 1/2-2 hours, but you get the point. As long as I'm rolling, that is totally attainable. But, anyone who has done NaNo a few times can tell you--the world doesn't always cooperate with your schedule. That means you try to get ahead, because you don't know when you're going to get sick, have sick kids, have guests, have another project that people are paying you for so it has to take precedence...

So I was cruising along at at average of about 2250 words a day through the 23rd. Again, not an extreme amount--a couple hours of solid work a day. But doing it day in and day out takes a toll. Not because it's a large amount but because there's a deadline, and you're in a race, and whatever else causes you to panic. So when you "win," all this weight falls off your shoulders and you can breathe.

And you let yourself have a day off (and in this case, it was Thanksgiving...hello...). But when you're dealing with a holiday weekend, and/or a manuscript that is something you aren't used to or is giving you problems, a day off easily turns into two. Or three. Or hell, at that point why not take the whole four-day weekend like everyone else is? You deserve time off for good behavior too!

The thing is for me as a writer, time off makes it harder to get back in the swing. Words don't come easy, if at all. Characters I loved annoy me with their stupid decisions. I start to want to inhabit a different world--any other world. So, my long weekend "off" turned into a week and a half where my writing was off. I think I'm back on my game now, but I've trimmed my expectations back from the 2-2.5k a day to the 1667 of NaNo. Yes, my calendar still has goals in 2k increments, but that's just easier for me to keep track of.

All this means that the manuscript will not be done this week. Maybe next week. Hopefully for sure by Christmas. Definitely by New Years. But yeah... not this week.

Day Late...

Sorry, this should have gone up yesterday. No excuse other than I forgot and when I remembered it was late and I was feeling lazy.

Since tomorrow NaNo is over, I'll leave the final NaNoReb check in for my other blog (where I haven't posted hardly at all this month). For today, I want to give people a heads up about something.

Starting tomorrow and running through the month of December, my Blood Kissed novella The Ghost of Vampire Present is Decadent Publishing's Read for a Cure book.

What that means is for every copy purchased in December, Decadent is donating all of their proceeds to the American Cancer Society. In addition, I'm donating fifty cents from every copy to my sister's Relay for Life team (in addition to my regular donation, which any other money I might earn from sales helps to fund :P) This is a LOT of money that can be earned for cancer research.

If you're buying someone an e-reader, please consider including The Ghost of Vampire Present with it. Or if you get one as a gift. Or encourage people you know to buy it. They get a book and can possibly help save a life.

For more information on WHY I volunteered to do Read for a Cure (along with a giveaway of the first Blood Kissed story and a vampire-themed care package), check out the 30 Days of Decadence blog: http://30daysofdecadence.blogspot.com/2011/11/family-mattersso-does-cancer.html

Also, be on the lookout for a special Saturday post here. I have another holiday short in an anthology that comes out next Friday. On Saturday, you'll get a blurb, an excerpt, and a teaser of the cover. Talk to you then!

NaNoReb(el)s: Three Weeks In--Time for Some Wins?

***In case you didn't see it in last week's post,

due to a troll crashing our party we have a new chatroom.

It's password protected, so you'll have to DM me for the password,

but we're moving to: http://us2.chatzy.com/49399082410494

Please ignore the other room. Thanks. ***

It's the 22nd, and I know at least a couple of our people who still had the 50k as their goal (or more) are nearing the mark. This is the week to let us know if you've hit it.

As I write this, it's midnight (yay procrastination!), and I'm barely at 43,500. Still ahead of the game, but I really wanted this puppy fully drafted by month's end if nothing else came in for me to deal with. I'm hoping once the post is up, I'll push on for another hour and hit the magical 45k before bed. I doubt it, but I'm going to try anyway. I'm at a scene that I've envisioned so many freaking times it should be pouring out of me, but for some reason...it's just not.

I think I've been letting too many things slide this month, and I think it's starting to affect my productivity. I'm finally feeling better, so there's no excuse on the exercise thing anymore. I'd go work out now, but it's midnight, and if the hubs hears me, he won't be very happy about it, so that's my #1 goal tomorrow after I get the kids off to school.

Then it's hitting 47,500 :P

So? Have you won yet?

NaNoReb(el)s: Two Weeks In--Update time!

***Note: The chat room for write-ins will ALWAYS be http://us2.chatzy.com/38968453185748***

***Not sure how to strike that out,

but due to a troll crashing our party we have a new chatroom.

It's password protected, so you'll have to DM me for the password,

but we're moving to: http://us2.chatzy.com/49399082410494

Please ignore the other room. Thanks. ***

Two weeks into the madness, and I'm busy as fuck (Hell, I didn't even say how I was doing last week I was so swamped). So...this is going to be a quickie (hehe...quickie).

Anyway, I'm still about 3 days ahead of the curve. Not where I want to be, but two bad and several mediocre writing days over the last week killed my 2500 a day average. I'm still around 2k a day, but I need to have a couple REALLY good days to make up for it. Plus I just got back final read-through on Making the Naughty List, so I need to find time to do that.

In other news, I'm going out tonight, so if I want to stay on track AT ALL, I need to write now. Fill us in, how is your NaNo going?

NaNoReb(el)s: One Week In--How You Doin'?

Last night ended the first week of NaNo! If you are doing the full 50k, that means you "should" be at 11666.

But we're rebels. Fuck that shit. I don't care where you "should" be. I care where you are.

So spill. Remind us what your goal was and let us know not only how you're doing, but how you're feeling about where you're at. Have you hit stumbling blocks? Walls? A really hot minor character who you've started falling for and really want to write about because he's smoking and deserves a HEA too? *cough* That's...uh...just an example. *cough*

I want to kind of do a weekly goal too. This is where I am now, this is where I want to be at check in next week. (Do not make this crazy, the point of being a rebel is to remove some of the pressure.)

Also, we are still doing the nightly write-ins. Chat room opens around 9:30-ish eastern time. Please, if you WANT a write-in at a different time, post it here. I will advertise and help get people to show up, even if I can't make it!

The NaNoRebs:

Julie Particka(Seleste deLaney) / @Selestedelaney

Gareth / @FalcataTimes

Noelle Pierce / @NoellePierce

Danielle LaPaglia / @Dannigrrl5

J.A. Campbell / @PFirewolf

Terri / @Angbuf

Tammy Crosby / @CrosbyWrites

Misha (CanadianSportsChick) / ?

Katee Robert / @Katee_Robert

Kelly Metz / @bwlrgrl300

Rae Lori / @RaeLori

Chrissey / @ArcadeStarlet

Donna / @DBReynoldswrite

Todd DeSilva/@todddesilva

Janelle Alexander / @janellealexandr

Sean Hayden / @ShaydenFl / eastern

The unofficial Rebs who sneak into our write-ins and steal our vodka (but we like them anyway):

Skyla Dawn Cameron

Dina James

Mel Hay

Suzanne Lazear

NaNoReb(el)s: Start Your Engines

Last night's chatzy write-in went swimmingly. We'll be doing it again nightly (10pm-midnight eastern time) for the foreseeable future. Since I may not always be around to open it, watch the #NaNoRebs feed on Twitter for the specific chatroom link!

It's here! It's here! It's NaNovember and I'm already ten hours behind. It feels weird to not have frantically started my project last night at midnight, but I was busy frantically finishing the last one. And I have a bunch of blog posts to get done today, so those are happening before I jump on my NaNoRebellion.

This week, for me, is all about doing the revisions on Badlands 2 and

getting it sent off. I'm hoping to get a jumpstart on the new novel too, but submissions have to take precedence. So. I'm giving myself the next two hours for blog posts. One hour for new novel prep-work, and then I'm diving into edits. I want to get a bunch done so I can write for at least an hour tonight at the write-in.

Speaking of, not too many people commented on their schedules at the other blog last week. So, I ran with the times I had. Our first virtual write/edit/whatever-you're-doing-in is TONIGHT, 10pm-midnight eastern time. I'll be opening a room in Chatzy at 9:30 and I'll link here and twitter. Remember, our new hashtag is #NaNoRebs. Also, if I'm not following you, please @mention me (@Selestedelaney) that you're a #NaNoReb and I'll follow back.

Starting next week, this is the blog where we'll do our status checks and everyone re-posts their goal (whatever it is) and how they're doing (word count, pages edited, whatever). I want to discuss more options for write-ins at tonight's, so if you can't make it, please include your input here so I can have a list ready to go for Thursday's post at the other blog. And remember, you don't need me to run a write-in. Anyone can step up and say "I'll start the chat page. We're doing a write-in on __(day)__ at __(time)__.

Until tonight, that's it and I wish you words :)

(If I missed you, please let me know!)

Julie Particka(Seleste deLaney) / @Selestedelaney

Gareth / @FalcataTimes

Noelle Pierce / @NoellePierce

Danielle LaPaglia / @Dannigrrl5

J.A. Campbell / @PFirewolf

Terri / @Angbuf

Tammy Crosby / @CrosbyWrites

Misha (CanadianSportsChick) / ?

Katee Robert / @Katee_Robert

Kelly Metz / @bwlrgrl300

Rae Lori / @RaeLori

Chrissey / @ArcadeStarlet

Donna / @DBReynoldswrite

Todd DeSilva/@todddesilva

Janelle Alexander / @janellealexandr

Sean Hayden / @ShaydenFl / eastern

NaNoReb(el)s: One Week Countdown

REBEL CHAT at 9:00pm est (10/26/11)! Click here!

Hi all! It's less than one week to NaNoWriMo 2011. Do you have your plans ready?

For those not in the know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing

Month, and it takes place every November. The goal is, within the month of November to write 50,000 words on a novel. Some of the #NaNoRebels here have actually signed on for that. Others have signed on to do something a bit different (lower word count, finishing a story for submission, editing...). But we wanted a place where all the Rebels who wanted could gather together, plan some virtual write-ins, offer support on Twitter, etc. So, I volunteered my blogs: this one and JulieParticka.com. I'll be posting stuff here on Tuesdays, there on Thursdays.

What I want to do right now is talk about Twitter (by the way, if you haven't yet, go ahead and follow this me, @SelestedeLaney, just so I keep everyone nice and organized). A lot of us use it and love it already. Some use it and hate it. Others have accounts but don't use it at all. And some of us just haven't gone there yet. There was a request for me to do a quick Twitter class. Since life grabbed me by the metaphorical balls and didn't let go, I lost track of time and now we're down to a week before. So... Twitter class will be tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26, at 9:00 pm eastern time at Chatzy. I will put a direct link to the room here tomorrow evening. Please make sure you have created a Twitter account in advance of the class and please download tweetdeck. I don't normally use regular Twitter, so it'll be a much more productive class if we're all on the same page.

For those of you who know what you're doing Twitter-wise, just remember to use the hashtag so everyone sees your tweets. And... speaking of the hashtag. *sigh* #NaNoRebels is already an official NaNo thing. So, by all means use it too, but I'm shortening ours to #NaNoRebs just so we have a thing just for those of us in the group. (Yes, it's an open group and everyone can join, but if we're all talking, I don't want it to get lost in a larger twitter feed).

*Big exhale*

Okay, now that that's out of the way, how about we all talk about what our goals are for NaNo? Is it the 50k? Or is it something else?

And if you haven't signed up to join us, click the NaNoRebels thing in my right sidebar and comment there.

NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

So another NaNo has come and (almost) gone. If you are still working, get to it! *cracks whip* If you're done, congratulations. Honestly though, congrats to everyone who took on the challenge. Even if you didn't "win", I hope you still ended up with words. I "won" a couple days ago and I'm now trying to put the finishing touches on the draft since my editor really seems like she wants it...yesterday.

Here's the thing though. I'm not sending it to her yet.

The only person who has seen more than little snippets of this piece (those are available on the Blood Kissed Facebook page--I'd love it if you liked me there) is my incredibly awesome alpha-reader, Katee. She's been one of my betas since my second novel, and she gets me like no one else. This time she stepped up to the plate and has been reading Kiss of Death in it's most raw form so that once I'm done with the draft, I can revise with a plan in mind. Which means I can get it to the crazy people who are willing to speed-beta for me hopefully by the weekend. And then I can revise again next week and get it to my publisher.

Some of you are probably shaking your heads and saying, "OMG, is she nuts?" To which I answer, "Yes. Yes, I am." I wouldn't normally work like this. My usual course of action is to finish the draft, let it sit for a couple weeks, revise, then if I'm okay with it, send it to betas. As often as not though, I still don't think it's ready for them and I'll let it sit longer and revise again before sending to them. Then, with their feedback in hand, I revise again (maybe more than once). So normally, after the rough is done, it's a minimum of a month before I send it out to agents/editors. Did I mention minimum?

So while I am demonstrating that the usual way doesn't always work (crazy deadlines), my methods are still similar. I'm still doing revise, beta, revise before I send it out, because I don't want people in charge to see something that isn't the best I can make it (in the time allowed).

And you shouldn't either. I know I have readers here who aren't published yet. I know a zillion people did NaNo this year. And what I want to tell you is your stuff is not ready to send. The big-time authors I know who do NaNo don't send their NaNo drafts to their agents/editors, and none of us should either. Every manuscript needs some sort of real critique before it gets sent out, and every manuscript needs revision (beyond spell-check, though that's important too).

Every year agents complain about the amount of unpolished NaNo work they get every December/January. Don't be part of the problem. Revise it until it's shiny. Do your homework on agents and how to query. Do everything you can to make it as perfect as possible.

And for heavens sake, don't follow my example this year. Remember: I'm nuts.

Announcement Time! (sort of)

As promised, I have an announcement, but because of circumstances outside my control (and lousy planning on my part), I don't get to do it in my normal fashion. Anyway...

Sometime in September, I saw a call for an anthology with a new digital publisher. I was working on The Ghost of Vampire Present at the time and working on the idea for my NaNo project, but I looked at my calendar and wondered if I didn't have time to put something together for this one too. The people who have been following my craziness on twitter or facebook know I stayed busy right up until NaNo started on November 1. I literally took Halloween off, finishing my outline the night before.

But I didn't really take Halloween off. You see, in those couple weeks between finishing The Ghost of Vampire Present and starting on Kiss of Death for NaNo, I penned and submitted a little story called Yes, Alana, There Is a Santa Claus. I received my first round of edits from Evernight Publishing on Halloween and made sure I got them in before NaNo actually started at midnight. The story will be part of their upcoming erotica/erotic romance anthology 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas.

The only sad part is I don't have a cover or release date to share yet. Trust me, when I do I'll be sure to post. Which leads me to announcement number two...

I've finally realized that trying to blog three times a week per blog is killing me. Even with throwing in "easy" blogs, I'm just stretching myself too thin and it's making me enjoy it less. So, Thirsty Thursdays are gone and won't be replaced. My "official" blog days here will be Tuesdays and Saturdays, saving the occasional Thursday for when I have announcements that won't fit (due to guests or planned posts) on the other days. I hope you weren't just here for the drink recipes and will come back for whatever I give you the other days.

And I hope you'll keep an eye out for 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas!

Thirsty Thursday: Butt Plug

For the month of November, I'm doing drinks to celebrate NaNoWriMo. That means alcohol AND caffeine--the best of both worlds. So, don't let the names confuse you, these are all designed to keep you happy and awake while completing your 50k.

Butt Plug

6 oz. Red Bull (I used diet, just because)

1/2 oz. vodka

1/2 oz. blue curacao

Fill an old-fashioned glass 1/2 way with Red Bull. Separately, fill a shot glass 1/2 with vodka, 1/2 with blue curacao. Drop shot glass in the other glass and shoot.

Okay, I'm bad about reading directions. I just mixed everything in a glass and added ice.

Review:

Me: First it is a really pretty emerald green color, and I am a fan of pretty drinks. What's more is this isn't half bad. It has a very tart fruity taste (mind you I've never had Red Bull before, so maybe that's all I'm tasting). I could definitely sit back and enjoy this sometime when I need to stay awake (hoping it helps for that at least). 8/10

Hubs: Tastes kind of like the off-minty medicine the doctor used to give you as a kid with zero kick. It'd be better if it had more alcohol. 6/10

Two Days and Twenty Questions

In less than forty-eight hours, NaNoWriMo 2010 begins. I have my file for Blood Kissed #3 ready to go with most (if not all) of the major players with character pages and folders of plot points I want to hit. Thing is I want to have this puppy done by mid-December at the latest and I'm estimating it at 75-80k. So...yeah. That means I need to write a minimum of 2k a day throughout November, preferably 2.5-3k. It's going to be a tough one, but I'm determined to give it my best effort. I want this, and I've been told people want this story.

I just hope they still want it when it's done LOL.

But in the meantime, I'm doing my best not to freak out about the numbers. I'm trying not to think about all the days my kids have off school in November, or the pre-holiday shopping, or the revisions that I know will be hitting my inbox during the month. Nope. I'm just focusing on the story and the new characters I'm dying to write. I still have a little bit of "casting" to do in order to appease the visual side of my nature, and I want to flesh out some sections of the plot more. But I can't wait to tell this story. So that's where my energy is at least for now. There will be time for panic later.

In the meantime, Ellen Keener interviewed me for her blog. Twenty questions, people! Please read the post so I don't think I spent all the time answering them in vain. K? Thanks.