Day Two

Today was a little bit easier on me. First off, I wasn't trying to get through my day with chocolate, my day had me by the hair and was pulling me through. I didn't think about candy at all! Better that way. Second, I got into my creativity goal during downtime at work. I started sketching again. I wasn't sure what to draw, but there happen to be one of the books I'm reading next to me and I decided to sketch the cover. The scan didn't turn out too well so I'll have to do another one tomorrow to show you guys.

But since this is a writer's blog, I will update you on my progress in the writing world. So far revisions are going well for All or Nothing. I realized the reason I only made it to chapter 3 the first time around was there was so much to be fixed! This past couple of days, I hunkered down and rewrote nearly all of chapter 1 and edited up to chapter 5. Today was my goal of finishing revisions, but that's obviously not happening. This weekend is my new goal, and since it's a three day weekend, more time = better writing. Research is still being conducted for My Demon of Life and when I say research, I mean paranormal romance books that are written in the same type of world as mine. I've read A LOT of paranormal romance, but have never written one and I want my new world to be believable. Studying others work will help some, but in the end, it all comes down to my imagination.

Day One

Kill me now. Apparently, the way I've been getting through my days is by eating sugar throughout the day. Well, NOT TODAY! I haven't had a single gram of candy today and I swear I might kill someone! My husband probably hates me. I'm so tired, even after taking my B12 vitamins, but I'm determined to stick to my goal. I need to get my body clean or I'm going keep feeling crappy. I'm hoping tomorrow will be easier.

Creativity and Well-Being Experiment

Welcome to my experiment. For the past month, I've felt slow, heavy and uninspired. My solution: get all these negative feelings and toxins out of my body. How I'm going to do it:

1. Water only. And plenty of it. I don't drink soda or even carbonated water. I cut that out last February when I was trying to lose weight and it's just kind of stuck. Mostly it's lemonade or Gatorade, Lifewater, etc. I drink about 72 ounces of fluid everyday, but only about 48 ounces of that is plain good-ol' water. Well, now it's time to cut out all those synthetic flavorings and stick with H2O.

2. No sugar. I'm in LOVE with M&M's and I tend to eat at least (2) 2lb. bags a week. Yes, that's a lot. Now you know why I run so much. I love the taste, but not the after effects. I feel slow and, with the help of my hypoglycemia, crappy after I eat sugar. But I keep doing it! No more. I refuse to feel like this any longer. I'm writing this after I just finished a bag of M&M's.

3. Daily meditation. Not only does my body feel slow, so does my mind. It needs a rest every once in a while from work and writing. My goal is to dedicate at least 10 minutes a day just to my mind. This little tidbit came from GOOP, my new favorite blog.

4. Daily vitamins. I have cronic fatique and no one can figure out why. Therefore, I try to take B12, but forget most of the time. I also don't eat dairy. It's gross, I don't like it, and I refuse to put it in my mouth. I SHOULD be taking a calcium supplement or at least a multi-vitamin. I don't. Time to fix that. Vitamin D is also pretty important for prevention of cancer, bone strength and more. 15 minutes a day in the sun is all you need and since I live in Vegas, that shouldn't be hard to come by.

5. Find another artistic hobby. I write. I love to write, but there has to be SOMETHING else out there that will get my creative juices going. Answer: drawing. I'm good at it, I like it, I just haven't done it in a while. I'm not one of those painter types. Just give me a pencil, a piece of paper and an object and away I go. I do stills and am not very good at portraits, but you never know. Maybe something good will come of practicing.

I'm going to keep a daily update of my progress, my reactions, my new feelings and creative juices for the next week. Hope you can follow along and take something away from it!

Where's My Inspiration?

As many of you know, I'm a very active person. I rock climb (my one real hobby), I snowboard, I run like mad because I eat a lot of M&Ms and will try anything to get my adrenaline rush. During these periods of activity, I write. In my head. I've been running for about two years now, starting out just to lose weight, but after I managed to reach my goal it's become peaceful. You're probably wondering, "What the hell is she talking about? Peaceful?" Yes. After so much hard work building up my endurance, I've finally reached the point where I can just run and not think about it. So now I think about my writing. But occasionally that doesn't work. For instance, moving to a different elevation. That changes everything I've worked for over the past two years. Bummer. So now that I'm thinking about running again, while running mind you, I have to turn to other sources of creativity. GOOP by Gwyneth Paltrow for example. I've taken the advice of my friend, Cardin McKinney, and have started work on getting as immersed in creativity as much as I can. It's a very cleansing feeling. Something I can get motivated by. Something I can focus on during running...
What is your inspiration? What do you do to keep yourself motivated? What's your creative pleasure?

Starting Again

Well, I finally printed out All or Nothing and am starting on revisions all over again. I'm hoping within the next week I'll have a huge portion revised so I can finish up my research for my new novel, My Demon of Life.

Research

Paranormal Romance is coming across a lot harder to write than I thought it would. I know exactly what I want for the plot, but am having to do a lot of research for it. Not only am I researching Ancient Egypt for my main character, but I'm having to make my own paranormal world with my own paranormal rules. Well, duh. That's a given. You can't borrow someone else's idea because that's just wrong and making one up on your own takes time. I'm enjoying the time I put in to research on this project and it will get easier over time as the series progresses, but initially, this is hell not being able to just sit down and write with the research behind me.

What I Learned Today: Part II

Here are my notes from my first meeting with the Cactus Rose Romance Writer's of America Chapter. Today our workshop was How To Write a Synopsis. They're very brief, but I think you'll get the point.

Catch the reader’s attention and keep it. Time and setting, evolution of the relationship, clearly define characters, clearly define the conflict that prevents them from being together.

If the happy ever after doesn’t happen in the first book it needs to be happy for now.

Every romance has two plots: the romance and the environmental plot. Have to fit together. Romance plot is foremost.

Too many characters in the synopsis will be overwhelming.

Concentrate on the hero/heroine/villain.

Don’t drown the agent/editor in too much irrelevant information.

Find balance between romance and suspense.

FIRST PARAGRAPH of Synopsis: Catch/hook. Time and setting. What’s the main problem for the two main characters?

Clearly define the romance in the synopsis to keep it Romance.

Clearly define characters, who they are, not what they do. Synopsis needs to be character driven, not plot driven. How does it affect people emotionally? Include growth of the characters.

Use an active voice, keep the language limited that matches the tone of the book.

Plot points are major turning points, use these instead of an outline.

Learning about writing: Reading, critiquing, judging contests.

WHEN THEY FALL IN LOVE AND ADMIT IT: BOOK OVER. What draw them together, why do these people fall in love?

Major turning points implicate the romantic relationship, make it grow or turn sour. Trust plays a huge roll in romance.

Suspense: want suspenseful and angst-like verbs.

Love triangle: feelings for one man need to be stronger than the other.

Capitalize all main character names, lets the reader know whose important.

Make readers believe they know my characters as much as I do in the synopsis.

Something Amazing

My favorite author of all time, Carolyn Jewel, is one of the nicest and most humble people you will ever speak to. On the two occasions I have sent her messages, once through Facebook and once through email, she has responded back personally. I LOVE the fact that I have the opportunity to speak to a real life author and a great one at that. Well, these past couple of days her publishing company that released The Spare is re-releasing the book and redesigned the covers. Ms. Jewel received a few hundred or so and posted on her blog that she was more than happy to sign a few to give away to fans. So here's mine :)

What I Learned Today: Part I

Revisions aren't going very well with All or Nothing. I got up to about Chapter 2 and decided to start all over again then made the decision to leave it alone for a week. As you can imagine, it's now been two weeks and I haven't even thought about revisions or starting on my paranormal romance. Getting used to working again has its downside and for me writing is one of them. No worries though. As of two days ago, with the news of my membership in RWA, I've revived a little of my motivation. Starting Monday, it's back to revisions on All or Nothing, but today I worked on my paranormal. This is where my post title comes in. Today I learned a lot about my main character in Demon of Life. I knew little bits and pieces about her then turned to the character questionnaire I posted a few weeks ago. I've only toyed with the questionnaire AFTER my characters have a life of their own, but this time I started with it and was amazed by what I discovered. Not only does she now have siblings, she's had a miscarriage that burdens her every day. I didn't know either of those facts this morning. The novel is coming into view and I'm even getting some ideas on the second in the series. Yes, I plan ahead.
The reason this post is titled Part I is because this weekend will be my first meeting with the local chapter of RWA: the Cactus Rose. I'm a little nervous. I have no idea how old the local members are, whether they'll be interested in anything I have to offer or whether I'll like the group at all. Part II will come on Sunday and I'll let you know.

Good News!

My membership to Romance Writer's of America has been processed and I'm officially a part of the organization. Very exciting news for me. Another step taken in my writing career. Furthermore, I was accepted to Nevada State College's bachelors program, but am a little apprehensive about the fact that NONE of the classes I need to take are offered this upcoming FALL 2010 semester. I applied to another program, one at UNLV, and can only hope something will come of it.

Bloodfever by Karen Moning

MacKayla Lane's ordinary life underwent a complete makeover when she landed on Ireland's shores and was plunged into a world of deadly sorcery and ancient secrets.

In her fight to stay alive, Mac must find the Sinsar Dubh-a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over both the worlds of the Fae and of Man. Pursued by Fae assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she cannot trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and irresistible men: V'lane, the insatiable Fae who can turn sensual arousal into an obsession for any woman, and the ever-inscrutable Jericho Barrons, a man as alluring as he is mysterious.

For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them....

Darkfever by Karen Moning

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman.

Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….

Spell of the Highlander by Karen Moning

Jessi St. James has got to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the hardworking archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the silvery glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering, insatiable alpha male.

Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, eleven centuries ago Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass, one of four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of unspeakable power. When the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it, destroying everything in his path–including the one woman who may just hold the key to breaking the ninth-century Highlander’s dark spell. For Jessi, the muscle-bound sex god in the mirror is not only tantalizingly real, he’s offering his protection–from exactly what, Jessi doesn’t know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed.

Yet even as Cian’s insatiable hunger begins to work its dark magic on Jessi, his ancient enemy is about to obtain the final and most dangerous of the Unseelie Hallows–and the ninth-century Highlander must stop him from getting it. Nothing less than the very fabric of the universe and two passionately entwined lives are at stake–as Cian and Jessi fight to claim the kind of love that comes along but once in an ice age. . . .

A Little At A Time

I've slowly been working on revisions for All or Nothing. Up to Chapter 2 now. It's slow work, a lot of errors to fix in this MS. I did, however, finish the synopsis for All Because of You this week. Once my critic is finished reading it, I'll be submitting my work. Still waiting on my membership for RWA and to hear back from Nevada State College. I have a feeling I'll be waiting a couple more weeks.

The Immortal Highlander by Karen Moning

BEWARE: lethally seductive alpha male of immense strength and dark eroticism, do not look at him. Do not touch him. Do not be tempted. Do not be seduced.

With his long, black hair and dark, mesmerizing eyes, Adam Black is Trouble with a capital T. Immortal, arrogant, and intensely sensual, he is the consummate seducer, free to roam across time and continents in pursuit of his insatiable desires. That is, until a curse strips him of his immortality and makes him invisible, a cruel fate for so irresistible a man. With his very life at stake, Adam’s only hope for survival is in the hands of the one woman who can actually see him.

Enter law student Gabrielle O’Callaghan, who is cursed with the ability to see both worlds: Mortal and Faery. From the moment she lays eyes on this stunning male, Gabby is certain of one thing: He could be her undoing. Thus begins a long, dangerous seduction. Because despite his powerful strength and unquenchable hungers, Adam refuses to take a woman by force. Instead, he will tease his way into Gabby’s bed and make her want him just as he wants her.

Now, no matter how hard Gabby tries to avoid him, Adam is everywhere, invisible to all but her—perched atop her office cubicle in too-tight jeans, whispering softly from behind the stacks of the law library, stealing her breath away with his knowing smile…all the while tempting her with the promise of unimaginable pleasure in his arms. But soon danger will intrude on this sensual dance. For as Adam’s quest to regain his immortality plunges them into a world of timeless magic and the deadly politics of the Faery queen’s court, the price of surrender could be their very lives. Unless they can thwart the conspiracy that threatens both mortal and Faery realms…and give them a shot at a destiny few mortals ever know: glorious, wondrous, endless love.