Sqeeeeeeeeeaaaaal!

(the above image was an early test version but I needed a picture for this entry so there it it)

It's ready, it's been uploaded and it is gor-geous!!

Here's the link for the website I had designed for my October 2007 romantic mystery, ANOTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT. Barb Hoeter of RFDesigns did a fantastic job of interpreting my request for "sexy, sassy, edgy, typical Vegas" and I could not be happier with the result.

I'll be adding some content over the next few months but in the meantime, go and visit.
Let me know what you think, but I know you gonna luv it!

Philosophy Friday

GOOD VIEW














GOOD NEWS
I took the week off from writing
My CPs loved ASOM and gave me great suggestions for making it better
I like the three RITA books I've read so far
My jewelry business is off to a good start for the year

GOOD ADVICE
"A writer has with [her] writing is analagous to that of a committed relationship, with the same joys and pains, pleasures and demands. Commitment entails consistancy, resilience, openess to surprisepatience and love"
-Dennis Palumbo, WRITING FORM THE INSIDE OUT, page 185-6

Sleepless in Severna Park

I got a contract addendum in the mail yesterday from Harlequin. I won't bore you with any of the details except the one that said the finished manuscript for ANOTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT is supposed to be 75-80k words.

What the %$*&*(&&%^&^&???

The manuscript I actually submitted was 100k words and the last chapters haven't been fleshed out!?!?

Suffice to say I freaked out totally, wondering how in the name of all things creative I could possibly cut 100 pages out of a mystery novel and have it be anything but crap, and so tossed and turned all night waiting to call my new editor this morning.

To make a long story of voicemail and email short, I found out that Harlequin's New York office uses the computer word count, not the 25 line-per-page count. So as far as my editor is concerned, ASOM is around 85k and can go as many as 90k.

Can I get a "WooHoo!"?
Never mind, I'll say it myself and look forward to a night of real sleep.

(P.S. I have the coolest thing to share with you but it's not quite ready yet. Maybe by Friday... )

Mission accomplished

The manuscript is done.
The last ten chapters are in second draft, but hey, done is done.
Now I'm completely done in, so I'm going to bed.
To sleep. For a week.

The sound that you're hearing

is my agonized scream of panic-filled anxiety. Today is deadline day and I'm not going to $$#%^&**$$ make it....
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unprofessional? That's up for debate. The bottom line is I need another dayor two to turn in a best effort so I'm taking them on the premise the editor would rather have Late then Crap.

I had to take a break and read my favorite blog though. Here are two of my recent favorite entries. Enjoy!

Paperback Writer: Mary Sue Novels

Paperback Writer: The Devil Made Me Do It

Philosophy Friday

GOOD VIEW














GOOD NEWS
In this dark night of an impending deadline- bone weary, panicked and insecure- a faint light shines down, illuminating the summit and giving hope now that the goal is within sight. (Days left: 5. Pages left: about 75)

GOOD ADVICE
The point is not to overcome your self-doubts about being an artist. The point is to move through your self-doubts. Many of us believe that "real artists" do not experience self-doubt. In truth, artists are people who have learned to live with doubt and do the work anyway.
- Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

A weighty matter

Between all of the great food over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and the compulsive deadline snacking, I've put back on 10-11 pounds !@%#$%$&$#*&#^!!!

That might not sound like much to you, but to me it's huge- pun intended. I worked really hard last year to lose 35 pounds and I can't believe how easy it was to pack some of them back on.

So once my current book deadline is over in about a week, it's off to the gym with me and seriously cutting back on snacks, especially chocolate.

Today's weight= 160 lbs
Today's snacks= Don't even ask- if it wasn't nailed down, I ate it

Too tired to be brilliant

This is supposed to be my Philosophy Friday entry but it's after Midnight and I have a January 15th deadline that it making me want to puke everytime I even glance at the calandar.

I fell like this photo today, churning and seething with anxiety and waitin for lightning to strike, either in the form of inspiration for the next/ last chapters or as punishment if I miss this deadline after getting an extension.

But, hey, I'm blogging right? Keeping my New Year's resolution counts for something...

One of the reasons I stopped blogging: I'm just not as brilliant as some of the people on the net and especially Lynn Viehl. The woman is just damned smart and very entertaining. This and this and this are just examples, so go and read her stuff while I desperately forge ahead and fight off the Doubt Demons.

Have a great weekend for me

Here We Go Again

Why do we torture ourselves making up goals for the year? Do we really want to do these things or do we just feel obligated to make up some kind of list?


Alright, in keeping with the spirit of masochistic tendencies, I'll name a few things it would be cool to accomplish:

Lose the six pounds I've put on since Thanksgiving
Lost the pounds I put on last holiday season
Talk about my CP Lisa's book so much that lots of people buy it
Get my jewelry business off the ground
Read at least one third of my TBR pile
Keep my office clean for more than a week
Blog at least one day a week, especially Philosophy Friday
Fix and then update my website each month
Get a Blaze proposal written and submitted
Draft the opening of a paranormal book I'll most likely do on spec
Write a partial for a second Midnight mystery in case the first one sells well and someday somebody wants another one

Here's hoping the Fiction Fairy hangs around my office, waving her magic prose wand and sprinkling 'fresh' dust all over my manuscripts.