Christine d'Abo

It's Done!!!

2007-02-06T08:44:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited - my new website and blog are up!!! Please stop by www.christinedabo.com to visit my new home. I'll be blogging over there from now on, and I would love it if every wouldn't mind updating their links for me.

My new blog home is www.christinedabo.com/blog

See you there!

Batter Up

2007-02-05T07:51:00.000-04:00

After having finished the second draft of All Bottled Up, I'm taking a short break from it and am moving on (back) to a story I was working on before NaNoWriMo in November. Perfect Match was causing me some problems, and I'm not sure what was wrong. I'm hoping the short break and successful completion of two other manuscripts will help me work through the problems of this one.

The premise is a scientist on Mars (yeah sci fi!) gets hauled off to a dating service by some friends to find her perfect match. Which of course she finds in the form of a former boss who sabotaged her last project. The idea that they are romantically suited irks her. They go on a date, have some amazing sex only to discover that the heroine's current project is in danger.

And then the story seems to stall. I think the issue is around the internal conflicts of the two main characters. I also don't feel I'm making good enough use of the various sci fi elements.

As for a plan of attack, I'm going to push through and finish the exteral plot first. If I only have a skeleton cool. Then I can go back and check out the other layers and see what I can do to beef them up.

Okay I feel better now. :)

Done Second Draft!

2007-02-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

I wasn't sure I was going to get through it tonight, but I managed to finish up the new ending of All Bottled Up. The last page was so hard trying to find the right words to tie everything together without it losing the light hearted fun of the rest of the book. But now it's done!

This weekend I'll start the third draft. This won't be as long or painful as I'll only be fixing grammar, spelling, and typos. I may add the occasional detail here and there, but not too much.

Ideally I'd like to add another 5k of words to get it closer to 80k, but I'm not going to stress over it. If the added description works, great. If not, I think I'm at an acceptable word count now.

The next step is to figure out what to do with it. :)

And Vicky, here is a cat for you. :)

The Flu

2007-02-02T08:20:00.000-04:00

I hate it. Most of my plans for yesterday went out the window, including reading everyone's Thursday Thirteen lists. Both of my daughters were home sick with high fevers. Their temperatures bounced between 101 and 103.5. My poor husband was home all day looking after them, but when I came home I wanted to try and give him a break.

Needless to say I didn't get any writing done last night.

I was also up half the night with my youngest daughter so I'm beat this morning. I have a four hour class to teach and then I'm going to veg in my office for the rest of the afternoon until I can go home.

On my lunch hour yesterday, I scrapped the last chapter of All Bottled Up and started a new version of it. I think this is going to work much better and prefer the direction the story is ending in. I mentioned in a comment over at the Drunk Writers board that I suck at writing endings. I really do. I usually race through the last chapter and end up having one of my main character saying some sort of cheesy line. I'm trying to do better this time round. I'll let you know how I make out. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 13

2007-02-01T08:22:00.000-04:00

Wow this is my 13th Thursday Thirteen! Hard to believe I've been participaing that long. :) In a means of celebration, here are thirteen Thursday Thirteeners I visit on a regular basis and never fail to learn something. :)

Thirteen Of Christine's Thrirteen Friends.

1. Alyssa Goodnight - I forget how I stumbled across Alyssa's blog but I'm so happy I did. It was on her site where I was first introduced to Thursday Thirteen in the first place. Thanks Alyssa!

2. Angela (Sci Fi Chick) - I think Angela was one of the first Thriteeners I visited. I love sci fi and thought it was awesome to meet another "chick" like me out there.

3. Jaci Burton - I'd read some of Jaci's books through EC and was really excited to find her blog. I've been reading her daily ever since.

4. Michelle Braden - It was so great to meet Michelle online. Fun to find another romance writer who lives on the opposite end of the country and see her struggles and her triumphs.

5. Angela James - This was my first introduction to an editor's blog. As a writer, it's important for me to see the other side of the business. Plus Angela puts up really sweet pictures of her daughter. :)

6. Joely Sue Burkhart - Joely is another writer who I find I have a lot in common with. And she is much more diligent with her editing than I am.

7. Racy Li - Kickass Ninja Smut. Enough said.

8. Colleen Gleason - I love Colleen's blog. Not only does she have cool 80s trivia, her books are awesome! I'm so happy I found her site.

9. Amy Ruttan - I didn't so much discover Amy through TT, but I know we've become great blogger buddies as a result. And even better, I've met her in person! My fingers are crossed for this book going out Amy!

10. Wylie Kinson - Wylie, Wylie. I love your name! And your TTs always make me laugh or think.

11. Vicky Krain - I promise I won't call you Victoria anymore. Another TTer who cracks me up on a daily basis.

12. Tink - Not only does she have a great name, her TTs are very cool.

13. Caylynn - She is always impressing me. How you are able to run that much I'll never know.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

TAG!

2007-01-31T08:19:00.000-04:00

Angela tagged me for this Name Game:

1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Christine

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle)
Chrizzle. LOL

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last)
Cabo. I sound like a chocolate bar.

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Green Platypus. Not very intimidating. :)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on):
Alyse Timber. Sexy!

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name)
Dabchwal. I say that and have the urge to apologize.

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink)
Green Sangria. Fear me!!

8. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dad’s middle name, 1st letter of a sibling’s first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Hbaacah. ???

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray)
Orange Melon. ROFL!!!!!

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name)
Rose Michael. I like this one.

Anyone looking for a tag? How about Kelly, Joely, and Alyssa. Or Maureen!

The Great Agent Search

2007-01-31T08:11:00.000-04:00

One of my goals this year was to try and find an agent. I hadn't really planned on doing very much on that front until later on in the year. To be honest the prospect of sending out to agents was scarier than submitting to an editor. I'm not sure why. :)

However, as I'm approaching the end of my edits of All Bottled Up, my mind is debating what to do with the completed manuscript. I know I could submit it to a few publishers myself, but is that the best route for me at this time. After talking it over with my husband, I think I'm going to spend another week or so polishing it up, and then I'll try submitting to a few agents. EEK!

Now this means I need to do some homework. As this is completely virgin territory for me I want to make sure I'm making an informed decision. I'll be looking for someone who will want to be with me for the long haul. Someone who will be there to not only sell my book, but to help me build a career.

So tonight when I get home, I'm going to log onto to RWA site and start writing down some names. Then off to their sites and submission guidelines. :)

Getting a website

2007-01-30T08:36:00.000-04:00

The past week has been a flurry of emails back and forth between myself and Moonglade Designs. The amazingly wonderful M.L. is building me a website. I can't wait to show everyone what an awesome job she's done!

But it did bring a few things to light for me. Things that I hadn't considered before I went down this road. I didn't know the first thing about a web host and what they do. And that there are lots of people who can build a functional site, but will the visual appeal be what I want it to be. Present the image I want as an author.

I wanted a professional sleek look. I've been fortunate enough to see some really excellent websites from members of the various writers groups I belong to. This was my gauge. I wanted mine to be on that caliber.

My advice if you don't have a site and want to get one, is do your research. Get examples of sites you like. Then, go out and get at least three quotes from professionals. If you have family and friends offer to do the site for you, let them know that this is a business - your business. You want to have the best site possible, with the best image. If they don't have the skills to do that, don't feel bad saying "no thank you".

Once you've made your decision, don't second guess yourself. In the end you'll be happier.

Goals

2007-01-29T08:21:00.000-04:00

Now that my muse is back from her party with Amy, Vicky, and Wylie's muses, I think I'll be ready to get something done. For the last three weeks, it feels like I haven't been able to stop. Between work, trying to get a website up (it looks awesome I can't wait to show everyone), spending time with the family, writing has been very low on my list.

Not anymore.

This week I'm set my minimum goal of completing two chapters of revisions. But the question is how to do that. I always work best when I write these things out, so that's what I'm going to do today.

This week I will...

1. Actually take a lunch hour and write for at least 40 minutes.
2. When I am feeling a writers block approaching, I will put on my ten minute yoga tape to clean my mind.
3. I will write for one hour after supper before I watch TV. (And Heroes, Doctor Who, and 24 are on tonight so I better haul butt!)

If I can do these three things I should be able to get through most of my book this week.

Writing and Laundry

2007-01-28T11:05:00.000-04:00

As strange as this may sound, I seem to do my best writing on the days that I have to do laundry. I'm not sure if it's because I have set periods of time to write (in between loads), or if my mind wanders more as I'm sorting, loading, and folding. Every week I seem to be able to get so much more written on Sunday's than I do any other day of the week.

I've always loved Sunday. It's very relaxing. We do a lot of different things as a family on Sundays and everyone seems more mellow than the other days of the week. And maybe that is the trick. Because I'm more relaxed, the creative side of me is better able to produce what I need it to.

So I'm officially dubbing Sunday my day to write. Which might completely jinx me, but I'm willing to take that chance. :) I may have to start doing the laundry more frequently if that happens.

Out of Gas

2007-01-26T08:26:00.000-04:00

So this has been a bad writing week for me. I haven't even opened up Bottled Up since Sunday. I've been so tired this week after the excitement of the last little while, I think my muse needed a vacation. I hope to get some writing done today at lunch and tomorrow off and on while I'm playing with the kids and cleaning the house.

My goal for the next few days is to finish one more chapter of revisions and to try and get another thousand words written.

Thursday Thirteen # 12

2007-01-25T08:05:00.000-04:00

As a part of my day job I work with people in my office to make sure their desks and chairs are setup properly. After talking with a few different people, I've come to realize that while we may be ergonomically setup at work, we don't do the same things at home. And anyone who works from home (especially writers) we may not even be aware that there is a problem. This can cause pain in our back, wrists, arms, and legs. For this Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would post some stretches that you can do to help with sore muscles that you would get from sitting at the computer for long periods of time.

Thirteen Stretches

1. Shoulder blade squeeze - Sit up tall with your chin tucked in against your chest. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and in. Hold this for 3 seconds.

2. Arms overhead shoulder blade squeeze - This is an advanced version of the shoulder blade squeeze exercise. Start with your hands comfortably positioned over your head. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and in. Hold for a count of 3.

3. Backward bends while standing - Place your hands in the small of your back and slowly bend backwards until you feel a gentle stretch in your trunk. Remember that stretching should not cause any pain. Hold the stretch for 3 seconds.

4. Hand squeezes - Begin with your fingers fully extended. Initially make a normal fist and squeeze as tightly as you can for 5 seconds. Next, straighten your fingers and then touch your fingertips to the base of your palm.

5. Wrist extension and flexing - Grasp your hand and hold your fingers with the other hand. Slowly bend your wrist down until you fell a stretch. Then slowly bend your wrist up until you feel the stretch.

6. Tennis elbow stretch - With your arm held down to your side, turn your arm in so that your palm faces backwards. Slowly bend your wrist, bringing your palm up towards the ceiling. You should feel a gentle stretch in the back of your wrist, forearm, and up into your elbow. You can increase the stretch by pushing your shoulder towards the floor.

7. Golfer's elbow stretch - With your hand at your side and the palm facing forward extend the hand and fingers backwards.

8. Shoulder shrugs - Lift your shoulders up towards your ears as high as you can. Hold them there for 3 seconds and then let them drop down as far as they will comfortably go and hold the stretch for 3 seconds.

9. Neck relaxer - Drop your head slowly to the left, trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder. Repeat on the right side. Slowly drop your chin to your chest, turn your head all the way to the left, and then turn all the way to the right.

10. Tilt neck forwards - Gently tilt your head forward to stretch the back of the neck. Hold for 5-10 seconds. Hold only tensions that feel good.

11. Shoulder blade stretch - Interlace fingers, and then straighten arms out in front of you. The palms should be facing away from you as you do this stretch. Feel the stretch in the arms and through the upper part of the back (shoulder blade area). Hold stretch for 10-20 seconds.

12. Shoulder stretch - Interlace fingers then turn palms upwards above your head as you straighten your arms. Think of elongating your arms as you feel a stretch through arms and upper sides of rib cage. Hold for 10-15 seconds.

13. Chest stretch - The next stretch is done with fingers interlaced behind your back. Slowly turn your elbows inward while straightening your arms. An excellent stretch for your shoulders and arms. This is good to do when you find yourself slumping forward from your shoulders. This stretch can be done at any time. Hold for 5-15 seconds.

Finding pictures for each of these stretches might prove helpful. You should try and stretch several times a day.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Brought to you by the letter L

2007-01-24T08:18:00.000-04:00

SciFi Chick Angela had a great meme that she passed along to me. The idea is to have someone give you a letter and then you need to post ten things that you like which start with that letter. Angela gave me the letter L, so here we go!

Love - I've always been a big romantic. Love stories are fun and wonderful. They show that there is hope in the world and that if you work hard enough at something, you can make it happen. As silly as it may sound, we do need more love in the world. :)

Lettuce - I don't know why, but I could eat an entire head of lettuce if you put it down in front of me. Not as a huge salad, but rather pick at it leaf by leaf. I just love the stuff. Mind you, I still haven't lost any weight...

Licorice - ...probably because I love licorice just as much. I don't even have a preference between red and black. I could eat an entire 2lb bag of this stuff. :)

Lions - I'm a cat person. I love the idea of a huge cat that I could curl up with on my couch while I'm watching TV. As long as it didn't eat my licorice we'd get along just fine.

Lemonade - one of my favourite drinks in the summer. I prefer the pink variety, but I'd never say no to the traditional. I also love mixing it with ginger ail and cranberry juice to make a great punch. Yummy!

Life - I feel that I've been so lucky with my life, that I'm so thankful for everything. I have two great daughters and a husband who I'm crazy about. I'm in good healthy and have a job I enjoy. You can't ask for much more.

Llama - There's just something about this word I like. It kind of rolls off the tongue. Llama...

Lolly pops - The best ones are the free ones that restaurants give you after supper. Because they're free. And they keep my girls quiet. :)

Listening - I like to think I'm a good listener. I try to give who every is talking to me my undivided attention. This can be challenging sometimes but I think it's worth it in the end.

Looking - I could spend hours just browsing around, looking at different things. Stores, parks, malls, it doesn't matter. I love looking at the details of things and seeing how they all connect.

Well that's my ten. If you would like a letter of your own, leave me a note in my comments section and I'll give you one. :)

I'm It!

2007-01-23T18:40:00.000-04:00

I love doing memes and I think everyone knows it. I was tagged by both Vicky and Kelly to do this one. :)I'm almost done Eragon and it's pretty close to me. Here we go!

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Each waterspout was a snarling gargoyle, and every window and door was framed by carvings of serpents, harts, ravens, and knotted vines.
The door was opened by Elain, Horst's wife, a small, willowy woman with refined features and silky blond hair pinned into a bun. Her dress was demure and neat, and her movements graceful.

So here we go! I'm tagging MG, Joely, and Alyssa (and anyone else who'd like to do it!)

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence.
3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Include the title and the author's name.
5. Tag 3 people

So tired

2007-01-23T08:08:00.000-04:00

Well I only got a few words written yesterday, but I was able to finish up the revisions on my chapter and can finally move onto the next one. I realized I really sped up the time line in the last half of the book. I could easily add another chapter to the story, but I think I'll hold off for now. When I make my third pass through I'll see if it needs it.

I also forgot about jet lag. My character travels from NS to Mexico and back and then goes to work the very next day. Now in my world of work, this would be the case unless I took an extra day vacation. But now I'm going to give her a day to recover before she has to "face the music". This is where I could add a chapter, but I don't want to slow the pacing down.

On a side note, Monday is now my favourite TV night. Starting at 8 pm I get to watch Heroes (and WOOT Christopher Eccleston joined the cast!), 9 pm Doctor Who, and 10 pm 24. Three hours of some of my favourite shows. However, I paid the price by not having slept well and being woken up by a sick daughter. I could crawl back into bed right now.

Kim Howe - Final 4!!

2007-01-22T12:21:00.000-04:00

I need to share the good news! Our TRW member Kim Howe has made it to the final 4 of the American Title 3 contest. This next round is voting on dialogue. I may be biased, but I think Kim's excerpt is the best of the bunch.

Please help Kim by visiting this site and vote for Kim - One Shot, Two Kills!

Congratulations Kim!!

Revisions - Word By Word

2007-01-22T08:16:00.000-04:00

I don't really mind doing revisions. It's like panning for gold in a lot of ways. You're fingers freeze and cramp up from all the work. You get cranky when people disturb your concentration. You've even been known to go off the deep end and let your children eat cake for breakfast. But in the end it's all worth it. You find that nugget of pure pleasure among all the crap.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

I would rather write ten first drafts than have to sit down and focus on my word choice, sentence structure, character development, and the over all flow of the book. I also suck at math. In my (all be it limited) experience, people who are very analytical are really good at making their way through revisions. They see the patterns emerging in the text, how the characters react to certain stimuli, and where that will take them. Analytical people seem to have that focus that I lack.

Now I'm not saying I won't do this. It may come in smaller bursts and over a longer period of time, but I am able to force myself to think this way. I have to, or else my manuscript will completely suck. But this isn't a skill that comes naturally to me. I have to work hard at it. But in the end it does pay off. I do see the reward of having a much stronger manuscript than when I started.

Why is this on my mind? I was trying to work on revisions all day yesterday. Between trying to clean up my house, do the laundry, play with my kids, and give my loving husband time to crack fill the room we are trying to finish, it was a crazy day. But I managed to stick to my guns and cross the 70,000 word count with Bottled Up.

The only thing that would have made the day better would have been if the Patriots had won (How can you be up that much at half time and still loose?!?!?!?!)

The Bonds That Tie Us - book trailer

2007-01-20T20:50:00.001-04:00

Woot! I got it to work. I hope you enjoy it. Remember, this is my first attempt at something like this, so be gentle. :)

Book Trailer

2007-01-20T19:59:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone.

Instead of writing, I took a little break and decided to try my hand at creating a book trailer. I'm not sure what I was doing, but here is my first attempt. Let me know what you think!

Update: YouTube doesn't seem to like my file format. Going to have to convert it...

Pictures from my trip

2007-01-19T14:12:00.000-04:00

I tried to post these last night but Blogger didn't like me and I couldn't get logged in. I hope you enjoy them!

The first one is a picture of fellow bloggers Amy and Vicky. It was so wonderful to get to meet you both in person. And you're right Amy, our blogger pictures don't do us justice. I'm going to change mine this weekend. :)

This is a picture of myself and Amy.

Here we have Kim Howe. Kim is a finalist in the American Title III contest. We haven't heard about the next round yet, but I'm sure Kim will make it!

Here I am with the very funny and charming Margaret Moore. Margaret gave an amazing presentation on Romance 101 and Goosing your Muse. I was psyched after her chat.

And there we have it! I hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 11

2007-01-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

I arrived back home last night at 10 pm from a business trip. For the most part it was a great trip and I had a wonderful time. So this week's Thursday Thirteen is about...

Thirteen Things About Christine's Business Trip

1. Toronto Romance Writers January meeting. This was awesome because I got to tell everyone in person that I sold my book. Not only that, I was able to meet fellow blogger Amy face to face (and yes we look different from our pictures) and meet a new blogger friend Vicky. I'll be posting pictures tonight.

2. Margaret Moore. Now that I'm home I'll have some more time to talk about Margaret's presentation Saturday. Not only did she remind me of the fundamentals of romance writing, she got me psyched up and ready to write again. Needless to say, she was amazing.

3. Meet old friends. I was able to catch up with a number of my friends from Waterloo, and was even able to have drinks with my critique partner Sue. The weather put a bit of a damper on my visits though and I wasn't able to see everyone for as long as I wanted. I'll have to plan better next time I'm up.

4. Time to edit. Sitting in my hotel room gave me an opportunity to get some serious editing done on All Bottled Up. I only have four more chapters to go and then I get to start round three of edits. That won't take nearly as long though. And then off to the publisher...

5. Missed my family. The hardest part of going away for business is being away from my family. By Wednesday morning I was pretty lonely and couldn't wait to get home that night. Traveling alone is...well, lonely.

6. Eragon. I found out long ago I can't write on the airplane. However, I was able to get a start on reading Eragon. Amazing book written by an amazing young man. I'm half way through and can't wait to finish it.

7. Eating out. My girls thought that I would love eating out every meal when I'm away. I hate it. I have a very sensitive stomach, and restaurant food kills me. Once in a while I'm fine. Every meal of every day...blah.

8. Sleep. I switched time zones which messed up my sleep pattern a bit. Not only that, I don't sleep well in hotel beds. They suck pretty much. So I died when I got home last night and was able to crawl into my comfy bed. Plus my husband was there - bonus!

9. Observations. It's funny how things look different to you when you're traveling. I constantly found myself watching people and things with new eyes. I'm not sure if this was because of the sleep deprivation, or because I'd been away for seven months, but everything looks different in that wow cool kind of way. It got me thinking about my setting in my story and the fact I was missing some of those types of reactions from my characters. I'll be layering those in during the next round of edits.

10. Elevators. I hate them. Whenever possible I take the stares. Elevators in hotels are the worst.

11. Eating Alone. Very depressing thing and I'm glad I didn't have to do it on this trip.

12. People who kick the airplane seat directly in front of them. Whoever you were - you suck.

13. Coming home. Being away makes you appreciate the things you have. I'm glad I'm back.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Anyone been to Cozumel?

2007-01-17T08:01:00.000-04:00

I've been working on the second draft to All Bottled Up. It's been going well for the most part. One thing I still feel is missing is a bit of the atmosphere of my island setting. After talking to a friend of mine last night who has been to Cozumel, I have some great details that I'm going to try working into the story. Has anyone else been there? What details would you want to see about the island worked into a book? I'd hate for someone who's been to the island to read the book and say, "Geez, she obviously hasn't been to the island or else she would have talked about....blah"

Of course, I could always plan a fact finding trip...

On a personal note my business trip is done today. I fly home to NS after supper tonight and I'll be sleeping in my own bed. Unfortunately, this means I'll be missing Criminal Minds tonight. :(

Moving Along

2007-01-16T07:51:00.000-04:00

So I actually slept last night. I don't do hotel rooms very well (hate sleeping alone), but last night I was so tired I collapsed. Needless to say I got up a bit later than I intended to this morning, so I'm only going to get a little bit done in the way of writing. I'm hoping to do a little before I go to bed tonight. I'm almost done editing a really steamy love scene where my heroine is doing a strip tease for my hero the genie in his bottle. So far I'm really liking this one. :)

The second half of the 24 premiere was on last night. I know I said this yesterday, but WOW!!! I love the Jack character. He's pretty much the best Alpha male on TV right now (Apollo in BSG is a close second though). Without giving anything away to those of you who tapped it, the end of the episode Jack cried. Cried!! My heart was breaking for him. And for me, that's the sign of an excellent TV show, movie, or book.

Jack is Back!

2007-01-15T06:57:00.000-04:00

Did I mention I love 24??

The season premier started last night. Very engaging and certainly didn't feel like two hours. It flew by and I can't wait to see the second two hours tonight. I love the little changes they've made to his character this season, things I can already see. He doesn't make eye contact they same way he did before. And his lack of confidence in his own abilities...wow. Based on what I saw last night I think this is going to be another excellent season.

As a writer, I'm interested to see they types of plot twists they are going to throw in, and they hooks they are going to use. This show really knows how to hook you from episode to episode.

The season premier was delayed due to a very intense Patriots vs. Chargers game. And my team WON!!!! I didn't think they were going to be able to pull it off, but it came down to a field goal. I was dancing around my hotel room. :)

On the road

2007-01-15T06:50:00.000-04:00

What a crazy and exciting weekend this has been. I'm on the road for a business trip and have been going straight out since 6:00 am Saturday. I caught a flight to Toronto and was able to make this months TRW meeting. Margaret Moore gave an excellent all day presentation. I missed most of the morning's session Romance 101. What I did see of it was informative. I haven't had a chance to review the handouts, but I hope to take a look at them tonight.

Her afternoon session, Goose Your Muse, was very inspirational. It's reassuring to know that it's not just myself who can feel dragged down by everything that's going on in my life. When I'm not able to write, I don't need to feel guilty at all.

So between Margaret's talk on Saturday, and Anne's last Sunday, I'm feeling very motivated. I'll have some pictures of some fellow TRW members to post on my blog when I get back to NS.

Currently, I'm in a hotel room. I haven't slept much in the past two days. I'm not good in beds that aren't my own. :) The up side is that I'll be able to get some writing done before I have to go into the office.

Thousand Miles a Minute

2007-01-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

So today I got some more good news. Not "OMG I sold a book" good, but good. The ulcer I thought I had turned out to be acid reflux. The doctor gave me some pills and they are starting to kick in already. As I'll be gone on a business trip for the next week, I'm glad to have them. It will make eating out less painful.

I didn't write a word yesterday (too busy celebrating), but I'll be getting back at it today. I'm going to get the edits I'd written for Bottled Up on paper into the computer and onto my memory stick for the trip. I know I'll be up extra early in the mornings so I'll have lots of time to write. I'm also going to try and get some done in the evenings too. I hate being alone at night, so this will help.

I'm really motivated now to get Bottled Up finished so I can get back to Perfect Match. Now that I've had some time away from Match, I think I know what the problem was. I'll be able to fix it up and get it ready to go off to.

Dreams Come True!!!

2007-01-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

My hands are shaking as I type this because

I SOLD MY FIRST BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

I just got the email from Ellora's Cave that they want to buy The Bonds That Tie Us. It's been a long wait and I think I'm still in shock. Plus I found out at the office and couldn't really scream. But mentally I'm doing one major happy dance. :)

I haven't told my husband yet. Tonight on my way home I'm going to buy a bottle of champagne. I'm going to come in the door, put it on the counter and not say anything until he figures it out. I figure it will take about 5 seconds. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 10

2007-01-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

Over at the Drunk Writers site they've been posting what they feel have been the best and worst of 2006. I thought I'd jump on board and do my own list. So for this week's Thursday Thirteen we have...

Thirteen Things Christine Liked About 2006

Let's start with TV.

1. 24! I know not everyone loves this show, but season 5 was amazing. As I viewer I don't feel any character is safe and could be killed off at a moments notice. They've done it before - they'll do it again...

2. Heroes. What a great new show. I'll be curious to see if it has legs and will survive past this year. It will depend on how they wrap things up. but so far I'm hooked.

3. Dexter. I'm not as hard core as my husband, but I really enjoyed the episodes that I watched. I'm going to try and get caught up on the last few I haven't seen in the next week or so.

4. Season two of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Like many other fans out there I've been dying for this to come out on DVD. And what a wonderful Christmas present NBC gave me by releasing it right before Christmas.

Writing

5. Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. I moved this summer from Ontario to Nova Scotia. I knew there was a RWA group, but you've never sure how you'll fit in. This group of ladies and gentlemen are fabulous. While I miss my friends in the Toronto group, I feel right at home here now. :)

6. Blogging. Who knew that this would become such a fun (and addictive) pastime. It keeps me honest when it comes to my writing and keeps my creative juices flowing.

7. All bottled Up. Writing this story was an amazing experience. Not only was I able to win NANO as a result of it, but everything seemed to click together for me. I'm very anxious to finish cleaning this up and start sending it out.

8. Chasing Phoenix. This is a quickie I wrote over Christmas. It's the shortest story I've ever written at 14,000 words. This was another story that seemed to come out of nowhere and turned out really well. I'll be sending this one off to a few places in the next week or two.

Life

10. My 10th Wedding Anniversary. I'm still in shock that we've been married for ten years. It still feels like it just happened. Love's great!

11. First tooth. Ironically enough, both my daughters each lost their first tooth this year. My youngest slipped and fell on the ice and had her front one knocked out (she was okay other than the tooth), and my oldest lost her first one (with on help). My babies are growing up.

12. Closer to home. I've been lucky with my job that it's given me an opportunity to move closer to home. Now we are able to see our family on a more regular basis. It's been wonderful.

13. Confidence. Things have been going really well for me and my family. I feel really blessed that we are all happy and healthy. I think this has given me the confidence I've needed to pursue my dream of getting published. 2006 was a great year for me and I hope I'm just as lucky in 2007!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...

2007-01-10T12:02:00.000-04:00

Okay I'm a very happy and sad camper right now.

Happy because the new season of 24 starts Sunday!!!
Sad because I'm going to be on a business trip and I'm going to miss it!!!

*sob*

Here is a great interview with my close personal friend (God I wish) Kiefer. I can't wait for day 6. :)

Take Two

2007-01-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

This has been a bad writing week for me. It's actually been a bad computer week too. I've barely sat down in front of it either at work or at home. I've just finished teaching a two day customer service course that seems to drain the life out of me. I slept in past my alarm again this morning.

And now it's time for the proverbial kick in the pants.

I'm going to write for an hour today at lunch. No excuses or things getting in the way. I'm going to close the door and get to work. I have a clear idea of where I want to go with this sections of my revisions.

Butt in chair!

On another note, I got to watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent last night. I have to say I love the show still, but poor Vincent is looking really tired. I think he's signed a contract till the end of next season, and then I have a feeling he'll be done. Which is a shame, becasue I'll stop watching the show if he goes. :(

Ick

2007-01-09T08:26:00.000-04:00

I learned long ago that when I'm not feeling well I need to roll back over and go back to sleep. So when my alarm when off this morning I did just that. Apparently my ulcer has decided to come back with a vengence, and this has put a serious cramp in my writing schedule. I haven't written a word for the past two days, I can't really concentrate to read, and even laying on the couch isn't comfortable. I'm going to get a doctor's appointment for late next week once I get back from my business trip to see what's going on.

Now after listening to Anne's talk on self defeating attitudes on Sunday, I've come to the conclusion that not writing these past few days is a good thing. Until I get my body figured out, the creative side of me will have problems focusing and producing. So I have no guilt about staying in bed.

I just wish I had some Tums with me...

Plan of attack!

2007-01-08T12:16:00.000-04:00

I had a brainstorm about how to fix a problem I was having with All Bottled Up last night. I was treating myself to reading Julianne MacLean's Surrender to a Scoundrel. I was trying to figure out what it was about published authors books that differed from my own. It then hit me that I don't normally have any subplots. Or at least very minimalistic sub plots.

In Bottled, I have a subplot of the heroine's friend winning the lottery. I was thinking it would be a good tie in if I wanted to write a second book. The problem is I never fully flushed out that storyline. Seems really obvious now, but until last night it never hit me. So as I tackle my revisions this week I now know what I need to do. Flesh out the subplot and make it have a direct impact on the main plot.

I feel so much better now. :)

Self Defeating Attitudes

2007-01-07T18:55:00.000-04:00

We had our RWA chapter meeting today, and I have to say it was wonderful. One of our members gave an excellent talk on how to over come self defeating behaviours and attitudes. Now, I've been known on occasion to have some negative self talk and start to wonder what the hell I'm doing try to get myself published. Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband who keeps me going on those days.

Writing is not an easy career to break into. It's hard, really hard. Anyone who has ever written or tried to write will attest to this. Though if you listen to some people anyone can write a book. Especially a romance novel. Silly people.

So why do it? Why go through all the heartache and headaches trying to get published? Personally, it's because I have stories that I want to tell. Some of these have been bouncing around my head for a long time. Others pop out of nowhere. Every writer writes for different reasons. The key is to have the courage to ignore the negative self talk, ignore the doubt, and try to look on the positive side of rejection.

The most important thing I took away from the talk was to stop comparing myself to other authors and writers. I work different from others. I have different commitments, different abilities, and different stresses. The key is learning how to deal with them. Learn my limitations and then learn how to work around them.

I also need to learn patient! I'm a terribly impatient person and I need to learn to deal with waiting in a much more productive manner.

Thanks to Anne for a wonderful talk today!

100!!

2007-01-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

I was shocked when I looked down at my post count yesterday and realized that today would be blog entry 100. A lot has happened in the few months that I have been blogging. I started this as a way to keep track of my journey as an unpublished writer. But since then it's grown in to so much more.

I've met some wonderful people online. I've been introduced to new publishers, agents, ideas, and writers. On a side note, I've also been recently introduced to Cover Men (I'm sure many of you already are aware of this site. Hey I'm a bit slow!) and have added as a link. If you haven't visited here before enjoy!

I want to thank everyone who's ever stopped by to read my site, and to everyone who reads on a regular basis. Your support, encouragement, and friendship is appreciated.

Thursday Thirteen # 9

2007-01-03T21:40:00.000-04:00

I thought I would do something a bit different this week. I have spent a lot of time on Snopes over the years. I find their information on urban legends and old wives tales fascinating. However, I would take what you see here with a grain of salt. Sometimes they like to be silly. :)

Here are some of my favorite!

Thirteen Urban Legends

1. It takes seven years for gum to pass through the human digestive system. False! Gum is just like any other food.

2. Disney's Belle from Beauty and the Beast makes a cameo appearance in the The Hunchback of Notre Dame. True! If you look closely at the picture you can see her in the bottom right corner.

3. Lemmings commit suicide by jumping off cliffs. False! These poor little things were forced to jump to help make a Disney movie back in the 50's.

4. Birds can steal coins out of machines. True! I didn't believe it until I saw these pictures.

5. A picture of a fox standing in a pack of dogs. This is false. The picture is a photoshop. But still it looks awesome!

6. A twister ripped through a drive in theatre that was playing the movie Twister. This is false. Thought it would have been poetic. :)

7. A second-hand coat purchased for the Wizard of Oz was later discovered to have been owned by L. Frank Baum. True!

8. A ghost appears in the movie Three Men and a Baby. This is false. Though the first time I saw the picture it creeped me out.

9. An abused goat killed it's owner. True! Don't anger the goats...

10. The book/movie The Amityville Horror is based on a true story. False! The book was good, the movie...not so much.

11. A hitchhiker is picked up and dropped off, only to be learned later that she died years ago. False! I first heard this one at Girl Guide camp when I was eleven. Still a classic.

12. Poorly translated instructions for a game. True! I'm sure there are tones of other examples of this out there. But this cracks me up!

13. Chihuahuas are actually a type of rodent bred to resemble dogs. False! I may not like them, but they are still dogs. :)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

A stumble...but not a fall

2007-01-03T08:25:00.000-04:00

Okay so 6am came and went this morning. My alarm went off, but when I opened my eyes to turn it off I discovered I had a headache. I promptly rolled over and snuggled with my hubby instead. That doesn't mean I'm off the hook though. I plan on shutting my office door at lunch (and I'm really going to shut it this time) and get a solid hour of writing done. Then to make up for my missing hour this morning, I'll have to write for a while after supper.

I'm about half way through the new chapter that I wanted to add to All Bottled Up. I'm using it to show my heroine's self doubt, so I want to make sure it comes across okay. I'm finding this very slow going, probably because I'm scared I'm screwing up the pacing of the story. I need to get it finished so I can read through the whole thing.

My goal is to be completely finished my revisions for this manuscript by the end of January so I can start sending out queries in February. There's not a lot to do, so I need to keep focused and push back the new story ideas that keep popping into my head. :)

Back to work sigh

2007-01-02T08:11:00.000-04:00

I have to say it was lovely being home over the holidays. I had a ten day break and got to enjoy spending time with my family. It was also great being able to write whenever the mood struck me. But the fun and games are over and I'm back to work!

People think I'm crazy for getting up and writing at 6am. I think I'm crazy. But it really is the best time for me to get things accomplished. This morning I flipped back to All Bottled Up and an working on adding two new chapters. I was able to finish up my novella Summer Theatre (bad title I know) and have passed it over to my husband for a grammar and sanity check. Next, it goes off to my critique partner.

I shouldn't have stopped to work on the novella, because it felt like I'd lost my momentum on Bottled when I opened it this morning. I wrote two pages and then remembered it was supposed to be a funny paranormal. I kept what I wrote, but the rest of the chapter is taking a lighter approach. We'll see if it works once I'm done.

I'm hoping to get some more writing done on my lunch hour. I'm going to make a real effort to actually take my lunch, close the door, and get something accomplished.

And we're off...Happy January 1st!!

2007-01-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful New Years eve last night. Our neighbourhood association held a fireworks display at our local park. We packed the kids into their new winter coats and stood outside in the freezing cold for an hour to watch. It was wonderful. :)

We then came home to watch the football games and have some nibbly things (on a side note I was shocked to learn that Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed after the game last night. The story can be found here.) I went to bed at midnight and slept well.

This morning I got up bright and early and manged to get about 800 words written before my girls woke up. I'll be finishing the first draft a bit later today. I'll be getting up at 6:00 am every morning from now on to get at least an hour writing done before I go to work. I'm really happy with this one and can't wait to finish it off. I'll be handing it over to my husband later today to proof read it for me, then off to my critique partner. Then we'll see if it's any good. :)

Happy New Year!!

2006-12-31T11:17:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this is my last post of the year. So much has happened this year both on a writing and personal front. I had my first request for a full from Ellora's Cave. I completed three complete manuscripts and started two others. In addition to the Toronto Romance Writers, I've joined two additional group, Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada and Passionate Ink.

And I started my blog!

In the up coming year I plan on adding a website and working on some newsletter articles that some of you may find useful. I still have my fingers crossed that I will hear from EC in January and I'll have some good news to share.

I wish you all the very best. Please have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!!!

Sneak away to post...

2006-12-30T14:57:00.000-04:00

Today we have family visiting so I'm not sure how much writing I'm going to be able to get done. I've barely squeaked away to get a quick blog entry off. :)

At the end of the day yesterday I manged to get 4000 words written. If I can get a few more hours together I'll be able to finish the story and then I can move into a quick editing mode. This is probably one of the hottest stories I've written, so I hope it's coming off (no pun intended) well. I'll be sending it off to my critique partners very soon, so I'll find out then. :)

I thought I'd post this picture so you can all have a laugh. This has become the punch line to say in our house these days. :)I wish I could credit the original creator. If you know, please let me know.

Finding time

2006-12-29T16:45:00.000-04:00

Today has been pretty crazy in my house. I've been struggling to find an hour where I can sit down by myself and get some writing done. I did managed to get about an hour of (relatively) uninterrupted time this afternoon. I was able to write about a thousand words and tweak two chapters. Once my kids go to bed tonight I'm hoping to get another thousand done and most of another chapter.

This new story has been really fun to write. Abbey and Michael have proven themselves entertaining foils for each other. This is also the first novella I've written and find the short word count to be an interesting challenge. We'll see how it ends up looking.

I think if I get it finished to my satisfaction I'll be sending it off to Samhain and Red Sage. And depending of if I hear from EC in the near future, I may hold on to it for them. Only time (and some planning) will tell. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 8

2006-12-28T09:19:00.001-04:00

I know this will be a popular theme for the this week's Thursday Thirteen, but I wanted to get this written out. There's something "official" when you write your goals down for the upcoming year. I'm going to focus on my writing goals for 2007.

Thirteen Writing Goals for 2007!

1. To get published. Lets get the obvious one out of the way. :)
2. To write consistently every day for one hour. If I get more time then great, but I'm more concerned with actually setting a writing hour and sticking to it.
3. To read five writing craft books. No matter how good (or bad) I think I am at anything, there's always room for improvement. It's also a good way of keeping my mind fresh.
4. To read two new releases a month. As Stephen King said, writers need to do two things: write and read. It's important to see how other writers handle dialogue, settings, etc.
5. To finish the second draft of All Bottled Up.
6. To finish the second draft of Summer Theatre (novella).
7. To plot and finish the follow up manuscript to All Bottled Up.
8. To finish the first draft of Perfect Match.
9. If Ellora's Cave doesn't buy The Bond that Ties Us, to send out partials to at least three publishing houses.
10. To query at least three agents this year. This will be uncharted territory for me, so we'll see how I make out.
11. To send All Bottled Up to at least three publishers.
12. To send Summer Theatre to at least one publisher.
13. To blog at least five times a week.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Whew!!

2006-12-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a fantastic holiday we've had so far in my household. Lots of family visiting us over the past week with more to come in the next few days. My husband and I have decided to stay home on New Years Eve to make up for all of the insanity of the past few days. We're going to watch football, eat pizza, and cuddle. Have to start the New Year off on the right foot after all. :)

My husband went all out for me this year and bought me some wonderful gifts. One of them was the Complete Idiots Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. Now he defended himself and said he doesn't think I'm an idiot (smart man), and said after reading a lot of descriptions of How To writing books, he thought this one looked the best. I have to agree. I've only had a chance to read the first few chapters, but so far it's awesome. I'll talk more about it once I've had a chance to read it all.

On the writing front I haven't had a lot of opportunities to write. I've solved a problem I was having with All Bottled Up and have worked out the plot with the erotic novella I was writing. I'm still having a lot of fun writing both and am going to try and sneak away for a few hours later today to get a good chunk of the novella finished.

I hope everyone else has had a fabulous holiday. What cool gifts did you get?

Happy Holidays!!

2006-12-22T14:50:00.000-04:00

This will be my last post for a few days. With all of the excitement of the Christmas season upon us, and family members arriving tomorrow, I won't make it near my computer. I wanted to wish everyone the very best for the holidays!!

Merry Christmas!!

American Title III

2006-12-22T08:30:00.000-04:00

So I've been a bit slow posting this and have no good reason. My fellow TRW member Kim Howe has made it to the next round of the American Title III contest! We're all super excited and thrilled for Kim.

To vote for Kim, please send an e-mail to webmaster@romantictimes.com with One Shot, Two Kills in the subject line. I'm not being biased here when I say I think she has one of the best entries. Come vote! Tell your friends! Use multiple addresses! :)

For more info about the contest visit http://www.romantictimes.com/news_amtitle.php

For more info on Kim come check out her website: http://www.kjhowe.com/

Two more videos

2006-12-21T22:06:00.000-04:00

I came across two more cool YouTube videos today. I thought I'd post them.

Treadmills - A group of very talented men dance on treadmills to the song Army by Ben Folds Five. Warning, there is some adult lanugage in the song.

Family Survival Kit. I love my family, but I thought this was hilarous!

Thursday Thirteen # 7

2006-12-21T08:11:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd break away from the Christmas theme and show you some of my favorite YouTube videos. Enjoy!

Thirteen Things I like to watch on YouTube.

1. Evolution of Dance
2. Office Space Trailer. If the movie Office Space was recut as a thriller.
3. The Sound of Music. Again someone had recut the trailer to make it look like a thrill.
4. The Ring. Okay a reverse here. Someone makes a horror movie look like a heartwarming drama.
5. Free Hugs. This is very touching.
6. Numa Numa. No respectable YouTube list is complete without the Numa Numa dance.
7. Behind the scenes of Stargate. It's cute. I just like to see them all laugh. :)
8. Weird Al interview Kevin Fererline. LOLOLOL
9. William Shatner - I am Canadian.
10. Mike McDonald. His views on remote controls.
11. Mary Poppins. Yes another happy movie to be recut into a scary one. But very well done.
12. Ms. Dewey. Okay I'm cheating here. This isn't YouTube but rather a new search engine. She is very cool and I hope they come out with a Mr. Dewey!
13. Direct TV Ad. I know I posted this yesterday, but for those of you who missed it, it's worth looking at.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

LOL

2006-12-19T19:05:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine posted this link on another site. Really funny Direct TV commercial. A brilliant way of taking an idea and twisting it on its head.

Enjoy!

Details

2006-12-19T14:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not the most organized person in the world and miss a lot of the little details if I don't take care to write things down. I'm well aware of my deficiencies and work very hard to overcome them. But I'm still surprised how much detail I skipped over when I wrote my first draft of All Bottled Up.

Sad, sad, sad.

I'm working through chapter 8 right now and it's painful. I have my main character experiencing the genie's home for the first time and she barely comments on what she sees. She's in a genie's bottle!! I'd be gawking like a kid at a carnival. So why did I leave that out the first time around? The good thing is I'm cleaning it up and making it a richer experience (I hope). At this rate I'll be able to get through to the end of chapter 8 and start a new chapter to fill in another gap in the plot.

I guess that's why they say there's no such thing as a good writer, only a good rewriter.

I think I'm crazy

2006-12-18T08:13:00.000-04:00

*imagine that title sung in my best Gnarles Barkley impersonation*

Christmas is coming and I actually think I'm ready. No more last minute gifts, odds and ends, or anything else to buy. I'll have to make one run to the grocery store, but that's minor. That means I have an entire week to concentrate on writing, add in the missing introspection and descriptions that I skipped in my first draft.

Or not.

I'm going to try and work my way through two more chapters of revisions this week. That is, if I can ignore the CSI Miami game that is now installed on my computer. One of my students let me borrow the game because I love CSI. Not CSI Miami so much, but my friend David isn't in the game very much so it's all good.

I'm not going to be too hard on myself with the revisions this week. If I get it done great. If not, I'll drink eggnog for punishment (I hate eggnog...unless it has a "helper").

I'll keep you posted. :)

I almost forgot...

2006-12-16T18:07:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by meme creator Wylie. Here we go. :)

SIX - List 6 all-time favorite books:
1. Slighly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
2. Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
4. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
5. In My WIldest Dreams - Christina Dodd
6. Anything by Julia Quinn

FIVE - last 5 books read:
1. Mistletoe Kisses - Elizabeth Rolls, Deborah Hale, Diane Gaston
2. Dishing It Out - Molly O'Keefe
3. Pleasure Control - Cathry Fox
4. On Writing - Stephen King
5. Portrait of a Lover - Julianne MacLean

FOUR – list 4 favorite authors:
1. Julia Quinn
2. Stephen King
3. Jane Austin
4. Christina Dodd

THREE - favorite literary characters (male & female if you like):
1. Captian Wentworth and Anne Elliot - Jane Austin's Persuasion
2. Wulfric and Christine - Mary Balogh' Slightly Dangerous
3. The Phantom and Christine - Phantom of the Opera

TWO – share 2 of your writing rituals:
1. Getting up when it is quite to write (usually first thing in the morning)
2. I have to put my hair in a ponytail before I write. I have a tendency to play with my hair when I think, so this helps.

ONE – share 1 of your favorite quotes on reading/writing:
I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener

Thanks Wylie, that was fun. :) I'm tagging anyone who'd like to join the fun. Post a comment that you're going to participate and I'll make sure to check it out. :)

Goal Obtained!

2006-12-16T15:53:00.000-04:00

I managed to finish up my edits for chapters 5 and 6. I'm really happy that I was able to get this done in light of everything else that's going on this week. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and buckle down and get through chapter 7. Then I have some big decisions to make. I think I'm going to have to change the ending and lead into a new chapter 8 to extend the action a bit longer. I'm also hoping that this will get me close to my 80k end goal.

On top of meeting my editing goals, I've also nearly finished my Christmas shopping. I still have to get a few things for my husband, and wrap the presents I bought last night.

I'm also still working away on my novella. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it finished before Christmas, but I'm going to try.

Goal

2006-12-15T08:51:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm posting this now so I'll force myself to do it. My goal for the next day and a half is to finish my edits on Chapter 6. Seems reasonable right? I think so. So now that I've said it I better well get my butt to chair and do it.

I just need to work out the timing...

Thursday Thirteen # 6

2006-12-14T08:13:00.000-04:00

With all of my regular TV shows currently on break for Christmas, I thought I would post about some of my favorite Christmas Specials.

Thirteen Things holiday specials/movies I love.

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Don't talk to me about the movie. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!

2. Muppet Family Christmas. I used to love this one as a kid. When I saw it on TV last year I sat down with my daughters to watch it. I forgot that Jim Henson was actually in it. I cried. Couldn't explain it to my girls either.

3. A Christmas Story. I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

4. The Ref. I know, not your typical Christmas movie. But I love it and Dennis Leary is a scream.

5. A Christmas Carol. Patrick Stewart's version. I know there are many, many other versions, but I'm a sci fi fan remember.

6. Scrooged. Same story, but really funny. Bill Murry is great in this one.

7. Christmas Calendar. I'm not sure the actual name of this, but Teletoon in Canada does it every year. Each day they play a short 5 min story of what Santa does each day before Christmas before the big day. It's really cute.

8. Rudolf the Rednose Reindeer. It's a classic and looks a little dated, but I still love this one.

9. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I know you'll want to argue that this is more of a Thanksgiving movie. But I always seem to watch it at Christmas. It's a fantastic movie that makes me laugh and cry.

10. A Charlie Brown Christmas. I haven't seen this one yet this year, but I'm hoping I haven't missed it. Who doesn't love Charlie Brown?

11. White Christmas. Not normally a movie I'd watch. A teacher I used to work with showed it to his class every December. I'm hooked now.

12. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The tree!!

13. The Nightmare Before Christmas. The music is so amazing in this show. I'm debating letting my girls watch it this year. I think they may still be a bit young. We'll see. :)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Tagged! Five Favorites

2006-12-13T08:34:00.001-04:00

Alyssa tagged me to list my five favorite Christmas songs. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Snow - Loreena McKennitt. Actually, this whole CD I could listen to over and over again at Christmas. Not filled traditional holiday songs, Lorenna's voice is amazing and very haunting.

2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies With Sarah McLachlan. Find this song if you haven't heard it. Awesome is the only way to describe it. (I found a copy online - enjoy!)

3. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon. Melissa Etheridge also has a great version of this song.

4. The Little Drummer Boy - Boney M. This is a throw back to when I was a kid. My dad would play this tape over and over for me and my sister. This was my favorite.

5. O Holy Night - Josh Groban. Chills. Everytime. (found this one too.)

You're it! I'd love to see what other people listen to during the holidays. Write your own top five and let me know. :)

Christmas Concerts

2006-12-13T08:27:00.000-04:00

No post yesterday because my life was insane. However, I did get to go to my daughter's Christmas concert last night. I wanted to cry they were all so sweet. I kept looking around at all of the parents sitting in the audience and thinking how old everyone looked. Now I'm not sure if I also look that old (eek) or if we had our children eariler than everyone else. I hope it's the latter.

On the writing front, I'm still working my way through chapter 5 of my revisions. I've side tracked myself a bit as a novella idea has popped into my head. I figured it will only be around 15k, so I can work on that when I start to get burned out on editing. Right now my hero is sitting in a chair blindfolded while the heroine is telling him naughty stories. And good times were had by all!

2006-12-11T18:38:00.000-04:00

MG Braden tagged me for this fun get to know me...so here we go!

Four jobs I've had:
1. English/Business teacher at Fredericton High School (largest high school in Canada).
2. Training Design Specialist for an insurance company
3. Research Assistant for Distance Education for the University of New Brunswick.
4. Technical Trainer for RIM.

Four places I've lived:
1. Fredericton, NB
2. Virginia Beach, Virginia
3. Waterloo, ON
4. Halifax, NS

Four favorite foods:
1. Chinese Food
2. Lobster
3. Chocolate
4. Coffee...it's a food!!

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. The Empire Strikes Back (I'm a geek)
2. Moulin Rouge
3. The Phantom of the Opera
4. Dogeball (cracks me up everytime)

Four TV shows I enjoy:
1. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2. CSI, CSI: New York, Criminal Minds
3. Heroes, Doctor Who
4. Stargate: SG1, Stargate: Atlantis
(yes I know I cheated, but there are too many :))

Four places I've traveled:
1. London, England
2. Tortola, BVI
3. St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
4. Montreal, Canada

Four places I'd like to visit:
1. Scotland
2. Rome
3. Australia
4. Las Vegas

Four websites I go to daily:
1. IMDB (daily dose of entertainment)
2. I-Mockery (cause I need my daily dose of silly)
3. CBC (daily dose of news)
4. YouTube

I'm going to tag Amy, Angela, and Wylie.:)

TBR Challenge - Review of Dishing It Out

2006-12-10T10:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I managed to get through to the end of Chapter 4 with my revisions. Even with cutting five pages at the end of chapter one, I'm back up over 60k for a word count. My end goal is to try and come as close as I can to 80k. Still a lot of work for me, but I know where I need to fill some holes, and I plan on scraping the last chapter and completely rewriting it. With those changes I should get pretty close.

I'm also taking part in Angela James December TBR Challenge. I have a lot of books that have been piling up for me to read since my move back in July. With the change in location, pressures of a new job, and everything else, I haven't been reading a lot until recently. So when I saw Angela's challenge I thought, "Why not?".

After picking through the stack of unread books on my shelf, I came across Molly O'Keefe's Dishing It Out (Harlequin Flipside, April 2005). I feel more than a bit guilty that I haven't read any of Molly's books before now. I worked with her this past year on the Toronto Romance Writers executive, and won this book in a raffle back in May (I actually pumped in quite a few tickets so I could win this). I'd heard wonderful things about the story and was quite anxious to read it. Plus there was bubble bath in the same basket. Who could ask for anything more!

But then I moved and her book got packed with everything else. Needless to say it was my first choice for the To Be Read challenge.

The cover sets the story off on the right food..er I mean foot. It's fun and sexy, and so is the story. It's really too bad the Flipside line didn't take off. The line was a perfect fit for Molly's style of writing. Her writing is as funny and witty as she is in person.

As for the story itself, I devoured it in two sittings. I'm not normally a Harlequin girl, but I would make a point of buying any of Molly's books in the future. Set in the high stress world of gourmet restaurants and cooking shows, Molly opens the kitchen door and lets her readers take a peek at the chaos in the kitchen. I always had a secret desire to work in a restaurant. But not if I have to get up at 3am to bake!

I loved both the main character Marie and Van. Ah Van. He could cook for me any day. Even with his bushy eyebrows. :)The characters were funny, flawed, but felt like friends. I wanted to reach out and both hug and shake Marie at times. Her pride and flaws made her very real. Someone I could see working behind the scenes of any restaurant. Van was a strong alpha, but with some wonderful quirks. Who'd think he'd get stage fright! Perfect.

Dishing It Out is a keeper for me. I laughed out loud more than once, and for me that makes for a great book. If you find a copy of Dishing It Out, I suggest you grab it and enjoy it with a box of chocolates. :)

How Quickly Things Change

2006-12-09T09:22:00.000-04:00

There is a bad flu going around. Everyone I know seems to have it. Yesterday I got a call from my daughter's Spark leader. Their first aid leader was sick and as a result they had to cancel the camp. Needless to say, I have one disappointed camper. We're going to put up Christmas tree today, so I'm hoping that will cheer her up.

On another unrelated note, one of my favorite singers of all time, Lorenna McKennitt, has a new CD out. You can see her perform one of her new songs live here. I'm hoping I get An Ancient Muse for Christmas. Now I just need to get my husband to read my blog. :)

On the writing front, I got through most of Chapter 4 last night with revisions. I think I'm starting to crystallize the story, getting rid of the excess, and improving the pace. Let's hope the rest comes together as nicely.

Writing Weekend?

2006-12-08T08:13:00.000-04:00

My youngest daughter is going to Spark Camp this weekend. In case you're not familiar, Sparks are the 5-6 year olds branch of Girl Guides. So tomorrow morning, my little one will be off to overnight camp for the first time in her short life. I doubt she'll miss us at all - it's not really in her personality. For me and her father, however, it will be interesting. And by interesting I mean traumatic.

The up side, is my oldest daughter will be easy to amuse and will probably spend most of her time outside playing. Which means I'll be able to get some writing done. I think.

My goal for today is to finish the revisions to Chapter 4 and to get a start on Chapter 5. I'll have to work this in between getting camping supplies ready, doing laundry, and decorating for Christmas.

It's not as bad as it sounds. Really.

As I do things, my mind wanders and I'm able to work out scenes in my head before I sit down in front of the computer. I find that really helps me when I don't have a lot of extra time. So cross your fingers for me and wish me luck.

(I still can't believe they are taking them to camp in December. I'm sure it's warm and she'll have fun...)

Thursday Thirteen # 5

2006-12-07T08:14:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone!! I'm so tired right now I could crawl back into bed and stay there for the rest of the morning. However, I'm sitting at my desk at work getting ready for class. I read a great article on sleep yesterday and considering my current state, I thought I'd pick out what I thought were the thirteen most interesting facts about sleep.

If you like this list, please check out the source article here.

Thirteen Things about sleep.

1. The "natural alarm clock" which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up. (I love/hate this. The only thing worse than waking up before your alarm, is not waking up before your alarm.)

2. Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men. (Explains why I get grumpy when I'm trying to sleep and my husband is feeling frisky.)

3. A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won't dream much. (A night on the grog?? Great expression. Sounds better than drunk, hammered, plastered, completely pissed out of my mind...you get the idea)

4. In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving. (Good to know.)

5. Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness. (They serve a purpose. That's how I write my books!!)

6. Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock. (Who the hell comes up with these studies? Come here Bob, I want to try something.)

7. One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children. (I'll back them up on this one. I haven't slept through the night in seven years.)

8. It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it. (This is very creepy. I think I may have been doing this yesterday.)

9. A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year. (Ah, that explains the delusions.)

10. Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film. (A pretty X rated film in my case. I love my heroes...and my husband of course.)

11. Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%. (I'd rather drink than stay awake.)

12. Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets. (Smart people. I think we should revert to this practice.)

And last but not least....

13. Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet. (We don't need experts. I could have told you that!!)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Decisions

2006-12-06T08:45:00.000-04:00

Today is a great day for me at work. I don't have any classes to teach, so I have a little more flexibility around my lunch hour. I'm torn about what to do through. I was really hoping to attack chapter three with some edits at lunch. Add a scene that I think will help clarify things later on in the book.

But I also need to go by my husband a Christmas present. *sigh*

Maybe I can do both. :)

On the writing front, I think the edits for chapter three will go smoothly. I'm still tryiing to figure out how I can add another 15-20k words to the story. Right around chapter seven or eight I'm pretty sure I jump ahead in my time frame, so I may have some flexibility there. Only time and editing will tell. :)

I opened my big mouth

2006-12-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

Here in Nova Scotia, we didn't have any snow up until yesterday. I kept telling people I wished it would snow. It didn't feel like December without a little snow. Well someone listened. We got dumped on yesterday and what a nightmare.

I wasn't driving my minivan, but instead had my father-in-law's Saturn. It's a standard, which isn't bad for snow packed conditions. The problem was, so much snow fell, and the car was so low to the ground, I got stuck. That wasn't as bad as when I caught a snow drift on the highway and spun out in the middle of traffic. How I didn't get hit, I'm still not sure.

The good news is I made it home in one piece. The car was fine.

On the writing front, I managed to finish up the edits to chapter one and two of my WIP. I think the pace is much better now and it leaves me room to expand in later chapters. I'm hoping I'll be able to work on chapter three today at lunch.

Forward Progress

2006-12-04T08:20:00.001-04:00

This past week didn't go the way I'd hoped for writing. Yesterday though, I feel like I got back on track. I met with my friend Renee and she gave me some great advice regarding my first chapter of All Bottled Up. I've cut it down and combined it with the first part of chapter two. Things are now flowing better and the pace moved quite a bit faster than it did before.

I also have a new idea for an ending. I wasn't really happy with it before, but it was NaNo, so I didn't want to question it too much. Now, I have a great new idea to end the book, and I have some things I want to put into the middle to beef it up.

I'm excited again!!

I finished the second draft for chapters 1-7, but will need to go back again now to add in the extra things I thought of yesterday. I'm hoping to get the second draft done in the next two weeks. Once Christmas hits, I'll be too busy to sit down and thing of new plot elements.

(I had a cute picture of Snoopy, but Blogger doesn't want to add pictures today *sigh*)

Tis the Season

2006-12-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

I'm off to my office holiday party tonight. Seafood and wine will be consumed by all! Of course, I won't be doing any writing as a result. In a way, I've earned the break. I wrote a lot during NaNo and deserve to celebrate. Which is exactly what I plan to do. :)

Thursday Thirteen # 4

2006-11-30T09:26:00.000-04:00

Since I'm trying to revise my current manuscript, I thought it might be nice to outline the things I do when I'm going through my story. So in no particular order, I present you with...

Thirteen Things I do when I'm revising.

1. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling – Even tough this is something I should know without thinking about it, I still struggle. My first draft is usually pretty rough. I need to come back and fix all the words that are spelled correctly, but are the wrong word. I need to make sure my deliberate sentence fragments get the right message across. And I need to make sure I have all my commas in the right spot (I always use too many).

2. Weak vocabulary – I’m guilty. I hate the fact that these words come out so easy in the first draft. I primarily go through and pull out the following: just, that, nice, very, really, almost, never, etc. I have a great link that I’ve found to help identify these words.

3. Passive voice – Another one of my guilty writing habits. This is a hard one for me to see sometimes. I actually have my husband help me out. He’s a pro now. I’m actually studying up and am going to make a point of squashing this habit. I’ve also found another good link that may be helpful to you.

4. Add more narrative – I’m a dialogue person. As I’ve said to some of my fellow writers, I could write an entire first draft with nothing but dialogue and a few tags. Going back and adding narrative is something I enjoy doing in the second draft. I know where the story is going at this point, so it’s much easier.
>5. Plot inconsistencies – I have a tendency to drop plot threads as I get going. It’s one of the draw backs of being a seat-of-your-pantser. I can usually pick these up the second (or third) time around.

6. Check time lines – Again, I think this has to do with being a pantser. I don’t have a clear timeline in mind when I start, so things can get muddled as I get going. This is also easy to fix in revisions.

7. Things that make me go hummmm – In every manuscript I write, I always get to a sentence, paragraph, or heaven forbid, chapter that makes me question why I wrote it. These usually get cut.

8. Strengthen imagery – First drafts usually get the basic idea down. Revisions, I take the time to brighten things up. Take those black cars and make them faded black, 1992 Doge Neons.

9. Strengthen dialogue and tags – I don’t have too much to do here normally. But I want to make sure my characters aren’t sounding a like. I make sure my men say manly things, and my women come across appropriately. I also check my dialogue tags to make sure they work.

10. Layer in emotion – This goes along with the adding of narrative. I usually need to add a fair amount of introspection to give my characters depth. I find this is the hardest part of writing.

11. Setting details – Going back through and adding details to the rooms, environments, etc.

12. Character reality check – Are my characters acting in a believable way? Is there anything I need to change about them? With my story The Ties that Bind Us, I ended up changing my heroin’s job from a colony school teacher to the Chief of Security in the second draft. The things I had her doing didn’t make sense for a teacher.

13. – At the end of each draft I check the word count. Am I running too long or too short? It’s a bit of reality check.

Brick Wall

2006-11-29T20:16:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm a little frustrated this week. It seems everything is rallying against me, preventing me from getting any writing done. The rest of the week looks to be as bad, and I have company coming this weekend so I won't get much done then.

Things were going so smoothly with the first draft. The words poured out, I somehow found three hours a day to write. Now I can't seem to find three minutes. Even finding time to write a few lines in my blog is a bit challenging.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to make a point of sitting down in front of my computer to write for at least an hour. I was hoping to do that tonight, but I'm just too tired after being in the classroom all day. Nothing better than teaching grammar to a bunch of techies. :)

And remember, tomorrow is Thursday Thriteen.

Those Catchy Phrases

2006-11-28T19:36:00.000-04:00

I read this article today regarding interesting catch phrases. These phrases are essentially the shows hooks, the phrase that rings over and over in your mind long after the show is done. My favorite catch phrase when I was a kids was from the TV show Press Your Luck. I still think, "no whammy, no whammy, no whammy" over and over in my head whenever an email from a publisher hits my inbox.

I hope you enjoy looking through the list. I know I had a good laugh at some of these.

And then reality hit

2006-11-27T18:33:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back at work after a week off. Today was hard because I wasn't able to get any writing done. Pretty much felt like this picture. (How would you like that painted on your bathroom floor - freaky!) I'm hoping I'll be able to get some revisions done later tonight and some done tomorrow. It was easier finding the time to do the first draft than the revisions. I need to be able to sit and really think about my word choice with the revisions. The first draft, I let it all come out - good, bad, and messy.

With this draft, I'm trying to fill in the holes and get my word count up. This is much harder than I thought it would be the first time through because I like the way things flow right now. In the next few chapters, I know there are some areas where I'll be able to add content. I think I skip ahead in the time frame, and will be able to add a day or two. But its so neat right now. :) I hate to mess with that. Still, I need to add at least another 10-15k, so I'm not going to have much of a choice.

2006 Holiday Edition of Getting To Know Your Friends

2006-11-26T08:47:00.000-04:00

MG Braden tagged me with the Holiday getting to know you. I have to say I love Christmas and wish things weren't so crazy around this time of year. You wanted to know, so here we go...

Your Name: Christine

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Most definately wrapped. Usually in special gold wrapping paper.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? colored

4. Do you hang mistletoe? God, I'd never get any sleep if I hung mistletoe. My husband would most likely move it so it hung over our bed. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? I just can't seem to bring myself to put anything up before December 1. I do some decorating, but I don't go insane.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I make a french toast bake every year. You take a loaf of french bread and cube it. Then add raisins and cubes of cream cheese. You then pour a mixture of eggs and maple syrup over it and put it in the fridge over night. Christmas morning, bake it and eat. Yummy!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: One year my family moved two weeks before Christmas. It was crazy busy, unpacking and putting up Christmas decorations. We didn't know anyone, so my whole family spent a lot of time together. It was my favorite Christmas.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was seven. I walked into the kitchen one day after school, looked up at my mom and said, "There's no such thing as Santa. Is there?" There must have been something on my face, or in my voice, because my mom didn't even try and argue. She asked me to keep it quiet because my sister still believed. That Christmas was still cool, because it was like I'd been let in on the biggest secrete in the world, and it was up to me to keep things quite.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As kids, we were usually able to talk my parents into letting us open one. As an adult, we don't put anything out until the kids go to bed. The surprised look on their face is wonderful

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Quickly. I sneak up on it tie it down with lights before dumping as many decorations on it as possible.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love the snow, hate the cold. Wish we could have one without the other. :)

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I don't get to very often. My husband can't skate, so I haven't gone in years. My children both want to learn, so I'll be getting back into it soon.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I've gotten a lot of wonderful gifts over the years. Three years ago, my husband bought me a necklace that I've wanted for years. It was a complete surprise and I've worn it pretty much everyday since then. That's probably my favorite.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with my family and baking cookies with my kids.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Plum pudding with my nanny's brown sugar sauce. *drool*

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? On Christmas eve, we always make oysters and scallops wrapped in bacon. I don't know why, but like MG, we eat a lot of appetizers that night.

17. What tops your tree? A fabric angel. I bought her the first Christmas I spent with my husband. The poor thing is a bit beat up now, but I still dig her up and put her on top.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I LOVE giving. It's such a thrill to get the perfect gift and see the look on the other person's face when they open it. I usually try and surprise my husband. I've only suceeded a few times over the years.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Loreena McKennitt has a Christmas CD called, To Drive the Cold Winter Away. On it is a song called Snow. I could listen to that over and over.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yumm! But I like Chicken Bones better. :)

Okay, so Amy, Alyssa, Maureen, and Kelly consider yourselves tagged!!

NaNoWriMo - Day 25

2006-11-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm officially done NaNoWriMo! It was a lot of fun and I've learned a lot about myself as an author. I'm actually a bit sad now that I don't have anything pushing me to keep going. Not that I need to :).

I think I may actually be able to replicate this again, and get another first draft done in a month. It seems to suit my style - get things on paper as quickly as I can, then spend time picking it apart and filling in the gaps.

The next stage with my genie story is to finish the edits and write the synopsis. I might take a stab at that tonight. I have an outline that I might be able to change around a bit and use. Since I hate writing these things, it might make things a bit less painful.

NaNoWriMo - Day 24

2006-11-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

Blah. I've just spent most of today working my way through my revisions for my genie story. It's sad at the amount of typos I've picked up, and even sadder the amount I've missed. My husband acts as my second eyes and is much better at finding those mistakes than I am.

It can be a bit discouraging when I'm supposed to be the writer in the family, but I can't see the obvious errors in my writing. I'm going to have to start reading my story out loud. The only problem with that are my children. There's something wrong about saying some of "those words" in my living room when my children are downstairs watching TV.

The good news is that I've almost made it to the 60k word mark with this story. I was hoping it would be a lot longer than it is, but so far no luck. I'm hoping it doesn't pose too many problems when it comes time to shop it around to publishers. Still, I have lots of revising to do, so there's still time to add. :)

And a special treat for Friday - Vin Diesel!

Thursday Thirteen #3

2006-11-23T07:34:00.000-04:00

I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing this week, and have been getting inspired. Reading the mini autobiography in the book was a real eye opened on the regular everyday events in our lives that can be a major influence on us as writers. In honor of reading his book, and in no particular order, my Thursday Thirteen this week will be...

Thirteen Things that have influenced me as a writer

1. Grade 2 Creative Writing- Okay so this was a very long time ago, but the little creative writing book my school pulled together had a big impact on me. It was the first time I saw my name in print, and the first review I ever received.

2. My husband - My husband has been supportive and encouraging over the years. When he realized my writing was no longer something I considered a hobby, and was becoming something more serious, he was there to help me out however he could. Without his support, I wouldn't be where I am today. When I write about that oohy love feeling, it's coming from my relationship with him. :)

3. Moving- I'd lived a very easy life in my routine before I moved. I was 27 and picked up and moved my family to another country. It gave me another whole set of experiences to draw on and some hardships to make me appreciate things.

4. TV Shows- When I was a kid I watched a lot of TV. I decided that I wanted to be a movie director. As a result I watched a lot of TV and movies trying to learn what I could. I grew to appreciate different types of stories and how they were told. I'm now ruined with some movies, because I can pick out the "clues" the writers leave to lead to their revelation moments, and figure things out before the end.

5. My Children- Anyone who had children knows the huge influence they have on your life. The impact on my writing is the fact that I want them to see me doing something that I love. I want them to make career decisions based on what they love, not what they think is proper.

6. Music- Like a lot of writers, I get asked where I come up with my ideas. A lot of the time, they are images and thoughts that pop into my head when I'm listening to music. I'll get a little internal music video playing and I can turn that into a story. Strange, but it works for me. :)

7. Stephen King- And not just because I'm reading his On Writing book. When I was 12 I put down my Sweet Valley High novel and picked up Christine. I was amazed at how clearly I could picture the things he wrote about. As a writer, I hope to someday reach that level and have the same descriptive magnifying glass he holds up in his novels.

8. Going Rappelling - Whenever I write about fear, I'm standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to take that next step that will put me over the edge. I'm scared of heights, and to this day I'm not sure how I made it over the side. But I did - twice!

9. Going spelunking (caving)- If you ever have an opportunity to do this take it. I went with a group into a series of caves. We climbed so far back it was mind boggling. When the group leader had us turn off our head lamps, you couldn't see anything. It was the blackest dark I've ever experienced. Even though we were there as a group, I've never felt so alone and scared in my life. Things got better when the lights came on, but we were all a little shaken.

10. Competitive Swimming- When I was younger, I used to compete in swim meets. I was good for my age and won quite a bit. Whenever I need to write about a cocky character, I dip back into the summer when I cleaned up at every competition.

11. My Dad's Heart attack- Gut wrenching emotion. Dad was okay, but we weren't sure there for a while. The feeling when I got the phone call will stick with me forever.

12. Almost losing an academic scholarship- So the difference between a B+ and an A- almost cost me a full tuition scholarship. I was a woman possessed when I went after the professor (long story). Angry determination, that came from this moment. In the end, I won my case, got the grade, and kept the scholarship.

13. Happy Endings - I'm a firm believer that the world needs more happy endings. That's why I write Romance and not horror. We have enough bad things going on in the real world, it's nice to bring some joy.

NaNoWriMo - Day 22

2006-11-22T16:39:00.000-04:00

Well today was a good day for revisions. I managed to get through the first three and a half chapters today with my NaNo book. I've been able to add several layers and tie up a big thread that I started early on, but dropped about half way through the story. I'm really happy with this story so far. It may be my rose coloured glasses, but it seems to flow well. We'll see, I have to get my editor to look it over. And by editor, I mean my husband. He's my toughest critic. :)

Five Things...

2006-11-22T08:38:00.000-04:00

Wylie Kinson just tagged me to reveal five things about myself. Well here they are in no particular order.

1. I'm slightly obsessive compulsive. I'm like a dog with a bone when I get something in my head. I can't stop till I see the end result I want.

2. I'm not as nice as people think I am. I have that little evil voice in the back of my head always shouting out a sarcastic remark or something unkind. Thankfully, I've learned how to ignore it.

3. I get grumpy when I'm tired. Nothing earth shattering, but when I tell people I get grumpy, they usually give me a strange look. "I've never seen you in a bad mood." Which leads me to point 4...

4. I'm a great actress. I've been in a lot of plays over the years. I like to play overly emotional characters who get to cry and scream a lot. I have a tape somewhere with my doing just that in a play called Trojan Woman. Good times. :)

5. I "hear" my characters talking to me. I feel like Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction, the little voice saying the words that my characters want to say. It can be very disconcerting. :)

And here is a picture of Vincent D'Onofrio because he's my favorite TV detective. :)

NaNoWriMo - Day 21

2006-11-21T18:27:00.000-04:00

And then I tried to revise.

I don't normally have any issues when I sit down to revise my manuscripts. I know where I need to beef things up. I can see where I need to change the word choice around to help with the flow. Normally I love this part of writing. It's very rewarding when I'm able to polish things up till they sparkle.

But not this time.

I think it's because things are so fresh in my mind with this NaNo story. I'm having a hard time with my edits. Where I could sit down and write for 2 hours and get lots written, now I can't sit for 15 minutes. I hasn't helped that my oldest daughter was sick today. I plan on taking tonight off and starting fresh tomorrow. I'd still like to get through as much as possible while I'm off this week.

Keep moving forward. :)

NaNoWriMo - Day 20

2006-11-20T14:43:00.000-04:00

I finished up my first draft this morning, and ended up with 52000 words. That's a little less than what I was hoping to have, but still, not bad. I took a small break and then got back at it and started revisions. So far I've added a few thousand words to chapter one and it seems a bit fuller. I think most of my holes are more towards the middle of the story. We'll see when I get there.

With any luck, I'll get a good part of the way through the revisions before my vacation is done. I'd like to have a polished manuscript before Christmas so I can start sending it off early January.

As I was finishing up the manuscript, I found myself writing a few threads that can lead to a follow up book for one of my secondary characters. I'm not going to start Beth's story until I go back and finish Perfect Match, my sci fi romance that I abandoned for NaNo. I don't want my other story to be completely forgotten. :)

My writing was more relaxed today, knowing I didn't have to worry about hitting a particular word count. The funny thing is I hit the target anyway. They say it takes 30 days to form a habbit. Maybe I've formed a few good writing ones as a result of NaNo. One can only hope.

I did it!!

2006-11-19T23:39:00.000-04:00

*finishes running a victory lap around her living room*

I'm not done the entire novel but tonight I crossed the 50k mark for NaNo!!
This has been an amazing few weeks for me, and I've accomplished more than I ever thought I could in such a short period of time. I still have a lot of work yet, but I'm very pleased that this manuscript is as complete as it is right now.

Tomorrow morning I'll get back at it and wrap up the first draft. Then it's on to the edits.

NaNoWriMo - Day 19

2006-11-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm hoping to reach 50k tonight before I go to bed. It may be tight as I'm watching the Grey Cup with my husband and was out this afternoon for our last chapter meeting of the year. I only have about 1400 words and if I push hard, I should get them in before midnight.

I plan on taking tomorrow to tie up the last chapter or two of the book, and then go back and begin cleaning up chapter one. The book is wrapping up a bit faster than I'd like, but I'll be able to expand it with the second draft. I'm still hoping to have the end manuscript between 70-80k. Time will tell.

NaNoWriMo - Day 18

2006-11-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

The end is near! I'm currently working on chapter fourteen tonight. Things are flying along and I'm getting ready to wrap my novel up. :) Currently, I'm sitting around 46,600 words. I'm going to try and push through till I hit 47,000. That means I should finish NaNo by tomrrow night if all goes well.

I'm still stunned at how fast everything seems to be moving. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me. But the fact that I'll have a pretty decent first draft done, is very encouraging. I know a lot of my fellow NaNo participants are having a lot of luck as well. This has been such a positive experience for me, I'd encourage everyone to participate in it next year. Even if you don't get the full 50k words written, you still can take advantage of the support of others and get a good start.

I'll check in with everyone tomorrow. I hope your weekend is going well!

NaNoWriMo - Day 17

2006-11-17T17:39:00.000-04:00

The laptop lay silent on the coffee table - waiting. In the distance, the sound of an alarm gently playing James Blunt stired the aspiring author to life. The laptop got excited. Would she come out now and power it up? Then the one sound that the laptop dreaded more than any other echoed down the hall - the snooze button. What's this? She's not getting up? The laptop let the built up power stored in it's batter discharge slowly.

Okay, that's all the creative juices I have left in me. I'm officially on vacation after a very long stretch at work. To celebrate, I've decided to take today off from writing. I'm at a decent word count for NaNo, so I feel no guilt about doing this. I'll get back at it tomorrow and most likely finish the story this weekend. I'll then spend most of my week off working on plugging the plot holes that I know are there. :)

Happy Friday everyone!!

Thursday Thirteen #2

2006-11-16T08:17:00.000-04:00

Thirteen Things I've learnedfrom TV shows

1. 24 - I've learned that the is nothing more powerful than a well done hook (and Jack Bauer).

2. Battlestar Galatica (new) - I've learned that it doesn't matter if your setting is in outer space, if you don't have a compelling story, you won't succeed (and trust me, they have a compelling story).

3. Stargate: SG1 - I've learned that subtly and humor are powerful writing tools when used effectively. (and MacGyver is still hot).

4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - I've learning that there isn't a detail that is too small not to spend time on (and if you don't pick up on it, your readers certainly will).

5. Heroes - I've learned that even if you don't have a lot of plot, if your characters are interesting you're story won't fall flat (save the cheerleader).

6. Firefly - Take an old idea and place it in a completely new setting (cowboys in space - brilliant).

7. Dexter - That even your villain has an interesting story to tell. Let them tell it! (Damn the Drunk Writers board for this one - now I'm hooked).

8. Babylon 5 - Your story arc is important. Make sure you know where you are going so you can tie all the elements together (one of the best series endings ever).

9. Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Chemistry between your hero and heroin is key (love Vincent!)

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Never underestimate the power of a character's name (this show was brilliant for use of names).

11. Doctor Who - sometimes what starts off as a simple, or well used idea, can blossom into an amazing adventure with twists you never expected (new series is great fun)

12. Numbers - think outside the box (who ever thought math could be portrayed as cool).

13. Any soap opera known to man - when things start to get stale, add a twist (aliens, the devil, super heroes, they've done it all).

NaNoWriMo - Day 15

2006-11-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it's officially the half way mark. I hit 41000 words tonight! To say I'm happy would be an understatement. Things have been going so well for me, I'm actually scared to go back and read what I've written in case it, well, sucks. I'm sure it won't be that bad, but you never know. I'm hoping to get the first draft completed by the end of next week. Being on vacation with the kids in school will be a great opportunity for me to finish the first draft and get a good start on the second. It will be interesting to say the least.

Tomorrow is Thursday Thirteen, so stay tuned for something fun and exciting. I just have to think of something now. :)

NaNoWriMo - Day 14

2006-11-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

Despite wanting to crawl in bed and go to sleep a few hours ago, I managed to push through and hit the 39,000 word mark tonight. I'm really pleased with how this book has been going. I'm not sure if it's the story line itself, or the motivation of NaNo that's keeping me going. Whatever it is, I'm really thankful.

I should hit the 40k mark tomorrow morning. :)

I'm now moving into the last four or five chapters of the manuscript and am trying to wrap things up, but not too quickly. I also seem to have found the humor again with the last chapter :). I'm hoping to keep things light at least until the last chapter. They can then have a good heart to heart, a tumble between the sheets, and a happily ever after.

NaNoWriMo - Day 13

2006-11-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

I've got the flu. I think. This doesn't really surprise me considering how many people in my house have been sick. I'm at the beginning stages of sick. Where you feel sort of achy, sort of upset tummy, and mostly blah.

The good news is I did get some writing done, just over 2000 words. I might sit down and try to write another few pages to see if I can get closer to 3000 for the day, but I'm not going to push it.

Tonight is Heroes and Doctor Who, and we need to watch Battlestar Galatica from the weekend. So I have TV oblivion to slide into once my little ones are in bed.

I'm posting this picture because it's how I feel - and it makes me smile. :)

I detect a cat theme this week. :)

NaNoWriMo - Day 12

2006-11-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

Today was a good writing day. I feel like I'm really starting to hit my stride with these characters. I'm finding it hard to resist the urge to go back and add to the obvious holes in some of the scenes that I've written though. I won't, no matter how badly I want to.

I'm hoping to cross the 40,000 word mark some time this week. Maybe on Friday if I can keep this pace up. I think the book will be close to 60-65k when I'm done this first draft. Then with some editing I should be able to get it up another 10k or so.

I also need to go back and add to the humor of the book. I'm trying to write this as a comedy, which is a hard thing to do. I find myself drifting into scenes and making them darker than they should. Again, it will be easy to spot these and fix during round two. I also need to go back and lace more sexual tension in the chapters leading up to their first love scene. It was pretty intense and I had the feeling that it came a bit out of the blue.

I've written over 8000 words this weekend, so I've decided to call it an early night and give my hands a break. I'm starting to feel like this cat :). But I'll be back at it tomorrow morning bright and early. :)

For a change of pace

2006-11-12T11:03:00.000-04:00

A lot of people have been playing with these quizzes on their blogs recently. Being Canadian, I thought it only appropriate to take the Canadian quiz.

You are 93% Canuck!

You rock, you are an almighty Canadian through and through. You have proven your worthiness and have won the elite prize of living in a country as awesome as Canada. Yes I know other countries think they are better, but we let them have that cuz we know better than they do, eh?

How Canadian Are You?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I was disappointed there weren't any Strange Brew questions on it!

And yes, I'm procrastinating...
Yes, I'm going back to my story...
Here I go...
Going now...
Humm, lunch...

NaNoWriMo - Day 11

2006-11-11T23:09:00.000-04:00

Only a short post today. It's 11 pm and I am pretty beat right now. I was up half the night last night. My youngest was sick again with the stomach flu. Ended up having to wash the floors, walls, toilet, etc after a "miss". I then had to give her a bath at 2:50 am. Good times.

That took the wind out of my sails for my morning writing session. Then we went to the Remembrance Day ceremony that my daughters had with Girl Guides. So most of my day was gone.

On the writing front, I did pull out ahead. Once everyone went to bed, and my husband busied himself in front of his computer, I was able to sit down and write. And write. Until I find myself here now at 11 pm and looking at a word count of 29,181. Do I push through and hit 30k tonight? Or do I fall into my comfy bed and continue on tomorrow?

Decisions, decisions....

NaNoWriMo Day 10

2006-11-10T19:52:00.000-04:00

Today I crossed the half way point for my NaNo word count!!! I didn't think I was going to be able to do it, and in fact if felt like just about every road block that could have popped up in front of me did. But as soon as my girls went to bed tonight, I was able to type the last few pages I needed to cross the line.

If I can keep this going I'll be past the 50k mark before the end of November. I'm going to try and write as much as I can to finish off the story. I usually add an additional 10k of words when I go through my second draft. I find I tend to go sparse on the detail and need to build up my world building a bit.

I hope all you other NaNoers out there are having success with your stories as well. Remember, all forward progress is good progress!

Thursday Thirteen #1

2006-11-09T08:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Thursday everyone! Just for fun I've decided to take part in the fun that is Thursday Thirteen.

Thirteen Things about What I've Learned So Far Doing NaNoWriMo

1. Consistence is the key.
2. Having a time goal really keeps the pressure on me to get the writing done.
3. Creating a story outline before I write really does work!
4. Sometimes a silly idea turns out to be the best thing in the novel.
5. Moral support is a huge motivator
6. I do my best writing at 6 am *eek*
7. I can actually write without drinking large amounts of coffee.
8. People think I'm talking about Mork and Mindy when I say NaNoWriMo.
9. My family is afraid, very afraid...but very supportive.
10. The little word wiget on my blog is cute and I tend to obsess over seeing the number count rise.
11. I only needed a little otivation to get excited about my writing again.
12. I think I can actually write 50,000 words in a month while working full time, and looking after my husband and children.
13. It doesn't have to be perfect the first time!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Tanya
2. Jane
3. Chaotic Mom
4. Caylynn
5. Olive
6. Janeen
7. Whiskey Talking
8. Maggie
9. The Imperfect Christian
10. Angela James

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

NaNoWriMo Day 8 - Milestone!

2006-11-08T22:19:00.000-04:00

To quote one of my favorite characters from Heroes - I did it!!!

When I started writing my book at the beginning of NaNo last week, there was no way I thought I'd reach the 20,000 word mark in such a short time. When I realized that I was so close today, I promised myself I wouldn't stop writing today until I hit it. Well, I am very proud to say that I've done it. I'm totally blown away.

If nothing else comes from my experience with NaNo this year, I now know that I have it in me to produce a large quantity of writing in a short time, while managing the rest of my life. Now, whether or not it is quality writing is another matter all together. But as Margaret Moore commented the other day on her blog, things are never perfect the first time. I can fix any manuscript once it's been written. The challenge is writing it in the first place.

I'm also adding a picture of the man who's inspired my hero in this story, Cliff Simon. He's a regular on Stargate: SG1, playing one of the bad guys, Ba'al. He's got an amazing accent that I could listen to all day. :)

NaNoWriMo Day 7

2006-11-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm glad I've written a little ahead, because I didn't meet my goal today. I was up most of the night with my youngest daughter - stomach flu. That mean I slept past my 6 am alarm and didn't get any writing done until lunch. Tonight I had parent teacher interviews, and had to get caught up on some critiquing.

All said, I managed a little over a thousand words. I'm not beating myself up over it, because my word count for the first week of NaNo is over 16, 000.

None to shabby.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll be up again early. I have Gravol to thank for ensuring a good night sleep. :)

NaNoWriMo Day 6

2006-11-06T20:23:00.000-04:00

I pretty much feel like this picture today - running underwater. I got a great work out, but I'm tired, and didn't seem to get very far.

I was able to produce another 2064 words, but I am ready to stop for the day. Even though a part of me wants to keep at the story, I really don't want to burn out before the end of NaNo. I'm going to be powering off the old laptop after this post and take a much deserved break.

Besides...it's Monday. Doctor Who and Heroes!!!

Those two shows will get me revved up for my tomorrow morning writing session. I have fallen into the pattern of writing three times a day: 6:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 7:30 pm. I write for about an hour each sitting, which has been yielding me about 2000 + words a day.

And on a completely different note. I read this brief article about a dog that was drafted by the German army. I'm sure there's a story in there somewhere!

NaNoWriMo Day 5 - And a New Blog Look

2006-11-05T20:26:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Well, I've survived day 5 with a good productive word count. I was able to write just over 3000 words today. I was aiming for 4k, but had to do the laundry, play with my kids, etc. I'm not complaining.

NaNo so far for me has been an amazing experience. I'm not sure if it is the story itself I'm working on, the external goal that is driving me forward, or all the support I have from the various NaNo groups I belong to. No matter how you slice it, I've been bouncing I'm so excited about writing.

Someone passed on to me an Internet quiz that determines how addicted you are to the Internet. I took and and found out that I'm an average user. The funny thing was if I replaced the word Internet with Writing the result was different - I'm an addict! I actually had to apologize to my daughter today because I jumped down her throat when she kept bugging me when I was trying to write. *sigh*

I'll be find once NaNo is finished. :)

On another front, I've changed the look of my blog. I hope you find it easier to read. I'm going to try and add some fun things to it over the next few days. Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see. :)

NaNoWriMo Day 4 - Burning Up

2006-11-04T21:00:00.000-04:00

Literally! My left wrist was causing me grief today, which meant I couldn't type as fast as normal. Plus, I was doing a lot of running around this morning, so I wasn't able to start writing until this afternoon. With my wrist brace on, I still managed to get 3000 words today. Not as much as I originally hoped for, but I'm still happy none the less. With that word count, I've officially crossed the 10,00 word mark.

My goal for tomorrow is to get another 3000 words early in the day, then have a break. :)

Edit: I was browsing the Thursday Thirteen links and came across Lady Jane's blog. She had a link to Josh Groban's song Awake, and I thought I would share it. If you haven't heard Josh sing, do yourself a favor and check this out!

NaNoWriMo Day 3

2006-11-03T19:07:00.000-04:00

I've had a great writing day. NaNo has been an awesome way for me to kick start my creative juices again. Plus it doesn't hurt that I'm having a whole lot of fun with my new story. My old WIP is still there, but having a month away from it should help with my excitment with it.

So far today I've written 2000 words. I'm hoping to get another few pages done tonight, but I'm not going to worry too much about it.

On another note, I was browsing around the NaNo site and found this cool progress meter. There is also a challenge one. So if anyone wants to take me on I'm game!!

I've also added a few new links of some great sites I've discovered. I hope everyone enjoys them as well.

NaNoWriMo Day 2

2006-11-02T20:24:00.000-04:00

I'm on a roll! I'm going to wrap up writing for today so I can spend some time with my husband. I've had great progress so far reaching the 4845 word mark. I find the time pressure and daily goals very helpful for me. I'm not tempted to go back and edit, and I'm also not wasting a lot of time agonizing over the perfect word. Get the basic idea down and fix it later.

When I tried to do NaNo last year, I didn't have much luck. This time I managed to figure out a complete outline. Being a seat-of-my-pants writer, normally I find myself going down the wrong road a lot of the time. Not this time! I know exactly what I want to do at each step, but have managed to leave myself enough room for creative sparks if they strike.

The other part of NaNo this year that's helping me from the start, are my writing buddies. It gives me motivation when I hear how well they are doing. I hope I am able to give them the same in return.

Best of luck to everyone on day 3!!!!

Tagged!

2006-11-01T17:48:00.000-04:00

I was just tagged my Maureen McGowan to list five interesting things about myself. So here we go...

1. I have had supper with Prince Charles. Okay, so I wasn't alone with him. I was asked to be the female university rep for Atlantic Canada when he came to Fredericton, NB back in 1996. I think I forgot to curtsey properly. He is shorter than I thought he would be, and he has amazing eyes.

2. I have been in an informercial. I didn't say anything, but my success photos were shown in the Beach Body.com informerical for Power 90. I lost 25 lbs exercising every day. They gave me $200 for my troubles which paid for the program, and a bit extra.

3. I knew I was going to marry my husband before I met him. I had a dream one night when I was 14. I sat up in the middle of the night and knew his name. I figured at the time I was mixing the names of two other boys I knew. I moved three months later, and who do you think I ran into, my husband. Been with him ever since.

4. I can't eat green peppers. They make me ill within about 30 minutes. I've had people blend them up and try too sneak them into food that I'm eating, and they still make me ill. It's very strange.

5. I'm terrified of heights. I can't go up a step ladder. I get vertigo watching movies. Flying just about kills me. I also pass out at the sight of blood. Basically, I'm a wimp.

I now tag...Cathryn Fox :)

NaNoWriMo Day One
Well, I know day one isn't quite done, but I've already met my goal for the day! I couldn't believe it when the word processor said 2034 words. I would have cried out in joy if I wasn't at work :). I'm hoping to get another page or two written tonight, but it will have to wait until after Girl Guides.

I hope my fellow NaNoWriMo authors are having a great day too!

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-31T18:56:00.000-04:00

I wanted to pop in and shout out a big Happy Halloween to everyone! Starting tomorrow, I'll be giving you daily updates as to how I'm making out with NaNoWriMo. That is truly scary!!!

A much needed rest

2006-10-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

I've decided to take today off from writing. I know I'm going to need every bit of inspiration and energy for NaNoWriMo. I have my story outline completed, and plan to set my alarm early Wednesday morning to get some writing done before I have to go to work.

Tomorrow night will be fun with trick-or-treaters showing up. Both my daughters are going as fairies this year. They are thrilled about getting another stash of candy. Little do they realized that their father and I eat most of it. We're evil parents...not really, we have their best interests in mind. :)