We love the characters, the world, the bad guys you love to hate, the snark…but Ditter and I have been hanging out with these guys nonstop since December. It’s definitely time to part ways with the characters for a while. LOL!

Time to tell you how I’ve done this past week:

Thunder and Roses is at 87k.

Raven’s Daughter hit 7.5k this week.

Silver Tongue Devils has been plotted. It reached 1k, but I won’t count it until I’m actually past the first chapter.

My favorite dialogue from this week’s unedited writing (courtesy of Jimmy Strickland, shifter you’d love to hate, and Tonya Rose, our snarky kickass heroine.):

“It’s time to end this.” [Strickland] licked his blade. “Tell me who you work for.”
“Myself. No one else.”
“Why did you break into Westmoreland’s office?”
“The lounge was out of creamer and I knew he hoarded the best shit.”
Strickland grinned and stalked closer, keeping her within sight of his one good eye. “Okay. Sure.” His free hand partially shifted to sharp claws. “I like this game.”

If you’d like to see how others are doing in the Round of Words in 80 days challenge, click on the link below.

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

See you this weekend for

Only in failure can you find out what doesn’t work, you know.

It’s not the end of the world. So welcome to another Round of Words in 80 Days challenge! I’m a month and a half behind, so you’ll have to forgive the late intro. April was CampNaNoWriMo so I was hyperfocused on it.

In these next 45 days or so, I’ll be very busy. Word count updates will happen on Wednesdays and Sundays per the challenge rules. If you’re following along, I assume you have some interest in writing. Feel free to ask any questions.

…or leave a comment that my content in boring…if you don’t tell me, how will I know?

It’s May 2013. 2012 was a debilitating one for me as a writer, and I have a lot of time to make up for. I had a series I let fall to the wayside during my difficult transition from military to civilian life and my creativity shriveled to nothing. With two intercontinental moves in less than two years, gaining new family members (saying goodbye to a few as well), and moving to full-time writing status, I became overwhelmed.

I met Ditter Kellen and the amazing According to Ditter book group right when I thought I was making the worst decision of my life (full-time author). It took some time and effort, but I finally got back on the path. Now I’m here, with you, sharing my writing journey.

I’ll do each challenge by quarter so the easiest way to keep track is to become a part of A Round of Words in 80 Days. They have a wonderful motivating team of writers who encourage one another throughout the quarter. Once Upon a Time I was a Sponsor. Once I get back on track, I might do so again.

So here are the goals for the rest of this ROW80 event:

May

Thunder and Roses (complete and submit)

Raven’s Daughter *WT (complete and submit)

Silver Tongue Devils *WT (complete and submit)

June

Shift the Night (Complete and Publish)

RD2 (Complete and Submit)

Hunger 2 (Complete and Submit)

*WT: Working Title, a title that may change before submission

Been there. What about you guys?

Three of them went to the Romantic Times Convention this past week. All three hoped to find that spark they were missing.

They found it and more!

All three came back with incredible enthusiasm. They were tired, sure, but the love of the written word was back. Goals were set in place, momentum shifted, and another page turns in their careers.

Their joy and excitement triggered mine, and reminded me of why I started doing this in the first place. It’s why I dive into writing events like A Round of Words in 80 days, National Novel Writing Month (as well as CampNaNoWriMo in April and July), and Book in a Week.

For a list of timed artistic challenges, please check the recently updated Wiki page

There is nothing like having a group of people as motivated as you are when you tackle any project.

When you’re stuck in a rut, whether it’s the book-that-won’t-end, a series you can’t stay motivated to continue, or starting that new book, find people who are enthusiastic about this thing called writing. Let them energize you and remind you that these moments of doubt are temporary.

Then go out and write.

Keep Writing!

Dawn

Day 27 and FINAL stats:

TR starting word count at the beginning of the month: 47,171

TR ending word count:  72,565

Total count for the month: 25,394 (25k to go)

FH starting word count at the beginning of the month: 0

FH ending word count: 18,215

Total count for the month: 18,215 (50k to go)

Silver Tongued Devils beginning: 0

Silver Tongued Devils end of the month: 9,633

Total count for the month: 9,633 (2k to go)

The Beast Within beginning: 0

The Beast Within end of the month: 2,500

Total count for the month: 2,500 (Story complete)

RD beginning: 0

RD end of the month: 3,689

Total count for the month: 3,689

Surprisingly enough, the word count validation software on the CampNaNoWriMo site was almost spot on. My numbers and theirs split off at some point.  Since the gap between what I have and what they validated makes no difference in my goal for the month…I’m not sweating it.

My largest productivity happened when my writing partner and I were waiting on Beta Readers to get back to us on TR’s first five chapters. It took a little over a week. In that time I couldn’t even look at the book out of panic (and/or a downward spiral of self criticism). TR is a novel unlike any I’ve tackled before so my nerves are on edge when feedback is pending.

In that week and a half or so I wrote FH’s first four chapters without an outline or anything but the sheer desperation to move back into familiar territory for a while. Silver Tongued Devils was a writing challenge by Ditter Kellen. I work on it during the weekend, and so far it’s coming along nicely.

The Beast Within is a submission to a Cleis Press Anthology call. We’ll see how it goes. I have a day or two of edits and then it’s off.

RD is something I work on in halting steps. It’s an Urban Fantasy an editor has requested after sneaking a peek at the first chapter. It’s due at the end of May and will become my weekend project once Silver Tongued Devils is complete.

It’s good to be writing again. I also like having the week days for the big novel and the weekends for novellas and shorts. It’s working out well.

So that’s it folks. NaNoWriMo in April is complete. I did a lot more than I though I had. Pleasant surprise since I was sure I hadn’t done well at all.

Hope you meet your goals and good luck with the rest of the CampNaNoWriMo session.

Day 3 stats:

TR starting word count: 52880

TR ending word count:  53838

Total for the day was less than 1k. Not good, but I needed to break down the next several days and figure out a good game plan. NaNo total is 6.7k. I’ll be hitting the ground running first thing in the morning. G’night all!

(edited to add: Forgot to hit publish on this last night. Found out when I started the new post for day 4 LOL!)

I went through a morning, evening, and night session of writing today. The morning was a solid 500+ words with me and Ditter. My writing partner and I had some scene plot issues to work through and we worked a bit on our new series we’re starting next week. Today was still Thunder and Roses focused. We expect it to be done by Sunday.

The evening and night sessions brought today’s total to 2,265 words. That’s 5,709 for CampNaNoWriMo. Not bad.

I ran into some serious character motivation issues around 2pm. The scene is emotionally charged and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Info dump at the beginning had dragged the pacing so I spread the wealth over the course of the chapter and it flows far smoother.

Day 2 stats:

TR starting word count: 50601

TR ending word count: 52880

I’m a happy (if slow and steady) writer. Tomorrow’s agenda involves a long soak in the tub before I start work (my muscles will thank me) and setting up a chat room for my fellow WriMos to speedwrite in. Jumping around all over the place is killing me.

Signing off!

Dawn

Day 1:

Session 1: Started at 0033 (12:33 am). Websites updated as promised before I started writing. I double checked the launch on the CampNaNoWriMo site. Since this month allows you to write on something old or new, I’m continuing rewrites on Thunder and Roses this evening. As I read through my first draft I am struck, as always, how it’s more like stage directions (blocking) than actual emotional investment in the characters. I have to layer in the five (or more) senses at a minimum.

Session stats:

TR starting word count: 47171

TR ending word count: 49188

Ended on a good note. I like what I’ve done so far with the book. The rest of the morning (after I wake up again) will be merging my writing partner’s new content into this chapter. She and I will be on the phone working through most of it.

Session 2: started at 0915. Major plotting hurdles taken care of with Ditter. We worked through some critical character building scenes.

Session 3: 1730-1900 (5:30-7pm) Speedwriting (word wars, timed writing sessions, etc) in the Insanowrimo chat room. A bunch of fellow campers decided to keep the chat word war tradition so I let them know I’d be there at 1730.

Session 4: Late night Speedwriting (word wars, timed writing sessions, etc) with the fabulous Lexxie Couper. She and I get together most weeknights (virtually) and write until our fingers fall off. It’s fantastic fun.

Session stats:

TR starting word count: 50171

TR ending word count: 50601

Total word count for the day: 3430 (3444 by the time this post was completed. I had a paragraph or two to finish).

Day end notes:

Good start to the month. It’s nice to be on track again. Thunder and Roses is closer to submission so I’m super excited about that. There is no time to actually keep track of start and stops in the middle sessions. So I think I’ll  do what I always do, jot down the beginning word count for the day and then the ending word count. It’s a PITA to track more than that. Not bad for the first update.

Dawn

My goals are simple (yes, goals…):

• 40% completion of a new Ditter and Dawn series novel
• (no more information on that one yet ).
• 20% completion of Feral Hunger
• On top of this we’ll be completing final submission for Thunder and Roses

It’s just past midnight so I’d better get at least a sentence in for CampNaNoWriMo. I’ll update you writerly types with any struggles or drama I came across in the writing day. I know it always helps me when I see what other writers struggle with and how they handle the problems.

Until later, keep writing!

Dawn

Melody St. Claire doesn’t believe in ghosts. Until a fire destroys her whole world, forcing her into a beautiful haunted house and the territorial domain of one very real, incredibly mysterious resident spirit.

Sexy Travis Santiago haunts the walls of his family home. Resigned to being alone, he merely exists in a place between the living and the dead until the frustrating little brunette enters his life and his heart. He can give her what she needs, if she would just believe.

The passion he ignites threatens to consume her, heart and soul, but may not be enough to hold back the nightmares. And Melody can’t possibly hope to spend forever with a man who is already dead.

A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

January

• January 5th marked 6 years as a professional writer. Has it really been that long? 
• Haunting Melody St. Claire received a revise and resubmit letter. Rewrites began immediately.
• January 16th marked the one year anniversary of the day I stepped off a plane and left my military life behind me for full time writing
• Thunder and Roses full requested this month.
• The month is a rough one on the home front. Enough said.

February

• Revision of Haunting Melody St. Claire is submitted and accepted in this month. 
• February 26th Ditter Kellen became an Ellora’s Cave author!!!
• Continued writing on Thunder and Roses
• Another home front rough ride. There’s a pattern developing…

March

• It took a week to get all the paperwork done on contracts and such since Ditter is a first time author. 
• Finished Thunder and Roses
• It was a creative consumption week during the kids’ spring break. It was good to read again. I needed it.

Looking Back

Most of my great commanding officers in the military drove home the importance of physical, mental and spiritual health (not necessarily religious, just spiritual) in the troops. I watched (and suffered through this myself) strong leaders crumble when their families fell apart. When the home front isn’t supportive of the mission the mission suffers. While it may not be fair, it’s true. Strangely enough that follows over into any aspect of your life.

There’s been a growing discontent on the home front that drains me creatively. I won’t say much on it except that it’s a hard road to travel, this writing thing. But it’s worth it. Truly worth it. That’s the bear, huh?

Haunting Melody St. Claire is a big amazing book of awesome. It’s the first book Ditter Kellen and I ever wrote together. It’s also the first book Ditter has written with the intent to publish. We put in long hours to get this book where it needed to be, and even after the contract rolled in there was a bit more work to go. It’s worth it, however. The book is a wonderful read and there’s nothing quite like a seasoned editor saying…you genuinely surprised me with the twist and that never happens.

On the horizon

April begins Camp NaNoWriMo. Camp National Novel Writing Month occurs in April and July for those who need the motivation outside November to keep writing. It’s far more informal than the one in November, and this year they’re encouraging everyone to choose their own word count goals. For those who remember, April used to be Script Frenzy, but that had to go due to lack of participation and funding, so it’s been absorbed by NaNoWriMo complete with dedicated forum for those writing scripts. If none of this made sense to you, then let me sum it up…

Camp NaNoWriMo is a writing event that encourages people to reach their writing goals with like minded (and motivated) people. It provides accountability (you post your word count daily to see how you compare to yourself and others in the event) and ensures support when you get stuck. If you’ve never entered an event before, but need motivation to write, take on Camp NaNoWriMo. Oh. Did I mention it was free to participate?  If you’d like to keep track of how I’m doing, here’s my profile: http://www.campnanowrimo.org/campers/auburnfaerie

With Thunder and Roses complete, we have some serious edits to prep it for submission. I adore this novel (it’s Ditter’s First!!!) and can’t wait to see what our editor thinks.

The next book on the list of WIPs is Feral Hunger. We’ll tackle that sweet thing in April. May is Dittercon. Las Vegas is never going to be the same.

Works in Progress for the Coming Quarter

• Sabian
• Shift the Night (Dark Talisman 2)
• Kassa’s Wish (takes place in the Haunting Melody world)
• Book 1 in an all new angel series (currently untitled)