The Last Day in November

Coming December 10th!

It’s the last day of NaNoWriMo. Have you finished your novel, yet? I finished a few days ago, but still seem to be in a writing pressure-cooker. At some point in the past two weeks, I lost power to my laptop, so my daily wordcount updates aren’t accurate. I updated with the most recent word counts and it looks like I’ve written a novel in two days. LOL.

Tomorrow is December 1st. Many holidays flock around this time of year. My family follows Christmas traditions, so I’ll be chatting about that. For many, it is the nightmare of Christmas shopping and buying frenzies. For others, it’s filled with simple holidays and warm wishes. Still others will be struggling to just make ends meet.

Take some time from your busy holiday season and give a little love to someone less fortunate than you. Grab an angel tree tag, or bake cookies for your local orphanage. My kids and I will be cooking dinner for a soldier and his family who are spending their Christmas at the Fisher house. The house was opened two months early for these guys, so things are still a bit bare.

Meanwhile, I’ll be sending cookies to my deployed military service friends. So many of them are out and about this year. It’s always hard being away from family, especially over the holidays.

Throughout the month of December, the Montgomery brood will be preparing for the last big move. We’ll finally settle down in Texas, near the San Antonio area. Our move day is around mid-January. Crazy, huh? That should be enough, right??

You’d think…but I have a fantastic release on the 10th of December. The Other Klaus releases from Changeling Press as one of the Red HOT Winter stories. Buying a copy of my book puts your name in for the chance to win free ebooks for a year! There are so many great prizes, so check it out!

I have two books to polish and email to editors by the end of this week, and then I get to start a Super Secret Project, code name: Enraptured! I’ve already started character sketches and collages. It’s going to be sooo fun. 🙂

Keep Writing!

Lynn Viehl has a great inspirational post on the last day

Linda from the Written Picture shows how a $20 discount kept her going through the tough times (She also has some GREAT pointers on how to put writing in front of other things).

NaNoWriMo has a list of all sponsors who helped out. Discounts apply even if you DIDN’T make your 50K words (if you have won, the sponsors will release the goods on 5 December).

December 1st marks National Novel Finishing Month.

March 1st starts National Novel Editing Month or EdMo

XoXo

Dawn

I beat NaNo

I spent the last week or so slamming out words after words. Two novellas, a short story, and a polished piece for an HQ submission. I need some sleep, but can’t work it up. I just want to get another piece knocked out before the end of next week. I wrote 10k in an all night writing fest.

What about you? How are you doing on NaNoWriMo? Struggling? Lynn Viehl has a fantastic article today on pushing through to the end.

I received a ton of stuff from EC to go through. Lots of paperwork. 😉

The first couple of weeks in December will be editing focused. For now, it’s back to the cave.

Keep Writing!

Dawn

Sexy Saturday

Here’s a tidbit from my current WIP,

A Familiar Kiss.

She hit the door with barely a glance at the massive bouncer standing in the shadowed entry. Rain had picked up and the pressing humidity broke to cool night air. She made it to the other side of the road when her warnings went off. Her senses expanded to do a quick search. Enemy.

The sharp stench of sulfur choked her. They’d found her! Bile lodged in her throat. She spun around, and a shot of power knocked her off her feet, skidding her across the sidewalk, to the grass. She didn’t hurt, which probably meant it was pretty bad.

Fresh earth and mud pressed against her burning cheek. The distinct taste of blood pooled in her mouth, and her senses couldn’t seem to come together.

Primal Heat is now Primal Hunger

I can finally share my great news…

Primal Hunger (formerly Primal Heat) has been contracted.

Yours truly is an Ellora’s Cave Author!

Celebration! Confetti Canon!

Back to writing. 😉

Dawn

Writing Update

It’s a new day. I’m almost halfway through NaNo and am roughly 8K behind where I need to be. Am I worried? Nope. Why not? I’m making wicked progress on this book. A Familiar Kiss is sweet, sexy, and naughty. Don’t we love that?

I’m playing music that ramped me up when I was stationed in Turkey, and rocking out with headphones (SuperChef and the minions are trying to go to sleep).

I’m having such a wonderful time with this book. A Familiar Kiss is coming along. Feral Intent is calling me (I’m at that 10-12K point in AFK so it’s expected).

I hope those who are participating in NaNo are having a wonderful time! Keep pushing!!! This is the middle of the road. You can do it!

A Familiar Kiss

Feral Intent

Great news!

I have fantastic news that I get to share some time SOON. UGH. So hard to keep quiet!!! On the writing front, writing is going well on NaNo. Tomorrow is a GREAT writing challenge. In honor of Veteran’s Day, NaNoWriMos are writing for 11 hours OR writing 11,111 words. I’m going for 11 hours, myself.

Such a great week.

Keep writing!!!

Dawn

Mid-book blahs

There are three moments in a book where I stall, attempt to convince myself that I’m a crappy writer and no one in the world will like it. I have to muster up the will to keep going and not start the story over (or start something entirely new).

Chapter One: I am convinced this is a terrible idea. No one is going to want to read it…except me…which is why I’m writing it. I shrug my shoulders and say oh well, gritting my teeth against the evil inner critic. I remind myself that my Chapter One probably begins later in the book, so I might as well get the blahs over with. Worst case scenario? I’ll just write it as a guilty pleasure and call it a holiday.

(Note: This happens on EVERY project, no matter the idea or excitement level. I just think my first chapter of a rough draft is a poor interpretation of what I see in my mind)

8-12K: I break over the chapter one blahs to hit a good stride for about a day or so. Then I hit around the 7.5K mark and screech to a halt. Every word after this is like agony until I reach chapter three or so. Why so early? At the 8-12K mark I start reevaluating the relationship of my characters (if there is one, at this point which is a WHOLE other blog post). I think the plot is pathetic, the characters are idiots, I should just give up now, and no one will like this!

Once I break over 12K, I tend to smooth out for a while. I’ve made a choice, and am sticking with it (for better or for worse) until the bitter end. 😀 Before I know it, I’m having fun with the characters, experiencing their lives, following their adventures, etc. It’s an amazing thrill ride with a few snags here or there. I usually make notes as I go (thank you comments feature on word!) to keep me on track.

Then I reach the end.

The end: Whether it’s the last bit, the final rally of the troops, the sensual completion of the relationship, or the last death-defying explosion, I find a moment where I want to scream my frustration. I’ve convinced myself that the story is terrible, that no one will want to read it. I should just give up. Every word is like pulling teeth…full of blood, sweat, tears, and agony.

The important thing about this entire post is this: at no time do I stop writing. If I stopped working every time I had a negative thought, I would never have left the nest back in ’97 to find my adventures in the medical side of military life. I would have never flown across the country to meet the man who would become my husband. My children would never have been. I would have never started writing in the first place. The list goes on and on.

So what is it about writing that makes people give up and walk away?

It’s hard work. I wish I would have listened to my mentors when they told me this. Writing is so much more than the book of your heart. It’s a state of mind. There are plenty of moments that are a rush of fun and excitement…but you have to have grit to get through the rough patches.

I’m transitioning out of the military into full-time writing status. The Air Force has been great to me, and I love the life it’s given me (oh the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen), but it’s time to start the new chapter of my life.

So I will bear down through the rough patches of WIP (work in progress) after WIP…I will gnash my teeth and type through the characters I’m convinced are only awesome in my mind…and I will do so with a smile in my heart. My husband is giving me the gift of this opportunity, and I won’t let him down.

To my readers out there…you make this worth it. Every day.

Keep Writing!

Dawn

A Familiar Kiss and NaNo Day 1

I am a NaNo rebel. There. I said it. 🙂

I tried to begin my new wip on Day 1. I promise I did, but if there’s one thing I learned in the past year or so…I have to finish the book I’m on, or I can’t concentrate at all. So…I am continuing on A Familiar Kiss. Unfortunately it took me almost two days to figure it out, so I’m only 3K on my goal hit. I need to be at 6K by the end of the night. We’ll see how that goes.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Make sure you check out all the NaNo stuff going on across the web. Even if you’re not participating this year, there is a ton of great information highlighted out there.

On the writing front…I’ve now received word on my up and coming military retirement. A few months from now I’ll be a civilian and well on my way to full time writer. Scary proposition for anyone. Thank you to my readers for making it possible.

Keep Writing!

Dawn