March Madness

2013 has started off with a bang! Writing with Ditter Kellen has been phenomenal. I couldn’t ask for a better partner since she counters my writing weaknesses. 😀 We put in some difficult hours and she’s been a helluva trooper about it.

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)