I set aside The Seventh Sense for a little while (I'll go back and revise it next month) and have been working on something else. Despite my promise to Tony, I haven't started his story. Perhaps that accounts for the choppy start I have on this story. Oh well. I'll smooth it out somewhat in the next few days, then wait for some research to arrive.
I will get to you, Tony, I promise!
I got my cover for Between Floors, and I'm very pleased with it.
Here's a teaser to start with:
When Chloe Wilson enters the elevator in her apartment building, she doesn't expect to see ex-lover Sean Harris, the man who left her six months before. Sean's return is no coincidence. He wants Chloe back, and he'll do whatever it takes to convince her to let him back in her life.
I'll post once I find out the release date.
Between Floors is in the editing stage. I was interested to see what changes would be made and what I could improve. I didn't have as much trouble with wandering body parts as I did last time, but several changes were suggested. I appreciate how thorough the Cobblestone Press editing process is. It's much better to catch things now instead of when the story has been released.
Speaking of releases, the release date for Between Floors has not yet been assigned. I'll post it once I get it.
I finished the first draft of The Seventh Sense. It's rougher than most of my first drafts, since I need to revise the the first part of the story. I know the characters better now. I also know the villain better, so I need to adjust that part. There are a few more parts to fill in.
But the draft exists. And it feels good to have gotten it to this point.
I did something stupid yesterday. I printed The Seventh Sense and started reading it. I know that doesn't sound like a stupid thing to do, but here's the thing: I'm not finished with the story yet. I'm nearing the end of my first draft, and I've learned a lot more about my characters than I knew at the beginning. I've also got some layering to do.
I started reading and a case of I-suck-itis set in.
This morning, I realized how unproductive I-suck-itis is. Every writer has moments when they doubt their abilities. Along with most feelings, this too shall pass. More importantly, I learned that I need to respect my writing process. I'll print out the story when it's ready.
In other news, my jewelry arrived yesterday! It's all very nice. I received a thick ring with a gecko pattern (which I'm wearing now), two pendants, and the ring for an upcoming contest. (Enter now! Sign up for my newsletter.) The pendants are a little smaller than I expected, which isn't the company's fault. I need to pay better attention to the listed measurements.
Would this be a good time to mention I have three more pieces of jewelry coming? I have no willpower.
Lia: 
Man: Hey.
Lia: I'm busy . . . whoa! Who are you and what are you doing in my head?
Man: Call me Tony.
Lia: {Thinks this man is beautiful. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes. Yum.} It's nice to meet you, Tony.
Tony: {Subjects me to careful scrutiny.} I'm glad I've got your attention. I want you to tell my story.
Lia: Uh, what?
Tony: You know that story you've had simmering in your brain? The one about a woman on the run?
Lia: {Wonders how he knows about it.} Yes.
Tony: I'm the hero. And I gotta tell you, I'm getting impatient for you to start writing it.
Lia: But . . . but . . . I'm working on another story.
Tony: The Seventh Sense. I know. Nice title. But I'm here now.
Lia: {Uh oh.} Um, okay. Hang on a minute. Let me take down some notes. {Gets notebook and pen.} Go ahead.
Tony: 
Lia: 
Tony: You get all that down?
Lia: Mostly.
Tony: When are you going to start writing it?
Lia: Once I finish this story.
Tony: {Narrows his eyes.} I thought you were going to shift to some other projects.
Lia: I was. I am. But I'll work your story into my schedule. I promise.
Tony: In between all your other stuff, huh?
Lia: No. Yours will be front and center. I'll work in the other stuff around you.
Tony: {Nods and looks pleased.} Good.
Lia: You'll come back, right? When I start working on your story?
Tony: Maybe. If you're lucky. {Leaves.}
Lia: {Wonders if anyone else wants to come and visit.} 
I posted about heroines on the Cobblestone Press blog. Please click and comment when you have a minute!
I've reached the conclusion that three-day weekends should become the norm. I feel like I accomplished a lot, although I didn't finish all the things I listed in a previous entry. I did the writing and relaxing, so that's a good thing.
I've also discovered (thanks to a few Cobblestone Press authors) a new website: http://www.silverjewelryclub.com. I haven't decided whether I am grateful or not. (If you go there and become addicted, don't blame me!) I think I'll reserve judgment until I receive the four items I purchased this weekend.
One is for an upcoming contest (sign up for my newsletter so you'll be entered!), the second was because the ring was cute and in my size. I can't even remember the third one. Oh yes, it was a pendant, although I can't remember what it looks like. It will be a surprise, hopefully a pleasant one. And the fourth item is a pendant I've decided is a "Yay for being published" gift. $5.99 isn't too much to spend on a treat for myself, right?
I know, I know. Stop the madness! (Please kill me if I buy anything else for a while.)
Ahem.
I've reached 15,000 words on The Seventh Sense. I like hitting milestones. I've also got my newsletter just about finished, although it won't be sent out until May 1. It's nice to have it ready, though.
Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Researching is a necessary evil about writing--necessary because you want to make your story authentic, evil because it's time consuming. I tend to do most of my research after I've written the story. It sounds a little odd, but once I start researching I can get bogged down in it. I may spend two or three hours researching a subject when it turns out that what I need for the story could be found in ten minutes.
The story I'm working on now is a little different. Some characters are fighting. Not arguing, fighting. 
I'm doing an okay job of description, but I don't know martial arts, so some parts are a bit sketchy.
I'll fill in the details later, but I'm curious about how other writers do research. Please share. :)
Today's blog hopping revealed that I've been tagged by Sara Dennis.
Four Movies You Watch Over and Over
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (sorry, but I'm counting this as one)
Pride & Prejudice (the latest version)
Memento
The End of the Affair
Four Places You Have Lived
Utah (So far I've lived in three different cities)
Manhattan, Kansas
Four TV Shows You Love to Watch (You might see a theme here)
Medium
Unsolved Mysteries (I'm watching taped episodes right now)
Cold Case Files
The Investigators
Four Places You Have Been on Vacation
New York City
San Diego
Tampa
Reno
Four Websites You Visit Daily
Kinja, to check out whatever blogs have been updated
E-mail Account #1
E-mail Account #2
Romance Divas
Four Favorite Foods
Ice cream
Pizza
French bread
Donuts
Four Places You'd Rather Be Right Now
In bed, asleep
In England
Being massaged by a tall, dark, and gorgeous man (although he can be blond, I'm not picky)
Finishing my latest story (better get writing)
Four Friends You Think Will Respond
Cora Zane
Jorrie Spencer
Vivienne King
I would tag Sylvia, but I know she's already done it.
Today, I faxed my membership application to Romance Writers of America. I've been debating about this for a while, and I decided to try it for a year and see what I think. At the very least, I'll get a reduced price on the Atlanta RWA conference. I'm also excited to see the RWR, the publication for members.
I'm finally getting back in to The Seventh Sense. It's been a difficult week, mainly because I've been feeling sick and out of sorts for the past few days. I had a bad bout of food poisoning a few days ago. I'm starting to feel almost normal now, which has got me writing again. It feels nice.
I got this meme from Sylvia. She's Pisces. I'm Capricorn:Capricorn is one of the least highly sexed signs. Many Capricorns can, and do, do without sex altogether, as other areas of their lives are much more important to them. Some are embarrassed by it, and many are old-fashioned and traditional in their preferences. The majority lead perfectly happy sex lives, but they need to be in a solid and trusting relationship before they will enjoy making love. The thought of casual sex horrifies them, as does anything even remotely 'unusual'. That said, the Capricorn sense of self-perversity will sometimes lead them into doing the very things they don't like, in order to dislike them even more. Partners need to understand Capricorn's sexual motives, which are not always clear. Capricorn women flourish in a relationship with an understanding and relaxed sexual partner who can draw them out of themselves, but suffer in a partnership with an over-demanding lover. Capricorn men often feel under pressure to 'perform', and this is the sign most likely to suffer, in either sex, from psychological sexual problems. With the right partner, however, both sexes have a wonderfully dry sense of humour, which leads them to explore new positions with a text-book in one hand and a large grin all over their faces.
What's your sign?
I don't have to work Friday, so I'm looking forward to a long weekend. Of course, I'd like to get some writing done. I'm hoping to accomplish several other things as well, including an article, author profile, and Cobblestone Press blog entry. If I'm lucky, I'll enjoy some relaxation time too.
I received my editor assignment for Between Floors. It's a different editor than I had before, but I'm sure things will go fine. Edits probably won't begin for another few weeks. I have plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime.
I'm thinking ahead to other projects I want to finish in 2006. I will set some goals in the next few weeks--maybe I'll post them in the sidebar to help me be accountable.
One of my goals will be to write more exciting blog entries. LOL!
The Seventh Sense continues to move along. I've written almost a third of it, although I'm not sure what the final word count will be. Today I am close to finishing my outline for it, so I know more about the direction of the story. That's incredibly helpful for me, especially with the suspense thread. I finally know who the villain is.
I'm looking forward to writing several upcoming scenes, and there are some interesting challenges ahead, too.
I received some good feedback regarding In Her Eyes, but I'm finding it difficult to whip the book into shape. 
I think part of the problem is that my writing has come a long way since I wrote it. My point of view is deeper now, for one thing. I may try the First Draft in 30 Days suggestion of printing the story, cutting it into separate scenes, and then figuring out whether each individual scene needs to stay, go, or be rewritten.
In other news, I'm putting the finishing touches on my May newsletter, which will be my premiere issue. Newsletter subscribers are eligible for subscriber-only contests and will receive excerpts that aren't posted anywhere else. To subscribe, simply enter your e-mail address in the box in the upper left corner of this blog.
I'm posting at the Cobblestone Press blog today. My blog entry is about some of the best and worst things about writing. I hope you'll visit and join in the discussion!
I didn't get as much done tonight on The Seventh Sense as I'd hoped. The good news there is that I can put off more plotting for another day or two. And it's not like I've come to a standstill. I'm still plugging away at it. The story is in first person, and I've reached a point where I'm not sure how I feel about that. Luke's point of view is lost this way, although I'm trying to show readers who he is through his actions and words.
I'm also a quarter-way through the story and they haven't kissed yet. It feels right for this story--they've seen each other twice, so it doesn't seem appropriate to have them kiss at this point. In addition, I shouldn't compare it to a Tryst-length story, which involves fewer words and therefore offers less time to develop the story. Also (don't hold me to this), this story may end up being closer to 40,000 than 30,000 words, and that gives me even more room to work with.
At the moment, I have one or two ideas about increasing the sexual tension, and I hope more ideas will follow.
I spent a lot of time tonight revising two pages of In Her Eyes. Yes, I did say two pages. I wrote this story for National Novel Writing Month last year, and so I (a) was writing quickly, and (b) have learned a lot about writing since then. I don't think I'll have any problem expanding it to 90,000 words.
I've got the characters from The Seventh Sense floating around in my head. I should reach the the end of my outline of the story in the next few days. I've only outlined three or four chapters, though, and the story will be much longer than that. I have a lot more outlining to do before I can follow it to the end.
I have a few scenes in mind for various parts of the story; I just have to figure out the best placement for them. One thing that has had me stumped is the ending. I didn't really know what the "awww" moment was going to be or how I would get to it. I wasn't stressing about it, but I wondered what I would come up with.
As usual, I was hit with inspiration in a place where it would be a bit awkward to write--in the car. Even if I had been able to pull over where I was, I didn't have a notebook with me. Luckily, I was only minutes from home, so I was able to write down the idea before I lost it. I haven't worked everything out, but I have a nice addition.
Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Spiderman 
"I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?"
I'm hard at work on The Seventh Sense, the story I was previously calling The Ring. It will be interesting to see what title I end up with.
I'm still enjoying the idea, and I really hope I can do it justice. I had been planning to use the First Draft in 30 Days approach to write this book, and I'm still doing character charts and so on. But since I have the first three chapters outlined, I can't keep myself from writing them. I'm looking forward to introducing the hero at the end of chapter two.
Writing is a lot of fun. When it's not being a bitch. Right now, though, it's a lot of fun. :)
I got a release date for Office Relations--it will be available for purchase at Cobblestone Press on June 9.
Yay!
Good news! Cobblestone Press contracted Tryst-length Between Floors. I'm excited and relieved--I think I was putting too much pressure on myself with this story. In any case, here's a short blurb about it:When Chloe Wilson enters the elevator in her apartment building, she doesn't expect to see ex-lover Sean Harris, the man who left her six months before.
Between Floors is loosely connected to Office Relations--the heroines are friends. Office Relations occurs first chronologically, but the stories can be read out of order. I'll post the release date once I get it.
Sean's return is no coincidence. He wants Chloe back, and he'll do whatever it takes to convince her to let him back in her life.
In other news, I finished edits on Office Relations this morning, so I should have a release date there soon. I believe it will come out in June.
Yesterday I bought First Draft in 30 Days. I looked at it last week when I went to the bookstore, and eventually set it back on the shelf. This week, I had a 25%-off coupon, and I was still intrigued by the book, so I picked it up. I plan to use the method to write The Ring and Tavia's story (untitled as yet). I'm excited to give it a try.
