Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
NaNoWriMo 2012
I have to say I was diligent during my self-imposed JNoWriMo in February and April, and I came out successful in my 50,000 and 55,000 word goals, respectively. Even though I failed at finishing (or, rather, starting) JNoWriMo in June and August/September, nor did I give any attempt at JNoFiMo, which I believe I slotted for spring of this year. Circumstances arose, a new dog, a hot summer that plagued all of SE Wisconsin with incessant stickiness, blah, blah, blah... No damn excuses, Jen--"Kray" needs to get done, period.
Well, this time it's for realsies. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and with my stats public on the website, with writing buddies watching my every move, it is time to buckle up and take the plunge after a six-month recess.
I still wrote over the summer, but it was mostly hinged on a random good idea or starstruck inspiration here and there, and never on one story. Or even four stories. And I don't think I wrote enough. My spastic brain synapses had me thinking across the whole damn spectrum of my stories, over all three series, and in no particular manner of order. Perhaps it's ADD that has me getting bored with one story so that I'm propelled into another. Part of me gets defensive. As all these stories are interconnected, and I have the grandiose plan of planting recurring characters in the stories, perhaps it's not such a bad thing that I work on separate stories concurrently. Or maybe I'm just working on my next panic attack.
"Kray" is quite near the end, and with the story "Kayt" nearly completely mapped out in my head, though only partly on paper, I need to start working solely on that book in the background, should "Kray" hit a proverbial wall. Discipline is hard when you're a writer, particularly an unpublished one with no legal or contractual dates to oblige. I need to rely on my own meager sense of willpower and the good sense to turn the Internet off if I have any interest in attaining my goals.
So. As NaNoWriMo was set up so that writers could a) finish a novel, and/or b) write 50,000 words (that's 1,667 a day), I once again aim to satisfy both those goals with attention spent mostly on finishing "Kray", followed by a decent push into "Kayt". (No pun intended...)
"Kray": ~25,000 to 40,000 words
"Kayt": ~10,000 to 25,000 words
...And so there's a nut: as my stories are developed, so are the plots, the characters, the motives. Various plot points I started out with several years ago now, embarrassingly enough, seem moot. Confusing. Stupid even. I fear as I move on from book to book, I'm going to want to change various aspects of things already written. This rings out as "tireless editing" in my head. Blerg.
But I can't do anything until I shut my damn mouth and get my fingers moving. Thursday, November 1, 2012, starts NaNoWriMo--30 days to write 50,000 words. Wish me luck.
JLH
Well, this time it's for realsies. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and with my stats public on the website, with writing buddies watching my every move, it is time to buckle up and take the plunge after a six-month recess.
I still wrote over the summer, but it was mostly hinged on a random good idea or starstruck inspiration here and there, and never on one story. Or even four stories. And I don't think I wrote enough. My spastic brain synapses had me thinking across the whole damn spectrum of my stories, over all three series, and in no particular manner of order. Perhaps it's ADD that has me getting bored with one story so that I'm propelled into another. Part of me gets defensive. As all these stories are interconnected, and I have the grandiose plan of planting recurring characters in the stories, perhaps it's not such a bad thing that I work on separate stories concurrently. Or maybe I'm just working on my next panic attack.
"Kray" is quite near the end, and with the story "Kayt" nearly completely mapped out in my head, though only partly on paper, I need to start working solely on that book in the background, should "Kray" hit a proverbial wall. Discipline is hard when you're a writer, particularly an unpublished one with no legal or contractual dates to oblige. I need to rely on my own meager sense of willpower and the good sense to turn the Internet off if I have any interest in attaining my goals.
So. As NaNoWriMo was set up so that writers could a) finish a novel, and/or b) write 50,000 words (that's 1,667 a day), I once again aim to satisfy both those goals with attention spent mostly on finishing "Kray", followed by a decent push into "Kayt". (No pun intended...)
"Kray": ~25,000 to 40,000 words
"Kayt": ~10,000 to 25,000 words
...And so there's a nut: as my stories are developed, so are the plots, the characters, the motives. Various plot points I started out with several years ago now, embarrassingly enough, seem moot. Confusing. Stupid even. I fear as I move on from book to book, I'm going to want to change various aspects of things already written. This rings out as "tireless editing" in my head. Blerg.
But I can't do anything until I shut my damn mouth and get my fingers moving. Thursday, November 1, 2012, starts NaNoWriMo--30 days to write 50,000 words. Wish me luck.
JLH
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Goodreads.
Several weeks ago I opened my first Goodreads account, and last night I started adding my romance (and other genre) novels.
I had foresight, dear readers and fans, and started a Google document long ago to catalog all my romances, just by author. I had this list linked to my Droid so that when I was in a store and found a good book, I would double-check to make sure that I didn't already own this book. And half the time, I already did. (Saves on the trouble of returning the item.)
The Google doc was nice for awhile. Obviously, it wasn't a public document, and my archaic style of categorizing the "already read" books (in red) and "to read" books (in black--yes, that's most of them) and "really want, so don't hesitate to buy" books (in green) served its purpose quite nicely.
But now not only can I catalog them by genre, sub-genre and sub- sub-genre, but now I can arrange them by whether I read them or not, as well as utilize the rating system and review space. I just wish I had these features when I started reading romances almost 20 years ago.
But, as you can see in the bottom right corner of the above pic, that's almost 800 titles to type in. Holy balls.
As I've already included 20 titles, I'm thinking of all the creative, helpful ways I can sub- sub-categorize them. I can also peruse the categories other Goodreads members have created in the same vein of books as me. I'm happy to be able to not just push a novel onto my romance "shelf", but I can coincide it with shelves like "erotica", "historical", "pirates", "western" or "cowboys", "Regency", "tough read", "fluff read", "bad books", etc. W00t.
But, as this is a good way to streamline my hobby and clear my mind, it's more time spent away from writing, which is the crux of this whole charade. I own 800 romance novels. As a published novelist, I believe that is seen as eccentric, colorful and "a bit of all right". After all: one can't practice a trade if examples are not readily available. As it stands, I believe I'm just weird...a crazy cat lady who has a shit-ton of romance novels, of which most stand unread.
I guess the point of this tirade is that, while it will take awhile, the Google doc will allow me to include all my titles on Goodreads in a fraction of the time. We'll see how much I surprise myself with tomes I remember enough to include a review, even a meager one.
...And on that point, my reviews until now have been quick, pithy and more self-worthwhile than I think will be helpful to other members of Goodreads. When it comes to romance novels, I feel the three points I focus most on in my reviews are the writing style, character makeup and interaction, and the sex. The sex, of course, is crucial. And maybe that will be helpful to a few romance fans.
JLH
I had foresight, dear readers and fans, and started a Google document long ago to catalog all my romances, just by author. I had this list linked to my Droid so that when I was in a store and found a good book, I would double-check to make sure that I didn't already own this book. And half the time, I already did. (Saves on the trouble of returning the item.)
The Google doc was nice for awhile. Obviously, it wasn't a public document, and my archaic style of categorizing the "already read" books (in red) and "to read" books (in black--yes, that's most of them) and "really want, so don't hesitate to buy" books (in green) served its purpose quite nicely.
But now not only can I catalog them by genre, sub-genre and sub- sub-genre, but now I can arrange them by whether I read them or not, as well as utilize the rating system and review space. I just wish I had these features when I started reading romances almost 20 years ago.
But, as you can see in the bottom right corner of the above pic, that's almost 800 titles to type in. Holy balls.
As I've already included 20 titles, I'm thinking of all the creative, helpful ways I can sub- sub-categorize them. I can also peruse the categories other Goodreads members have created in the same vein of books as me. I'm happy to be able to not just push a novel onto my romance "shelf", but I can coincide it with shelves like "erotica", "historical", "pirates", "western" or "cowboys", "Regency", "tough read", "fluff read", "bad books", etc. W00t.
But, as this is a good way to streamline my hobby and clear my mind, it's more time spent away from writing, which is the crux of this whole charade. I own 800 romance novels. As a published novelist, I believe that is seen as eccentric, colorful and "a bit of all right". After all: one can't practice a trade if examples are not readily available. As it stands, I believe I'm just weird...a crazy cat lady who has a shit-ton of romance novels, of which most stand unread.
I guess the point of this tirade is that, while it will take awhile, the Google doc will allow me to include all my titles on Goodreads in a fraction of the time. We'll see how much I surprise myself with tomes I remember enough to include a review, even a meager one.
...And on that point, my reviews until now have been quick, pithy and more self-worthwhile than I think will be helpful to other members of Goodreads. When it comes to romance novels, I feel the three points I focus most on in my reviews are the writing style, character makeup and interaction, and the sex. The sex, of course, is crucial. And maybe that will be helpful to a few romance fans.
JLH
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Series' Hook.
No writer can refute the importance of a good hook. In a book, a movie, a speech or a term paper, the hook will propel your reader through the finish line. That is, after all, the key to getting fans who'll lust after more of your work. If you're a one-book-a-story type of writer, well, then maybe it's not as important. Writing style plays its part in fan lust, of course, but what I'm getting at is just how much more important a hook is when it comes to laying out a story over multiple tomes.
I haven't really given the hook to my book "Kray" much consideration until recently, when I realized that this shan't be merely a hook to one story, one book--this will be the hook to a whole series. More than that...
Multiple series.
Kray is one of seven siblings, meaning seven damn books that are all train cars in the same storyline. And that's just the one o'clock train. Don't forget there's a three o'clock and five o'clock train on the itinerary, too.
And while I realize too that I may be jumping the gun or getting my head stuck in the clouds, I realize my dreams are not far from fruition, and that writing a damn good hook may not just get me publication, but it could ensure my blast into infamy. (I won't be demure about it...I want to be the next J.K. Rowling.)
And I'm on the eve of war, as I've mentioned previously. I'm stuck on a war speech, an impending battle, and a closing, all elements I'm rather unfamiliar with. Can a writer of sex and love write a successful scene of bloodshed and war?
It ain't easy, as I've done a few already. Oddly enough, the sex scenes, too, have me stumped from time to time. But I digress.
This month has not started off right. I've been sick all four days, and oddly enough, not well enough nor with enough brain power to write for any of those days. Four days abed--wasted. So "Kray" is not looking so hot, but there's 25 more days of the month. Let's see what happens. July might have to be a co-JNoFiMo this year.
JLH
I haven't really given the hook to my book "Kray" much consideration until recently, when I realized that this shan't be merely a hook to one story, one book--this will be the hook to a whole series. More than that...
Multiple series.
Kray is one of seven siblings, meaning seven damn books that are all train cars in the same storyline. And that's just the one o'clock train. Don't forget there's a three o'clock and five o'clock train on the itinerary, too.
And while I realize too that I may be jumping the gun or getting my head stuck in the clouds, I realize my dreams are not far from fruition, and that writing a damn good hook may not just get me publication, but it could ensure my blast into infamy. (I won't be demure about it...I want to be the next J.K. Rowling.)
And I'm on the eve of war, as I've mentioned previously. I'm stuck on a war speech, an impending battle, and a closing, all elements I'm rather unfamiliar with. Can a writer of sex and love write a successful scene of bloodshed and war?
It ain't easy, as I've done a few already. Oddly enough, the sex scenes, too, have me stumped from time to time. But I digress.
This month has not started off right. I've been sick all four days, and oddly enough, not well enough nor with enough brain power to write for any of those days. Four days abed--wasted. So "Kray" is not looking so hot, but there's 25 more days of the month. Let's see what happens. July might have to be a co-JNoFiMo this year.
JLH
Thursday, May 31, 2012
JNoFiMo?
Pondering June 2012's JNoWriMo, I am once again in a flustered mess as I consider again how much I want to finish "Kray", how I strive to finish it every month and never do. It's not laziness, as I've exceeded my monthly JNoWriMo goals every time, but more along the lines of frustration at not having my plot completely flushed out tinged with a bit of writer's block.
Husband ingeniously suggested employing a JNoFiMo--Jen's Novel Finishing Month, where I don't worry so much about word number but concentrate instead on finishing the story.
A novel idea, and admittedly what I did during 2010's NaNoWriMo (I didn't know there was a 50K word goal at the time and just set out to finish a novel.) Perhaps this is what I need.
June, surprisingly, looks to be clear, so I shouldn't have many issues finding time to hunker down and do some writing. If I make it a true JNoFiMo without a word goal I'll have the freedom to do what I want, when I want to, provided I finish my novel. In the same token, I have to ask myself one question: how is that different from every other non-JNoWriMo month?
Setting a goal will force me to write, and I just need to be more diligent with writing in "Kray". One could calculate there's 50,000 words to write still in the story. The royal families are at the eve of war, which means I have a war speech, a battle scene, an epilogue and a hook (for not just this one story, but the entire series), left to write.
Let's say this is JNoWriMo, but let's leave off the word count for right now. Maybe we'll set a goal later in the month. For now, I just need to write.
JLH
Husband ingeniously suggested employing a JNoFiMo--Jen's Novel Finishing Month, where I don't worry so much about word number but concentrate instead on finishing the story.
A novel idea, and admittedly what I did during 2010's NaNoWriMo (I didn't know there was a 50K word goal at the time and just set out to finish a novel.) Perhaps this is what I need.
June, surprisingly, looks to be clear, so I shouldn't have many issues finding time to hunker down and do some writing. If I make it a true JNoFiMo without a word goal I'll have the freedom to do what I want, when I want to, provided I finish my novel. In the same token, I have to ask myself one question: how is that different from every other non-JNoWriMo month?
Setting a goal will force me to write, and I just need to be more diligent with writing in "Kray". One could calculate there's 50,000 words to write still in the story. The royal families are at the eve of war, which means I have a war speech, a battle scene, an epilogue and a hook (for not just this one story, but the entire series), left to write.
Let's say this is JNoWriMo, but let's leave off the word count for right now. Maybe we'll set a goal later in the month. For now, I just need to write.
JLH
Monday, April 30, 2012
One more day of April JNoWriMo.
One more day of JNoWriMo, and the shock of it is
I’m ahead of schedule, and closer to the finish line than I originally
thought. I wasn’t nearly as savvy a planner this month as I had been
other months. In addition to those “eek” moments
every now and again, I entered the final weekend thinking that I would
just write as much as I damn well could and see just how close I was to
the finish line, which was about 10,000 words.
Turns out, it was exactly what I needed.
On Friday I should have done the sensible thing and
tallied up my word count to see how I would have to spread out my
writing over the weekend. I went out on Friday and was gone all day for a
race on Saturday, which left Sunday as my only
day for writing. Well, I wrote a gangbusters 10,800 words on Sunday
alone, and when I tallied the words at 10:30 last night in my bed, I
discovered I need only 300 or so more to complete my goal for the month--yes, you read correctly: three hundred.
How’s that for luck??
And in retrospect, I think it would have been worse for me had I known the exact number of words to write by midnight tonight. It would have psyched me out...paralyze me and thus keeping me from attaining my goal.
So after I complete another successful writing
month and get ready for another month off, I have to analyze exactly
what is next and how much I put off writing in the story that actually
needs to be finished—Kray.
I’ve discovered while writing this month a few
things that are good “hooks” for my readers to continue on with the
series, questions that will get them through the next few
books as they search for the answers. Señor Sebastyan Ruiz, my hero from Kailyynn’s
book (#5, I believe), makes his debut in Kray’s story completely by
accident after I assumed that it would happen in Kayt’s story first (the only cameo until his own story).
I’ve solidified him as a go-to for many things forensic-focused in the
Universe, and that pleases me, for I’ve been
worried that Sebastyan’s character wasn’t going to be strong enough to
create a lasting impression on my readers. (Although, how could he not?
He is, arguably, my finest creation of all seven Defenders and their
spouses. And he’s damn sexy. I have to work
harder to make the sex scenes that much steamier, too!)
So with that, I'm off to write 300 words. And then I'm going to watch a movie and not think about writing for a day or so.
So, until next time, I’m off!
JLH
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Touchbase for April JNoWriMo.
As is standard for most Na/JNoWriMo's, I had an "eek" moment that turned out not to be that bad. Unfortunately, this "eek" moment had to start with day #2 of April's JNoWriMo.
That first week absolutely suuuuuuucked for writing, even after that gangbuster April Fool's Day of 3,000+ words. After a week of writing barely in the hundreds each day, I feel I made up for it between Monday and Thursday of this week. At end-of-day Thursday, I had 31,027 words; by EOD Sunday, to remain on schedule, I should have 40,326.
As is my goal for every weekend, writing 9,000 words should not be too much of a trial, and I fortunately have no plans which could interrupt said writing time. Last night while I should have been writing, instead I was creating my fantasy series family tree. It was two hours that should have gone to "Kray", but at least it was related to the stories. And it was something I got to cross of my TTD list.
JLH
That first week absolutely suuuuuuucked for writing, even after that gangbuster April Fool's Day of 3,000+ words. After a week of writing barely in the hundreds each day, I feel I made up for it between Monday and Thursday of this week. At end-of-day Thursday, I had 31,027 words; by EOD Sunday, to remain on schedule, I should have 40,326.
As is my goal for every weekend, writing 9,000 words should not be too much of a trial, and I fortunately have no plans which could interrupt said writing time. Last night while I should have been writing, instead I was creating my fantasy series family tree. It was two hours that should have gone to "Kray", but at least it was related to the stories. And it was something I got to cross of my TTD list.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Er--10,000 in the next three days.
Not so good of a start. I have a self-imposed goal of 10,000 words by EOD Sunday, which is 3,333 every day for the next three days (yeah math!) I'm not sure if 10,000 will bring me up to speed with my necessary 1,800 daily goal, or if that's to surpass the point in the hopes of providing more padding for more oops days--too afraid to count up my total thus far.
I've written 12,000 in three days before, so 10,000 should, theoretically, be no trouble. But as I am sticking with my "Kray" story, delivering words is more of a challenge than I care to admit. However, the big battle scene is fast approaching. The problem is, I have no experience and no real interest in writing battle scenes. It's integral to the story, and every subsequent novel has one, so, alas, I must suffer through it.
And as I'm distracting myself with stupid blog entries (*cough*...) I'm wasting time when I could be writing 3,333 words with an hour left of the day...
JLH
I've written 12,000 in three days before, so 10,000 should, theoretically, be no trouble. But as I am sticking with my "Kray" story, delivering words is more of a challenge than I care to admit. However, the big battle scene is fast approaching. The problem is, I have no experience and no real interest in writing battle scenes. It's integral to the story, and every subsequent novel has one, so, alas, I must suffer through it.
And as I'm distracting myself with stupid blog entries (*cough*...) I'm wasting time when I could be writing 3,333 words with an hour left of the day...
JLH
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A not-so-auspicious start to JNoWriMo.
April Fool's Day started this month's JNoWriMo with a bang--3,197, and then it went downhill from there. Thanks to 4/1's writing outcome, I'm only off by about 50 words or so. But I've already found myself in the quandry of not wanting to write in "Kray". Keep pushin'...keep pushin'.
JLH
JLH
Saturday, March 17, 2012
It's mid-March: What's going on?
A whole lotta nuthin'.
I finished JNoWriMo on time and with a surplus of 2,325 words. Aside from an oh-shit moment or two, it went relatively stress-free. I didn't work on "Kray" the whole time, or even half the time, finding a lot of my creative juices flowing towards one of two of the girls' brothers: Kaven.
For as long as I've been planning and writing this series the five sisters have always had two older brothers, but they've never really played a part in the girls' stories aside from a couple of cameos. All five of the girls' stories are more or less plotted out, so...oops, I guess I'm a little behind on the brothers' stories, aren't I?
Drat. Not that I'm close to any sort of a contract or book deal or anything, but this gets me thinking: should I write the boys' stories so they're integrated in with the girls', or should I treat them as a separate two-book series--or perhaps as single titles--apart from the girls'?
The shitty thing is I have a title stamp for all seven books--"The Defenders of ISLAND: Kray"--so both Kaven and Kane are working towards the same resolution as their sisters. The five sisters have pendants with a unique design each that matches the design of the heroes...should I do the same for the boys?
I've had a couple of gangbuster writing days thus far in March, but I'm certainly not pushing myself as I would be/have been during Na/JNoWriMo. My "putzing" has allowed for a certain degree of daydreaming, or, ahem, "planning" for my two series. I've come up with a lot of new names and name ideas for series that still have a ways to go. I may need some naming help--see below.
On a more personal, metaphysical note, I've noticed a trend with my personal creativity and drive to write. Perhaps I'm on a lull since JNoWriMo, but I've also noticed that a lot of my writing coincides with where I am cycle-wise in the month. Not only does that have some influence on my desire to write, but what I write about specifically. Namely, of course, the hot and juicy love scenes (those would correspond with the middle of the month, when the big O is hittin' hard.) I've also realized that my desire to write narrative over dialogue fluctuates over the month. And as women's tastes in men change over the cycle (true story), I've noticed that I sometimes lose interest in writing in one story over another because the physical and emotional characteristics of that hero may turn me off...and those of another hero turn me on. Perhaps this is a trend with reading romance novels as well. This is not-so-convenient when you're trying to finish a fuckin' novel so you can move on to the next and the next and the next...followed by the pursuit of publication and consequent infamy.
And sometimes it's just not enough to move onto another part of the same novel, if skipping around is your thing.
To sum up the past 45-some days, "Kray" currently stands at 225 pages and 117,000 words, and I think I still have some 20-25% more to write for story completion. The thought of writing another 30-50 pages isn't daunting so much as it is exhilarating--this is going to be a hefty book. That makes for a decent start to the series.
"Kaven" has a story and a decent start with some decent dialogue. I've figured out just what sort of character he is and the sort of character he falls in love with (no name yet... again, see below.) "Kane" has no story yet, although where Kaven heads to England to inherit a dukedom from a great-uncle he never met, Kane is actually fighting some battle on mainland Europe. No plot is written out yet, and I still have no idea about the heroine's look, personality or name. Definite possibilities for cameos in each of their stories.
So. Names.
First we have my heroine for Kaven. Kaven's heroine is a widow to a captain who died in the same war Kane happens to be fighting in (imagine that.) A widow for two years or so, she's taken to renting a boarding house/school for girls from Kaven's great-uncle duke. She's very protective of the girls living there and wants to do good. She can't do much else since she was left nearly destitute by her dead husband. She's blonde, beautiful. Her father, however, is a pastor, and quite devout. My series takes place in the future after Christianity has not exactly died but just fizzled a bit, but her father is a Jesus freak by extreme measures...so much so that he gives his daughter a very Biblical name.
If you look at woman of the Bible--I'm talking about Old Testament, here--you'll find some names that are beautiful and feminine and still very much trendy today, i.e. Rebecca, Eve/Eden, Abigail, Martha, Sarah, Rachel, Olivia, and so on. The thing is, you don't really think of them as being very Biblical (except for Eve/Eden--that's a bit on-the-nose.) So then I thought, if she had a name that was really Biblical, like ugly and long and hard to pronounce, then that would contrast nicely with how beautiful and progressive (she's not as devout as her father) she really is. My initial list consisted of the following names: Bathsheba, Casiphia, Delilah, *Elisheba, *Hephzibah, Hosannah, Maresha and Nazarene, with the two starred names being leading contenders. But these names are hard to pronounce--too hard. And many of them don't have cute nicknames. I was going with "Ellie" for Elisheba, but do me a favor and try to pronounce "Elisheba". It sucks, donit? Not only is it ugly, but it just flat out does not look or sound like a name. So I buried it. "Pip", "Pippa" and "Penny" would work nice for Hephzibah, but the same issue stands. Also, my character just does not look like a "Pippa" in my mind.
So I have it narrowed down to two.
1. Genesis--The first book in the Old Testament, the beginning of life. Her father believes the Bible is true, and so his daughter will be the example of how right and beautiful and true it is. Her nickname would be "Genny".
Or...
2. Jezebel--Her father could be the cruel and distrusting type--and perhaps a member of the evil force?--and wants to give her a constant reminder of how women are evil and how they are responsible for all the sin in the world and how women need to be reminded more of how they came from man. He's punishing her, essentially, and in some way, her husband's death was her fault. The nickname I would use is "Jessie". Also, "Salome" was another possibility for this path.
If you have thoughts or suggestions, please let me know!
This second name issue I have is with the hero of one of my girls in Series 2. I think I'm going to make her sort of a Robin Hood character set in the Wild West. She's coming across as a bad girl--a sort of virgin-slut thief--to appeal to the bad boys who will hopefully lead her to the evil of the Universe. The hero is a Pinkerton detective sent to capture her, as she's been leaving a trail of robbed men from LA to Chicago. (All her profits, however, go to good causes since she's essentially a princess in disguise and has no need for these ill-gotten funds.) Haven't gotten a first name for this guy yet, but that can wait. When I first found the surname Youngblood I thought that was magnificent--Detective Youngblood. But then an hour later I came across the honest-to-God surname "Sheriff". How funny would that be if this character was named "Detective Sheriff", with the ongoing joke through the whole book, with all the characters he comes across, being, "So, what are you then--a detective or a sheriff?" Heh. Maybe it's just funny to me.
At any rate, I would love some suggestions!
~
With writing on a hold for a couple more weeks or so, I've decided that I'm going to start making my website. I've owned my domain name for about two years and haven't done anything with it yet. Shame on me. I have some good ideas that will only get better as I actually start getting published.
And speaking of which, I got my first flashes of impatience with not being done and having something out there for people to read. I write in my blog, I tweet, but I feel kind of silly doing so without putting a tome out there for others to enjoy and comment on. I'm all talk and no actions, although there is a lot of hamster wheelin' goin' on in my head at all hours of the day and night. I need to get my shit together so I can realize my dream quicker.
JLH
I finished JNoWriMo on time and with a surplus of 2,325 words. Aside from an oh-shit moment or two, it went relatively stress-free. I didn't work on "Kray" the whole time, or even half the time, finding a lot of my creative juices flowing towards one of two of the girls' brothers: Kaven.
For as long as I've been planning and writing this series the five sisters have always had two older brothers, but they've never really played a part in the girls' stories aside from a couple of cameos. All five of the girls' stories are more or less plotted out, so...oops, I guess I'm a little behind on the brothers' stories, aren't I?
Drat. Not that I'm close to any sort of a contract or book deal or anything, but this gets me thinking: should I write the boys' stories so they're integrated in with the girls', or should I treat them as a separate two-book series--or perhaps as single titles--apart from the girls'?
The shitty thing is I have a title stamp for all seven books--"The Defenders of ISLAND: Kray"--so both Kaven and Kane are working towards the same resolution as their sisters. The five sisters have pendants with a unique design each that matches the design of the heroes...should I do the same for the boys?
I've had a couple of gangbuster writing days thus far in March, but I'm certainly not pushing myself as I would be/have been during Na/JNoWriMo. My "putzing" has allowed for a certain degree of daydreaming, or, ahem, "planning" for my two series. I've come up with a lot of new names and name ideas for series that still have a ways to go. I may need some naming help--see below.
On a more personal, metaphysical note, I've noticed a trend with my personal creativity and drive to write. Perhaps I'm on a lull since JNoWriMo, but I've also noticed that a lot of my writing coincides with where I am cycle-wise in the month. Not only does that have some influence on my desire to write, but what I write about specifically. Namely, of course, the hot and juicy love scenes (those would correspond with the middle of the month, when the big O is hittin' hard.) I've also realized that my desire to write narrative over dialogue fluctuates over the month. And as women's tastes in men change over the cycle (true story), I've noticed that I sometimes lose interest in writing in one story over another because the physical and emotional characteristics of that hero may turn me off...and those of another hero turn me on. Perhaps this is a trend with reading romance novels as well. This is not-so-convenient when you're trying to finish a fuckin' novel so you can move on to the next and the next and the next...followed by the pursuit of publication and consequent infamy.
And sometimes it's just not enough to move onto another part of the same novel, if skipping around is your thing.
To sum up the past 45-some days, "Kray" currently stands at 225 pages and 117,000 words, and I think I still have some 20-25% more to write for story completion. The thought of writing another 30-50 pages isn't daunting so much as it is exhilarating--this is going to be a hefty book. That makes for a decent start to the series.
"Kaven" has a story and a decent start with some decent dialogue. I've figured out just what sort of character he is and the sort of character he falls in love with (no name yet... again, see below.) "Kane" has no story yet, although where Kaven heads to England to inherit a dukedom from a great-uncle he never met, Kane is actually fighting some battle on mainland Europe. No plot is written out yet, and I still have no idea about the heroine's look, personality or name. Definite possibilities for cameos in each of their stories.
So. Names.
First we have my heroine for Kaven. Kaven's heroine is a widow to a captain who died in the same war Kane happens to be fighting in (imagine that.) A widow for two years or so, she's taken to renting a boarding house/school for girls from Kaven's great-uncle duke. She's very protective of the girls living there and wants to do good. She can't do much else since she was left nearly destitute by her dead husband. She's blonde, beautiful. Her father, however, is a pastor, and quite devout. My series takes place in the future after Christianity has not exactly died but just fizzled a bit, but her father is a Jesus freak by extreme measures...so much so that he gives his daughter a very Biblical name.
If you look at woman of the Bible--I'm talking about Old Testament, here--you'll find some names that are beautiful and feminine and still very much trendy today, i.e. Rebecca, Eve/Eden, Abigail, Martha, Sarah, Rachel, Olivia, and so on. The thing is, you don't really think of them as being very Biblical (except for Eve/Eden--that's a bit on-the-nose.) So then I thought, if she had a name that was really Biblical, like ugly and long and hard to pronounce, then that would contrast nicely with how beautiful and progressive (she's not as devout as her father) she really is. My initial list consisted of the following names: Bathsheba, Casiphia, Delilah, *Elisheba, *Hephzibah, Hosannah, Maresha and Nazarene, with the two starred names being leading contenders. But these names are hard to pronounce--too hard. And many of them don't have cute nicknames. I was going with "Ellie" for Elisheba, but do me a favor and try to pronounce "Elisheba". It sucks, donit? Not only is it ugly, but it just flat out does not look or sound like a name. So I buried it. "Pip", "Pippa" and "Penny" would work nice for Hephzibah, but the same issue stands. Also, my character just does not look like a "Pippa" in my mind.
So I have it narrowed down to two.
1. Genesis--The first book in the Old Testament, the beginning of life. Her father believes the Bible is true, and so his daughter will be the example of how right and beautiful and true it is. Her nickname would be "Genny".
Or...
2. Jezebel--Her father could be the cruel and distrusting type--and perhaps a member of the evil force?--and wants to give her a constant reminder of how women are evil and how they are responsible for all the sin in the world and how women need to be reminded more of how they came from man. He's punishing her, essentially, and in some way, her husband's death was her fault. The nickname I would use is "Jessie". Also, "Salome" was another possibility for this path.
If you have thoughts or suggestions, please let me know!
This second name issue I have is with the hero of one of my girls in Series 2. I think I'm going to make her sort of a Robin Hood character set in the Wild West. She's coming across as a bad girl--a sort of virgin-slut thief--to appeal to the bad boys who will hopefully lead her to the evil of the Universe. The hero is a Pinkerton detective sent to capture her, as she's been leaving a trail of robbed men from LA to Chicago. (All her profits, however, go to good causes since she's essentially a princess in disguise and has no need for these ill-gotten funds.) Haven't gotten a first name for this guy yet, but that can wait. When I first found the surname Youngblood I thought that was magnificent--Detective Youngblood. But then an hour later I came across the honest-to-God surname "Sheriff". How funny would that be if this character was named "Detective Sheriff", with the ongoing joke through the whole book, with all the characters he comes across, being, "So, what are you then--a detective or a sheriff?" Heh. Maybe it's just funny to me.
At any rate, I would love some suggestions!
~
With writing on a hold for a couple more weeks or so, I've decided that I'm going to start making my website. I've owned my domain name for about two years and haven't done anything with it yet. Shame on me. I have some good ideas that will only get better as I actually start getting published.
And speaking of which, I got my first flashes of impatience with not being done and having something out there for people to read. I write in my blog, I tweet, but I feel kind of silly doing so without putting a tome out there for others to enjoy and comment on. I'm all talk and no actions, although there is a lot of hamster wheelin' goin' on in my head at all hours of the day and night. I need to get my shit together so I can realize my dream quicker.
JLH
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
1,975 down, 3,558 to go.
With a class tonight and tomorrow night, I'll need to bust my balls to get my words done. Can you imagine if this wasn't a leap year??
JLH
JLH
Monday, February 27, 2012
I need my website.
Starting to bring some ideas for my website together. As I don't have anything published yet, it's sort of sucky that I have nothing to market. Soon, baby. Soon. My site will be bare bones for awhile, until I figure out what flowery stuff I can fill it with, like books I'm reading now with my thoughts and considerations on each, my social media, pictures and videos, etc.
Not sure what the next step is, though.
JLH
Not sure what the next step is, though.
JLH
Not too shabby: an update.
With a little bit of an "eek" moment at the middle of the month, I just added up my word count to end-of-day on the 26th and waited with bated breath for the results.
44,467 words written thus far. Which means...
5,533 words to go.
I have three days to write 5,533 words, which roughly comes out to 1,844 words a day. With some low days (which I continue to kick myself over) and some high days this month, I managed to come out at the end of the month with a mandatory daily goal that matched my daily goal to start with (1,724, if you remember.)
So, so doable.
However, I'm taking two jewelry classes this week, and they both happen to be in February--Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28th and 29th...the last two days of JNoWriMo. So, essentially, I need to write 5,533 words tonight. Plus, I need to finish "Kray", and I want to finish editing my cowboy novel. Priorities are in that exact order: 50,000 words; finish "Kray"; edit cowboy novel.
JLH
44,467 words written thus far. Which means...
5,533 words to go.
I have three days to write 5,533 words, which roughly comes out to 1,844 words a day. With some low days (which I continue to kick myself over) and some high days this month, I managed to come out at the end of the month with a mandatory daily goal that matched my daily goal to start with (1,724, if you remember.)
So, so doable.
However, I'm taking two jewelry classes this week, and they both happen to be in February--Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28th and 29th...the last two days of JNoWriMo. So, essentially, I need to write 5,533 words tonight. Plus, I need to finish "Kray", and I want to finish editing my cowboy novel. Priorities are in that exact order: 50,000 words; finish "Kray"; edit cowboy novel.
JLH
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Gangbusters.
Wrote an awesome 3,354 words yesterday alone. I was super inspired and wrote almost to eleven o'clock last night. Unfortunately...it was all in a new story. Again.
However, this is a new story for one of my Series 1 siblings, for the eldest brother, Kaven. This is much, much more important than any of the Series 2 books I had been writing over the past four months. At least this is something that needs to get done sooner rather than later, and I have a good seed started on Kaven's plot. Not so sure about the heroine's name, etc., but after eight pages of writing in the past two days, it'll give me something to think about as I work on finishing "Kray".
Oooooooh yeaaaaaaah...
I'm supposed to finish a novel this month. **Grumble**
We're at 115,000 words currently, 222 pages. My finished cowboy novel is at 136,000 words, 236 pages. That's pretty decent sized, and I'm striving for that. More pages equals more fodder for agents and editors, which means the stuff they take out won't leave shit and bare bones.
Perhaps I'll think of the younger brother Kane and his story. If I'm inspired, perhaps I can squeeze out another 3,300 words. Maybe even 4,000...or 5,000!
As the younger titled son, he would tend to focus on a career in the military or politics or education or the like. So we'll put him in the military, and we'll make the heroine the nurse of his enemies. How does that sound? Cliche enough?
JLH
However, this is a new story for one of my Series 1 siblings, for the eldest brother, Kaven. This is much, much more important than any of the Series 2 books I had been writing over the past four months. At least this is something that needs to get done sooner rather than later, and I have a good seed started on Kaven's plot. Not so sure about the heroine's name, etc., but after eight pages of writing in the past two days, it'll give me something to think about as I work on finishing "Kray".
Oooooooh yeaaaaaaah...
I'm supposed to finish a novel this month. **Grumble**
We're at 115,000 words currently, 222 pages. My finished cowboy novel is at 136,000 words, 236 pages. That's pretty decent sized, and I'm striving for that. More pages equals more fodder for agents and editors, which means the stuff they take out won't leave shit and bare bones.
Perhaps I'll think of the younger brother Kane and his story. If I'm inspired, perhaps I can squeeze out another 3,300 words. Maybe even 4,000...or 5,000!
As the younger titled son, he would tend to focus on a career in the military or politics or education or the like. So we'll put him in the military, and we'll make the heroine the nurse of his enemies. How does that sound? Cliche enough?
JLH
Thursday, February 16, 2012
JNoWriMo is halfway over.
We've just rounded the hump that marks the middle of JNoWriMo for Februrary 2012. How much have I written this month?? 22,870 words.
So...I'm 2,200 short.
(Well, add a little bit more to that as the 15th isn't exactly the middle of the month. Being as how this is a 29-day month, I should be closer to 26,000 words than 25,000.)
The deficit is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. 2,200... that's, theoretically, a bonus day of writing. It's funny how all my shortages over the last few weeks have added up, however. From not writing any on some days to being maybe two- or three-hundred words away from my quotidian goal on others. Then there are the days when I write over 2,000 words (seriously...what was I smoking at the time that inspired me enough to write that much?) Whatever the outcome of each day, there really is no excuse to not write the predetermined 1,724 words each day.
I'm at a particularly exciting part of my story as I'm ramping up to the climax, too, and yet I can't write past a certain point! Slugging through this one story is not as appealing as writing bits and pieces of a brand new one, or meditating on characters and new plots. I know, I know...there's no real way to measure meditation except that it is a complete waste of time considering all the writing I could be doing. I mean, that's what I do when I write--I meditate.
This weekend will be tricky as I have a ton of stuff going on. On the flip side, I'm PMSing (might have something to do with my writer's block), which means that it's the eve of my follicular stage, which usually means (and I've noticed a trend here), that I'll be more excited to write. The weeks leading up to ovulation seem to be stimulating enough for me, and that will take me through the finish line of JNoWriMo.
I'll let you know how that goes.
JLH
So...I'm 2,200 short.
(Well, add a little bit more to that as the 15th isn't exactly the middle of the month. Being as how this is a 29-day month, I should be closer to 26,000 words than 25,000.)
The deficit is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. 2,200... that's, theoretically, a bonus day of writing. It's funny how all my shortages over the last few weeks have added up, however. From not writing any on some days to being maybe two- or three-hundred words away from my quotidian goal on others. Then there are the days when I write over 2,000 words (seriously...what was I smoking at the time that inspired me enough to write that much?) Whatever the outcome of each day, there really is no excuse to not write the predetermined 1,724 words each day.
I'm at a particularly exciting part of my story as I'm ramping up to the climax, too, and yet I can't write past a certain point! Slugging through this one story is not as appealing as writing bits and pieces of a brand new one, or meditating on characters and new plots. I know, I know...there's no real way to measure meditation except that it is a complete waste of time considering all the writing I could be doing. I mean, that's what I do when I write--I meditate.
This weekend will be tricky as I have a ton of stuff going on. On the flip side, I'm PMSing (might have something to do with my writer's block), which means that it's the eve of my follicular stage, which usually means (and I've noticed a trend here), that I'll be more excited to write. The weeks leading up to ovulation seem to be stimulating enough for me, and that will take me through the finish line of JNoWriMo.
I'll let you know how that goes.
JLH
Saturday, February 11, 2012
My thoughts on rejection; editing my cowboy novel in JNoWriMo.
As I sit in the sun on a glorious, lazy Saturday morning, working on (finally) editing my cowboy novel so I can start sending it out, I started thinking more and more about the process of sending stuff out, what that means, and what it means to get rejected.
As friends and family are urging me to get my stuff out--damn near coercing and using shrill tactics to hide their passive-aggressiveness on the topic--I continue to tell them that it's not about the destination so much as it is about the journey. I love writing and I love the prospect of coming home after a shitty day at work, open up my computer and pick any time period to write in. I become my favorite characters and live vicariously through them. Of course I want to be published someday, but I'm perfectly content to "float around aimlessly" for awhile, as I told a friend recently. Her response: "That's fine for awhile, just don't get lost." :/
Could it be my friends and family think I'm afraid of rejection? Could it be they're trying to "force" me to get my stuff out because maybe they think I won't do it on my own? Am I afraid of rejection??
While the prospect of being rejected isn't appealing, I truly find myself not really caring. Perhaps after all the rejection, I know I'll still have my writings to keep myself warm at night, even if they aren't available for other readers to do the same.
Plus, I've been rejected from so many jobs in the last four, five years that the idea of another rejection is just meh at best--I'm simply numb, and not afraid of rejection by any means.
And what I said is true: it's not merely the destination that matters, but the journey.
So as I battle time and again with my friends and family about my timeline of submittals to agents and publishers, I must keep in mind that they're doing it for my own good.
As long as they realize that I will continue on the next step when I'm good and ready.
That being said, it's time to dust off the cowboy novel I finished in 2010 NaNoWriMo. First rounds of editing have been sitting for the last year on the 10th page from the end, and that's just freehand edits--I still need to type out the corrections. DH said once again last night how I need to finish it and start sending it out..."no matter how bad it is or how much you don't like the story anymore." Got nothing to lose, right?
But in true NaNoWriMo form, a NoWriMo is reserved for writing ONLY. And while in an ideal world you should have a NoWriMo every other month, those "rest" months should be reserved for editing. That's what I gathered...Or, maybe, that's just a self-imposed plan that I have yet to follow through on. And if I follow this plan, that makes March a NoEdMo--Novel Editing Month.
My 1,724 word/day goal for February's JNoWriMo is still calling, which leaves little time extra for anything else.
Suck it up, J. Leigh. No excuses. Just shut up and do it!
And so I shall.
JLH
As friends and family are urging me to get my stuff out--damn near coercing and using shrill tactics to hide their passive-aggressiveness on the topic--I continue to tell them that it's not about the destination so much as it is about the journey. I love writing and I love the prospect of coming home after a shitty day at work, open up my computer and pick any time period to write in. I become my favorite characters and live vicariously through them. Of course I want to be published someday, but I'm perfectly content to "float around aimlessly" for awhile, as I told a friend recently. Her response: "That's fine for awhile, just don't get lost." :/
Could it be my friends and family think I'm afraid of rejection? Could it be they're trying to "force" me to get my stuff out because maybe they think I won't do it on my own? Am I afraid of rejection??
While the prospect of being rejected isn't appealing, I truly find myself not really caring. Perhaps after all the rejection, I know I'll still have my writings to keep myself warm at night, even if they aren't available for other readers to do the same.
Plus, I've been rejected from so many jobs in the last four, five years that the idea of another rejection is just meh at best--I'm simply numb, and not afraid of rejection by any means.
And what I said is true: it's not merely the destination that matters, but the journey.
So as I battle time and again with my friends and family about my timeline of submittals to agents and publishers, I must keep in mind that they're doing it for my own good.
As long as they realize that I will continue on the next step when I'm good and ready.
That being said, it's time to dust off the cowboy novel I finished in 2010 NaNoWriMo. First rounds of editing have been sitting for the last year on the 10th page from the end, and that's just freehand edits--I still need to type out the corrections. DH said once again last night how I need to finish it and start sending it out..."no matter how bad it is or how much you don't like the story anymore." Got nothing to lose, right?
But in true NaNoWriMo form, a NoWriMo is reserved for writing ONLY. And while in an ideal world you should have a NoWriMo every other month, those "rest" months should be reserved for editing. That's what I gathered...Or, maybe, that's just a self-imposed plan that I have yet to follow through on. And if I follow this plan, that makes March a NoEdMo--Novel Editing Month.
My 1,724 word/day goal for February's JNoWriMo is still calling, which leaves little time extra for anything else.
Suck it up, J. Leigh. No excuses. Just shut up and do it!
And so I shall.
JLH
Friday, February 10, 2012
I need to focus more...
Well. I can see that JNoWriMo is continuing on with mixed success.
While I continue to stay on track with my word count (with ebbs and flows, admittedly), I'm still being naughty and writing in stories that are far, far down the road. The goal is to finish "Kray" and then "Kayt", but I'm working on the kids' kids' stories instead, like "Arick", "Dimitri", "Lyuba" and "Darwin". And while I was proactive in my post-it frenzy, and while that helps a bit with organization, it's all time spent away from one goal: completion.
This weekend will be a standard 4,000-6,000 word goal, which will make up for some bumps I had this week.
Focus, J. Leigh. Stay on track.
JLH
While I continue to stay on track with my word count (with ebbs and flows, admittedly), I'm still being naughty and writing in stories that are far, far down the road. The goal is to finish "Kray" and then "Kayt", but I'm working on the kids' kids' stories instead, like "Arick", "Dimitri", "Lyuba" and "Darwin". And while I was proactive in my post-it frenzy, and while that helps a bit with organization, it's all time spent away from one goal: completion.
This weekend will be a standard 4,000-6,000 word goal, which will make up for some bumps I had this week.
Focus, J. Leigh. Stay on track.
JLH
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
More fun with post-its.
I played with some more post-its and figured in the two brothers' stories in with the five sisters' stories:
Still don't know what to write about for the two boys, but I think I'm going to have Kane be a soldier fighting in some war on Earth. There he meets the heroine. Not sure if he's wounded and she's a nurse? Or is she just a civilian? Is she the enemy? Who knows.
Then I wrote out the list of the kids' kids in two orders: birth order and book order.
The two columns of the book order (the right side) delineate the six kids who are on the ship (left) and the kids who have their own independent stories (right). The "ship" story is sort of a series within a series, but we'll see how the other stories intertwine.
JLH
Still don't know what to write about for the two boys, but I think I'm going to have Kane be a soldier fighting in some war on Earth. There he meets the heroine. Not sure if he's wounded and she's a nurse? Or is she just a civilian? Is she the enemy? Who knows.
Then I wrote out the list of the kids' kids in two orders: birth order and book order.
The two columns of the book order (the right side) delineate the six kids who are on the ship (left) and the kids who have their own independent stories (right). The "ship" story is sort of a series within a series, but we'll see how the other stories intertwine.
JLH
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Day 2 of JNoWriMo.
February 2012's JNoWriMo started off with a bang when I exceeded my daily word goal both yesterday and today. Unfortunately, it was all for the wrong story. I want--no, I need--to finish "Kray" before I do anything else, or I'm going to wind up writing myself in circles and getting horribly frustrated in the process.
What I've been writing in these past few days is another of the kids: Kaven's son, Leviticus Vaughn. Another sweet story of a highborn prince falling for someone below his station. Very Cinderella-esque, but without all that evil stepmother and fairy godmother bullshit.
The other thing I worked on yesterday: the post-its and posterboards. The family tree is a very nicely organized series of columns of post-its, with spaces reserved for those who have no names yet (a few of the kids, and both Kaven and Kane's spouses.) We're getting there.
Here's the fantasy family tree, post-it style:
A bit harder to read, I know, but this is my bedroom door with ideas for planet names and the regions/continents/countries/kingdoms that go with each one. A serious work in progress. Thank god I don't have children yet.
JLH
What I've been writing in these past few days is another of the kids: Kaven's son, Leviticus Vaughn. Another sweet story of a highborn prince falling for someone below his station. Very Cinderella-esque, but without all that evil stepmother and fairy godmother bullshit.
The other thing I worked on yesterday: the post-its and posterboards. The family tree is a very nicely organized series of columns of post-its, with spaces reserved for those who have no names yet (a few of the kids, and both Kaven and Kane's spouses.) We're getting there.
Here's the fantasy family tree, post-it style:
A bit harder to read, I know, but this is my bedroom door with ideas for planet names and the regions/continents/countries/kingdoms that go with each one. A serious work in progress. Thank god I don't have children yet.
JLH
Thursday, January 19, 2012
An update.
I've officially given up on JMoWriMo for this month, mostly because I wanted to wind down a bit more from the holidays. This February is a shorter month, true (though, not too short with the Leap Year and all), and already promising to be a bit more low-key. I'll pick up my monthly challenge again in a couple weeks.
I haven't written in "Kray" since NaNoWriMo because I've sort of reached a wall and can't figure out the next step in the story. I don't know what I want her and Rok to find in the compound after eradicating the Ratiri, but we're damn close to climax right now.
I also wrote myself into a bit of a corner: this book not only introduces Kayt and Kailyynn--Books 2 and 4--but it also introduces the oldest of the two brothers, Kaven, whom as of yet has no timeline, no story and no heroine. I had always planned the five sisters to have two brothers, but they have never--never--played a role in the sisters' stories until now.
And now as I sneak my way into pre-planning for the series after this one, the one that focuses on all of their children, I'm pissed that I not only have the sisters' eleven children to write stories for--that's right: eleven--but what roles do brothers Kaven and Kane and their wives play in the stories and on the island? And their children?
Since I started writing tidbits of "Luciana", Sebastyan and Kailyynn's daughter's story, I've planned out a bit for a few more, including two of Rowan and Kayt's sons, Darwin Alexander and Marshall Maximillian, and Dagibyr and Karyi's second son, Arick.
(Incidentally, "Arick" shook out a few juicy scenes [and by "juicy" I don't necessarily mean sexy, although there was a scene or two of that] at the end of last week. And I became a writing fiend in the desperate need to get all the dialogue and plot points down. From Friday the 13th to Monday the 16th, I wrote over 12,000 words.)
I figured that second brother Kane and his wife would have twin daughters, and then I thought it would be cute to give them an A-name and a Z-name, so there you go--Ava and Zoë.
As the royal family tree started turning into the family Great Banyan Tree, an idea occurred...
Posterboard and post-its.
A do believe tacking a posterboard with people, plot points and planets will not only keep me sane and my thoughts on track, but it will inspire me more each day to see my ideas come to fruition. I will wake up seeing that posterboard glaring me in the face, and I will smile and think, Yes, indeed, I am quite pleased with the name "Leviticus Vaughn" and my choice for his journey towards love and passion.
Which brings me to another point: geography. I had already decided long ago that this takes place in our Universe when other livable planets have been discovered. I never had any names or descriptions of these planets until very recently. Pretty soon I fear my entire bedroom will be masked in posterboard with poorly-drawn maps of fake planets, along with the biospheres that encompass them and the groups of people who inhabit them. I'm no cartographer, geographer or sociologist, and yet this makes me giddy with anticipation.
Hold your horses there, J. Leigh. You still have a series of five (actually seven) books to finish.
And thus is my problem. I get so damn excited about future and beyond-future projects that I forget about the stuff that I'm working on currently, the stuff that has the best chance of being done because it's almost done.
JNoWriMo will be all about that: completion. Every other month will be editing, research and dabbling in other stories.
Sounds like a good plan.
JLH
I haven't written in "Kray" since NaNoWriMo because I've sort of reached a wall and can't figure out the next step in the story. I don't know what I want her and Rok to find in the compound after eradicating the Ratiri, but we're damn close to climax right now.
I also wrote myself into a bit of a corner: this book not only introduces Kayt and Kailyynn--Books 2 and 4--but it also introduces the oldest of the two brothers, Kaven, whom as of yet has no timeline, no story and no heroine. I had always planned the five sisters to have two brothers, but they have never--never--played a role in the sisters' stories until now.
And now as I sneak my way into pre-planning for the series after this one, the one that focuses on all of their children, I'm pissed that I not only have the sisters' eleven children to write stories for--that's right: eleven--but what roles do brothers Kaven and Kane and their wives play in the stories and on the island? And their children?
Since I started writing tidbits of "Luciana", Sebastyan and Kailyynn's daughter's story, I've planned out a bit for a few more, including two of Rowan and Kayt's sons, Darwin Alexander and Marshall Maximillian, and Dagibyr and Karyi's second son, Arick.
(Incidentally, "Arick" shook out a few juicy scenes [and by "juicy" I don't necessarily mean sexy, although there was a scene or two of that] at the end of last week. And I became a writing fiend in the desperate need to get all the dialogue and plot points down. From Friday the 13th to Monday the 16th, I wrote over 12,000 words.)
I figured that second brother Kane and his wife would have twin daughters, and then I thought it would be cute to give them an A-name and a Z-name, so there you go--Ava and Zoë.
As the royal family tree started turning into the family Great Banyan Tree, an idea occurred...
Posterboard and post-its.
A do believe tacking a posterboard with people, plot points and planets will not only keep me sane and my thoughts on track, but it will inspire me more each day to see my ideas come to fruition. I will wake up seeing that posterboard glaring me in the face, and I will smile and think, Yes, indeed, I am quite pleased with the name "Leviticus Vaughn" and my choice for his journey towards love and passion.
Which brings me to another point: geography. I had already decided long ago that this takes place in our Universe when other livable planets have been discovered. I never had any names or descriptions of these planets until very recently. Pretty soon I fear my entire bedroom will be masked in posterboard with poorly-drawn maps of fake planets, along with the biospheres that encompass them and the groups of people who inhabit them. I'm no cartographer, geographer or sociologist, and yet this makes me giddy with anticipation.
Hold your horses there, J. Leigh. You still have a series of five (actually seven) books to finish.
And thus is my problem. I get so damn excited about future and beyond-future projects that I forget about the stuff that I'm working on currently, the stuff that has the best chance of being done because it's almost done.
JNoWriMo will be all about that: completion. Every other month will be editing, research and dabbling in other stories.
Sounds like a good plan.
JLH
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