Changed GOAL

Yes, you read that right. I'm in the middle of the second week with our granddaughter. And has always been the case with me, if I get around a child for any period of time you can bet I'm going to catch a cold. Factor in it is Spring cold season and you guessed it, I have a doozy of a cold. Needless to say I've not written 250 words in the last eleven days. And at this point, I'm not even interested in doing anything above updated a blog now and then. I just want the cold to go away so I can enjoy the remaining three days with my precious granddaughter.

Okay, that's part of the Changed GOAL.

The week before my granddaughter was to arrive, The Knight Agency posted their 2nd Annual Lottery for a chance to be one of 3 finalists to submit a completed manuscript to them. They started by having you post to their blog in a 1-hour time span. From over 500 posts, they used Random.org to select 125 people to begin the elimination process. In anticipation of being one of those 125, I decided my best 'sell' would be Death By Design. Erotica sells. That simple. Throw in a serial killer and you have something they will look seriously at. My best critique partner to get the manuscript ready should I be selected would be my older sister. It's her genre and she's currently job searching so has time to devote to edits.

I didn't make the 125 but still want to take advantage of my sister's eye since I don't know how long I'll have her semi-undivided attention. I'm still battling this cold and can't figure math right now so I'll post the Target Deadline in a few days.

For now, I just want to get over this cold and enjoy the few remaining days with my granddaughter.

Until then,

Keep Writing! Keep Submitting!

GOALS

I know most of you set New Year Resolutions or Goals about six weeks ago. So did I, in a way. I mentally decided in my head what I wanted from 2011. But I never wrote anything down. Which is odd because I've always been very GOAL oriented and a visual person.

When I sold Christmas Around the World, House of Lloyd, and UndercoverWear Daywear and Lingerie I always made a big poster to hang on my office wall. The poster would coordinate with whatever promotion the company was having at the time. I'd have a big graph or pie chart depicting what I needed in sales per month and how many bookings it would take (based on my previous sales figures) to reach my target. For me, although the commission was nice, it was always about the INCENTIVES.

My first incentive with Christmas Around the World was earning a 7' Blue Spruce artificial Christmas tree. Live trees always made me miserable during the holidays so artificial had to be my tree of choice. If it was going to be fake, it needed to at least LOOK the part. That was 25 years ago. We finally retired the tree this year.

My other top incentive was a White Fox fur coat from UndercoverWear. I worked really hard to earn the coat. Then my mom got sick and I had to cancel several shows to care for her. My supervisor knew how bad I wanted the coat. She worked to earn TWO. One of them she sold to me over the course of 4 months at $50 a month. She made a little extra money and I was still EARNING the coat. I still have the coat but it doesn't fit the same as it did 15 years ago :-D It will again, someday. That is another GOAL I have.

So how do I go about accomplishing my GOALS? By breaking them down into manageable steps.

Take the coat for instance. I intend to be back in it by next winter. Where I'm going to wear it in the Ozark mountains, I have no clue. But you can bet when I get down to size again, I'll find a place LOL To do that, I need to lose 1 pound per week. That isn't a lot of weight in the grand scheme of things. But we all know shedding pounds is never as easy as it sounds. So I'm watching my portions, trying to eat healthier and posting my thoughts on another blog... Living Through Weightloss because it is about LIVING through anything we set out to do.

But what about my writing GOALS?

There are several things I want to accomplish this year. So today I'm going to list them. Over the next few days/ weeks, I'll break them down and we'll talk about progress.

1 - Finish rough draft of Winter's Peace

2 - Finish rough draft of Autumn's Healing

3 - Finish rough draft of Death By Design

4 - Finish rough draft of Gangster's Lady

5 - Enter/ place in Arkansas Writers competition (multiple categories)

6 - Enter/ place in ORA competition

7 - Enter/ place in Ozark Creative Writers competition (multiple categories)

8 - Get staff position with Scrapbook News and Review

9 - Speak to at least one group or conference (I'm scheduled for 2!)

10- Win Nano

11- Polish one of the rough drafts.

12 - Publish at least 4 freelance articles in the craft and/ or historical travel genres.

That should keep me out of trouble, don't you think?

In my next post we'll break the top 5 down into manageable GOALS with a timeline to accomplish each.

I'm counting on you to keep me on track. I'm always happy to return the favor. Tell me what I can do to help you.

Write like your life depends on it - for a freelancer, it does!

Sean Martin

Sean Martin makes Amy itch in all the right places. Is it because he's the best looking thing she's seen cross her path? Is it his sensual smile or those dark eyes - eyes some refer to as 'Eyes of the Devil'? Or maybe it's because he's off-limits in her book of professional ground rules... Don't Mix Business with Pleasure. She has no doubt any time spent in the arms of Sean Martin would be all pleasure but he's an important business associate.

Aside from owning the hottest club in New Haven, Midnight Blues, he is also a good Samaritan. Sean has been working with several other business in conjunction with Quiet Haven, a shelter for abused women. His brainchild is to help get these women back on their feet. His vast wealth of community resources helps them find jobs and begin to build their lives and self-worth. The last part is where Amy comes in. Prototypes of her practical garment pieces are donated to the shelter so the women have the right clothes when they go on job interviews. Amy is so enamoured with his idea, she has gotten designers all across the country to reach out to shelters in their own cities. It's a worthy business connection she doesn't want to jeopardize with a night between the sheets.

Sean sees women come through the doors of his club all the time. Some are happily attached to a partner, others are content to sit at the bar and drown their sorrows in drink or look for something better than what they have at home. He feels sorry for the latter group, knowing somewhere down the road they might be one of the newest members of Quiet Haven... or maybe a late client of New Haven's finest homicide detective.

Is he the soul mate Amy searches for?
Is he the good Samaritan he appears to be?
Or does someone more sinister lurk behind those devilish dark eyes and sensual smile?

Michelle Preston

Amy’s first impression of Michelle Preston? The woman was beautiful. Use to working with perfect bodies in her career, she was amazed at how someone who didn’t have to be picture perfect was a prime example.

Michelle’s title as Personal Trainer to the Stars meant she made them all look good. Some of her biggest name clients owe their success to her strict regime and dietary suggestions.

But it was more than Michelle’s physical appearance that caught Amy’s attention at a comp fitting after a style show one afternoon. Her skin was flawless, not so much as a tattoo or piercing marred its beauty. But there was something else. Something Amy wasn’t sure how to handle.

A long night of talking turned to snuggling. Snuggling became more intimate… much more. It was a new experience for Amy. She looks forward to her time in Malibu with Michelle. It’s nice to be catered to while meeting the needs of someone else. Something she doesn’t share with Brian. Unlike the macho detective, Michelle works hard but when she plays it’s slow and tantalizing. She always puts Amy first.

As much as she cares for Michelle, Amy knows this isn’t where she’ll stay. It’s not an affair exactly, just another step on the path of discovering who she is and what she wants. Or maybe, who.

Brian Carter

Homicide Detective Brian Carter is 6'4" 190 pounds of solid muscle. Sandy blond hair clipped to department regulation only accentuates his strong, clean shaven, angular jaw and mischievous grin.

Don't let his good looks draw you too close. He only has eyes for Amy Claire and if you're looking for a long night between the sheets, he doesn't have the stamina. Brian takes care of number one. His list of girlfriends is short... those who've left him because they couldn't tolerate his angry outbursts or he dumped them because he couldn't handle their lack of organizational skills. Everything has a place and he strongly suggests you keep that in mind. Don't be leaving your clothes in a trail from the living room to the bedroom unless you like it rough.

Brian's main goal in life is to catch the bad guys. His eye for detail brings him closer every day. Killers, for the most part, are predictable. The details are mandatory if you don't want to get caught, but so easy to slip up on if you get in a hurry. In a way, Brian thinks like a killer. It's what makes him a good detective with a proven track record.

He loves Amy Claire. While his partner, Kevin, makes his way through the female employees in the department, Brian takes his pleasure only with her. The fact that he has to have order and Amy's creative vein leans the other direction is the only real tension between them... well unless you count the fact he just can't wait for her to climax when they make love. When he's inside of her it's like she's sucking the life out of him and he can't wait to breathe.

When Amy becomes a near-victim of the serial killer haunting NewHaven, Brian learns things aren't all they seem with his love life. How would you feel if you found out your woman was sleeping with someone else? To make it worse... it's another woman!

Amy Claire

Amy Claire leads a double life.

At 5'6" and a 125 pounds, her dark brown hair in thick waves brush just past her shoulders. Her soft-spoken voice has a throaty tone when aroused either by passion or anger.
She doesn't like being rushed. Rushing loses the pleasure. Amy follows this sentiment in everything she does - from creating a gown for the Hollywood red carpet to making love. Creatively disorganized, she loves good sex and relaxing baths. The feel of fabric in her hands is sensual. She dislikes wearing clothes but likes the feel of the fabric.

Amy's strength is her creative ability and a head for business. It has taken less than three years for her to put AmyClaire Designs on the fashion map. Her weakness is passion. Not just sex, but the whole package - the feeling you get from a truly pleasurable sexual encounter.

If it's one thing Amy Claire is sure of in her life it's that she is still looking for 'the one'.
At 32, she has only been involved in three serious relationships. The first one ended. Period. The other two... well, they are both serving their purpose at the moment.

To look at Homicide Detective, Brian Carter she should be the envy of every woman alive. While he looks the part of the handsome and attentive boyfriend, Amy knows a darker side to him. And when it comes to sex, he fills the space without providing much pleasure. Not once in their two years together, has she felt satisfied after their lovemaking.

Her fulfillment comes with every visit to Malibu and the beach house she shares with Michelle Preston, trainer to the stars. Though she's never thought of herself as a lesbian, with Michelle, Amy feels pure pleasure in every stroke. It isn't just sex with Michelle, but Amy knows the powerful blonde is not the love of her life either.

One person holds the key but Amy learned the hard way you don't mix business with pleasure. And although Sean Martin shows all the possibilities of being all the pleasure she could want and then some, he's also a business associate in their community service project with Quiet Spirit- a shelter for abused and battered women. His compassion for these women intensifies her feelings for him. She can't help but think he's 'the one'. Only time will tell... time Amy feels is ticking away.

A bit about Death By Design

Someone is leaving the bodies of beautiful women in posh hotel rooms. Are they planned murders or kinky sex games gone wrong? Homicide detective Brian Carter believes it's the work of a serial killer.

Amy Claire's career as a top fashion designer takes her all over the country. Her time is divided between the condo she shares with Brian in NewHaven and the Malibu beach house with Michelle. Involved in two passionate relationships at the same time, she still feels as if something is missing - something she believes only Sean Martin can provide.

A serial killer has a thing for beautiful women... vulnerable women. When Amy comes close to becoming victim number five, Brian learns things about her that hurt more than any duty wound he could receive. Only his training as a detective enables him to put the task of finding the killer ahead of the personal torment raging inside him.

Story behind the story

Driving to work, or anywhere, can be a dangerous task for a writer. It gives us time to think.
As writers we are often asked where we get our ideas. I can only speak from personal experience. Ideas come to me from everywhere. Every day is like walking in a downpour. I've gotten ideas from obituaries, news headlines and some buried deep within the pages of the paper. News programs, song lyrics and people watching add to the deluge. And then there are times when the mind just wanders where it will, looking for answers to 'What if?'.

The 'What if?' is how Death By Design came about. A quiet drive to work one day sent my mind wondering about a couple of women I knew. I can't claim knowledge of their sexual preferences but those two words popped into my head and wouldn't let go. What if they were lovers? What if one of them was involved with a guy as well as the woman? And what if he found out about her other partner when she becomes the victim of serial killer. Lots of things buzzed through my mind, taking twists and turns I hadn't ever thought I'd be traveling.

Death By Design has been a journey for me, and not always a pleasant one. I've researched fields I thought never to delve into as a 'contemporary' romance author. At times, the depth of the characters made me almost ill. So many emotions tug at the heroine as she struggles to find what she is searching for... her soulmate.

Over the next few weeks I'll introduce you to the characters as I work to complete their story.

From my heart to yours
Angela