A NEW FOCUS - Gearing up for Nano 2015

Seems like just a few weeks ago I had returned from an extended trip through Texas. Non-fiction was more on the forefront of my brain. Even a few days at RT could not entice me to get back to working on my novels.

NanoWriMo and my recent trip to the Ozark Creative Writers conference has flipped the proverbial switch. Yay!

While in Eureka Springs meeting up with friends who were attending the conference (I was just there to soak up the charm Eureka Springs has to offer), I spent a good amount of time working on rewriting A Christmas To Remember. Arthritis flared up and I did not get very far, but at least I was doing something in the fiction vein again. And the process felt wonderful!

I also met Tiffany Schofield from Five Star Publishing. I think she might be a good fit for my Jayson's Range series. But I warned Tiffany that the book, while having placed in competitions, was no where near pitchable - yet. She asked that we keep in touch and that I reach out to her when I am ready. Absolutely!

But first... I have fleshing out to do of the first book in the Branson Series. Additional word count needs turned into the JANO bean counter by the end of November. And Book 2 of the Branson series - How Do You Like Me Now? - is my Nano 2015 project. And once that is out of the way, then I plan to write Book 3 for JANO 2016.

I'm also teaming up with the ever so awesome Pam Labud as my crit partner. Neither of us have been able to find someone that fit or had the time, yet both need someone in our corner to point out our boo boos. We learned at RT  we are good roomies. I figure if you can room with someone (and their husband) without wanting to strangle them, you've got a good match LOL

The cauldron is bubbling and I'm anxious to start word-spilling.

I'm not going to focus much else on this blog except writer updates for the rest of the year, what with Nano then Christmas. But come January, I hope to get back to author interviews and some book reviews. So stay tuned!

Best!
~Angela

CURRENT PROJECT UPDATE! - Slow Progress

Though I'm not sure my progress is necessarily at a turtle's pace (though they can run pretty fast when the need arises. I've watched one run across my back yard after getting tapped with the lawn mower blade. Ouch!)

For those who think writing a book is easy, you are correct. Writing the story is easy. The real work begins when you switch to polishing mode. Correcting grammar and punctuation, staying in the proper Point of View, internalization, deep Point of View, etc. When you can resolve all of those issues in your manuscript, you've earned your paycheck.

I thought all of these things had been done years ago in Ozakr Angel.. now renamed A Christmas To Remember. The story went through a professional editor (yes, she is a professional. She edits for a big name in Inspirational Fiction), received favorable comments from two Sil. Special Edition editors and even got 'The Call' (though after unable to connect with the editor, I wound up with a form rejection letter six months later. Probably for the best). With all these positives, the story still does not score well in competitions where editors and agents are the final judges. Hmmm

Then I heard something from writer friend Jen Nipps last week. She said a friend of hers believes that if the story doesn't score well in competition then it is pretty much publishable. Interesting. As a judge I try to be honest. If  I see issues I leave comments as well as where they can go to learn how to fix the problem. I also praise the things they have done correctly and there have been several over the years when I tell them to let me know when the book is released. Their submission is that good!

So where does that leave me with 'Christmas'? Well, as I tried to prep Chapter 1 for competition I saw a lot of issues that were never caught in the beginning. So now my quandry is, do I play to the competition or go with what has been doing well the way the manuscript is and send it back out. My internal judge (Not the internal editor - but the person who would judge this for competition) tells me I have work to do. So Camp Nano has been put aside and in between work and a journaling class, I'm trying to see the clearing for the forest.

CURRENT PROJECT UPDATE!

I thought I'd get into the Christmas spirit a bit. With Hallmark Channel running their holiday romances and me working on edits for A Christmas To Remember, this picture just seemed appropriate.

I did not accomplish as much as I'd hoped in June. I had an unexpected death in my writing family the weekend the first round of family was to arrive so things got  off to a hectic start. I did make edit notations and hope to implement those today - once I find where the manuscript got put as the revolving door of family began. 

The Ozarks Romance Authors writing competition - The Weta Nichols deadline is July 15th. Yeah.. not that far off. My beta reader is scheduled for a brief hospital visit on Wednesday so time is not really on my side at this moment but I'm pushing forward. I'm excited about the conference and competition this year because of who our two final round judges - Lousie Fury (Historical and YA? Middle Grade) from The Bent Agency and Candace Havens (Contemporary/ Paranormal/ Sci-Fi representing Entangled Publishing. 

Louise has been a supporter of ORA for several years. We are blessed to have her. I have been in Candace's YahooGroup for the past nine years. She and I have a lot of writing in common. We both write romance AND are entertainment writers. Though I have to tell you, while people think I am the energizer bunny, Candace is the super bunny. The woman never stops. She is my idol. 

So now that my desk is in its 'forever home' and the workspace is coming together, I hope to get back on a regular schedule. The cats already know that this is my new office and usually beat me to the door in the mornings. 

After all the company had left, Bob and I took three days in Branson. Bob knew up front this was part work and part pleasure (I really don't do a 'vacation' any other way LOL). While we took in shows and did some sightseeing, I was making notes and taking pictures for visual research for the Branson Series. I fell in love with Branson Landing. I'd never been before and now have an idea for Book 3. 

If you are in Branson, check out The Revolutionists. These guys are pretty amazing illusionists. Each of the five have their own area of expertise and they use audience participation. 

Off to start my week!

CURRENT PROJECT UPDATE!

Yesterday kicked off Book In A Month with The Writer's Zone... an on-line writing group I've overseen for at least fifteen years. While members have come and gone, our core has always been the same... WRITE! Whether we write for fifteen minutes a day or participate in an all-day sprint marathon, we dedicate time every month to just getting the story down. Some months are better than others as progress goes an whether or not we FOCUS on the project at hand is the key ingredient.

In January, when I kicked off the first one of 2015 both as a Zone leader and a member of the JANO group (led by Sleuth's Ink writing group from Springfield MO), I had a rocky beginning. But once I dove into Book 1 in the Branson series... and wrote every day... I found the story flowing. As is usual the case when I get into a project, I fell in love with my characters.

How Do You Like Me Now (Book 1) introduced me to Jennifer and Blake. Tragedy separated them at a young age and their story begins with a reuniting and a second chance to find happiness together. While I loved Jennifer and Blake, I was drawn to the secondary characters (which is usually my pitfall). Kim is a widow with two pre-teen girls. Her husband is a casualty of the Afghanistan war. All she's had time for in the year since his death is doing what he would have wanted her to do... carry on. When she meets country music heart-throb Trevor, she begins to take that step... steps toward her own second chance at happiness. 

While I don't have a title for Book 2 yet, I'm sure a song will pop into my head as I write.

I am also going to be working on edits from my first manuscript, A Christmas To Remember. I really want to see this book published - whether Indie or through traditional channels. I've believed in this story from day one and I feel after many close calls, the time has come for this book to shine. The first step is to polish the mechanics a bit more (I've learned a lot since the story's first rounds with editors) and hopefully pitch to an editor or agent during the Ozarks Romance Authors conference in September.

Mix in trying to strip furniture for the new office space, tidy the house in time for family guests next week and I have plenty to keep me busy this week. 

What are you working on?

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

"I am not responsible for content posted about any of the conferences and events. I will let you know which ones I have attended or participated in. Please contact the conference site directly for current information."

Okay... commercial out of the way. Now let's talk conferences & workshops. There are a TON out there. You only have to look. Three websites I have always found helpful are SHAW GUIDES, WRITE DEVAS and RESOURCES FOR WRITERS by Jodi Renner. Book mark those links and refer to them next time you're on the hunt for a writer's conference.

This week I'm going to direct you to Bear River Writer's Conference. This conference takes place at the University of Michigan May 28 - June 1, 2015. From my reading, this one reminds me a lot of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Academic quality workshops, notable speakers and great networking opportunities. If funds are tight, don't count yourself out. They also offer scholarships.

Anytime you attend a conference I spotlight, please email me or leave a comment to let me know what you thought. Let us learn from the experiences of others.

Happy Writing!
Angela

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - Lisa Medley

Blurb: A small group of reapers and supernatural beings in Meridian, Arkansas are all that stands between humanity and the apocalypse when a fallen angel stages a demonic invasion. In their battle to save the world, each will meet his or her match, discovering the power of love…and the importance of risking everything to protect it.

Yeah... today is all about my favorite reaper/ author.. Lisa Medley. I love her covers almost as much as I love the series. If you've not read these, what are you waiting for? In the mean time, let's get to know Lisa.

1) Why do you write? I write primarily about monsters in love. My Reaper Series is dark urban fantasy and Haunt My Heart is paranormal romance. I am currently working on a sci-fi/space opera romance called Space Cowboys & Indians (available Fall 2015) and while there is a monster (alien), alas, it will have no love.

2) What is your ‘Daily Mantra’ for writing? What gets you to your keyboard above other activities? Time to make the words. I like watching that word count accumulate, and I track it on a notebook page by my laptop so it’s very visual. I don’t write every day, but I average around 500-1000 words an hour. A couple of hours in the evening after everyone has gone to bed can still be very productive.


3) What is the best writing advice you ever received? Stop writing in the passive tense. I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but as soon as a seasoned author in my writing group pointed it out, I saw it and corrected it. Live and write in the moment! Make those scenes active not passive.

4) What is your favorite genre to write and why? I like the fantastic and the more monsters the better. I’ve just always been drawn to the things that go bump in the night. I just don’t like human monsters. They are truly scary.


5) What is the one key career you remember from your childhood of wanting to be when you grew up? Oh man! I first wanted to be a marine biologist like Jacque Cousteau. Of course, I live in the Midwest so that was problematic. Also, apparently there is a lot of math in science involved in that career choice. Problem number two. The second option was journalism. That didn’t pan out either. I ended up being an English Teacher for three dog years and now I work as a blood drive consultant for a local blood bank. Yep, I’m a vampire. Go figure.

Website 

Reap& Repent Bk 1 

Reap& Redeem Bk 2 

Reap& Reveal Bk 3 

HauntMy Heart 

OR

Find all of my books on my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE http://amzn.to/12FvJeN

New Release Newsletter http://eepurl.com/9Zhcz

Read for all of my books for FREE on KINDLE UNLIMITED.

CONTESTS & CONFERENCES - Arkansas Writers Conference

"I am not responsible for content posted about any of the conferences and events. I will let you know which ones I have attended or participated in. Please contact the conference site directly for current information."

Okay... commercial out of the way. Now let's talk conferences & workshops. There are a TON out there. You only have to look. Three websites I have always found helpful are SHAW GUIDES, WRITE DEVAS and RESOURCES FOR WRITERS by Jodi Renner. Book mark those links and refer to them next time you're on the hunt for a writer's conference.

This week I want to take you to Little Rock, Arkansas. Though I've not attended the conference, I have participated in their annual writing contests - and won a few here and there. This conference is put together by great people who know what they are doing. I'm talking about the Arkansas Writer's Conference. One woman you will find in attendance as long as she is able is the lovely Arkansas Poet Laurette, Peggy Vining. Such a sweet lady and wonderful poet. I have known Miss Peggy for over 25 years and she is the one who first told me about the Arkansas Penwomen and this conference.

Though the deadline has passed to enter this year's competition, there is still time to register for the conference which takes place June 5 - 6.

Anytime you attend a conference I spotlight, please email me or leave a comment to let me know what you thought. Let us learn from the experiences of others.

Happy Writing!
Angela