Author: tamaramorning

The Werewolves are Winning

I’ve been really bad about keeping this blog updated lately. Sorry. On the up side, I have been getting a lot of writing done. A lot. I’m a little over 50k into the sequel to Witches. That’s flowing along pretty well, and the action is heating up. I’m being mean to Bali at the moment, but hey, somebody’s gotta do it, right? She’ll thank me later, when everything blows over. (Probably.)

I’ve been busy killing zombies, too. Being as gross as possible is pretty cool. And I’ve actually really enjoyed writing two military men characters. Most of my characters are normally fairly clean-mouthed. But not Sammy and Luke. Not in this chapter, anyway. But what can you expect when you’re under attack by hordes of flesh-craving zombies? They’re very persistent, I’ll give them that. Sammy, as usual, provides a shot of humor to even the direst situation. I’ll be sorry to finish writing him…

Not to mention getting to know Chance’s new high school in the Werewolf story. Can I just say that she has a really crappy first day at her new school? It’s great, really. For me. Not for her. (She’d probably hate me, and rightly so.) She is so much fun to write. Clearly, I haven’t progressed much (mentally) past my high school days. Or so it seems when I sit down to write her. She practically jumps through the keyboard and onto the page, full of snarky comments and attitude (not to mention her to-die-for wardrobe). Her new friend Benjy has really surprised me, too. I had no idea he was going to turn out quite like he has. Actually, even though the sequel to Witches is coming along so well, and I’m enjoying the zombie story, too, my Muse is itching to play in Chance’s world almost exclusively. I know discipline is good for a writer, but it seems like I get my pages done for Chance in a split second, and sometimes, it’s a whole lot harder to hit my goals on the other stories. I think I’m going to have to devote one day a week completely to Chance’s story. That should satisfy my Muse, and give her incentive to hit my goals on anything else I’m working on. Sounds like a plan.

I probably won’t post here again until sometime late next week. I’ll be flying to Dallas this Thursday, and then my best friend and I are driving to Tulsa for Conestoga. This year should be interesting. It’s in April instead of July this year, so most of the “regular” writers won’t be there. I’m a little disappointed, but I’m looking at it as an opportunity to find new favorites. After all, I didn’t know most of the regulars when I first went to Conestoga in 2007.

No, I Haven’t Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth…

…Why do you ask? I did go on a trip home to Texas at the end of March for a week, so that kind of knocked me out of my routine. But now I’m getting back into the swing of things, and making significant progress.

I’ve finished up this round of edits for the Atlantis story, now tentatively titled Heart of the Sea. I’ll be looking for beta readers for it soon, but I think this draft is stronger than the last one. I’m a little too close to it at this point to be sure, so only time will tell.

The zombie story is actually coming along quite well. The rest of it is completely figured out and outlined. Yay! I think that’s one thing that sort of held me back when I worked on my chapters: not knowing quite how everything would work out. Roughly twelve chapters left, so maybe three months or so until the first draft is finished. The chapter I’m working on now should be fun, lots of zombie blood and guts!

The werewolf story is actually smoothing out now. I went back and wrote a couple of chapters over the main turning point in Chance’s life. I wanted to get the details of what had happened worked out in my mind, and I wanted to see if my first instinct to start in the other spot was correct. It was, but writing those chapters gave me a much better feel for the story itself and what’s going on. Surprisingly, it’s going well, considering I’m working outline-free.

The sequel to Witches is going very well right now. I’m about 30k in, and the characters, my old friends, are still very much alive and breathing for me. I know where this one is going, and I’m having a lot of fun. It’s good to get back to my oldest set of characters. I’m hoping everything keeps coming together like it has been.

Milestone

Today I started writing the sequel to Witches. I was terrified to touch the keyboard. Terrified. I spent roughly 7 1/2 years working on Witches (Not that it’s done yet. Oh, no. Not by any means.), and it’s my baby. So I’m terribly afraid to mess up its little sister. Even though this story is completely outlined already, and ready to go. I was still scared to start writing.

But when I made myself start, it flowed surprisingly easy. The characters were just there, in my head, right where I left off. Like it hadn’t been two years since I did anything but editing on the story. It was great, really. And unlike last time, I already know all the horrible things I’m going to do to my characters…

Randomness

For the past two weeks, I’ve felt like I have absolutely no spare time at all in my life. There is so much that I want to get done, and there really aren’t anywhere near enough hours in the day to get it all done. And I’m not just talking about writing-related things, either.

I’ve tried to really make working out a priority in my life right now. Getting up early and going before work, going on my days off. It’s hard, and I’d much rather be doing other things, but I know it’s worth it. It just seems like it sucks up so much of my time! I’ve barely had any time to read for the past couple of weeks, which is beyond unusual for me. Normally, I read something every day, even if it’s only a couple of pages. Lately, there have been days where I haven’t read anything at all (or at least nothing strictly for enjoyment).

I’ve been reading the story I’m critting in a novel swap, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I actually got pretty sucked into it last night and read about thirty pages or so. Now I’m twenty pages from the end, and looking forward to the rest of it.

Other than that, I haven’t been getting much accomplished. I’m re-reading Tempest of Angels right now, trying to figure out how to make it stronger. Haven’t had any revelations in that department yet, but I’m hoping.

The HTTS lesson did not go terribly well. I gave my Muse what I wanted, and a deadline, and my Muse proceeded to pretty much ignore me. Until the deadline passed. Then I got one idea with a bit of detail, and today, two more ideas with little-to-no detail. Sigh. Please, Muse, can you help me out here?

Calling Down Lightening

Dear Muse:

I know Holly said all I had to do was tell you what I needed, and get out of the way, but I must admit, I’m skeptical. I’m not trying to cast doubts on your abilities, I just don’t know how well you perform under pressure. But I’m not going to pressure you. I just want to clarify my request a little bit more.

I said I needed three unrelated story ideas, ideas unique to me, and based on words and concepts from my Sweet Spot Map, any genre, any length, deadline one week. To be slightly more specific, I would like:

One epic or high fantasy idea
One paranormal idea
One mainstream idea

Also any length, and the deadline is still one week. I know you’re busy playing with the ideas right now, and I just want to thank you in advance, Muse, for what will be, I’m sure, wonderful ideas.

Love,

Me

January

I didn’t come anywhere near hitting my goals for January. At all. Guess that’s what I get for setting such high goals, huh? I’m really not stressing about it, though. I started on the werewolf story, made it to the second chapter, and stalled out, probably because I was writing without any sort of plan. Then I discovered the HTTS class, which I’m going to use on this story. So really, although I’m not actively writing this story, I’m still working on it. (At least, that’s how I’m wording it to myself.)

The zombie story fell by the wayside this month, too. But, my co-writer had a computer meltdown, so we couldn’t really email about things like we normally do. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.) I am currently working on a chapter, though. And it should be finished up today.

I also did a novel swap in January that wasn’t anywhere in my plans for the year. Unplanned, maybe, but greatly appreciated and enjoyed. (Thanks, Dale!) I got some good things out of the crit I received, and as always, learned a lot from the crit I did.

Now, I’m off to work on Lesson Two of the HTTS class: Making a Sweet Spot Map.

What I’ve Been Reading

Caine, Rachel: Chill Factor (01/03/09)
Caine, Rachel: Windfall (01/04/09)
MacInerney, Karen: On The Prowl (01/08/09)
Caine, Rachel: Lord of Misrule (01/10/09)
Frost, Jeanine: At Grave’s End (01/11/09)
Black, Jenna: The Devil’s Due (01/14/09)
Evanovich, Janet: Plum Spooky (01/16/09)
Gaskell, Whitney: Good Luck (01/17/09)*
Banks, L.A.: Bite the Bullet (01/21/09)
Henry, Mark: Happy Hour of the Damned (01/24/09)*

These are the books I’ve read so far this year. Currently, I’m reading three hardcopy books simultaneously, and seven through DailyLit. (Which is awesome, by the way, but I tend to get over-excited and grab a ton of books all at once. Which is why I’m reading seven.)

I see this list is skewed heavily in favor of Rachel Caine. What can I say? I love gift cards for Christmas! And I’ve been dying to read Lord of Misrule for months. Seriously, though, the endings just kill me. And I’m now hooked on the Weather Warden books as well.

Mark Henry was a new author to me. Sort of. I did sit in on one of the panels he was in last year at Conestoga (And yes, the whole zombie sex comment he made contributed to my buying this book–that was too funny to pass up.) This book had me laughing out loud! Zombie fashionistas, a flamboyant vampire, and psychotic baristas? Oh, yeah. I’m there. Normally, footnotes in a fiction book drive me crazy, but these just made me laugh harder. I will definitely be buying Road Trip of the Dead when it comes out next month.

And speaking of laughing, if you want to read a book that will immediately make you feel like your life isn’t as bad as you thought, read Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell.

Interference

Why is it, when you have things all planned out, that something has to come along and interfere with your plans? I had a ton of stuff I needed/planned to do this weekend, and most of it has gone undone. Thankfully, I’m off again tomorrow, so it’s not the end of the world. But still. If I didn’t have to do things tomorrow that I planned to do today, I’d get a lot more done (Was that confusing?).

I’m a compulsive list-maker, and I always fill out my planner on Sunday night for the week ahead. And then highlight it in specific colors for specific projects (Did I mention I tend to be anal about organization, too?). I love being able to mark things off when I get them done, and it drives me crazy seeing things not marked off my list. So, today? Not looking so good. I still haven’t even finished all the things from yesterday I was supposed to do. But I will…eventually. If not tonight, then tomorrow for sure.

So, I’m still working on my projects for this year. Most of them, anyway. Still haven’t done any work for the werewolf story outside of the HTTS class, but I’m letting it stew in my mind. I have a feeling that will work out pretty well for me. I hope everyone else is making progress on their goals for the year. Apparently, I should have added “Be more disciplined” to my own goals.

Falling Behind Already

I did have some big, audacious goals for this year. I wanted to write half of my werewolf story this month. So far, I’m on chapter two. 🙂 For a while there, Chance didn’t have much to say to me, so writing just wasn’t happening. Now, I’m struggling with not knowing where the story goes next. Apparently, writing without an outline just doesn’t work for me. At all. So I clearly need an outline before I go any farther.

Which (sort of) brings me to the next thing: I signed up for Holly Lisle’s How To Think Sideways class. I’m doing the 12-month course, so I’ve only received the first lesson, but I’ve been reading the comments and questions on the boards, and I really think I can get a lot from this class. So I’ve decided to use the werewolf story for HTTS. Which means I won’t be actually writing it just yet. Not that that means I won’t get it done this year. Just that I won’t be doing it exactly when I had planned.

Other than that, I’m in the middle of a novel swap with someone (the Atlantis story), and I’m about to swap the 2YN story with someone else. Of course, neither one of those crits were in my plans for this year, but I’m really enjoying the one I’m working on, and looking forward to the next. I always learn so much doing crits.

And that’s it for me. For now, anyway.

2009: Or, The Year Of Audacious Goals

While I’m satisfied with what I accomplished in 2008, I’m not entirely happy with it. There were several things that I didn’t get done that I really wanted to. But…that’s okay. No matter how much I try, I can’t always do everything. It’s the trying that’s the important part. This year, I made a list of things that I wanted to write or edit, and really thought about whether or not I could do them. And I think I can. So, I made all of them my goals for this year. They are all in the notebook I keep for monthly goals, and I’ve planned out what I’m going to work on in each month (I can’t help it, I’m OCD about planning stuff like that).

I want to either finish, or write first drafts for six stories:
-Zombie story (finish)
-Werewolf story
-Witches II
-2YN II
-Ash’s story
-Mena’s story

I want to edit five stories:
-Tempest of Angels
-Werewolf story
-Zombie story
-Witches II
-2YN II

I want to polish three stories:
-2YN
-Witches
-Atlantis story

I want to start subbing two stories:
-2YN
-Atlantis story

My personal goals:
-Read 165 books.
-Learn one Japanese lesson per month.
-Start a professional website (I sort of gave up on this one last year, but I’m giving it another go this year).
-Run 5 miles in less than an hour.
-Do 10 pull-ups.

And to top it all off, I want to write 300,000 new words this year. Now, this might sound like the most audacious goal of all, considering my word count goal for 2008 was 250,000, and I only wrote 163,000 words. But I’ve set individual word count goals for each of the stories that I intend to write, and if I hit those goals, the 300k will be no problem at all.

So, what are everyone else’s goals?