Progress

Almost 18, 000 words and counting on my wip. I have been trying to complete the whole manuscript in 2 weeks by writing 20 pages a day, but I am definitely behind already. The weekend was a little harsh to write through.

I may have been slightly distracted by Pleasure of a Dark Prince, which was awesome! Not only did the book take my mind on a journey through different places and realities, but it also was romantic, and I was pulling for the couple from the moment they met.

I love the way Kresley Cole creates strong, sexy alpha males, who protect and fight for their women, but even better, she creates heroines that can love and kick butt fiercely as well.

I certainly hope to complete my wip by the end of the week. I will have to up the page output, but I'm motivated like never before to be able to type The End.

New Read!

Yes! Yes! Yes! (Shaking my booty around the room, hands in the air)

I happily have in my possession the new Kresley Cole addition to the Immortals After Dark series--Pleasure of a Dark Prince. I have literally been waiting somewhat patiently for months to read this book. I have read all her other books (many of them several times), and I was more than ready to delve back into this hot, hot world. If you've never read the series, you don't have to start with the first one (A Hunger Like No Other or technically, the short in the anthology Playing Easy to Get), but be forewarned, they are addictive, and you will never be the same.

On a personal note, I am taking Candace Haven's online writign course through Orange County Romance Writers--Fast Draft, and as a result, I am now over 11,000 words on my wip. What's more, I can't wait to get back to it to try to get 20 more pages today. It's a challenge, and I love a new challenge.

Happy writing and reading!

Rolling Along

Yep, that's right. I'm up to 7700 words, and the book is going well. Sure, I get a little unsure when my characters try to lead me down a different path from what I originally planned, but I feel good about it right now.

I do love these characters and this plot. I just have to stick with it through the tough parts when I don't know how to make it work. I have to trust that it will.

I can't wait for the new Kresley Cole installment in the Immortals After Dark series--Pleasure of a Dark Prince. I have been trying to be patient, but it is working about as well as a hole in the wall for a window. I can tolerate it, but I don't like it.

It's out this Tuesday (although it can be ordered online right now), and I have a gift card from my birthday that's getting a little to hot to hold onto.

New Writing Schedule

I have a new regiment for writing lately. I have to say that I know other writers utilize this tool because I read it on a well-known author's website--so it must work, right? It's simple. A timer set for 30 minutes, non-stop writing, evaluation at the end of the 30, then continue for another 30, if it's working. All in all, it's worked for a total of two days and about 2,500 words, 10 pages. I don't know if it would work for everyone, but, let's face it, I have a short attention span, so...what was I saying?

Pressing on with current WIP.

Great Music

So, I recently downloaded the new Paramore album, and at the risk of being too old to be listening to it, I. LOVE. IT! There is not a song on the whole album that I don't find myself singing at awkward moments because they're just that good. "Ignorance is your new best friend," is probably not something to be singing at the top of your lungs at the gym, but I can't seem to help myself.

I'm drumming and bobbing my head so much that, more than likely, someone's going to try to save my from a "seizure" if I'm not more careful about when and where I get into the songs. Anyway, this is my way of saying that if you're not familiar with Paramore, Brand New Eyes is a great album to listen to (and to write to).

Can you ever go home again?

So, my family and I took a trip to visit my extended family in a rural area of West Virginia. I have such fond memories of my grandparent's farm, and feel that much of my current way of interacting with the world, can be traced back to time spent getting dirty, doing risky things, and exploring nature on said farm. Yet now, I find that the adult that I am struggles to stand on common ground with the family that I visit three or four times a year. At one time, my extended family were the people who grounded me. It was the place that I always felt unconditionally loved and accepted. And, to a certain extent that will always be true, but now that I am in a different state, educated with a career, I find that there are certain discrepancies between our values, beliefs, and opinions about how one should live one's life.

Conversations often come to a standstill, and I feel like there's a club I just don't belong to. I'm not sure that it will ever change, so I continue to feel like someone straddling cultures and hoping no one ever calls my bluff because I would feel like I had somehow let them down. Why do I never recognize the moments they let me down? Maybe because they ingrained unconditional so deeply within me, even as they couldn't seem to follow their own teachings. The conditions get stifling sometimes, but I know who I am, and, with love for what has become truth as well as them, I refuse to allow them to affect that any more.

No Woman Is an Island

I am so thankful that I have found so many resources for writing recently. When I turn on my computer and get onto the internet, I immediatly visit a blog from an author I enjoy reading and is so gracious toward her fans. She also does an excellent job of keeping up with her blog (unlike yours truly). My first stop is www.genashowalter.blogspot.com .

Next, I like to visit Twitter. Here I follow authors Teresa Medieros, Christina Dodd, Michelle Rowen, Calistrowriter, Jill Monroe, Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole, and of course, Gena Showalter.

If I am still procrastinating from writing, I like to visit romance writers of america website where I can access so many authors' websites, many of whom are nice enough to give tips, hints, or whole articles about writing.

One of the most interesting and best resources are audio of authors discussing their own experiences. I like Will Write for Wine, AuthorTalk, and Christina Dodd's 2006 speech given at an RWA convention http://christinadodd.com/rwaspeech2006.html

There are always resources out there, and I am so excited to finish my current wip. Now, if I can just get offline with enough time to write, I might actually be able to finish.

Love and pages,

Kiera M.