Synopsis

Yep, that's what i'm doing at the moment!
I had gone through and put a comment at the beginning of each chapter with a brief overview of what happens to the characters, their arcs etc and am now going through and trying to piece it together.
So far i'm up to two single spaced pages!
HMB like 2 double spaced pages, so this is going to be hard!

Do you have any tips you want to share about synopsis'?
I'll be posting some over the next week, stay tuned :)

Passed vs Past

Does anyone else have problems with knowing when to use the correct one?
Going through my ms, i have been struck with the knowledge that i am confused by it, so much so that i change them from one to the other and back again, but still don't think i know!

I try to remember that:
* Passed is the past participle of to pass

And,
* Past refers to time. (But that changes when someone walks past a shop!)

This article is very good, but i still don't think i have a handle on it.

Can anyone help out? How do you know which one to use?

I've finished my draft!

Yay, i wrote the final words for Billie and Cooper's HEA yesterday!

It's a bit under 50,000 but i'm sure this will come up with edits and rewrites. I'm actually looking forward to this part, i have something to work with as opposed to having a blank screen for the what happens next!

Well, i'm going to draft my synopsis - yes you can shudder! - and get the first chapter polished, because i think it needs tweaking even though i had polished it already for the NV comp!
Then sub, Ahh!

Any advice or encouragement for the editing and rewrite stage, even the synopsis is greatly appreciated!

Nano is awesome for encouraging you to write - i've written the most in two weeks that i have EVER written. Bring on next year!

Drained and a realisation

I've just written 2,900 words. That is the most i've written in a sitting ever!
Of course it helps that it is a highly charged, emotional scene, where Billie and Cooper confront their conflicts and realisation dawns. But at a price.
Man am i drained! I am leaving Cooper on the cusp of his realisation of Billie's true conflict - which i only just discovered in this scene and now have to rewrite parts of the story to tighten what had been a rather weak conflict! - as i have nothing left.
For my nano count today is awesome:
day 11 total: 2,897
first word: As
Last word: what?"
Fav line: Before he could respond she stepped forward and he caught that scent, so intoxicating to his senses, like a visible drug, he was forced to pause, inhale deeply, involuntarily.


I actually have more fav lines but as i will probably edit them, this is the one that stands out for me, shows the impact billie has on Cooper and his unwillingness at this stage in the story to deny it. I'm now at 44,567 words and am right on the finish line. I'm so excited!
Hope you are all doing well, your muse has struck and your fingers are flying on the keyboard as mine has tonight! If not, i hope it comes to you soon :)
Good night.

weepy moments

How do you feel writing those moments that really tug on the heartstrings?
I find them the easiest to write, always have, even when i was at school.
Why am i asking this?
Today my son is 5 and it's his first day at school. I'm feeling emotional.
check out the photos from my family blog of one of my biggest weaknesses: My gorgeous little man!

Interrupted!

My husband came home last night - he's been away for a week for work! - and interrupted my plans to continue writing last evening. But i don't care!
I've missed him so much so the interruption was a good one!

Day 5 total: 889

Fav line: Cooper, passionate, hot, sexy as hell had turned into a cold, emotionless figure of himself.


Total so far for Nano: 4,400! with a few odd more words :)


I'm stoked! This is the most i've written in a week - sad isn't it?!
But the way i'm going this will be finished in no time!

What have you read in October?

I'd realised i hadn't done a post on what we are reading this month for October!

I've just finished Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.
If any of you have read her Highlander series you will understand why i wanted to try this series.
Her writing is compelling. In the Highlander series Moning had woven the fae fantasy so well with the modern, the characters are believable and the sensuality is sky high, gosh, i just couldn't put those seven or so books down!
This series is just as compelling. Much darker with the threat to the main character and the world as the Fae, Unseelie are being unleashed onto Earth and devouring humans without them knowing.
It hasn't bothered me that there is no underlying or even overlying romance. I am getting a hint as i'm reading the second book, Bloodfever, of attraction between Mackayla and Barrons, her mentor if you could call him that.

here is the blurb:

My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I'm a sidhe-seer, one who sees the Fae, a fact I accepted only recently and very reluctantly.

My philosophy is pretty simple--any day nobody's trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven't had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, there's not a sidhe-seer alive who's had a good day since then.

When MacKayla's sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death--a cryptic message on Mac's cel phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed--a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae....

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho Barrons...while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane--an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women--closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book--because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands....

I really recommend anything written by Karen Marie Moning. She just has, well, that extra something about her writing, that i can't really put my finger on. But i so wish i could write like that!

So what have you been reading that you would recommend?



As to Nano. Yesterday day 3, i churned out another 1,300 words! But today? Well, ah, a mere 300. In my defense this is the first time all day i've been on the computer. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Book of your Heart vs Book to sell

eHarlequin, as part of their editorial week have a great podcast on this topic.
They talk about giving readers what they want and what they didn't know they wanted. This is the combination of a story of your book and a book to sell, which uses the themes and hooks of popular stories, but giving them your unique voice and twist.
It really is about how to stand out from the crowd and selling your book, and still writing the book of your heart.
Well worth a listen!

NaNo day 2

Word count today:1,376

First word: Damn

last word: door

Fav Line: (i have too many - or maybe i don't have any!)

Total Nano word count:  1,816

My word count is pitiful in comparison to some of the other NaNoers. Natalie Anderson, one of our very own published kiwis tapped out 4k! I'm going to have to be VERY disciplined to get that kind of word count per day.

But this is a great way to see how much others write daily and a great motivator too! I'm going to push for a much higher word count tomorrow - my day 3, lots of people's day 2.

Billie and Cooper finally had their night, with devastating results! Now Cooper has gone to fix it but found out Billie's big secret...I've left him about to knock on her door.

Oh i hope the words flow because it's getting really intense.

How are you all doing with your WIP's?

NaNoWriMo

A few of you probably already know what this is, for those who don't it means:
National Novel Writing Month. It should be INTERnational!

I've signed up this year through eHarlequin, basically because i can set my own goal instead of the 50k the real NaNo does.
You join the forum and check out how many words other are doing and get support and advice from the others in the community (I think!). I'll update as i go along.

It's 9pm on November 1st in NZ, i haven't written anything yet, but i'm guessing it's only morning in the UK - i think that's where eHarlequin are based.

Okay, so i'm about to get started and then will post my progress.
Good luck to those doing it! Should be fun - or at least get your story written :)

10pm added: 439 words tonight, pitiful, but i have a headache. Can't bear to stare at the screen any longer. Goodnight!
Words written today: 439
First line: With
Last line: mother
Fav line:

Quickly she gathered her clothes, moving in an elegant ballet of naked limbs and the scent of blueberries.

total NaNo words: 439.