WORD Challenge = 21 pages

It took all day, but I managed to finish 21 pages, which puts me a little ahead. Sasha arrives tomorrow at noon, so over the next week there may be some days when I won’t get much done. Hopefully, I’ll more than make up for those on our writer’s retreat.

I’ve never met anyone from the internet before, but Sasha and I converse daily, so I think we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Still, I’m a little nervous. She’s become a dear friend.

I hope everyone is doing well!

WORD Challenge = 10 pages

Well, it’s very quiet in my blog circle. I’m assuming it’s because everyone is working on meeting their WORD goals.

At least, I hope that’s what it is…

WORD Challenge = 7 pages edited

I spent most of the morning and afternoon editing the first three chapters of my ms. I’m glad because the changes I made were necessary and really added to the story. Based on suggestions from contest judges and my cps, I think I took care of an issue and I enjoyed doing it, which is always wonderful. I was really energized working on it.

The trade off, of course, is that I didn’t move ahead with the story, which means I am now almost a page a day behind. I’ll have to scramble to catch up unless I buy a laptop this weekend and really crank out a lot of edits during my three day writer’s retreat in Palm Springs with Sasha. The laptop is still not a sure thing yet. With as much as I travel, I need one, but whether it will be this weekend or next weekend when I purchase it is still up in the air.

I’m really glad everyone seems to be doing so well with the WORD Challenge. For me, it’s been a great motivator. I’m so glad this is happening now, this month, when I really need to get this ms edited. I took months with Sapphire and don’t have the luxury of doing that with this story. So I thank you all for pushing me forward!!!

Ya know… I wanted to buy a critique for the Trish Jensen fund. I have a historical I wanted to have looked at. But the coordinator for the historical category is overwhelmed I think.

I e-mailed my initial request. When I didn’t hear anything back over a week later, I e-mailed her again. She responded that she was working on the spreadsheet and would get back to me in a couple of days. Then nothing.

And more nothing.

That was two weeks ago. This past weekend I e-mailed again. The critique sale ends on Friday. She wrote back yesterday morning and said she would let me know what critiques were left when she got home.

Nothing.

So I give up. Everything happens for a reason. Apparently, I’m not supposed to get a critique.

I’m out a critique and Trish is out $40. Don’t know why I’m telling you all this, other than it’s extremely frustrating to be left hanging, for whatever the reason. And it’s been happening to me a lot lately, not just the critique coordinator, but in general.

I’m always honest about whether I can meet an obligation or not. I try never to say I’m available to do something, if I’m not. And if I do say that I am available, I will set aside everything else to get it done. I gave my word, that’s important to me. If I’m not going to be able to do the task, I say so. And if I suspect I’m not going to get it done within the specified time frame, I say that too. Before I agree. Not after I’m already late.

This turned into a rant. Sorry. This isn’t just about the critique. Several people dropped the ball on me this week.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

WORD Challenge = 8 pages cut, 5 pages edited

I cleaned the house all day today. All day.

Now it is 9:17 pm and I have yet to open my ms for editing. Still, I intend to finish at least my 10 page quota tonight. I fully intend that some of that ten is going to end up on the cutting room floor (or in my case, cut and pasted in another file).

Tomorrow, more cleaning. I’d almost forgotten how much I love my house when it’s clean. I love it all the time, but most especially when it’s spotless. There was a time when I had the cleanest house on the block.

Then I became a writer.

WORD Challenge = 15 pages edited/rewritten

Today I had “One of Those Days”. Last night, I opened Stolen and read a few chapters and thought it was terrible. Not the story, which I love, but my execution of it. Then I woke up and all day I thought, “My work sucks and I’ll never get published.”

An all-around crappy day.

Despite this, I exceeded my goal for the WORD Challenge out of simple dogged persistance. I refused to get up from my chair and walk away, I made myself muddle through even though I swore to myself that I was wasting my time. I think my mood comes from a combination of a head cold, lack of sleep, nerves from having so much of my work out there, and a natural fear that no editor or agent is ever going to want to buy or represent my work.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll be feeling better. I was really, really bummed with my own attitude today. For the first time since I started writing, I actually acknowledged to myself that I may never be published. It was a sad realization. Now, not to think that I’m just pitying myself, I also acknowledged that there was a pretty good chance that I would get pubbed eventually. So, suffice it to say, I’m just a bit off .

A bit of brightness in an otherwise dreary day–I’m getting the hang of this left hand mouse business and my scoresheets came back from the Golden Opportunity. One of the judges gave me 249 out of 250 and looking at the final list of scores, I discovered that I had the highest total overall out of all of the entries.

Here’s to hoping that tomorrow is a better day!

Sasha, for all her disappointment over contests lately (silly Sasha!!), just finaled in Tawny Taylor’s Some Like it Hot Contest!!!!!

You can read the fab excerpt of The Devil Inside here.

Congratulations, Sasha!!! I’m so thrilled for you, I can’t even tell you!!! Great job!!