New Year New Resolutions?

Ok, so it's the new year. What does that mean to me? To be honest. Not a whole lot. I made my resolution a few months ago. I am going to sit down and write. I have decided that writing should not be a reward for accomplishing the day to day things I have to. I used to say to myself, "If I get the laundry done now, I can devote a few hours to writing." Not anymore. Now it is I'll do an hour of writing and then do the laundry. It is amazing how much I get done, both writing and around the house. So my advice to all you writers or artists or anyone who has a passion is to make time to do what you love and let the rest be for everything else.

I am in the process of writing another book. I finished Beauty and the Beast. It is sitting aside right now. I am giving it some time to settle. I'll go back and edit it and then get my confidence in it built up and go back to the agent search yet again. So wish me luck, though I am pretty proud of it. At least right now.

The great search

Krisina and I are on a mission. We are looking for ideas for ways to describe a character. My big thing is the face...I am tired of the chiseled jaw and the heartshape face. so I am in search of some new ideas. How to describe...how to describe. So we have spent hours typing in searches on google and other search engines, searching for the right words to use to find the right words to use when describing something...kinda ironic if you think about, needing to find the right words to find the right words. So I am off to search some more. At this rate, I am going to be up until 2 am like Kristina every day until I find that perfect website or book out there.

MIA back in action

Ok, so it has been a long time since I wrote, both here and for any of my works in progress. But I got a reminder this morning from a fellow writer who follows this blog and lives right down the street. So here I am. I actually had a brain storm for a new novel...that makes four wip, but hey, I have so many voices going I am eager for any of them to talk. I hit a dry spell after I recieved the rejection letter of all times for me. I had sent out the first three chapters to an agent who had requested it and waited four months to hear from her. When I recieved the chapters back with the rejection letter, I was pissed. Not because I was rejected, but because there was no evidence of the agent even turning the pages and the rejection letter appeared to be a form letter! Perhaps this is standard now, but from what I have heard many agents at least used to make a few notes and state what they thought was wrong. Not just "your voice didn't speak to me as I had hoped."....As I hoped? Doubt it. So I am a bit bitter about agents right now and have set my first manuscript aside. I have changed my writing a lot since I finished that novel and perhaps will someday go back to it and get it published after I published every other novel I finish! Isn't that what a lot of authors do?

This new friend who I don't know much about also trains horses, so Kristina - thanks for getting me off my butt and back in the saddle!

Robin

GMC

GMC - no not the car finance company. Goal, Motivation and Conflict - I'm working on Pru's right now. Not that I don't really know it, but trying to bundle it up and put it in one sentence. her overall goal is to change her life, but what unsatisfied person doesn't want that? so she has lots of little goals - get a new job, get a social life (which doesn't necessarily mean meeting Mr. Right), and some unknown sense of satisfaction...she is not sure where to find it, but thinks if she can meet the other goals, maybe she will find it - guess that is her motivation right there. I am not going to go into the conflict - that is the book, without conflict - no book.

now, Belle - I know her goal - survive christmas with the family...I am stuck on the motivation...what makes you want to survive with family??? Now there is a question. I have the conflict for that one too...lots of it! Of course she is talking to me right now....so off I go to write.

Kenosha writers group

Well, I just came from my first meeting of a writers' group. It was a local one that you can check out the work - I am not on there yet, but will be shortly - just have to get my butt in gear and write a bio. The link is http://kenoshawritersgroup.com . What is really cool is we are working on a collection - 365 Mondays - while the work in progress will be posted on line at the site, when it is all done, it will be in book form via www.lulu.com I have a meeting with the Wisc RWA on Saturday and will fill you in after that too. Kenosha was very diverse - all kinds of ages and all kinds of writing. Several people read. It was at this cute little coffee shop downtown Kenosha. Any writers in the area should really check it out.

revise revise revise

I am experiencing something new with Don't Touch. It is not panning out to be as long as I want, so I am going back and adding more in... It is very different from On Loan - that just flew out of me, I guess you could say that Pru was very talkative. Ella is quite different. She is not so quick to open up, but that is part of who she is. It is great to be able to flush her out with someone else. Michael was doing it this morning and it has left me with a lot to think about. It is hard sometimes though, I want to talk to other romancers...he is a sci-fi/horror - not exactly the same stuff or the same format really.

I am very excited this week - I have two writer's group meetings. This will be the first time that I have any contact like this since High School. Thursday is for a local group that is made up of all kinds of writers. They sound pretty fun loving, so we will see...I just don't want to go to a "pity me" or "I can do better than you" meeting. It needs to be more of a support group - I can see it now - Hi, My name is Robin, I have been writing for 2 years." No, not the aa thing...I hope!

the second one is with my Romance Writer's group and I am so psyched about it. I have talked to a couple of ladies via email and can't wait to meet up with them. I am thinking about sending the first Chapter of Don't Touch to a couple of them for input....we'll see.

Write brain exercise day ten

Use the directional words as you get them. Start with:
Just like the little red caboose my son is slowly making progress. I don't think he'll give up easily. Each day his speech gets a little better, a little clearer. We have battled aproxia for over two years. Two years of special school and speech therapy. It doesn't seem right, to put a little boy through all this, to rob him of some part of his childhood. What's left is struggle, attempts to be understood, to communicate with others who don't know him. Some times he is stronger than me. He continues to try, to repeat himself, communitcate in different ways. They say he'll learn somewhere down the road. he'll be like the others; he'll play and talk like the others. Someday, like the little red caboose, he'll say I know I can.