I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve done it before, but this year I’m very excited because I took the time to plot out a book beforehand, mostly. I had about 3/4 of it plotted before I started writing on November 2.

(November first is a Holy Day of obligation for the Catholic Church and I don’t write on Holy Days or Sundays – those are days of rest.)

When I’ve done this in other years, I ended up “winning” (having 50,000+ words at the end of the month), but I didn’t end up with a book or even something that could be edited into a book. This year, I really think I can finish this and it will be a “real” book.

Because of my work with Crescent Moon Press, I had to miss a few days of my own writing, but today I’m only about 11,000 words from winning.

About a week or so ago, I read an article in the London Guardian (I think) that someone posted on Facebook. It was about Nora Roberts. I have to assume that if you are here, you know who she is, but for those few who always wander in looking for Doctor Who stuff, I’ll just say she is the Queen of the Romance Novel.

She’s super prolific and her fans are as fanatical as they come. I’ve been to several conferences in New Jersey that she attended back in the 90s, but I rarely stood in line to get her to sign a book because I always figured there were other authors just as worthy without the lines. I have this “Pie in the Sky,” “Pay it Forward” attitude that if I buy your book today, maybe you’ll buy mine when it comes out.

Anyway, I know lots of people love Nora, but I was always prepared to believe she was a prima donna or something. There are lots of reasons for this, which don’t matter now.

The point is that I read that she writes every day, all day, and something clicked in my head. I need to focus more on getting lots of words written every day.

This week, Thanksgiving week, my husband took the week off. He’s doing NaNo, too, and Monday we spent the whole day together. Our son had the week off, too, and he’d spent Sunday night with his grandparents. Steve and I went out to breakfast, then to lunch and sat together on our sofa and wrote all day. (We wrote in the coffee shop, too.)

I wrote over 6,000 words that day!

I think in terms of pages and that’s over 24 pages. A definite record for me.

The next day, Steve went to work because he had to teach a class, but even doing some laundry and cleaning the kitchen and going to the chiropractor, I wrote about 5,000 words – (approx. 20 pages). I proved that I could do this!

So I’m so excited about my new found productivity.

My critique group, The Rowdy Girls, has met a few times to just write. They were here last night and we worked for about four hours, just writing. Okay some talking, laughing and drinking wine, but I did end the day with 5,566 words written.

Heartla met today and we wrote for an hour.

After the meeting I had to run to Walgreens to get a Rx filled for my son. I had to wait, and fortunately there is an outlet near the chairs so I pulled out my computer, plugged her in and wrote.

When the prescription was done, the clerk apologized and asked if I’d just gotten all set up. I said no.

“I’m a writer so I try to get new stuff written whenever I can,” I said.

“I understand,” she said. “I’m a reader.”

I immediately pulled out my card and handed it to her and told her about our Readers’ Luncheon. You never know where you might find a new reader.

I hope she stops by here and says hello if she does. She made me smile today and gave me more motivation to get new words written!

Have a great day everyone, and please say hello if you stop by!

I have been thrilled to see how the people at my husband’s work respect him and come to him for advice and trust him with responsibility. I was there when he was in graduate school and for years he had no self-esteem and thought he’d never get anywhere in his chosen career. It’s been a long journey to get here but it’s paid off for him.

He says the only reason that people come to him for advice and think he knows what he’s doing is because he’s “old” now (late 40s) and has gray hair (or late least more than he used to).

An interesting thing happened to me at the last HeartLA meeting. As most of my friend know, I have no problem speaking in front of people. In fact, I love doing it, so when our vice president/program director said they needed someone to speak at the June meeting, I said I would and I asked what they wanted me to speak on.

Suddenly, everyone in the group started talking about self-editing and grammar and asking me questions about the book I edited for Crescent Moon Press and asking if I would talk about that.

I said I would, but the thing that surprised me was that all these women were asking my advice and help. One of them even asked if I would look at her book and help her with the editing. Actually, she had asked my daughter of Paperbacks and Frosting fame if she’d “review” her book and I pointed out that she’s reading published books, as it’s a review site not a critique place.

She said she really needed someone to “critique” her book although that wasn’t the word she used. I told her I’d read it.

She acted as though I’d offered her a publishing contract. “You’d really do that for me?”

I told her of course I would and we agreed that she’d send me the first few chapters as that would make her less uneasy about someone else reading it.

I came home thinking how odd it was that all these people look to me for advice and help when my last book came out SEVEN years ago.

Then I realized what it was.

I am older than most of them and I have gray hair!

Maybe they see me as the wise old woman of the group.

Or maybe I’m just the most talkative one (and I am one of the Rowdy Girls – some uncharitable people say I’m the instigator of the Rowdy Girls) and so I offer a lot of opinions and that give the illusion that I know a lot.

Maybe I shouldn’t color my hair after all.

This weekend was one I look forward to every year, even if part of the time it’s with trepidation.

The Heart of Louisiana Chapter of Romance Writers of America held their fourth annual Readers’ Luncheon, Fall in Love with Romance on Saturday, 6 Nov. S

Sherrilyn Kenyon was our main speaker.

She gave a wonderful, inspiring, touching speech. She spoke about writing because she was tormented in school for wearing hand-me-downs from her brothers. She wrote because she could take revenge on her tormentors.

I think what touched me most was how she talked about reading being her escape and how she read big name authors, the ones you know, but then she praised authors you’ve never heard of and how she read those, too, and some of them she reads over and over.

I think, as a struggling author, I dream, like many of us, of someday making it big and being a name everyone’s heard of. But yesterday I started seeing a light I hadn’t seen before. Maybe it doesn’t matter if you’re a name people know, as long as your book touches someone.

This year has been one of God reminding me in many different and small ways that writing is what I’m called to do and I need to do it regardless of how much “fame” I get.

Here was Sherrilyn Kenyon, an author who inspires such devotion in her fans that people came to Baton Rouge from as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Los Angeles to see her. She talked about how she still gets asked if she’s published anything, so apparently she’s not “a household name.” Even my father-in-law who was taking pictures asked my daughter who the red haired woman was that everyone wanted their pictures taken with! And he came to the luncheon and had her book on his chair!

Anyway, she talked about how “those simple little Harlequins” got her through dark times in her life, and how we should never dismiss them as silly little books.

I have about seven “silly little books” I’ve started, but I put them aside to work on my fantasy novels. I made a decision last week to work on polishing/finishing at least three of them that are either done or very close to it and getting them out there.

Maybe I don’t need to be a big name that everyone in RWA knows, but if my books can help someone through a dark time. Maybe that’s enough.

Oh, and here I am, as hostess/announcer for the luncheon. This is a job I do every year, along with helping to plan it, which is why I said trepidation earlier.

And for fun, here’s me hugging Sherrilyn after her talk. I think I more or less ambushed her.

And my daughter with her.

I read a fabulous post by SciFiChick today – A Small Rant about Fantasy Reviews.

Her point is that when fantasy novels are reviews they are almost invariably compared to someone else’s book and generally unfavorably. She asks if this happens in other genres.

I’ve never seen anything like this with romance novels. Has anyone else?

I don’t mean something like Hans and Franz on SNL wanting to Pump (::clap::) you up! This is a little more cerebral.

Rhonda, my friend and critique partner, mentioned that she had signed up for Sweating with Sven, and since this was in a writing context, I assumed it wasn’t some program at a nearby fitness center so I asked her about it. She sent me to this site.

I did NaNoWriMo for two years, but last year and this year I made the decision not to because I have works in progress I need to finish. NaNo is great and fun and exhausting but the major rule is that you start with something brand new on 1 Nov and right now I just cant afford to start another new work until I get some of these backlogged projects finished.

Of course, that said, I’m working on a new book – a short contemporary, something I haven’t written in a long time. And I having so much fun with this book. It’s actually fun to write a simple book after the complicated fantasies. Sword & Illusion isn’t finished, but I’m waiting for Beloved to send back his edits of Chapters 4-7 before I move on. In the meantime, I’m writing The Fairy Godmother’s Bridesmaid Dress.

It’s this book I’ll be using with 70 Days of Sweat. I’ve already set my own goal of 8 pages so writing the 4-6 days “Sven” recommends shouldn’t be too hard.

Also, I’ve gotten back to trying to do “FlyLady.” I’m not actually signing up for her emails as I already get so much email I can’t read it all, but I have her book and got her emails long enough I knew the basics. Plus, she based her system on the Sidetracked Home Executives which served me well for a long time. I have a lot of their books, too, and I spent the last week setting up a personal planner journal system that kind of combines all the FlyLady and SHE components in a way that works for me. I like FlyLady’s routine system but I can’t really make her Control Journal work for me. I need something I can carry in my purse, and the SHE’s card box doesn’t really work for that either, but I like the card box system. However, I think my personal planner works pretty well. I can carry it around and keep all my routines in it and all that. It’s still an evolving system, so we’ll see what happens.

Okay, today I’m heading out to see a play with the Girl and trying to do some scrapping. What are you all up to this weekend?

Okay, maybe not clamor as such, but recently, I’ve begun to wonder if God is trying to tell me something.

I know God is always trying to tell me something! If there is anyone on this earth that needs to be told “something” by our Creator, it’s certainly me! I’m probably the slowest person to learn lessons.

However, today, I’m thinking more about in terms of my writing. In January 2004, my book Fabric of Faith was published by Wings Press. My friends in PA had a booksigning for me and one of them even started reading her Bible again after reading the book, so I’m humbled and pleased by the reception of this book.

To be honest, I don’t believe it’s the best book I could write, but God has used it for His glory and that’s all I need.

However, about a year or so ago, a friend here in Baton Rouge bought a bunch of copies to give out to friends and family for Christmas, even though she hadn’t read it yet. When she did, she asked if I was going to write another book about these characters.

I hadn’t considered doing that. This is a story God gave me and I feel it’s finished.  I’m in the middle of writing the sequel to Attack of the Queen, a book that screamed for a sequel.

Now, a friend of my daughter’s has read Fabric a second time and she’s been sending me messages via my Facebook page asking me to write another book about these characters. AND a woman who bought Fabric at a booksigning sent me a note saying she loved it and is letting all her friends read it and wants to be informed with I publish something else.

Granted, that last one isn’t a “clamor” but I’m wondering if I should think about a sequel. I’m in the middle of this book and have several I need to work on. Do I really want to revisit Mary Grace and Chance?

I don’t know. I prayed about it last night and I can think of some things I do with them, now that I’ve matured in my writing.

I never wanted to disrupt their happy little family before, but now I realize that I might have to make things tough on them to write another story for them.

Do any of you that have read Fabric of Faith (is there anyone out there?) want more about these people? Do you generally want to read more about characters you like?

If you’re a writer, have you ever faced the idea of writing a sequel when you hadn’t planned on it?

I will say this is kinda one of my writing dreams:  to have fans ask more more.

From author Linda Windsor. My heartfelt APOLOGIES regarding Wedding Bell Blues. I had two regrettable errors in this  publication that, when called to my attention, I didn’t at first believe it.

    I didn’t remember my hero having a Rhett Butler moment when he said “D_mn, I still love you, Alex.”

    And while I’d written unsaved character Sue Ann exclaiming, “Oh my g_wd!” with the intent of convicting Sue Ann of its blasphemy in her own book #4, I changed her mind after discussing it with my editor and deleted those occurences rather than offend anyone. Well, I missed one. The GOOD NEWS is that these have been removed from future printings and book club issues.

    To anyone who read Wedding Bell Blues and was offended, my humble apologies. I’d written this book after my husband died and during those months of brain fog, I almost stopped writing because it was so hard to put coherent thought together. Then I turned it in months late, which put my publisher in a bind as far as getting the usual multiple editings. This was the result. Granted, I must have written these blunders or they would not have been there. For that, I can only ask for your forgiveness and understanding.

I’m very excited! I have my first guest blogger. Let’s give a warm Romancechick welcome to Diana Cosby!

Diana Cosby

www.dianacosby.com

People often ask me why I write and why in the medieval era. Before I was a writer, I was an avid reader. I remember as a teenager reading two books a day, and becoming totally engrossed in each story. For me the stories offered an escape to where the good guys lost and life had happy endings. I also owe my drive to become an author to my gypsy ways. With my dad in the military during my youth, my life was one of constant moves; England, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Alaska. Once I graduated high school, I joined the Navy as an oceanographer/meteorologist, continued to travel throughout my career and eventually retired. As I hung up my Chief’s uniform for the last time, I decided to give a shot at my dream, that of writing.

With twenty-nine moves behind me, having lived and traveled from the Far East to Europe, with my easy acceptance of culture and having recently moved back to the U.S. after living in Spain, I naturally gravitated to writing in the medieval timeframe. My first three novels were set in the Viking era. Then, I watched the movie Braveheart. Swept away by the Scots intensity, honor and determination to keep their freedom, I moved up from writing medieval romantic suspense in the 790’s to 1296.

I am a major organizer and yes, I have ‘to do’ and ‘daily’ lists that I work from. I also wasn’t surprised to discover that I am a major plotter. This means that before I write word one in a novel, I have figured out my characters, my story’s plot, and have written the synopsis. Synopses are tough, no doubt about it, but to me, I feel synopses are the author’s strongest weapon in their writing arsenal. It’s the only tool that has powerful multi-purposes: to ensure your story has solid motivation, as a writing tool, and then used when submitting to an agent or editor. Nothing else a writer has is this diverse or has this much impact.

One aspect of writing that caught me off guard was discovering that my stories are filled with suspense. I never planned to write action packed novels, but that’s what my muse delivers. I find myself becoming bored with my book if the story doesn’t keep me on the edge of my seat.

After writing for nine years, I was thrilled to receive “The Call” from Kensington Publishing Corporation to buy His Captive, a Scottish medieval romantic suspense. I have so many fabulous memories of this time in my life, the day my editors, Sulay Hernandez and Kate Duffy, called from Kensington Publishing Corporation to tell me they wanted to buy His Captive, my kid’s hugs, the flood of congratulatory e-mails and cards, but the best memory is that of my husband calling me from Baghdad where he was serving a tour in Iraq.

As I persevere in my writing career, I understand that crafting novels are a lot of hard work, but each book is built on a foundation of passion and belief of the story. As a writer it’s a unique path that I travel, but one that has taught me that with perseverance, dreams do come true.

Diana Cosby currently lives in Virginia, with her oldest son leaving for the Marine Corps in November of 2007, and her daughter planning to go off to college in the summer of 2008. After her husband, a U.S. Navy meteorologist/oceanographer, retires from the Navy in the summer of 2008, they will move to Texas with their youngest son, where they will build their final home.

His Captive will be released on November 7^th, 2007, with her second book, yet to be titled, late in 2008. To learn more about Diana or to sign-up for her newsletter, go to her website at www.dianacosby.com.

Thirteen Favorite Fictional Heroines:

1. Scarlett O’Hara – The Queen. She had it all: style, attitude and ambition. Yes, she loses points for holding on to her infatuation with Ashley Wilkes too long and losing Rhett, her real love. Gone With the Wind
2. Ashley Wilkes Stockingdale -The heroine of Kristen Billerbeck’s wonderful Christian chick lit novels. She is hip and loves Jesus. What more could you want in a heroine? What a Girl Wants: A Novel
3. Princess Daisy – I don’t know if all girls dreamed of being a princess when they were young, but I know I did and I love this book about an American woman who really is a princess and her struggles. I’ve read it over and over again.
4. Mia Thermopolis – Going along with the theme of the above entry, Mia finds out she’s a princess when she’s a teenager. I love this series of books, which are different from the movies (especially the second one) and I love Meg Cabot as a writer. The Princess Diaries
5. Heather Wells – another heroine created by Meg Cabot. She is an ex-pop star who leaves music when she isn’t allowed to record what she wants and after discovering her pop star boyfriend in a compromising position with another female teen sensation. She ends up working in a college dormitory (something I did for two years) and defending herself against charges that she’s “gotten fat.” Size 12 Is Not Fat: A Heather Wells Mystery
6. Kate Connor – heroine of Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. I mean, for a die-hard Buffy/Joss Whedon fan, how could you not love her just from reading the name of the series. Kate is dealing with a teenager, a preschooler, a husband who doesn’t know about her past and demons flying through her front window the day of a dinner party. Between helping her husband’s political career, dealing with her son’s spoiled playmates, and driving her daughter to the mall, how does she find time to thwart a demon plot to end the world? Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
7. Wlhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop Ikehorn Orsini (Billy) – heroine of Scruples, another book I’ve read more than once. Yes, it’s not great literature, but it’s a fun book to read if you like stories about the rich, Hollywood, and how women triumph over adversity.
8. Sabrina Longworth – heroine of Deceptions, the story of adult identical twins who live very different lives. One is wealthy and owns an antique shop in London. The other is a suburban wife of a college professor who may or may not be sleeping with a student. On an annual trip together, they decide to switch places. Things, of course, get out of hand and it becomes interesting. I read this book back in college. I was home on a weekend or for a holiday, and while the rest of the family watched, probably, a football game on TV, I couldn’t put this book down. I remember my father talking to me and marveling how it must be a good book if I hadn’t stopped reading it all day. I’ve read it once since and actually read it out loud to my husband when we were first married.
9. Marge Simpson – yes, her husband is a buffoon and her kids are either headed for prison or the white house, but her house is immaculate and her husband loves her so deeply that even when women throw themselves at him (for whatever reason), he thinks about their first kiss and goes back to her. And she loves him unconditionally. Despite all the criticism of this show, I love it because in the end, the family loves each other and sticks together. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family
10. River Tam – She lives in her own world and appears crazy, but she is really, underneath, very perceptive and frankly, dangerous. What’s not to like? Serenity (Widescreen Edition)
11. Dexter’s Mom – She’s another one with an immaculate home, a loving, if weird, family and deep down, she has super powers. Dexter’s Laboratory – Greatest Adventures
12. Peggy Hill – Come on. She speaks “fluent” Spanish, in fact she is a substitute Spanish teacher (three time winner of the substitute teacher of the year award, thank you!) and worries about the Y2K bug bothering her Kaypro computer. She gets taken in by scams and thinks pretending to be a nun so she can get a teaching job is a great idea! Through this all, she believes she is a highly intelligent woman. My kind of gal! King of the Hill – The Complete First Season
13. Jennifer Marlow – WKRP’s receptionist and most highly paid employee. She wears fabulous clothes and dates rich men. There was time in my life when I wanted to be this woman. WKRP in Cincinnati – The Complete First Season

After my post of yesterday about the science fiction and fantasy books to read after Harry Potter is finished, I went with my family to the mall and picked up one of the books. While the Girl and I were at the bookstore, we ran into another book lover browsing the science fiction and fantasy section. Her husband was standing in front of the rack I was looking at. He asked if he was in my way and I said, “No because if I pick up any of these I’ll want them, so you’re fine.”

This led to a conversation with his wife and eventually she asked if we know who writes the The Dresden Files books.Well, it turns out this is the series the Girl is in the midst of and loving them, so we were able to help

When we met Hubby and the Boy for lunch we told them about this and we talked about the pile of books I have at home waiting to be read. I finally decided that I better read all the oldest books before I buy any more.

So this list is thirteen of the oldest books I haven’t read yet. I am not including the Wizard of Oz books I’ve collected or the Anne of Green Gables my mother gave my daughter that we haven’t gotten through yet.

1. Moonlight and Memories (Onyx) by Patricia Rice. This one is autographed and dated 1994. I was living in Illinois then, a member of Prairie Hearts, the Champaign-Urbana chapter of RWA and the Girl was five. I’m actually reading this now.

2. The Last Viking by Sandra Hill.

3. Passion by Bobbi Smith

4. The Fire in Autumn by Delia Parr

5. That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer
6. November of the Heart by LaVyrle Spencer

7. Flame (Lovegram Historical Romance) by Evelyn Rogers

8. Coast Road: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky

9. Heaven by Bobbi Smith

10. Deeper Than the Night (Paranormal Romance) by Amanda Ashley

11. Portrait of Dreams by Victoria Malvey

12. Once A Rogue (Zebra Books) by Megan Gray

13. Prince Of Magic by Anne Stuart.

I don’t guarantee that these are the oldest books in my collection. These are just the first 13 I pulled off the shelf that have a copyright year of 1999 or earlier. I’ll let you know as I finish them and what I think of them.