It's a draft!

The draft of Lion's Pride is done!

It's 104,000 words long, which is WAY longer than it needs to be, and it's rambling and awkward and has one whole subplot that I abandoned and should probably root out, and the ending is kind of lame because the black moment and last fight scene took so much out of me that I sketched the ending and will rewrite it later. (Repeat after me: You can't revise a blank page, but you can revise crap.)

In honor of this moment, I give you my heroes. Jude (as played by Keith Hamilton Cobb) is the big chocolate god; Rafe (as played by Mark DaCascos) is the graceful Native American gentleman.

Alas, I won't be able to enter this in the Stroke of Midnight contest. Turns out my paranormal short stories mean I'm "previously published in the genre." Oh well, such is life.




In other news, I got my first review of Lady Sun. Not an "OH MY GOD BEST BOOK EVER" review, but she was hot for my hero and the love story, which was kind of the point. It was one of those stories where I had a hot alpha hero and the rest of the story fell into place around him. (Unusual for me; I'm usually more about the heroine's journey.)

UPDATE: On Sunday morning from 11-12, I'll be reading kinky erotica at the Fetish Fair Fleamarket in Providence, RI, along with Sacchi Green and Chuck Fellows. If you're going to the Flea, come by early (for a Sunday) and start your day with a naughty story or two.

The reading will take place in room 902 of the Westin Hotel. Check for flyers around the FFF, or at the Mercantile's booth (booth #130). Hope to see you there!

Last-minute reading alert!

On Sunday morning from 11-12, I'll be reading kinky erotica at the Fetish Fair Fleamarket in Providence, RI, along with Sacchi Green and Chuck Fellows. If you're going to the Flea, come by early (for a Sunday) and start your day with a naughty story or two.

Alas, I do not yet know the room number where I'll be reading. Watch this space for more information tomorrow!

I set goals and then I promptly got some kind of Deathly Flu Bug, derailing me before I got the habit established.

But I'm proud to say that I didn't let it derail me utterly. Yes, I missed one day altogether because I was hideously feverish, and managed to check the proofs for Lady Sun another day (it took most of the day because my eyes weren't really focused) and then tipped over. But I've been plugging away and while my word count isn't where I hope it's going to be every week, it's respectable considering holidays and Deathly Flu Bug were involved.

I've been focusing on Lion's Pride and remembering, finally, why I started this crazy story in the first place. Not only are my heroes smokin' hot, but my heroine's got a great character arc (that needs revision, sure, but the basics are there) and she kicks butt using sex-magic. How cool is that?

Writing goals/life goals

My words for 2008 are consistency and adventure, two concepts that may seem contradictory, but that I hope to make work together. I need pattern and structure in my writing life--in my life in general--if I'm going to Get Stuff Done [tm]. At the same time, I need to get out and have fun, try new things, kick up my heels, both on the page and in the rest of my life, or I'll stagnate.

My writing goals for this year--the broad ones, not the "finish Project X by such and such a date" list, which doesn't make for terribly interesting reading (and in any event isn't fully writtne out yet) fall into the consistency and adventure categories:

Write at least 500 words a day--shoot for 10000 a week, but at least do that 500 a day (consistency) I can write a hell of a lot more than that in a day, but I tend to go in spurts. My record is over 8,000 words in a day, and I'm sure I could do it more regularly--but at the moment I just need to stop skipping days because I'm busy with Day Job 1, Day Job 2, or just life. (Realistically, I know I'll miss days here and there. For instance, there will be two weeks this summer when I'm unlikely to write a word, since I'll be somewhere where I won't have power or an easy way to keep my laptop recharged. However, getting as close to every day as I can will be good.)

Write more poetry, and start submitting it again (adventure)

Revise Knowing the Ropes, because a novel that's sorta-but-not-really done isn't doing my career any good (consistency)

Write fantasy, if only a short story or two. Write something that isn't erotic. (adventure)

Update this blog more often, and not just with promo stuff (consistency, although I do hope it'll be fun as well)

And most of all, the big goal that I hope will turn my life around in some small fashion: Find the joy in writing again.

I used to be in love with story, with voice, with words. I still am, deep down, but I've gotten so bogged down in the writing-as-job aspect, the need to produce and publish, that I've misplaced the joy. It's not really gone, it's just hidden, perhaps under that stack of contracts I need to file, or those receipts, or that article on guerilla marketing... I'm not sure how I'm going to get it back it, but dammit, this is too challenging and low-paying a job to do if you're not feeling the joy.

* * *
And because Dayle asked, the projects on the list for the upcoming quarter are:

Caressing the Tiger (a Sophie Mouette novel)

Finishing Lion's Pride and getting the first three chapters in shape for the Passionate Plume contest (2/8 deadline)

Pirate's Booty: rewrite as a novella (late February/March--under contract)

Threshing the Grain (fall-themed novella, prequel to Lady Sun)--not under contract, but I want to get it done so, if Lady Sun sells well, people won't have to wait long for the related work.

Boston: Intimate Music (yes, another novella; this one is about 3/4 drafted, although it'll need heavy revision since I started writing it for Harlequin Blaze--that is, category-length novel--and there are far too many secondary characters floating around). Theoretically I'm supposed to turn this in in late January (meep!) but thank goodness that's not set in stone.

And you'll notice I'm updating my blog instead of working on any of the above...

It's real! Lady Sun has Risen is real!

My forthcoming Phaze novella has a cover (although my blurb still hasn't been posted--of course I just got it in the other day because I'm an airhead sometimes) and is on the Phaze Web site with a March pub date. Squee!

I love the art and the colors. The font chosen for my name is a bit hard to read but--shrug--given how many butt-ugly covers I've seen, I'm thrilled to have such an attractive one.

And it makes it all seem more real.