…when I just want to lock myself in the bathroom and veg out the whole day long. Today is one of those days.

I won’t bore you with the day to day struggles of being a writing SAHM, but I am going to give you a glimpse at the reason I often feel like screaming and running away.

Today I had to mail a submission. Okay, it was a re-submission, but I won’t go into that. Suffice it to say, I spent all morning printing and reworking my cover letter, getting the whole thing packaged up and ready to go. … Read more »

…Deidre Knight from The Knight Agency is answering questions from now until Sunday over at Romance Divas. No pitching, but answers to all your agent/publishing questions. Look under Forum and find Diva Deidre.

And yes, it’s still free. 🙂 Just register.… Read more »

Happy Anniversary to me!

The first draft of SOS if finally done! Woohoo!!!

Now I get the joy of starting revisions, revamping those first few chapters, writing a synopsis (egad!) and devising a kick-ass query for my dark and disturbing romantic suspense.

*sigh*

It’s never over, is it?… Read more »

In case you haven’t heard…

Candace Haven is giving a class over at Romance Divas on writing a first draft in just two weeks.

Two weeks! Seriously!

And the class is FREE! All you have to do is register.

Check it out.… Read more »

In contemplating the next book, one phrase keeps replaying through my mind.

Write what you know.

We’ve all heard it, but how accurate is it? If you write about what you know, what keeps you going? For me, part of the excitement of writing is learning about things I want to know. So a more accurate phrase for me would be, Write what you WANT to know. There are thousands of things I want to know, and because I’m a science nerd, they all tend to circle back around to some scientific topic or theme….archaeology, geology, medicine, and … Read more »

Okay, it’s not the WIP. It’s me. I can’t seem to muster up enough enthusiasm to finish this darn thing. And I’m sooo close. Seriously, like a chapter away from writing THE END. I thought it was my setting. So I changed that and was able to finish chapter 22. But now I’m stuck in the middle of 23, and it’s not that I’m stuck – the scene is percolating, I know what’s going to happen, and I want to write it…I just…can’t…seem…to…finish…it.

Maybe it’s because I know when I type THE END, I’m not really done. I have rewrites … Read more »

I think I may have figured out my problem with Chapter 22 of the WIP. Playing the avoidance game hasn’t worked. So yesterday, while sitting in the middle of a hail storm at the OSU vs. Boise State football game (Yes, you read that right, WHILE I was being pelted with dime-sized hail nuggets), I realized the problem I’ve been having is that the setting for the scene I’m trying to write just isn’t working. It works…but it doesn’t work for what comes next. So…I’m off to change that and see if it helps (please say it will help, please … Read more »

I am avoiding chapter 22 like the plague. And I don’t know why. I’ve written – maybe- two pages on it today. It’s dark and depressing and I really hate what I’m doing to my characters. But it was inevitable. I know it was inevitable.

*sigh*

So here’s me today:

Get up, check email. Oooh…a request. That’ll keep me busy for a while.

Feed kids, get the oldest off to school.

Check email. Oooh. A rejection off query. There’s a mood buster.

Pick up crap around the house so the cleaning lady can actually clean.

Go blog hopping – waste … Read more »

The big HEA. Anyone who reads romance knows that’s a given. Although we may love RS for the whodunit factor and to see just how awful the situation can get for our hero or heroine, ultimately, we know they’re both going to live and they’re going to get their HEA. And generally, that means marriage or a long-term commitment of some kind.

However, all HEA’s aren’t created equal. I read two books over my vacation. The first – a true RS murder mystery by one of my favorite authors – was about a renegade FBI agent and a gem cutter. … Read more »

Want a good dose of reality and what it takes to get published today?

Check this out.

(Warning: Do not read if you prefer to be naively optimistic.)… Read more »