Saturday, October 30, 2010

[Blog] National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month, usually shorted to Nanowrimo, is an event that takes place every November. It's a challenge to write 50,000 words in a single month, which works out to 1667 words a day, or roughly 1700.

In 2008 I "won" the challenge with 51,000 words, and in 2009 I "failed" with 29,000 words. This year I plan to win again. I'll be working on the second book in my fantasy series, since I've written the ending for the first book.

It's true that the first book still needs a lot of editing and work, but editing is the easy part in comparison to writing the story out in the first place.

I've been rolling ideas around in my head for a bit and I think I'm going to go back in time a little at the beginning and reveal more about Eshana's character through childhood memories at the beginning of the second book. After rereading the Earth's Children series I've become more aware of how important a character's background is, and how fascinating simple human interaction can be when it's done well.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

[Blog] English Class

Someone from High School mentioned that they were not surprised that I was writing a fantasy series. After all, I always "kicked their ass" in English Class.

I wrote her this reply;

"I always did love English class... Mostly because it was more useful than other classes. I never used a darn thing I learned in any history class, and thereby forgot most everything right away anyway. I could have made use of the math, but decided not to since I had other callings. But English is something we read, something we speak and something we write. This may not be true for everyone, but for me, I do all three of those a lot every day."

English Class assignments were always fun to me. It was a writing challenge, and I loved that, which pushed me to put my all into it.

There is that quote that goes something like; "When there is pleasure in the work, there is skill in the output..." or something along those lines, and it's true.

Paper after paper scored a perfect hundred, or at the least a 92% or so. I prided myself on it. Sometimes I wish I had writing assignments, but I suppose I fill the void with endless blogging on the topics I'm passionate about -- writing, health, fitness, art, experiences and other things.

As it is now, the status on my book is that I'm looking for more beta readers and contemplating what printer to buy. I need a new simple black and white printer so that I can send out my CV, synopsis and manuscript sample to my favorite publishers. I need more beta readers because I've grown so familiar with my own story that I desire outside opinions to help me refine the details of the first of this series. If you're interested in beta-reading, shoot me an e-mail at pitifulbarbie@aol.com

Thanks.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

[Blog] First Book Completetion

I've written the final chapter for book one of my fantasy series. The first book has an ending, and the second book is drafted out. I'm currently in the phase where I'm doing the final revisions and edits of the first book. If you're interested in helping me look for errors and inconsistencies, contact me to gain access to a google document and become a beta reader.

I begin submissions to large publishers within the month. I've written a synopsis, according to the guidelines that Tor publishing suggests on their site. I've organized my Curriculum Vitae as an author.

If no traditional publishing house is interested in a contract, that I will likely self-publish through Author House. If you have any ideas, or suggestions, or information you think I would benefit from, please comment.