Tag Archives: Writing

Flash Fiction #14

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Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

Behind her eyelids she felt the rising sun, not even daylight would get her to move. For years she dreamed of a moment like this. John was either dating someone else or she was living away from home. His hands roamed over her backside in a caress that awoke her desires. One night wouldn’t be enough.

Two nights ago, on a drunken whim, she let her feelings slip. She thought she dreamed his response.

“Do you know how long I’ve loved you, my sweet, Emily?”

After last night, there was no longer any question. He loved her, all of her.

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

Savannah Chase http://www.savannahchase.com/blog
Julez S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Kendel Davi: http://kendeldavi.wordpress.com
Naomi Shaw: http://midnightfantasieswithnaomishaw.blogspot.com/
Bonni Sansom: http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/
Benjamin T. Russell http://incubuschronicles.blogspot.ca

ROW80 -Round 3 2012- The Goals

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What’s Row80? A round of words in 80 days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life.

This will be my third round of 80-days. I started out slow and easy in round-1. In round-2 I got a little more serious. I took on my first ever word count goal and I incorporated my non-writing goals to help me keep my whole life moving forward.

Now what for round-3? Status quo or no?

NO. I want more. I want more commitment. I want to query. I want to get published. Status quo will get me there, maybe. I’m going to put my antsy pants to good use.

The Goals

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
  • Pick a title for Voyage Novu #1 & #2
  • Write 3,000 words each week or 33,000 for the round
  • Spend time editing at least 3 times each week
  • Send Voyage Novu #1 to 2nd beta
  • Finish Editing Voyage Novu #1
  • Voyage Novu#1 Query/Synopsis: finish, polish, get 2nd opinions, finalize AND send out 1st round
  • Finish first draft of Voyage Novu#2 and begin to edit
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another
  • Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week
  • Finish the Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)
  • Finish needed continuing education, enter all credits on PMI site and save my PMP certification for another 3-years
  • Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities

Okay, I know. That is one full and possibly disastrous list. I’ve done a ton of thinking over the past couple of weeks. If I back off I’ll just slack. I am capable of doing more when I am busy. These last couple of weeks proved it. No stressing, just moving forward and get busy with it. But there is some fun to be had here. Suzanne Rock gave me a fantabulous idea: Budget Creativity: Using Mini-Goals to Motivate.

I’ve got two jars. One labeled with the political party that is NOT my choice and the other is labeled wardrobe. Each week I’ll divide $7.50 based on the weeks results. At the end of the round I’ll have $100 in my jars. I really don’t want to help out the other guys, especially this year, and I’d really like to get something new for fall. so…

Let’s go round-3! It’s on.

Six Sentence Sunday #24

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Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week: Lydia got a little shove from a helpful stranger and Jake pinned her to the wall of the L train exit ramp. This week: we pick up with them all untangled and they’ve just arrived inside Lydia’s apartment. The moon is shining through the window. This six is from Jake’s POV and the line is Lydia’s.

Photo Credit: Joseph H. Dennis

The effect was a dream. Here she was standing before him, this woman who intrigued him and challenged him. His mind had one thought.

Mine.

“Stay there and I’ll get the light.”

The light clicked and before she could turn around he made his order.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! he, he, he, I promise to give you his order next week. Please come back. I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday and its days are now sadly numbered. I’m not crying. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

Links of the week #25

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Happy weekend folks!! Boom, bang look at all those cool links for writers. Jeff took another week off from picking out great music. Not to worry, SYTYCD had loads of fabulous performance I wanted to share this week, so which one was my favorite?

Mommy Ninja

K.B. Owen via Jenny Hansen’s More Cowbell : A Ninja Mom’s Guide to Limiting Computer Time <–must read for any parent

Pitch Contest

Brenda Drake: Entangle an editor with your pitch!

Dialogue

Lynnette Labelle : The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue Part 2 take away tip: can can bury narration, but not dialogue…read the post and the tip will make sense 🙂

Descriptions

Stina Lindenblatt over at Seeing Creative provided a cool idea : All In The Details

Character Development

Kristen Lamb : Making Heroes Heroic–Why Flaws are Important

Prose

Joe Bunting over at The Write Practice : 5 Elements of Storytelling

Plot

Darcy Pattison over at Fiction Notes : End of Act I: 5 Functions Determine Plot

Editing

Tiffany Lawson Inman was at Writers In The Storm yesterday 😀 : Worse Than a Cliché

Writer Business

Rick Carufel at Angie’s Diary : Disappearing Reviews at Amazon?

Writer’s Life

Suzanne Rock, Romance on a Budget: Budget Creativity: Using Mini-Goals to Motivate

Michael J. Scott at Author Culture : How To Write More…and More Often

I’ve completely fallen for @smoulderingsea and his #editortips, if you miss the daily tweets you can still catch them on his blog. Here is my fav from yesterday: When editing down backstory and inner monologue, keep only what the reader needs–not what you needed to sort your story.

Dance to inspire

So many great performances this week as SYTYCD season 9 revealed their top 20. This performance was by far my fav, enjoy

What you might have missed here:
Six Sentence Sunday #23
Spotlight: The Wager (Touch of the Gods) by D. X. Luc
Flash Fiction #13

Flash Fiction #13

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Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

He claimed her like he had the right. Sara was not likely to take his advances without a hitch. Any moment now she would push him away.

Bret continued to dominate her mouth. His fingers tugged at her hair and clamped onto her jaw. A tingle started in her mind and spread over her body while his mouth continued to plunder her own. His control held her firm, held her to him.

A corner of her brain reminded her of all the damn reasons she should pull away. Her shoulders tensed, but she couldn’t do it.

She gave into him.

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

Savannah Chase http://www.savannahchase.com/blog
Julez S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Sherri Hayes: http://sherri-hayes.blogspot.com/
Bonni Sansom: http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/
Naomi Shaw: http://midnightfantasieswithnaomishaw.blogspot.com/
Yvonne Nicolas: http://yvonnenicolas.wordpress.com/
Davee Jones: http://finless.blogspot.com/
Venus Cahill: http://www.venusbookluvr.blogspot.com
Leann Mitchell http://www.leannmitchell.blogspot.com
AuroraRose Andromeda http://rollingmuseintheroses.blogspot.com
Veronica Fredricks: http://authorveronicafredricks.blogspot.com
Patricia Logan http://naughtypassions.blogspot.com/
Cyril J. Michael: http://authorcyriljmichaels.blogspot.com

Six Sentence Sunday #23

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Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP. Last week: Last week Lydia had no luck, more like no courage, rolling out her seduction plan. This week: we pick up with them getting off the train near Lydia’s apartment. A rushed stranger gives her the push she needs.

A swirl of arms and legs…momentum kept her moving…Jake’s fingers squeezed around her forearm as she flew past him towards the wall of the exit ramp. Her back landed with a thud against the wall, his body followed.

“Oh, sorry, I was pushed from behind. Did you see that guy?” She didn’t even pretend to look for the helpful stranger. Her eyes stayed locked on the man pressing into her body.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday and its days are now sadly numbered. I’m not crying. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

Links of the week #24

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It’s a week of transitions for me, but one thing that doesn’t change: I’m still learning tons from my blog reads. Good stuff this we folks. Hubs is getting another week off, but I’ve picked something for you.

Social Media

Thank you for this smart advice Rachelle Gardner : Should Unpublished Novelists Be Platform-Building it will most certainly help me to keep my priorities in order

Meghan Ward’s Writerland : Where to Get Photos For Your Blog

Janice Hardy on The Other Side of the Story : The Great Twitter Experiment: What Does “More Tweets” Really Get You?

Promotion

The totally awesome Savannah Chase was at Chris Redding’s : MFRW Summer Camp: Savannah Chase

Editing

I found this site from QueryTracker’s post Question: is anyone familiar with SmartEdit? It’s currently a free product.

Dialogue

Lynnette Labelle : The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue Part 1

Fight Scenes

my fav Jenny Hansen posted twice at Writes In The Storm : Do Your Characters Fight in a Way That Advances Your Story? & Ramp Up The Fight To Amp Up The Tension

Music to inspire

The hubs was given another pass this week, another crazy gigging week for him. Don’t feel bad for him, he had a ton of fun, we just didn’t get to see a lot him, bummer.

I’ve picked “If You Want Me” by The Swell Season. Marketa Irglova’s voice is hauntingly beautiful, enjoy

Flash Fiction #12

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Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

Not every bird brought frightening news, but the one piece she waited for had not yet arrived. Why hadn’t she given him a chance before the war? Oh, Melik. It took the death of many to rock her awake. Pain shivered through her limbs and she crashed to the ground. She rubbed her hands until the skin felt raw, matching her thoughts.

It was coming.

Just over the horizon, she felt the bird approaching. Her head fell into her hands and she yanked at her hair. Would she have one more chance? Just one more is all she asked.

Yes!

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

Savannah Chase: http://www.savannahchase.com/blog
Sherry M. Palmer: http://michellechatton.blogspot.com
Naomi Shaw: http://midnightfantasieswithnaomishaw.blogspot.com/
Julez S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Venus Cahill: http://www.venusbookluvr.blogspot.com
Davee Jones: http://finless.blogspot.com/
Veronica Fredricks: http://authorveronicafredricks.blogspot.com
Cyril J. Michael: http://authorcyriljmichaels.blogspot.com
Yvonne Nicolas: http://yvonnenicolas.wordpress.com/
Kendel Davi: http://kendeldavi.wordpress.com
Bonni Sansom: http://bonnisansom.blogspot.com/

Six Sentence Sunday #22

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Happy Six Sunday and Happy Father’s day. Thanks for visiting and I’d love to know what you think!! I’m continuing this week with another 6 from my Novella WIP that is currently lost in editsville. Last week: we’ve been watching Jake begin to roll out his plan. This week: it’s Lydia that’s trying to start her own plan. The pair have finally left work and are traveling on the L to Lydia’s neighborhood.

Why couldn’t the train jerk them around, like it usually did, and force their bodies to meet? He stood behind her. One step was all it would take and she could blame the train. Her free hand longed to hold onto his powerful thigh. The urge to lean back into him pulled at her courage.

The train came to her stop and her chance to touch him evaporated, the disappointment ran deep and sour.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. My WIP is in the middle of editsville and I look forward to querying with it soon. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

ROW80 check-in #23

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Our last full week in round 2 is done. Almost half the year has gone. Do I have much to show for it? Yes and no. More about that later.

Happy Father’s Day!

My hubs is working in Chicago today and I wont be seeing my father either. Total bummer town. Both men know I love and appreciate them and I’ll have plenty of time to hug them in the days ahead. Still it is a bummer not to see them today. Are you going to get to see a father type person in your life today?

My next ROW-80 post will be my round 3 goals. Will they be different from round 2? Yes. I’m going to take my time thinking about what I want out of round 3. Hacking away at a to-do list is great, but in round 3 I want to keep an eye on my end game. More on that in a couple of weeks.

The Goals – week-11 results

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
  • Write 2,000 words each week– Done! Feels good too. This week I got 2,116 words in my brand new WIP.
  • Spend time editing at least 2-times each week– done. I got a couple chapters back from my CP and started editing again.
  • Finish reading current craft book and start another– 1/2 done. I spent more time on the current craft book and I hope to finish it long before round 3 begins, but I also have two new craft books already purchases and ready to go. Well, one is actually a lecture packet, I’ll tell you more about that in my round-3 goals. I’ll simply say Margie Lawson rocks.
  • Participate in Before You Hit Send Self-Editing Workshop in April– the workshop is over and I’ve incorporated what I’ve learned.
  • Turn 2nd-draft chapters to my writer friend for her critique– DONE!!  ~~~happy dance~~~
  • Workout a minimum of 200-minutes a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit–  Not done. I have a very good excuse. A big ugly sinus cold hung out with me all week and most of the time I felt like doggy poppy. I’m surprised I got anything done this week. I did keep to my calorie limit, water, and sleep goals, but only got 80 minutes of exercise. I am, as of this week, 0.3 pounds away from my weight goal though, so that’s pretty cool.
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week (the 52-moves is like the ballet bar for Nia lovers): Side Kick.  Lift your thigh, tucking your heel in toward your buttocks into Ready Position. Look in the direction you intend to kick. With your hands at heart level and your palms flexed, kick your foot out and to the side, with the side of your thigh facing toward the ceiling. IMPORTANT TIP: Push down into the earth with the supporting foot, and use your hands and arms to maintain vertical alignment and balance. Keep your supporting leg unlocked and spring loaded. Benefits: builds balance, coordination, confidence, and strength.
  • Finish the. Sanjana bars and start the Opal bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)– This item was my one total fail this round. Although I’ve found a way that works better for me to practice delivering the class, I’m still not any closer to knowing this routine inside and out. End goal for round 3 will be important here. I need to keep my eye on the big picture. Getting this routine inside me leads to applying for jobs, which leads to more income. I want to publish a book, but it is not my only goal in life.
  • Listen to the Nia sound track for the Sanjana routine each week and add Opal when I get to their bars– done
  • Plan out and start participating in the last of my needed continuing education credits for PMP certification– Done! I paid for and started my first course. I have 5 short courses to take this summer, or a total of 40-hours. Oh, yeah, I’m so excited about spending time getting continuing education credits for a career I hope to never have to work in again. The future is full of unknowns however. I did work my tookus off getting this certification, so I’m not about to let it go.

One novella WIP in edits, a second novella WIP is started (actually two WIPs are started, more about that in the next round), craft education continues and PMP continuing education in progress. Happy dance, lots done. BUT, Nia Sanjana still needs work and I’m not in query mode yet…I’m not published yet

Plenty of more work to be done. See you in round 3.