My Writing Goals for 2012
1)  Log in at least one hour per weekday on my writing career
2)  Write a new novel
3)  Finish/Polish/or Revise the 7 manuscripts in FINISH ME NOW, DAMN IT!  pile
(Some only need tweaks, others lack a few chapters)
4)  Attend more writing conferences and workshops
5)  Join a writer’s guild
6)  Submit something somewhere each week
7)  Write 12 poems
8)  Write 10 short stories

What are your goals for this year?

The Awakening by Kate Chopin is the story of a woman in the 1890s who felt that, due to the social and moral restrictions of her era, she would never be free to live her life the way she wanted.  Chopin’s prose is beautiful, with vivid descriptions of Louisiana scenery.  Her sarcastic wit made the characters come alive, and took the edge off the sadness in this story.

Edna Pontellier’s married life in New Orleans, with her Catholic Creole husband and the customs and traditions so different from her childhood in Kentucky, leaves her wanting more.  Her husband provides her with a stately home and posh lifestyle, but views her as more of an accessory than a soulmate, caring more about what people think than how his wife feels.  Edna loves her two small sons, but motherhood is not the definition of her existence.

Kate Chopin captured the essence of late Victorian life for women, who were expected to be perfect wives and mothers content to fulfill their husbands’ every wish and keep up the appearances.  Activities like music and art were fine, as Edna’s husband points out, as long as they didn’t interfere with her social obligations.

In the story, Edna’s very soul seems to be awakened when she starts to fall for a man known for flirting.  When she stops her Tuesday open house to visitors, takes up a serious interest in sketching, and befriends a pianist disliked for speaking her mind, her husband fears she’s losing her mind.  And when another man is enchanted by Edna, it only adds to her depression and struggle to find herself.

I totally recommend this novel as well as Kate Chopin’s short stories, my favorite of which was ‘Desiree’s Baby’.

52in52Blank

There’s an entry spot for you to keep up with the genres, on the right at the top.  Then you can click on the ‘Chart’ tab at the bottom to open up a pretty cool pie chart that shows how many books you have left to go and the percentage you’ve read in each genre.

You should be able to customize it to fit your needs.

If  you find anything I need to fix, just let me know.  I’ve never uploaded an Excel Doc before, so I’m open to suggestions.    Let me know if you use it.

Happy Reading! 

I’m hoping for great things for us all this year, despite my family ringing in the first with a stomach virus.  Our bunny even has the runs, no joke!    I’ll be back with my writing resolutions for 2012 soon.

I joined the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, which sounds like fun, especially since I’m constantly reading.   First on my To-Read list is a cool book I got from my son for Christmas, Mr. Monk Goes to Germany by Lee Goldberg.  I’m a huge fan of the TV series so this is a fun read in the mystery genre.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A nice looooooooong nap is scheduled for this afternoon.  I am exhausted, but happy, and I have a nearly finished first draft I’m pretty psyched about.   It should be done some time next month, but without the crazy hurry to do it.  I’ll miss the graph, though.  Nothing like the rush of making the long brown lines on it break through the slanty gray one.    If I had a dollar for every time I checked my word count these past 30 days, I could buy my own publishing company.  Wouldn’t that be cool?

To Have and to Hold, Like it or Not is my working title, which sucks pretty bad.  Surely I’ll come up something better before I write ‘The End’.

This is the last day of NaNo, so you’ve still got about 12 more hours to finish up and validate.  How’s everybody doing?  Any funny NaNo tales?

My word count was so pitifully behind (7 days with no words added) after I took off for my trip, it looked pretty hopeless for a while.  But, like my husband will tell you, I’m too stubborn to give up.  Yep, okay, I’m about to drive my family crazy with hourly updates on my word count, being cranky as hell when my coffee buzzes wear off, and napping when I can’t take it any longer. 

It goes to show  that anybody really can accomplish anything they want, if they set their heart on it and commit.

How’s everybody coming along on their NaNo novels this year?  Cussing is okay. 

Drumroll please {okay, pretend you hear it}…….

The name of my badass character is
Viper Kane!!
(I might tweak the spelling to Vyper Cain, maybe)

The two winners who will each receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card are:
Sharon Morgan for Viper
and
Tirzah Goodwin for Kane

I’ll post soon about my trip to New Orleans, and some related news.  The four days I was gone put me behind on my NaNo, but I’m catching up.  And don’t forget to check out the Kelworth Files for the NaNo Spotlight Chris was kind enough to let me participate in.

1. Name two romantic suspense authors who inspire you.|
Jude Deveraux and Nora Roberts

2. How did you start writing in your genre?
I’d always wanted to write a full length novel. One day the idea for this story about a single mom who falls for a rock star only to be tormented by a deranged stalker popped into my head and literally haunted me for weeks. It would run through my mind as I tried to go to sleep each night and distract me while I took care of my kids during the day. Romantic suspense is fun because you not only have the love story to work with, but you can pepper the plot with all kinds of spicy drama, mystery, and plot twists.

3. You’ve landed a meeting with your dream agent. Write a one paragraph pitch to sell your novel to him/her. (No more than four sentences)

When Harlie Steele falls in love with rock legend Lex Callatori, their relationship pulls her away from her small-town home and sweeps her into his tempestuous world of paparazzi, tabloids, and bodyguards. As their passion flourishes, someone sets out to rip them apart, one way or the other. Harlie literally fought to stay alive when she left her abusive ex-husband and has no intention of being anyone’s victim ever again, but when the stalker raises the stakes, she’s in for the fight of her life.

4. Sabotage or accident- which would put your female lead through and why?
Sabotage, definitely. She’d have to find out who was responsible, then make them pay.

5. Plotter or Pantser? Who are you?
Plotter all the way. It would drive me nuts if I had to start a novel without knowing all about what motivated my characters, what they were about to do, and who or what was out to get them. OMG, makes me nauseous just thinking about it.

A  character who is very important to my story is as of yet nameless.  Help me solve this dilemma by suggesting a name, a nickname actually, and, if your suggestion is chosen, you’ll win a  $10 Amazon gift card!!  The contest starts now, and I’ll take submissions up until midnight central standard time on the night of  November 14th.   Everyone is eligible, even my blood relatives, because I’m picking the name that best represents this dude.   No playing favorites here.

The character is a sleazy washed up male celebrity in his late 30s.  He blackmails somebody with naked pictures, so he’s pretty much an asshole.   He isn’t one of the main characters,  but he’s integral to the plot, somebody you’ll love to hate.  He has multiple tattoos and parties a lot (I know, duh).  I’m thinking maybe an animal nickname, along the lines of but not the obvious Snake or Spider.  Or maybe he’s named after a weapon, or it’s a bad word in a foreign language.  But hey, that’s up to you to come up with.  And I’d prefer one or two syllables, since that’s the normal nickname length.    Just leave your entry as a comment on this thread, and check back around November 17th to find out who wins.  Thanks so much and good luck!!  (Seriously, my NaNo novel needs your help!)

I’m NaNoing my little heart out, so I’m sorry if I haven’t gotten around to your blogs as much as I’d like, but I’m trying to catch up.    Chris over at the Kelworth Files is posting very some great interviews with NaNo participants, so check it out, and I’ll let you know when my upcoming interview will be.  And my buddy Joy (J. L. Campbell) from The Character Depot is hosting a Getting to Know You Blogfest, so check that out, and come back to read my post for it on November 13th.

So what are you waiting for?  Go think of a super cool nickname for my character, for goodness sake!