2009 has been an interesting year. I have no idea how it went by so fast but maybe that was because it was interesting.
This time last year I made resolutions and now, inevitably, I'm thinking about what I want to achieve in 2010.
Last year the resolutions were something like lose weight, keep the exercise routine going, write two books, stay off caffeine when I can, do things that make me happy and have fun.
So how did all of that go?
Well, on the things that make Mel happy front I did quite well. I did a lot of sewing, rediscovered knitting and crochet, took some non writing related classes, took a non writing related holiday (though with a fellow writer so there was writing talk *g*) and dropped another day in the day job. Friends has babies (and I was there when one of them arrived), friends hit the NYT list, the family was relatively healthy and many good books were read.
On the stay off caffeine, well, there were ups and down. I have pretty much accepted that there are times in my life when I'm going to be on the caffeine. I have for most of the year been off it or only having a cup of green tea or two a day. There have been times when I've been drinking coke (or even now and then coke zero because, I'm sorry but coke works on the caffeine front but does little for the operation-make-butt-smaller). Balance, people. I know I sleep better off the caffeine but sometimes something's got to give. I need to work on learning to love green tea more and slanting the balance in that direction but whatever.
On the exercise front, things started well and slid into what can only be described as a big fat heap. From January to April I was doing heaps of cardio, doing my pilates and doing Nia. April or May sometime I got sick and work got busy and things started to slide. And I started to notice that my shoulder was pulling up sore after Nia and pilates classes but not too sore so I ignored it (note to self, don't ignore it!)
Then I dropped a day at work which happened to be the day of my regular pilates class and my Nia class was put on hiatus and the shoulder started getting sorer even without exercising and hmmm, here we are feeling unfit and flabby and waiting to find out whether the shoulder needs surgery. Bah humbug to that.
On the writing, that too was interesting. Trying to sell a book is never an easy proposition. Trying to sell a book in a major economic downturn is an even less easy proposition. Some stuff happened. Some work stuff happened and for a lot of the year the writing was slow and kind of torturous (though, I did keep trying to write) because I was letting the stuff mess with my head. Now sometimes the writing will be slow and torturous but the thing is, for me, I try and treat this as a job. I have an agent and she is out there trying to sell my books and has been doing so for some time now without being paid a cent so far, so I need to produce books for her to sell. Which means I have to focus on the writing part and stop worrying about the stuff part (which, for a virgo, is kind of like saying 'stop breathing').
Writing the books and making them as good as I can is what I can control and is the fun part. I don't think for a second that I've found the perfect solution to keeping that in mind and I know there will be "Mel freaks out" slow and torturous times again but hopefully I can pull myself out of them faster now. I'm happy to say that I did finish one book this year (because at times that felt unlikely). A book that was a bit different again to what I'd been writing but it seems to have been worth the grief it gave me because my agent loves it and I'm doing the final polish write now so it can make its way out into the world in January. At which point I will be doing the mental equivalent of sticking my fingers in the ears and saying "la, la, la, I can't hear you to the publishing worries" and writing the next book. Because for me, one book a year is too slow and I'm much happier when I'm producing.
So, for my benefit (and maybe for anyone else who it might work for), a reminder of what worked:
1. Writing sprints for the first draft (and for character free writing and for synopsis sketching). Write or Die is a godsend and Dr Wicked would be deserving of the Nobel Writers Sanity prize if there was such a thing. I need to do quick and dirty first drafts and just get out of my own damn way. Writing sprints let me do this. I can, indeed, focus on nothing but the writing for fifteen minute or twenty minute chunks and produce and shut the nagging voices of publishing doom and the internal editor out for that time. Write or Die might be my new writing motto.
2. Giving myself the time to do the other stuff the muse like. Playing with the pretty fabrics and yarns. Watching a series of Grey's Anatomy if that's what the muse wants (and man, I just now realised that I've been obsessed with Grey's for the last month because my hero is a healer and McDreamy is my favourite hot doctor *headdesk*...quick on the uptake, not).
3. Writing every day (or six days a week at least). Keep the fingers moving and the momentum eventually comes. Of course, when it comes time to revise "writing" includes thinking about the book, talking about the book to crit partners and noodling about the book in notebooks.
And now, cos this is getting long, let's put the actual 2010 resolutions in another post.
Showing posts with label retrospective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retrospective. Show all posts
December 31, 2009
December 28, 2009
Ten years later
Blogger tells me this is my 600th post so I thought I'd do a end of decade retrospective (given that I generally do my year of books wrap up post on New Years Eve).
It's hard to believe that it's the end of the decade (and yes, I know, technically it's not but we're moving into double digit years in the century so let's not quibble). I can remember being at a New Year's Eve party at the end of 1999, everyone joking about whether the lights would still be working after midnight. Thankfully Y2K didn't bring down civilisation so here we are ten years later.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
So what's happened in ten years?
Ten years ago:
I didn't own a house (I was living in a share house with three male room mates...yeesh).
I hadn't ever written a whole book (finished my first in 2001 and have finished, um, quite a few since then). I did a little bit of writing but didn't really believe I'd ever be a writer.
I therefore didn't have an agent and had never had a rejection (or even submitted anything).
I did own a mobile phone. It only made phone calls. No pictures, no texts, no colour screen, no email or the forty zillion things my iPhone can do. Lots of my friends didn't have mobiles.
I had veeeerrrry slow dial-up internet. Used predominantly for email as surfing took forever. Most of my friends didn't have a computer at home.
My computer had 5mb of RAM. I can't remember the hard drive size but I'm guessing way less than 1Gb.
I didn't know most of the people I now count as close friends (particularly my crit buddies and other writing buds).
Only two of my friends had children. Most of them weren't even married. And I'd never been a bridesmaid.
My grandparents were still alive. I miss them.
I'd never seen a baby being born.
I'd never been to a writing conference or won a writing award.
I'd never made a quilt. Or knitted a pair of socks.
I did have the orange cat and the grey cat.
DVDs didn't exist (laser discs were around but VCR was king).
I didn't know ANY published authors.
I didn't have a blog, or a facebook account or twitter. Blogs probably existed in some form but facebook and twitter and the like definitely did not.
I didn't have an iPod. I had a cd walkman. My computer didn't have a cd burner. It used floppy disks.
No-one had an "i"anything.
I'd never read an ebook though I had bought books online (but I'd imagine only from Amazon.com)
I'd never done pilates or Nia.
I had the same chiropractor as I do now.
I had less grey hairs (possibly none).
I'm not sure if I wore glasses. If I did, it was less than now lol
My parents weren't retired.
My camera used film.
My car had a cassette player. And no air conditioning.
I worked full time. Hardly anyone at work worked part-time back then.
I had the same microwave I have now but not sure I can say that for many other appliances (given I just today threw my ancient popcorn maker away after dropping it).
I didn't worry about terrorism.
I wore lipstick not lipgloss.
I didn't own a hair straightener.
I didn't have any sort of backup for my computer other than putting stuff on floppy disks. USB didn't exist.
I hadn't driven a sports car. I still haven't. Maybe this decade...
I was a Buffy fan. I still am.
No-one spoke lolz.
My age had a 2 as the first number (yikes!)
I had the same number of tattoos as I do now. One day this will change.
I knew less about myself and the world then than I know now but I'm not sure I feel terribly different now to how I did then. Happier which is good. But not necessarily older (except when I catch myself thinking "young folks these days" type thoughts lol).
Life has changed a lot in ten years but mostly for the better. How about you? What's happened in the last ten years that makes it seem like 2000 was a whole different world?
It's hard to believe that it's the end of the decade (and yes, I know, technically it's not but we're moving into double digit years in the century so let's not quibble). I can remember being at a New Year's Eve party at the end of 1999, everyone joking about whether the lights would still be working after midnight. Thankfully Y2K didn't bring down civilisation so here we are ten years later.
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
So what's happened in ten years?
Ten years ago:
I didn't own a house (I was living in a share house with three male room mates...yeesh).
I hadn't ever written a whole book (finished my first in 2001 and have finished, um, quite a few since then). I did a little bit of writing but didn't really believe I'd ever be a writer.
I therefore didn't have an agent and had never had a rejection (or even submitted anything).
I did own a mobile phone. It only made phone calls. No pictures, no texts, no colour screen, no email or the forty zillion things my iPhone can do. Lots of my friends didn't have mobiles.
I had veeeerrrry slow dial-up internet. Used predominantly for email as surfing took forever. Most of my friends didn't have a computer at home.
My computer had 5mb of RAM. I can't remember the hard drive size but I'm guessing way less than 1Gb.
I didn't know most of the people I now count as close friends (particularly my crit buddies and other writing buds).
Only two of my friends had children. Most of them weren't even married. And I'd never been a bridesmaid.
My grandparents were still alive. I miss them.
I'd never seen a baby being born.
I'd never been to a writing conference or won a writing award.
I'd never made a quilt. Or knitted a pair of socks.
I did have the orange cat and the grey cat.
DVDs didn't exist (laser discs were around but VCR was king).
I didn't know ANY published authors.
I didn't have a blog, or a facebook account or twitter. Blogs probably existed in some form but facebook and twitter and the like definitely did not.
I didn't have an iPod. I had a cd walkman. My computer didn't have a cd burner. It used floppy disks.
No-one had an "i"anything.
I'd never read an ebook though I had bought books online (but I'd imagine only from Amazon.com)
I'd never done pilates or Nia.
I had the same chiropractor as I do now.
I had less grey hairs (possibly none).
I'm not sure if I wore glasses. If I did, it was less than now lol
My parents weren't retired.
My camera used film.
My car had a cassette player. And no air conditioning.
I worked full time. Hardly anyone at work worked part-time back then.
I had the same microwave I have now but not sure I can say that for many other appliances (given I just today threw my ancient popcorn maker away after dropping it).
I didn't worry about terrorism.
I wore lipstick not lipgloss.
I didn't own a hair straightener.
I didn't have any sort of backup for my computer other than putting stuff on floppy disks. USB didn't exist.
I hadn't driven a sports car. I still haven't. Maybe this decade...
I was a Buffy fan. I still am.
No-one spoke lolz.
My age had a 2 as the first number (yikes!)
I had the same number of tattoos as I do now. One day this will change.
I knew less about myself and the world then than I know now but I'm not sure I feel terribly different now to how I did then. Happier which is good. But not necessarily older (except when I catch myself thinking "young folks these days" type thoughts lol).
Life has changed a lot in ten years but mostly for the better. How about you? What's happened in the last ten years that makes it seem like 2000 was a whole different world?
July 04, 2009
Resolving 2.0
In the spirit of the new financial year, I figured I should do a mid-year check to where I was at.
These were my goals in January.
1. Write at least two books and enjoy the process. Hmmm, I've written a quarter of two books. Much typing in the next six months to achieve this but it's still do-able.
2. Lose 15kg. Was doing okay with this until about April when project craziness hit. Let's revise this down to 5-10 in the next six months.
3. To assist with 2, make sure the exercise routine stays a routine rather than a sporadic mess. Actually, one of the girls at work talks about an exercise ritual. I like that. Ritual seems more fun and inviting than 'routine'. Rituals are nurturing rather than an imposition. So keep shaping and sticking to my exercise rituals. Like I said, off the exercise wagon except for my Nia classes and they're not frequent enough. So the goal is back on the wagon.
4. Remember my recipe for happy Mels. Actually I've done okay on this. Have been doing the other things I like to do but I guess just need to pull it all back into balance again.
5. Stay off the caffeine as much as possible (which isn't always but at least I haven't had a diet coke since early this year...and man, I miss it still). Currently on the caffeine but goal over the next week is to wean myself off again. Or at least switch to one or two cups of tea rather than coke.
6. Remember when I fall off the wagon with any of the above that I can just get up and get back on. Okay, I'm remembering.
5. Have fun! Hmmm. There has been some stressy stuff in the last six months. But still, many giggles have occurred.
You can't really set a goal of selling a book as publication is largely out of your control after you do all the write a good book/find an agent/submit stuff/keep writing bit but let's call it my big dream for 2009. Sell a book. Or six. : ) No change to this. But the universe is working on it (along with my lovely agent).
These were my goals in January.
1. Write at least two books and enjoy the process. Hmmm, I've written a quarter of two books. Much typing in the next six months to achieve this but it's still do-able.
2. Lose 15kg. Was doing okay with this until about April when project craziness hit. Let's revise this down to 5-10 in the next six months.
3. To assist with 2, make sure the exercise routine stays a routine rather than a sporadic mess. Actually, one of the girls at work talks about an exercise ritual. I like that. Ritual seems more fun and inviting than 'routine'. Rituals are nurturing rather than an imposition. So keep shaping and sticking to my exercise rituals. Like I said, off the exercise wagon except for my Nia classes and they're not frequent enough. So the goal is back on the wagon.
4. Remember my recipe for happy Mels. Actually I've done okay on this. Have been doing the other things I like to do but I guess just need to pull it all back into balance again.
5. Stay off the caffeine as much as possible (which isn't always but at least I haven't had a diet coke since early this year...and man, I miss it still). Currently on the caffeine but goal over the next week is to wean myself off again. Or at least switch to one or two cups of tea rather than coke.
6. Remember when I fall off the wagon with any of the above that I can just get up and get back on. Okay, I'm remembering.
5. Have fun! Hmmm. There has been some stressy stuff in the last six months. But still, many giggles have occurred.
You can't really set a goal of selling a book as publication is largely out of your control after you do all the write a good book/find an agent/submit stuff/keep writing bit but let's call it my big dream for 2009. Sell a book. Or six. : ) No change to this. But the universe is working on it (along with my lovely agent).
December 28, 2008
Still thinking about indulgence
And I'm not sure I'd change a lot about last year's. But I'll still keep thinking. I think part of the problem is that this year I'm feeling about 500% more relaxed than I was the same time last year. There's been no killer work project, there's been no flooded house just before christmas and there's been quite a bit of vacation time this year.
Maybe I need a new approach to the list...I know what my resolutions are going to be and the indulgences aren't supposed to be resolutions but I think I need a new way to think about them.
More once I've slept on it.
Maybe I need a new approach to the list...I know what my resolutions are going to be and the indulgences aren't supposed to be resolutions but I think I need a new way to think about them.
More once I've slept on it.
November 28, 2008
A cunning plan, my lord
Is what I need. As I may have mentioned, there are quite a few book ideas floating around in the head at the moment, so what do we play with next?
This was the initial writing plan for the year:
Priority 1 project: Witch 1
Priority 2 projects: Progressing Wolf 3, another pass at Wolf 2
Noodle projects: Everything else
Noodle projects are the ones you mess around with when the girls need a break. Or when you get an idea that won't go away or just for fun....you know.
Which was then updated late August to this after I finished Witch 1.
Priority 1 projects - First draft of the current wip, finish Wolf 2 pass
Priority 2 projects - Vague plots for Wolf 3, Witch 2 and maybe a few chaps of them
Noodle projects: Everything else
Current progress:
First draft of current wip. Well, the current wip that was at the time stalled out a bit and now I probably have five or six candidates for current wip. I would like December to be a first draft month, so I guess I need to pick something.
Finish Wolf 2 pass. Done. Took longer than I wanted thanks to the recalcitrant first act but is done for now.
Vague plots and chapters of Wolf 3 and Witch 2. I know the basic plot for Wolf 3 and have the first scene. I have a vague idea of what I think I'd like to use in the plot for Witch 2 and have a very rough draft opening.
Everything else: There has been noodling on and off. Now I have to pick something to focus on...so the current plan is:
Priority 1 projects: Pick a wip and finish a first draft this summer. If that wip is not Witch 2 (I'm not ready for another Wolf just yet, then get a little more of Witch 2 done as well.
Priority 2 projects: Wolf 3. Witch 2 if it's not the summer book.
Noodle projects: Everything else but try and have a designated noodling session every week.
So there you go. A plan, such as it can be when you have stuff out on submission and everything could technically go out the window if someone got a wild hair and bought something. Now I have to go poke at some wips and see which one might like to play nice.
This was the initial writing plan for the year:
Priority 1 project: Witch 1
Priority 2 projects: Progressing Wolf 3, another pass at Wolf 2
Noodle projects: Everything else
Noodle projects are the ones you mess around with when the girls need a break. Or when you get an idea that won't go away or just for fun....you know.
Which was then updated late August to this after I finished Witch 1.
Priority 1 projects - First draft of the current wip, finish Wolf 2 pass
Priority 2 projects - Vague plots for Wolf 3, Witch 2 and maybe a few chaps of them
Noodle projects: Everything else
Current progress:
First draft of current wip. Well, the current wip that was at the time stalled out a bit and now I probably have five or six candidates for current wip. I would like December to be a first draft month, so I guess I need to pick something.
Finish Wolf 2 pass. Done. Took longer than I wanted thanks to the recalcitrant first act but is done for now.
Vague plots and chapters of Wolf 3 and Witch 2. I know the basic plot for Wolf 3 and have the first scene. I have a vague idea of what I think I'd like to use in the plot for Witch 2 and have a very rough draft opening.
Everything else: There has been noodling on and off. Now I have to pick something to focus on...so the current plan is:
Priority 1 projects: Pick a wip and finish a first draft this summer. If that wip is not Witch 2 (I'm not ready for another Wolf just yet, then get a little more of Witch 2 done as well.
Priority 2 projects: Wolf 3. Witch 2 if it's not the summer book.
Noodle projects: Everything else but try and have a designated noodling session every week.
So there you go. A plan, such as it can be when you have stuff out on submission and everything could technically go out the window if someone got a wild hair and bought something. Now I have to go poke at some wips and see which one might like to play nice.
August 19, 2008
Focus
This was the writing plan back near the start of the year:
Priority 1 project: Witch 1
Priority 2 projects: Progressing Wolf 3, another pass at Wolf 2
Noodle projects: Everything else
Noodle projects are the ones you mess around with when the girls need a break. Or when you get an idea that won't go away or just for fun....you know.
Current progress:
Witch 1 - 3 drafts done and out there
Wolf 2 draft 3 - started and not yet finished
Wolf 3 - still in my head
Everything else - mostly noodling except for the new book
Current plan for the next five months or so:
Priority 1 projects - First draft of the current wip, finish Wolf 2 pass
Priority 2 projects - Vague plots for Wolf 3, Witch 2 and maybe a few chaps of them
Noodle projects: Everything else
Priority 1 project: Witch 1
Priority 2 projects: Progressing Wolf 3, another pass at Wolf 2
Noodle projects: Everything else
Noodle projects are the ones you mess around with when the girls need a break. Or when you get an idea that won't go away or just for fun....you know.
Current progress:
Witch 1 - 3 drafts done and out there
Wolf 2 draft 3 - started and not yet finished
Wolf 3 - still in my head
Everything else - mostly noodling except for the new book
Current plan for the next five months or so:
Priority 1 projects - First draft of the current wip, finish Wolf 2 pass
Priority 2 projects - Vague plots for Wolf 3, Witch 2 and maybe a few chaps of them
Noodle projects: Everything else
April 13, 2008
Retrospective
This meme seems to be going around today (see here, here and here) so I thought I've give it a go...a potted history of Mel's writing career aka the stuff I can remember writing enough of to qualify as a book or intended to be a book rather than a short story. The year is the year I finished the first draft (or started the book if it's unfinished) and everything that's been submitted has probably had at least three drafts...so hopefully I've more than clocked up that million words figure people bandy about.
1981. (I think...Grade Three anyway) My first books. I wrote a series of three or so stories about a family of unicorns with a friend. Taught me the perils of collaboration and secret babies.
1984. Rlent's Journey Very bad derivative fantasy which owed a lot to Anne McCaffrey. Wrote some chapters on and off and then at some point realised that it was derivative. Interesting concept though...
1989. The Fantasy Book (still no real title). I wrote the first four or five chapters of this in my last year of high school and my friends loved it. Cough-teen years later I'm still trying to write the darn thing. Romantic fantasy with slight leanings towards epicness. I love this book and will get it right one day.
1989. My First Romance (no idea if it had a title). Wrote this as a 3k story for an English assignment. A reunion romance between a actress/director who'd had an affair in college when he was a visiting professor. Have at various times played with it since then but not sure I'll ever do anything with it.
2001. The Bride's Bargain. Category romance. Wrote the first three chapters in a burst around 1995 then it sat when work/study took over for a few years, tried again in 1996 and ditto. Sometime in 2001 I realised if I ever wanted to be a writer, I'd better finish a book and finished it. The full got a very form rejection from Silhouette but the bug had bitten. Another reunion romance. Has potential but I'm kind of scared to look at it now lol.
2002. Convincing Callie. Category romance. My first 'gift' book. The hero was a minor character who kept wanting to take over in TBB so I decided to give him a book. Which he then ran with and it just flew out. Won a few competitions but has been rejected by all three offices of HM&B in various guises which is a pity because I love the hero. Got me my first 'please send us something else' rejection from Desire. Ditto from ModX a few years later after revising.
2002. Take A Chance On Me. Category Romance. The book I wrote to submit to Desire as my something else. Another reunion. Got a very encouraging rejection from the editor who wanted to work with me on the next one.
2002. Be My Downfall. Category Romance. Nanowrimo book. The h/h are secondary characters from TAC so it won't get properly revised/submitted unless I ever sell TAC.
2003. Don't Stand So Close To Me. Bombshell/Action Romance. Wrote the partial and sent it off then wrote a few more chapters but didn't want to write the rest unless I got a request (at this point I knew I could write fast when I needed to). It got rejected. Yet to be finished but could be a fun single title. My first experiment with first person. 2003 was also the year of revising many things for submission or comps. I lost both my grandparents that year and the writing was hard.
2004. Getting Wise. Category Romance. The book I was writing for the Desire editor. Who then left the company which threw me for a loop and GW turned into the book from hell, possibly cos it was angsty and I was grieving. I've rewritten it a few times but it eludes me for now. Never submitted. I probably also revised CC and TAC in 04 for comps and to submit elsewhere. I think TAC was my first GH entry that went nowhere.
2004. Be My Downfall. Romance. Nano book. I thought it was category but it's kind of bigger and more complicated than that. To be revised/written properly someday.
2005. Can't Stand The Heat. Category Romance. I'd had the idea of this sometime in 2004. Wrote it very fast in 2005 after an online editor pitch, did okay in comps. I really like this book. Another GH entry that got better scores but didn't do anything. Got me another 'please send more' rejection from ModX and a revised version of the partial is currently at Blaze after pitching it at last year's National.
2005. Me and Mr Jones. Romance. Possibly category but not sure the idea would work for them. Unfinished. Needs re-thinking.
2005. Steamy Weather. Single Title Romance. Another gift book that was flying out until I stupidly took it to critting too early and got stalled at just over 100 pages. I will finish it one day when I figure out how to get the girls to stop sulking and get back into the groove of it. Up until then I'd never had a problem having first drafts critted before the book was finished. Now I rarely show anyone any part of the first draft until it's done, particularly if it's flowing well. So it's the book that changed my process.
2005. The Deadly Pool. Romantic Fantasy set in kind of an alternate England/Scotland/France with a tech level about equivalent to the Regency period and similar society with magic. Not finished and shelved until I have time to do it but I like it.
2006. The Ex-Factor. Category romance. Reunion romance (yes, I like reunion stories). Finalled in the Golden Heart but had already had a revision request by the time it finalled. Revised partial in London.
2006. The Wolf Within. Urban Fantasy. I think I wrote the first bit of this late in 2005 then another forty pages maybe early 2006 when I probably got the rejection on CSTH and wrote TEF. Put it into a 'cold read' session at the RWOz 06 conference with Miriam and she requested the partial. Turned into a gift book when I sat down to finish it and wrote the rest in about six weeks. Finalled in the 07 GH and won/finalled several other comps. Got me my agent and is currently out there doing the rounds.
2007. The Dark Side (sequel to TWW). Urban Fantasy. About to start revising.
2007. Wolf 3. Urban Fantasy. One chapter written but on hold till I revise Wolf 2 for a few things so I can get the ongoing threads right.
2007. For One Night Only. Category romance. Not finished as I started writing it when I hit my tooth pulling/I have too many wips going on/day job project from hell/nothing is flowing period late last year. One to come back to.
2008. Witch 1. Urban Fantasy. First draft done and will be revised after I revise Wolf 2.
2008. Planned - revise Wolf 2, do something romance-y, revise Witch 1, then it's a toss up between Witch 2 or my other urban fantasy idea. All in the lap of the gods and what happens with what I've got out on submission.
And now I know what I've been doing with the last few years of my life...typing. By my count that's ten books (not counting the unicorns!) with at least a complete first draft (and I'd say all but one of those has had 2-3 drafts) and another five or six in various stages of completion. Not too shabby for just under seven years of serious writing. I think I need a lie down : )
1981. (I think...Grade Three anyway) My first books. I wrote a series of three or so stories about a family of unicorns with a friend. Taught me the perils of collaboration and secret babies.
1984. Rlent's Journey Very bad derivative fantasy which owed a lot to Anne McCaffrey. Wrote some chapters on and off and then at some point realised that it was derivative. Interesting concept though...
1989. The Fantasy Book (still no real title). I wrote the first four or five chapters of this in my last year of high school and my friends loved it. Cough-teen years later I'm still trying to write the darn thing. Romantic fantasy with slight leanings towards epicness. I love this book and will get it right one day.
1989. My First Romance (no idea if it had a title). Wrote this as a 3k story for an English assignment. A reunion romance between a actress/director who'd had an affair in college when he was a visiting professor. Have at various times played with it since then but not sure I'll ever do anything with it.
2001. The Bride's Bargain. Category romance. Wrote the first three chapters in a burst around 1995 then it sat when work/study took over for a few years, tried again in 1996 and ditto. Sometime in 2001 I realised if I ever wanted to be a writer, I'd better finish a book and finished it. The full got a very form rejection from Silhouette but the bug had bitten. Another reunion romance. Has potential but I'm kind of scared to look at it now lol.
2002. Convincing Callie. Category romance. My first 'gift' book. The hero was a minor character who kept wanting to take over in TBB so I decided to give him a book. Which he then ran with and it just flew out. Won a few competitions but has been rejected by all three offices of HM&B in various guises which is a pity because I love the hero. Got me my first 'please send us something else' rejection from Desire. Ditto from ModX a few years later after revising.
2002. Take A Chance On Me. Category Romance. The book I wrote to submit to Desire as my something else. Another reunion. Got a very encouraging rejection from the editor who wanted to work with me on the next one.
2002. Be My Downfall. Category Romance. Nanowrimo book. The h/h are secondary characters from TAC so it won't get properly revised/submitted unless I ever sell TAC.
2003. Don't Stand So Close To Me. Bombshell/Action Romance. Wrote the partial and sent it off then wrote a few more chapters but didn't want to write the rest unless I got a request (at this point I knew I could write fast when I needed to). It got rejected. Yet to be finished but could be a fun single title. My first experiment with first person. 2003 was also the year of revising many things for submission or comps. I lost both my grandparents that year and the writing was hard.
2004. Getting Wise. Category Romance. The book I was writing for the Desire editor. Who then left the company which threw me for a loop and GW turned into the book from hell, possibly cos it was angsty and I was grieving. I've rewritten it a few times but it eludes me for now. Never submitted. I probably also revised CC and TAC in 04 for comps and to submit elsewhere. I think TAC was my first GH entry that went nowhere.
2004. Be My Downfall. Romance. Nano book. I thought it was category but it's kind of bigger and more complicated than that. To be revised/written properly someday.
2005. Can't Stand The Heat. Category Romance. I'd had the idea of this sometime in 2004. Wrote it very fast in 2005 after an online editor pitch, did okay in comps. I really like this book. Another GH entry that got better scores but didn't do anything. Got me another 'please send more' rejection from ModX and a revised version of the partial is currently at Blaze after pitching it at last year's National.
2005. Me and Mr Jones. Romance. Possibly category but not sure the idea would work for them. Unfinished. Needs re-thinking.
2005. Steamy Weather. Single Title Romance. Another gift book that was flying out until I stupidly took it to critting too early and got stalled at just over 100 pages. I will finish it one day when I figure out how to get the girls to stop sulking and get back into the groove of it. Up until then I'd never had a problem having first drafts critted before the book was finished. Now I rarely show anyone any part of the first draft until it's done, particularly if it's flowing well. So it's the book that changed my process.
2005. The Deadly Pool. Romantic Fantasy set in kind of an alternate England/Scotland/France with a tech level about equivalent to the Regency period and similar society with magic. Not finished and shelved until I have time to do it but I like it.
2006. The Ex-Factor. Category romance. Reunion romance (yes, I like reunion stories). Finalled in the Golden Heart but had already had a revision request by the time it finalled. Revised partial in London.
2006. The Wolf Within. Urban Fantasy. I think I wrote the first bit of this late in 2005 then another forty pages maybe early 2006 when I probably got the rejection on CSTH and wrote TEF. Put it into a 'cold read' session at the RWOz 06 conference with Miriam and she requested the partial. Turned into a gift book when I sat down to finish it and wrote the rest in about six weeks. Finalled in the 07 GH and won/finalled several other comps. Got me my agent and is currently out there doing the rounds.
2007. The Dark Side (sequel to TWW). Urban Fantasy. About to start revising.
2007. Wolf 3. Urban Fantasy. One chapter written but on hold till I revise Wolf 2 for a few things so I can get the ongoing threads right.
2007. For One Night Only. Category romance. Not finished as I started writing it when I hit my tooth pulling/I have too many wips going on/day job project from hell/nothing is flowing period late last year. One to come back to.
2008. Witch 1. Urban Fantasy. First draft done and will be revised after I revise Wolf 2.
2008. Planned - revise Wolf 2, do something romance-y, revise Witch 1, then it's a toss up between Witch 2 or my other urban fantasy idea. All in the lap of the gods and what happens with what I've got out on submission.
And now I know what I've been doing with the last few years of my life...typing. By my count that's ten books (not counting the unicorns!) with at least a complete first draft (and I'd say all but one of those has had 2-3 drafts) and another five or six in various stages of completion. Not too shabby for just under seven years of serious writing. I think I need a lie down : )
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