Moving along

First off, I know I've been neglecting my Thursday posts...and that's honestly because I haven't had any time to think about Three Things, let alone have time to write something.  I'm hopeful that will change now though!  Last week I was in Chicago on Thursday for a big pitch with a potential client, so between the meeting and traveling, blogging just wasn't gonna happen.

I thought writing just wasn't gonna happen last week either, but thankfully, I had some time yesterday to sit and plug away.

Total Words Written: 1,937
Total Hours Spent Writing: 2 hours

Total Word Count Overall: 65,587

Hey, almost two thousand words in just two hours isn't half bad!  I wasn't around at all last week during the weeknights, so I was really glad I had Sunday to get back to it. 

I'm starting to realize that I really do need to wrap up this story...in only about 15,000 more words.  I mean, if I go over 80k it's not a big deal, but I don't see that being an issue anyway. I'm in the final stretch for the most part.  Which is crazy!  If I can stick to the 3k words/week goal, I'll be done in just about a month.  WOW.  When did I start writing this story?  Does anyone remember?  I suppose I could go back through my blog archives and find out...I wanna say it was late summer?  Hmmm. I should probably pay attention to how long it takes me to write a whole novel- including the revision process...

I already have an idea for another one, too, and would still like to go back to IMME someday and clean it up some more. I still think it has potential. But first things first.  Let's finish up After the Dream and see what happens...still plenty of revising to do, too.

Anyway.  I'll stop babbling now.  Happy Monday, everyone!

and it's off

Last night I sent off the latest version of the WIP (now tentatively titled After the Dream, although it's hard for me to get used to calling it that!) through chapter 27 to some of my readers, so I'll be sitting here this week anxiously awaiting their thoughts. It's getting there...and it seems weird that over the next month or so I'll be wrapping it up.  Whatever will I do with myself??  Well, besides revisions, of course...and then starting the dreaded query process all over again...

Anyway.  Stats for the week:

Total Words Written: 2,208
Total Hours Spent Writing: 2.5 hours

Total Word Count Overall: 63,637

Meh, I know, I didn't hit 3K this week.  I only sat down to write two days though, so over 2k is still pretty impressive.  This week, things are probably going to be even bleaker.  I have plans tonight and tomorrow night, and then Wednesday and Thursday I'll be in Chicago for work, Friday I might have the girls over...sooo we're looking at Saturday and Sunday for writing time. If I can squeeze in an hour both days, which I should, really, then I'll be okay and should be able to manage around 2k again.

In other news, I just finished reading an AMAZING book this weekend- The Fault in our Stars by John Green.  Seriously, you guys, I cannot get this book out of my head.  I've never cried so much over a book- not even my beloved Jellicoe Road.  But it wasn't all depressing and sad, there were happy moments and parts that made me laugh out loud, and a day later, I am still completely in love with the characters, especially Augustus.  Do yourself a favor and read this book.  Like, NOW.  GO.

Deja Vu

Lots of stuff going on this week, so I’ll get right to it:

Total Words Written: 3,169

Total Hours Spent Writing: 3.5 hours

Total Word Count Overall: 61,435

For those of you keeping track, that’s almost EXACTLY the same amount I wrote last week, in just about the same amount of time (3,171 words/3.75 hours) Creepy…

I suppose this means I’m on a roll. It feels good to be making progress like this, and I just hope it can continue!

Of course, that being said, these next two weeks are going to be a little hectic. I have a lot of social activities planned after work this week (and next week too, come to think of it), and also next week I’m traveling to Chicago for two days for a big meeting.  So I'm thinking it’s probably going to be tough to fit in time to write during the week. But my weekends should be somewhat free, so I’m hoping to be able to squeeze in some time then- just not sure I’ll be able to hit the 3k mark as I have been! But I’m really hoping to get another draft off to my readers before the end of this month. It’ll be the last one they get to read before the first draft is DONE.

Hope everyone has a swell week…stay warm!

Three Things Thursday...on Friday.

I had a good idea for my Three Things Thursday post yesterday, but alas, I had not a single free minute to write it.  So, today I bring you the delayed edition.  I'm sure my legions of readers were anxiously awaiting this post, so I apologize for the lateness.  Heh.

Anyway, as I plug along with the WIP, I've been contemplating titles for it like crazy.  I came up with In My Mind's Eye for my first one pretty quickly, probably about halfway into the story if not sooner.  This one, however, not so much.  I have a list of choices, and I would like to get some opinions.  Which titles would catch your eye at a bookstore?  Would any of these and make you go, hmmmm, this looks interesting, I should totally buy it?? 

1) Now and Then - This was the original title I had in mind back when I first started writing the story.  Because of how the story has evolved, it doesn't quite fit as well as it used to.  But it's still a possibility.

2) The Past of Us - I really liked this one when I thought of it. Like, a lot.  And it's totally fitting.  Hoooooowever, then I heard of a book by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler called The Future of Us.  Doh.  Eerily similar, no?  (And I totally want to read that book, btw.  Sounds awesome!)

3) After the Dream - This is the latest title I've come up with.  I actually just wrote it in a sentence a couple days ago and it stuck out at me like a flashing red light.  The story centers a lot around a recurring dream Riley (the male MC) has, so it could totally work. 

So, which of these (if any) would make you want to take a closer look, read the back cover and see what the heck this book is about? 

I'm back!

That's right, my word count goal was totally met last week, and I intend on doing it all over again this week!

Total Words Written: 3,171
Total Hours Spent Writing: 4ish
Total Word Count Overall: 58,333

It's been a long time since I actually posted something positive about my word count.  It feels good, not gonna lie.  Every time I sat down to write last week, which was three times, I wrote in a frenzy, words just pouring out.  I was at an exciting part of the story, the part where swoony times abound, the characters are starting to figure the whole mystery out, and drama unfolds.  Dun dun DUN! 

Also?  I'm almost at 60,000 words!  What the whaaaat?  When did that happen?  This means I'm officially in the home stretch.  I'm officially writing the last 1/4th of this novel- providing I stick with my goal of around 80,000 words.  I have a sneaky feeling this one might stretch out just a little bit longer than 80k, though.  And that's okay.  Revising is going to be somewhat of a beast...but I'm actually sort of looking forward to it anyway.  Is it weird that I want to reread my own book for pleasure first??  Hmph.

As I mentioned, I'm hoping to keep up the pace this week, maybe push myself a little further, even.  We shall see how it goes.  I'm on a crapload of medications right now for all my crazy sinus issues and I feel a bit like I have the flu...it's just from all the drugs, though.  This happened last time, too.  I'm just incredibly achy and tired.  But hey, all I have to move are my fingers, so I'm pretty sure I can handle that.

Three Things Thursday - Why Thursdays Rule

Today’s edition of Three Things Thursday include three things I love about, well, Thursdays.

Last fall, my good friend Karyn (also one of my readers, lucky her, getting read draft after crappy draft of my WIP) and I agreed that our obsession over The Vampire Diaries needed to be shared more thoroughly.  Hence, “Thursday Girly Night” was born.  At first, it was just the two of us.  We’d grab dinner somewhere, or order in, then settle in and watch our show, squeeing happily to each other at each glimpse of a shirtless Salvatore.

I can’t remember the exact order of how the others joined in, but just a couple months later our friends Debbie (another lucky beta reader of mine), Patti, Kerri and Gail began sharing in the fun too.  Debbie and Patti were already fans of the show, and at first Kerri and Gail only came to drink wine and hang out, but they quickly jumped on the bandwagon when they realized the awesomeness of the show.  Which took maybe two or three episodes.

So now, a full year later, I can’t imagine not getting together with these girls on Thursday nights.  It’s become such a part of my routine that I wouldn’t know what to do with myself on Thursdays if we didn’t get together.  Seriously. 

My 3 favorite things about Thursday nights are:

1) The girls.  Those five girls are a few of my very favorite people in the world.  Every week I look forward to seeing them and hearing about their week, to laughing til my gut hurts and letting off steam about whatever might be bothering me at that moment.  I know they’re there to listen without judgment.  And vice versa, of course.  And that, my friends, is probably better than any therapy I could pay for.

2) The show. I don’t need to go into a long, drawn out explanation of why we like the show.  Sure, it’s got everything a girl could want: excitement, drama, adventure, romance…but mostly it’s got THEM:

3) The food and the wine.  Every week our dinners switch up.  We do go the Chinese or pizza route from time to time, but more often someone cooks a main dish and everyone else contributes the sides & desserts.  We’ve had everything from meatloaf and mashed potatoes to baked ziti to taco night to breakfast for dinner.  And everything in between.  It’s the only night of the week I eat dessert too, and not gonna lie, sometimes I look forward to that as much as the dinner.  And the wine, of course.  There’s always lots and lots of wine.

Seriously, what’s not to love about these nights??  I hope we continue them for as long as we possibly can.  One can never get enough girl time, hot boys, and food & wine, right?

Happy Thursday, everyone!

My 2012 Reading/Writing Goals

Happy New Year, kids!  I can't believe how fast 2011 came and went...along with my goals for the year.  Yikes.  So, remember when I thought I'd have my WIP done before the holidays? And how I hoped to get some bites on In My Mind's Eye?  Yea, well.  Hmph.

But a full, new, bright and shiny year looms ahead!  And I'm super excited to embrace it and get moving on my goals.  That's right- goals, not resolutions.  I guess they're sort of the same thing, but "goals" just sounds more motivating to me.  Probably because I don't think I've ever actually kept a resolution.  Like, ever.

That being said, I recently entered the Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge.  I made my goal for the year 75 books- that's like a book & a half a week, so it should be no problem for me.  Granted, last year I only read about 40, but I have higher expectations for 2012.  I also have TON of good books I want to read.  Like, a TON.  A whole stack of books at home, and well over 200 on my to-read list.  So I'm ready!!!  BRING IT.

As far as my writing goals, well, we all know the ultimate goal is to nab an agent and get published.  The WIP is starting to come along again- over my holiday break I was able to get down around 3000 words.  I'm keeping my weekly word count goal the same as last year- well, the same as it was before I got completely sidetracked by revisions and the holidays- which is 3000.  Now that we're entering the long, cold days of winter I should have plenty of time to sit on my ass and write.  If I can maintain the 3000 words per week goal, I should have it finished (or at around 80,000 words) by mid-March.  That seems pretty doable.

Here's to a new year full of endless possibilities!!