HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BFF!
I updated the progress widgets on ye olde website this morning (new code words for all my secret projects!), and in doing so was looking at my beginning of month goals and I thought I’d see where I stood:
- finish short story (I can SEE the end. I think it might even be on this page. SO CLOSE, Y’ALL.)
- new proposal (I have an idea, so YAY! But see below for more info on that.)
- finish cleaning out my closet (this weekend is the weekend)
- get rid of the furniture we don’t use anymore (ditto)
- finish babyproofing as Q grows more mobile by the day (some little baby crawled up our basement stairs yesterday so we are DEFINITELY gate-ing it up this weekend)
- put in the rocks around the AC units near the patio (Score! I can cross one thing off! And it look bee-you-ti-ful, if I do say so myself. I should really get in the habit of doing before and after shots, because this was a REALLY big improvement for about $40 of rocks from Home Depot)
- clean out the flower garden and replant (SB says he’s going to do this)
- create an herb garden (I don’t know if this is going to happen this season, plus I think we’ve decided to put the herb garden in where the flower garden used to be)
- Do something about the vines/weeds taking over our yard (SB says he’s on this one, too)
And when I finish my short story– which will be TODAY, God willing and the creek don’t rise — I can supposedly start on my new proposal, which I got a great idea for this week and which I ran by Sailor Boy, Justine, and Carrie, who were all appropriately cheerleadery about it. And I did indeed plan to start on it.
But t
hen I discovered Camp NaNoWriMo, which is a NaNo annex for August. August, to be frank, is a much better NaNo month for me than November. (Also, you get an extra day. W00T!) So here’s my new plan for the remainder of July, writing-wise:
- Write short story #4 (tentatively code-named TBWHU)
- Finish the essay I agreed to write
- Do lots of research/outlining and prep-work on my NaNo project
With the intention, of course, of diving right in come August. (Though I’ve been told I’ll be receiving my copyedits in August, which may put a wrench in my plans. Also, I’m going away the second weekend in August. So we’ll see how all that goes.)
As I was filling out my Camp NaNo Bio, I realized that I have written 12 books. TWELVE BOOKS. Holy cow. And I’ve sold nine books (no, this doesn’t add up, because I’ve sold a book I haven’t written yet). I feel like when I make it to an even 10, I should do something to commemorate the occasion. Tenth anniversary is tin. Not feeling it. What’s cool for tin?
I’m a little agog at that. I know it’s not impressive for some of my friends, who have written twelve books like, this year, but given that when I started this whole crazy thing I was like “hmmm, I wonder if I can write a book the whole way through…” I feel pretty good.
In related news, I saw this announcement of a Harlequin Special Edition contest they’re holding. Back when I was trying to write category romance (2001-2005, and 3 of my 4 unpublished books fit into this genre), I never tried to write for SE (then Silhouette SE), though in the intervening years, I have consistently scored the SEs I’ve received in romance novel contests the highest grades. I wonder if I would have had success being a category romance author had I been targeting that line instead of Temptation and Blaze? Ah, the road not taken. Anyway, if your taste runs to Special Edition, you should totally enter the contest, because I like those books and new blood is fun.
July 15th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Thanks for the notice of Camp NaNoWriMo – I’m joining up! It may be difficult as I have a full time job, but I think it will be good motivation.
Congrats on your 12 books! =) I was just reading the beginning of Rainbow Valley (the only “Anne” book I haven’t read), and Jem cooks several trout he caught over a fire he built on a tin cup that he flattened into a platter. How bad-ass is that? That’s what you should do for your ten book anniversary. =p
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July 15th, 2011 at 10:52 am
I just realized I forgot to put commas in that sentence about Jem. Sigh.
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July 15th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
What’s cool for tin? Nothing says “Happy 10th” like this 5 foot metal chicken. http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/
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July 15th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Cassandra, you beat me to it! Although a Beyonce might not be the best idea with Q crawling around.
Diana, thanks for the heads up on Camp NaNoWriMo. I’ve been playing with the idea of doing NaNo in November, but was pretty hesitant. I’m still in the “Huh, I wonder if I could write a book” stage and I’ll be moving at that time. I have no experience writing books, but it seemed like a bad idea for my first attempt to be during such a stressful time. August will be much more doable (especially with the extra day!). And camp is always a good time.
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July 15th, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Wow I’m not the only one doing Camp Nanowrimo!! Yay! Except I’m doing it this month which means the full site isn’t up yet. So, I’m curious as to when they’re going to get their own word count meters up… because they have them for full blown Nanowrimo, and Script Frenzy… (yes I’ve done them all)
Nano is a terrible thing in November for a student and Camp Nano is MUCH easier than regular. But the site isn’t fully functional for me because they still have to fix the glitches. So August is a much better time for it. (just saying).
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July 19th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Oo… I’ve just started a new WIP. Perhaps I should sign up for the august Nano. November is not a good month for Nano…
Congrats on the book milestone! Awesome.
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