News and Update for ROW 80 - Special Words

THE END

Typing never felt so good! Getting into the last third of my novel stuck spurs in me an inch deep. I barely made myself stop when I dozed over my keyboard. 

Sleep is highly overrated!

My intensity made my schedule imperative. There's a lot more to my life than writing in any given day! (Teaching, homeschooling–no, not always the same thing–house decorating, meal planning, not to mention

Weekender - Faith Readers' Daily

 

I'm so pumped about catching up with my ROW80 goals by the end of the week! What a blessing! Dealing with my rabbit trails (that's what they called ADD when I was going to school) I get easily distracted by all sorts of things - music, dogs, people passing by, but most of all the little numbers that bounce up at the top of my 6-8 internet tabs.

Come back Thursday and I'll let you in on the secret of how I worked through my problem! And I'll let you know how my ideas are working! 

For today's update, I've topped 40,000 words. (I know I could just write 40k, but all those zeros look so cool!) I've stepped up my goal a little. I'd like to be done with this novel by the end of this month. I did 40k in 32 days. I only have 25 days left so I'll have to do some hightailed writing, but I think I can make it, or darn close. My current goal is 1,500 per day, so I'm going to boost that to 2,000 and hope I can make it. 

Great READING!

Usually I read over the weekends. With last weeks suggestions I had plenty of fodder for my reviews, but the time got past me.

No, that's not entirely true.

I've been grazing on amazing insight from Award Winning Author, Susan May Warren. I LOVE her books! Not a book this time, but pages of chats and invaluable notes from her My Book Therapy sessions. I investigated suspense, sifted through characterizations and settings, and even dallied with a little romance.

With sparkling eyes and dimpled cheeks, I told my

Break Out the Pom Poms!

Done.

Oh that word - like sweet melodies or cascading water whispering peace against anxiety.

After four months of writing and five months of rewriting, I actually called it out and sent away the final copies of my novel to a group of beta readers.

Breathe.

It's like the time when I watched my handsome boy sing his first solo. Glad, anxious,

Fragmented

It has come to my attention, that fragments, such as they are, can be perfectly acceptable. In professional writing. I've seen many examples of it. One word sentences. Other short expressions that, while they don't have clear subjects or predicates, stand alone as a complete thought.

How many fragments could you count in the first paragraph? I'm no expert, but

The Doctor's Lady - Pure Delight

9-18-11 Update - After re-evaluating some of my reviews, I wouldn't change a thing on this one! It is an amazing book!

View the trailer for this book - short, and very well-done! 

The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund, isn't quite a PURE delight, despite my title. It also proved insightful,

Totally Stumped!

I just finished Camy Tang's Deadly Intent. Can I just say, "WOW!"

This story is more than a suspense novel. The plot weaves in and out of the characters' lives with a master's touch.

Naomi Grant's terror from

Review: Reinventing Leona

Last week I got the opportunity to interview Lynne Gentry about her new e-book from Tyndale House Publishing called Reinventing Leona. That interview is HERE! The book is available for FREE on Kindle at Amazon and also available for the Nook and other e-readers at Barnes and Noble, or you can click through to order through Lynne's own site and give her a bit of extra support!

I happened to be at the DFW Ready Writers meeting the day she announced

Characters - Every Last One of Them!

This group I traveled with last week is full of extraordinary people. And isn't that what makes a good novel? The characters?

When I first started writing my novel, I thought I would focus on placing just regular everyday people in difficult positions and seeing how they would work their way out of it. As I progressed, though, I realized that there are no such things as regular everyday people!

Review - Deep Trouble by Mary Connealy

This historical novel was given to me and I intend to give it away to one of you next Tuesday! To enter, simply follow my blog and make sure you have an accurate email address attached to your "follow." Following on the "Networked Blogs" works, too, as long as I have a way to reach you in case you win.

Anyway, I read Deep Trouble by Mary Connealy during the first leg of my trip last week. What a delight, as I journeyed across the country, to read about a similar journey

Book review - My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

I don't read romance very often. See I have this terrible problem with Christian romances - they make me cry. I know, I know! A tenderhearted story is one of the draws to Christian romance, but I could do without it! Seriously!

I wrote a song several years ago that starts out "I long for heaven and no more tears." This crying thing isn't just a little issue with me.  I'm not joking when I tell people that a good McDonald's commercial can leave me teary-eyed. I never saw Titanic, or the Notebook, and don't plan to.

Characterization Success!

I've been having trouble with character. Isolationism, timidity, meekness, cowardice, etc. No, not me, my protagonist. See she needs to be withdrawn from her community as part of her journey, but she's not timid or meek, and she's even pretty reckless, but I hadn't really thought about her in such deep terms.

Hidden Deception by Leann Harris

Leann Harris weaves an intricate mystery in her "Love Inspired Suspense" novel Hidden Deception. While suspense carries the story, this has the flavors of a traditional whodunit and I licked my chops at the challenge.

Set amidst the charm of the older area of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ms. Harris draws a picture of deceit, personal agendas and hushed connections. The secrets in this book are so thick, they unfold in layers, enticing the reader to expose a little more.

Secrets are Meant to be Shared . . .

I read non-fiction from time to time; Bible Studies, devotions, teacher editions and writing manuals.  Seldom do I actually read any of these books from cover to cover.  I leave that enjoyment to my accountant hubby who only discovered an enjoyment of fiction when the kids were young and he read the Little House books aloud to them.  Until then, his leisure reading included computer manuals and all of Chuck Swindoll's and Max Lucado's books.

Anyway, I broke with tradition last weekend when I came across the new nook book from Mary DeMuth, 11 Secrets of Getting Published.  Not only was the book informative, but it was terribly challenging.  Her chapters addressed  some of the most overwhelming areas to a novice writer, such as crafting the story, understanding what goes into publishing and marketing, and navigating writers' conferences.