The game last night was a blast. I love football in the fall - esp. September games (or late Aug) when the weather is superb. And it didn't hurt the Beavs won. ;) The newest phase of the Reser Stadium renovation is awesome. And the new scoreboard was phenomenal. DH got me a new vest too at the fan shop, and I wish I could post a pic. It's so cool! Reversible - black on one side, orange on the other, puffy, absolutely perfect for the fall with a long-sleeved shirt underneath. I love it!

Okay, on to the word count. Because we went to the game yesterday and out with friends for dinner beforehand, I didn't blow out the word count like I did on Wed. Only 1338 words total. But I met my goal of 1000 words, it was all in the WIP (LOL...not the new proposal) and I finished the scene I wanted to finish. Woohoo!

Next up is a very emotional revelation/love scene that'll probably zap me. Hoping to get through it slowly but steadily this weekend as I get my 1000-words in.

How did you do yesterday?

It's that time of year again! Beaver football kicks off tonight. We're ditching the kids and going to the game with friends. I'm looking forward to getting away for the evening.

Of course, that means I have to get my 1000 words in before we go.

And that, of course, leads me to my word count update. Yesterday I hurt my back picking up Gremlin #3 and ended up spending most of the day on the couch. Bad for my back. Good for the writing. I wrote 6168 words!!!! It would be better if all those words had gone into the WIP that desperately needs to be finished, but I had an epiphany about a new proposal I want to write and the first chapter completely popped into my head. When something like that hits, you don't question it or push it aside. I ended up writing the entire first chapter of the new book (24 pgs) and then bounced over to write three pages in the WIP. I would have stayed up and kept going on the WIP, but by that point I was wiped. So today...the 1000 words are going in the WIP. Have to get through this scene so I can get to the good one which comes next. :)

How are your goals going?

My good friend and Intrigue writer, Alice Sharpe, blogged this morning about her writing process at the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Blog. Funny take on how she works her proposals. Go read it. (I discovered I'm not nearly as neurotic as I'd thought. LOL)

And a word count/goal update for yesterday:

Stayed up and finished the scene I wanted to get done. 2381 words, 11 pgs. What goal did you accomplish yesterday?

Okay, I'm throwing this out there. Blame Joan for talking me into a mini-writing challenge last night.

I agreed to writing 1000 words a day for 100 days. Which would technically give me a 100,000-word manuscript in roughly 3 1/3 months. Of course, I'm not starting anything new, and I'm not going to try to finish a new book. I am, however, going to work on several different things and spread my 100,000-words out over a variety of projects.

So, between now and the middle of December, I'm going to:

1. Finish DTM. I have 8 scenes to go. Polish it and get it off to my agent.
2. Incorporate CP edits into BTS. Polish one more time and send off to my agent.
3. Finish proposal for V (polish first three chapters and write dreaded synopsis). Send to agent.

And while doing all that polishing, I still need to get my 1000-words a day in on the following projects:

4. Write proposal for Marked (working title).
5. Write proposal for Proof Positive (working title).

That's it. Between now and Christmas (basically), I want to send two full ms's to my agent and three proposals. Then I'll decide which proposal I'm going to zoom in on and finish.

What are your goals for the rest of 2007?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the wip (AKA: The Book From Hell). It's an RS (obviously), but while I don't tend to write about dark and depressing subject matter like serial killers and rapists, this book has an overwhelming somberness around it. It's emotional, there's lots of worry and angst and lies and betrayal. Serious trust issues at the core of the story. I would classify it as being "lighter RS" in that I don't document gruesome murder scenes, but it definitely has a "dark" emotional quality to it.

While editing what I'd already written a while back, I tried to pay attention to what it is about my hero or heroine that attracts the other. Yes, characters can be insanely attracted to another amongst a backdrop of murder and mayhem, but sometimes I ask myself, where's the entertainment in that? Is this person going to look at their significant other and see anything uplifting? Anything that makes them think happy thoughts? A good friend of mine is always reminding me that we write for entertainment purposes. That readers - regardless of the genre they read - read for enjoyment and to have fun. Too much dark and depressing - in my book - isn't fun.

Nora Roberts does a great job of adding in the daily details of life and turning them around so they strike you as comical or light or sometimes enjoyable. There's a scene in Angels Fall where the hero (a writer) is running around cleaning up his house before the heroine's going to come over for dinner. He's in the kitchen, cleaning like a guy, and thinks to himself, "Why do I bother to put the dirty dishes in the sink? I just have to take them back out again." Now, that line isn't in and of itself funny or even that entertaining, but it came at a time when the book could have taken a very dark detour, and it lightened the story enough that I thought to myself, "You know what? That's so true. Why the heck do I put the dirty dishes in the sink too?" It made me laugh. And yes, it entertained me, and it made me like the hero that much more because I identified with him.

I recently reread one of my favorite books - Perfect by Judith McNaught. The book is way too long (at over 600 pgs), and there are way too many backstory passages and telling sections and times when the author hits you over the head and elaborates for paragraphs and paragraphs when one line would have accomplished the same objective. But amidst this deep, emotional story, she's taken the time to show the little conversations, the teasing and fun that made the hero and heroine fall in love. It's not all deep and depressing (though it easily could be). There's a scene where they're playing in the snow, another where they're doing nothing more exciting than watching a movie, and while some would say those scenes seriously slow the pace, I disagree. Those scenes are some of my favorites because they are why I fell in love with this book and these characters, and without them, that book would have fallen flat in my opinion.

While editing the other night, I added in a conversation at the tail end of a scene between the hero and heroine where their angst-filled discussion turns slightly light and teasing. As I was reading that particular scene (before revisions) I realized there was nothing fun between this couple. Why on earth would she want to be with him and him with her if there isn't some element of fun and intrigue there? Sometimes I think we get so focused on pushing the plot forward and keeping the pace going that we forget the little things that make a romance novel such a fun read to experience.

What about you? What makes a romance novel more entertaining for you? Is it the fast paced, angst-filled plot, or is it the little conversations here and there that show you a glimpse of who each of your characters are?

Not soon enough in my book.

The Gremlins are driving me nuts. Anyone else with kidlets finding this to be more true towards the end of the summer? I don't know what the deal is, but I think we've all hit our limit. Too much family "together" time. What little computer time the Gremlins let me have these days has been limited to writing, so I apologize for being scarce.

I can't wait for school to start again.

I read somewhere you have to blog every day to be a successful blogger. I'm not sure who decides what a successful blogger is, per se, but I think it depends on what you expect to get out of the whole blogging experience in the first place. Since I'm not published (yet), I'm not trying to drum up readers. Instead this blog is a way to stay in touch with my writer friends and make contacts. To offer advice and encouragement. To sometimes vent about the injustices of the publishing world. ;)

So in that vein, I want you to go read this blog post. The Secret To Getting Published - One Year Later. Don't put it off. GO READ IT.

Did I say that loud enough? GO READ IT!!! You'll be glad you did.

Monday, Monday

I posted pictures from Nationals at the MidWillamette-Valley RWA Blog if you're interested. Lots of fun ones in there.