Reviews

It's late, it's almost the last day of the year and for some reason I got to thinking about book reviews.

Before publication I never put much thought into them. On occasion if I loved a book I would take the time to post a quick review on Amazon mainly because I thought it was a good thing to share my love of the story contained within the pages with others.

As a author I like being reviewed, and yes I've had a couple of less than positive ones, but I think that comes with the territory and you just have to develop a thick skin and get over it, remembering that it's all subjective in the end anyway.

So this all leads me to my question: Do you leave reviews?

The Writing Game

I sent off my requested three chapters to Harlequin last night after spending ages tweaking them. To say the least when I pressed send I was relieved to have it done and over with.

Writing for me is a mixture of love and hate and often I find myself wanting to pull the hair out of my head, especially when it comes to passing edits back and forth.

While I love the creative part of writing, I can't say I love the whole process like some writers do.

So, as I sit here now with second round edits sent off for my latest contracted novella and a submission package send to Harlequin. I am a nervous as heck. Being a nervous person by nature I've come to expect this reaction. And when I want something bad, it makes things worse.

For romance, HQ is the ultimate dream. Let's hope that it becomes a reality. *fingers crossed*.

Winner Christmas E Book Giveaway

The winner of an e copy of A sordid Situation is Kathleen Roberts. Kathleen please forward your email to me at viviankees@yahoo.ca.

If you have a Kindle I can gift you a copy. I also have other formats available, just specify what you would prefer. Congrats! :)

A Christmas Giveaway

To celebrate the joy of giving, I'm giving away a copy of my e novella, A Sordid Situation.

If you want in on the drawing which will take place on December 27th, just leave a comment. A name will be drawn at random and the winner will be notified on the blog.

Merry Christmas :)

Erotica VS Porn

I have another novella coming out in January 2011. It's very erotic with explicit sex scenes. This is new territory for me. Most of my sex scenes have been behind closed doors or warm versus what I consider to be hot.

So what's your opinion? If there a fine line between erotica and porn?

Christmas Shopping

It's nearing the end of November and soon the Christmas season will be upon us. Scary eh? Times flies by these days.

I have completed my Christmas shopping for the year. Have you? Are you the type of person who will go all out every year for Christmas?

I like the season, but I am rather quiet about it. I decorate with moderation(LOL). And I detest crowds so that leaves me out of the stores as the time draws closer.

What are your thoughts?

Novella Release

Here it is, today is the day. My Novella, A Sordid Situation is up for sale on Evernight's website.

I am thrilled to have my work finally published. It's been a long road.

One review is back. Happily Ever After Reviews gave me a 5 tea cup rating. Yay!

http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-sordid-situation-by-vivian-kees.html?ref=nf


If you are interested in purchasing the e book you may do so following this link. Also, Evernight will include your name into a contest draw for some really cool prizes for every e book purchased onsite.

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/products/A-Sordid-Situation-by-Vivian-Kees.html

Note: For some reason the links wouldn't work encoded into the post. Sorry about that.

November Edits

Wow! It's hard to think that Novemeber is here already, and that next month we will fast be coming into the holiday season.

I received my first round of edits and it wasn't that bad. Mainly, I just had to make some minor changes. I agreed with all of them, except for one and that one wasn't that important. Round two should come within the next week or two. That should be interesting.

I did have issue with using the whole 'track changes' thingie. It did work and I managed it, but after saving the finished document, the editor's comments along with the ones that I made disapeared. Have any of you experienced this? *shrugs* Maybe I am doing something wrong...

What's your experience been like with editing with an editor? I'm curious to know :)

Would You?

Would you continue to write if you knew you would never get published?

This question was asked of me the other day and It made me think. I'm interested to know the opinions of others on this question.

How to conduct yourself as a writer...

This topic came up on a forum I frequent. So, I thought I'd ask the question here.

Do you think it matters as a writer how you conduct yourself both online and with the public in general?

Personally I say yes. If you act like a nasty ass**** it turns me off, not only from you just as a person but also as a writer. I won't be buying your books nor will I be telling anyone else to do so. It may also affect future sales too if your behaviour becomes public knowledge etc...

I may be wrong, but it's how I feel. This has long been a hot topic for me. So again, what's your opinion?

The Details

So, the contracts have been signed and sent back. And I can finally announce the details of my first sale.
My publisher is Evernight Publishing. My historical novella was a bit on the hot side of things and when looking around for whom to submit to, I though long and hard on which one would be right.
Evernight was at the top of my list. They are new, but through the grapevine(yes, we writers talk in pvt)I heard good things. Plus, they do have kick ass covers:)
The edits are coming up soon and I'm nervous. This is all new to me, but it's a learning experience and one that I am looking forward to.
You will also note that I did choose to go with a pen name. See a previous blog post for that topic.
And last but not least, I have my cover. It's awesome and is just what I wanted.

Three Authors Needed for Interview

I'm looking for three authors who write in three different genres. Romance, Horror/thriller, sci-fi/fantasy to participate in a multi author interview on my blog, Write Outside the Box. If interested, PM me.

Thanks~

NOTE: The three slots have been filled. :)

Pen Names, Yes or No?

As you may know, I've recently sold a historical romance novella.
It will be released under a pen name. I decided to use a pen name because I write in three genres and I want to keep each very seperate from the other.
What's your thoughts on pen names? Do you or would you use one?

I Sold It!!

I am very pleased to announce that I have sold my historical romance novella as of today!
Can you say squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's certainly a thrill :)
More details will come once the contracts are signed and delivered.

A special thanks goes out to my sweetie(Adam) who has been my main support. I love you lots! And also to Absolutewrite for being one heck of a great place for writers to hang out and learn.

Cheers!

Author Interview: Jamie DeBree

It's with great pleasure that I welcome author, Jamie DeBree to Write Outside The Box. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to share with us some details in regards to self publishing. She has successfully done this with her newest novella, 'Tempest'.

R- Can you tell us about your latest release 'Tempest'? What inspired you to write 'Tempest'?

J- Tempest is a novella (30k) that follows Professor Charlotte "Charlie" Reynolds and mystery man Jake Nelson on a fast-paced, steamy romantic adventure through the wilderness. My favorite comment people make about it is that they can’t put it down. Believe it or not, the only "inspiration" I had was that I needed another serial novel idea for the blog, one that would be far better than the first one I attempted. So I sat down one afternoon with Holly Lisle's free "Create-A-Plot" mini-course, and literally developed the characters and plot for Tempest out of...nothing. It was very cool, actually, and I still employ those methods whenever I can't figure out a plot structure.

R- Real self publishing, that which is not with a vanity publisher takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Can you describe the process and what led you to make that choice?

J- With Tempest there wasn't really a choice - because I posted the draft as a serial novel in it's entirety on my blog, most publishers would consider "first rights" used up as far as publication goes. So I knew I'd have to self-publish Tempest if I wanted to put it up for sale, and I'd gotten enough good feedback for it that I decided it was worth the effort. I revised it to make it flow as a novella rather than a serialized story and had a friend edit it for me. I bought professional cover art from another friend and formatted the files for print and ebook. It took me longer to figure out *how* to do most things than it did to actually do them. After that was done, it was just a matter of uploading files here and there, proofreading, and that's pretty much it. The actual process really isn't as hard as you might think, with all the tools, templates, and print-on-demand companies available for low or no-cost. The hardest parts for me are the revisions, and marketing. But I’ll admit, self-publishing Tempest was like getting my first tattoo…I want more. It’s a heady feeling being in complete control of your work all the way through publication. ;-)

R- What are your future writing goals? And what are you currently working on?

J- My ultimate goal is to make enough money to quit my day job and write full-time. I'd prefer to do that with my own self-publishing company, but I'll evaluate opportunities as they come my way. Currently I'm preparing another romantic suspense, Desert Heat, for release in January. It's a full novel-length work in the same basic style as Tempest. I'm also working on a series called The Fantasy Ranch series. I'm drafting the first book, The Biker's Wench as a serial on my blog at the moment, and I'll draft the second book, The Minister's Maid during National Novel Writing Month this year. I have a series of short erotic stories planned and started to publish under a pen name, and I'm plotting a suspense/thriller novel to serialize under another pen name after the first of the year. I like variety, and I think the key to making money as a writer is to write well, and write prolifically. The pen names are just a means of categorizing my work so readers don't get confused.

R- What makes Jamie DeBree, Jamie DeBree? (feel free to plug all your blogs and interests!)

J- Um...let's see. Aside from all the writing, I work full-time as a web developer for local county government. Most recently every second of free time I have is taken up by the huge Halloween party my husband and I hold each year. We have a Scaryview Scrapbook blog for Halloween stuff if you care to take a peek (http://scaryview.blogspot.com). I also love nail art, and do weekly manicures that are posted at Nail Art Tuesday (http://nailarttues.blogspot.com).

I adore my husband and my two dogs, Gabriel (a Doberman/lab mix) and Lucy (a German Shepherd/lab mix), I like to crochet though I haven't in a long time, and I'm quite introverted for as social as I am online. I love social networking, and can normally be found on Twitter, Facebook or both on any given evening. I’m also a night person, and even when I have to get up early (6am) for work, I’m generally up until 1am or so.

I love crime dramas on TV, and have recently discovered Dr. Who - fascinating show. I like to watch the same sort of movies as the genres I read - everything from romantic comedies to action/thrillers to a little horror and everything in between. My tastes are quite eclectic.

R- Last but not least, what advice would you give a fellow writer thinking about going the self publishing route?

J- Don't rush it. Take your time, and make sure that not only is your writing the best it can be, but your presentation (cover art and formatting) are as good as you can make them too. There is, sadly, still a stigma attached to self-publishing, and making your work look as professional as possible goes a long way toward convincing people to take a chance on a self-published book. The quality of your writing is what will bring them back for more.

R- That sounds like great advice to me. And thank you Jamie once again for taking the time to do this interview. It was very informative.

J- Tempest is available on Amazon, Smashwords and most other online retailers in ebook form, and in print on Amazon or directly from my web site. Order links can be found at http://jamiedebree.com/orders.html.

For more information on my current projects and links to my blogs, newsletters and social networks, visit my web site at http://jamiedebree.com.

Thanks so much for having me, Rhaina! It was a fun and thoughtful interview, and I really enjoyed it.

Is this a sign of things to come?

A lot of writers are finding moderate success with self publishing, mainly e books through such venues as CreateSpace, LuLu and a couple others.

Recently on Absolutewrite(the best writers forum), low sales have been discussed in regards to e books with smaller e book publishers. And when I mean low, I mean low. One author openenly cited sixty-nine books in a year, which is rather bad in my opinion. This was with a press who while not at the top of the list, is also not at the bottom.

Novellas in particular can be a hard sell. But my question is, why not publish them on your own? Especially if sales are only reaching double digits in a lengthy period of time.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that it's a heck of a lot of work. As you can imagine you are responsible for everything including the cover art, editing, formatting etc...

What are your thoughts? Opinion? I'm interested to know.

Rainy Days and Igor

Well, we survived the wrath of hurricane Igor. The storm hit us head on on Wednesday. In my area we sustained no damage but some areas of the island were hit bad. Home were lost and one man was swept out to sea when the road he was travelling on collasped underneath him. Some communites are still cut off with washed out roads, but all in all, it wasn't Katrina and we are thankful for that. Let's hope we don't see another for a very long time.

Back to Basics

After much consideration, I've decided that I need to look at all current WIP's. There are many, and the only way to move ahead and finish them, is to mark them in number of priority.

I'm almost done with the historical novella and once it's subbed out, I plan on going back to finish off some dark lit.

My question is: What are you working on and what will you start next?

September

September, the very mention of the month used to invoke stomach cramps and headaches when I was a kid. I absolutely dreaded going back to school.

Looking back, all those memories make me smile. The crispness in the early morning air, the salt scent, wafting in from the ocean as I walked to the bus-stop... The dogberries ripe and red on the trees. If I close my eyes, I can picture it like it was yesterday. Even the feel, of stiff, yet to be broken in blue jeans. Oh, and dare I forget to mention the thrill of new sneakers. Which was one of the few perks of starting a new school year.

For some reason. I thought about all this, today. And I'm a bit sad, I'll never see those days again.

I use to wish my time away and now I wish it back. How ironic...

Contest Winners

The contest for the books ended today. Kaity Hall and Trulyana are the winners. Please email me with your mailing addresses and they will ship this week :)

COnGraTs!

rhaina(DOT)randell(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

Author Mills

As of late, it appears that more and more e pubs are springing up at an alarmingly, fast rate.

It's been interesting to follow the discussions on on Absolutewrite, which is BTW a great resource for writers.

Online feuds have started on various blogs, not to mention often a thread will quickly become a trainwreck. Needless to say, it makes for one heck of an interesting read.

What's your view on this trend? And how do you suggest avoiding such author mills?

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php <---- Absolutewrite Forums

Genre... Anyone?

Lately it seems, I've lost my writing mojo once again.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm writing in the wrong genre, which has been primarily romance.

I have also written some horror and lit with dark themes. People who have read my work have said I excel at dark lit. This all leads into my question for all you writers out there. When did you know you had found the right genre? Oh and is lit even a genre? That may be a stupid question, but I'm asking it anyway...

P.S. YOu can click on my Sisters of Orion blog/serial to see an example of one lit novel I am working on. It's kinda dark with gritty undertones.

The End

It's late here, and geez all I can say is, I hope I never have to pack up house again! Today I moved so many boxes I suppose I'll see them in my sleep for the next week. Big thanks to Mom and Dad, for helping me with it.

I never realized I had so much stuff until today. And just think, I'm not a pack rat.
Now it's just down to bare bones essentials here. What's left can just be moved in my car.

Still not word on my sub to HQ. Thought, my fingers are still crossed. And isn't it crazy that August is almost over?

So what's new with you?

When One Chapter Ends, Another One Begins

WOW! I'm done with work. It's a little nerve wracking to think for the first time in fifteen years, I am without a job.
In the past months I've stepped way out of my comfort zone. Those who know me, know I'm a creature of habit to the extreme. I love my routine and I don't take to change very well.

I guess selling my house, leaving work, and moving to the UK would un-nerve the best. But I'm getting through it with much support from Adam(fiance), and my mom.

Yay me! I'm proud that I'm actually doing it. It's been quite the adventure thus far.
One chapter in my life has ended and another is beginning.

On a writers note, I submitted a first chapter and synopsis to the HQ Medical Romance Line. They put out a call this month, and they are fast tracking all replies. This means that everyone will get an answer by the end of August. Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

One more thing. I'd like to give a big shout out to the nurses of 7 west at the hospital. You've been a great bunch to work with, I will miss our laughs and silliness. I wish you all the best for the future.

33 and Life

Today I turned thirty-three. Looking back on my life so far, I can say I've lead an extremely interesting one so far, that has been filled with many bumps along the way.

Many times I wondered how I would even make it, especially the last two years (pre Adam AKA Muffin head) where I went through a rough two years, where everything that could go wrong, did. Yet, I'm still here.

All this thinking made me wonder, what I have learned in life so far? And what's most important to me?

Things I've Learnt:

- Never spit against the wind.
- Don't sweat the small stuff.
- Don't hold grudges(even when you dislike the person, I know this is hard, but trust me, it really isn't worth it.
- Take each day one step at a time and remember, tomorrow is a new day and you can always start fresh.
- Material things mean shit, if you don't have your health and well being.
- Live for today, because tomorrow might not come.
- Live life without regret.
- Stay positive, it could be worse, you could be dead.
- Don't dwell in the past(this has been a hard one for me), learn to let go. To forgive is divine.
- Stay motivated and work hard, you will achieve your goals. It really is possible.
- Hold your loved ones dear, what would life be without them?
- Be happy.

Things That Are Important to Me

- Love, My sweetie has shown me that true love does exist, and the myth about soul mates is very much real.
- My cat. Yes, some may think it's silly but he is a part of my family and he has helped me through some rough times.
- My family, even though we dislike each other at times.
- My writing. It's an outlet for me and I express myself through my words. I'm blessed to be able to do so.
- The future. I'm looking forward to discovering what's waiting around the corner.

All in all the struggles have been worth it. I'm at a point in my life where I am experiencing happiness for the first time. It's great, I deserve it, we all deserve it.

Happy Birthday to me! :)

A Contest

I've decided to have a little contest to help reduce my TBR pile of books to help with my move.
Two winners will win a book, selected from my very own bookshelf. The winners will be picked randomly on September 12th.
To qualify you have to follow my blog and leave a comment. The winners will be anounced via the blog.
Books selected are new and unread :)

Only comment if you want to be included in the contest.

Hard, Trade or Mass?

This question came to me this morning as I was making breakfast(Yup, I'm pretty random). Which do you prefer when purchasing books?
Hardcovers are usually pricey, thus way outside my budget. Though, I have to admit, I have indulged in the past.
I hate trade. I dislike the awkard size and often find the book too flimsy.
I guess, my personal fav would be mass market. It's compact size and usually decent price appeals to me.

On another note: Sisters of Orion, chapter two will be up soon.

Author Interview: Abby Wood

Please join me in welcoming Abby Wood to Write Outside the Box. Abby is a writer of erotica.

R- When did you start writing?

A- I've always loved to write, but started seriously learning the craft about 4 years ago. Two years ago, I decided to take the plunge and write stories with the goal to be published.
 
R- How long did it take for you to publish your first work? What do you have to say about the publishing process?
 
A- It took four months from sending off my very first submission to receiving my first contract. I started out writing only mainstream romance, and have slowly grown into writing erotic romance too.

R- You write erotica. What do you think about the increase in the demand for erotica? What was it about erotica that drew you to write about it?

A- I loved reading erotic romance stories and had a friend ask me if I ever thought about writing the sexy books. Since I had the love of a good sexy story, I tried it, and found out that I came away knowing my characters even more. I can go much deeper into their "being" when I write erotic stories. Their personalities, desires, and life experiences mold them sexually. I love to discover my characters.

I love to see the increase in demand. It shows me that people are opening up their minds and relating to a sexual life that everyone has, and shouldn't be something that is never talked about. The nice thing about erotic/erotica is that there are books for everyone's taste.
 
R- What are your three fav books/authors and why?

A- Lol This is the hardest question to answer, because I like so many. Robyn Carr stands out, because I like how she molds her stories around a community. Nora Roberts, because she's Nora. Lori Wilde, for her humor. Julia Quinn, who is rounded storyteller. And, the list goes on!
 
R- Could you tell us about your latest release?

A- My latest is a book called Twice Her Age that came out with Loose Id in July, 2010. Here's a little blurb…

Debbie Nordall was tired of the guys her age who only wanted to party and change girlfriends every other week. She wanted someone older, wiser, and more sophisticated to love.
Mick Reed spotted her right away. The woman at the bar was confident, beautiful, and young... everything he wanted. She was the woman who would commit to him fully, and in return, he'd give her anything she wanted. Was he fooling himself to think that age didn't matter?

 
R- What advice would you give to up and coming writers?
 
A- Keep writing! I know that everyone says that, but it is true. Also, don't give up if you receive a rejection for your story. Publishing is very subjective, and what might not work for one publisher, another publisher will love.

R- What can we expect to see from Abby Wood in the future?

A- More books! I have a three book series called Within the Circle coming out in October about triplet sisters who are also Pagan witches. I have a novel length paranormal called To Play or Obey? coming out in November that has some of the sexiest vampires you'll meet. To Play or Obey? is book one in a new series called Peckerwood: Population 336. There is something secretive about the town of Peckerwood, you won't want to miss it. ;-)

Thank you so much for having me here today. If you'd like to visit my website, you can find it at www.authorabbywood.com, you can also find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MsAbbyWood and a fan page at Facebook at www.facebook.com/AbbyWoodFanPage

R- And thank you Abby, for taking the time to answer our questions. Abby has also agreed to answer any questions you may have for her. Just leave them in the comments section.

Coming Soon: Interview with author Abby Wood

Look for my interview with author, Abby Wood, coming soon.

If you, or anyone you know, would also like to be featured sometime in the future, just send me a message.

Thanks.

How Clean?

How clean are your first drafts? I'm curious to know.

Hitting 7000

Today I hit about 7000 words, working on two WIP's. This is the most I've ever written in one day and it didn't come about very easily. I had to push myself, but overall I am very pleased.

I think, I'm finally realizing that to become a successful writer, I do need to give myself a boot more often. It's not going to come without hard work and dedication.

Considering that for most of the day I felt generally unwell physically, my day was rather productive.

Sisters of Orion

http://sistersoforion.blogspot.com/ it's finally up. Check it out!

The Neverending Quilt, Recycle?

So this is a quilt that I have been working on now for almost two years or so.

It's completely handstitched, made out of recycled fabric from thrift stores and fabric that people have passed on to me. And yeah some of it has come from old clothing, which was no longer wearable for one reason or another. When you think about it, it's a great and unique way to recycle.

This leads me to my question:

How green are you?

Edits & Purging

I'm currently editing a novel (well more like edits with rewrites), how do you go about editing? Do you write clean first drafts? I'm curious to know.

This week I will put in my written notice at work. I'm not sorry about leaving there, I've not been happy there from the start for various reasons.
Packing also starts this week. Lots of purging and ridding myself of unneeded things. In a way it feels therapeutic to do this.

New Beginnings & Sisters of Orion

So, the house is sold after one day of being listed. I had two offers placed in front of me by the realtor and I took the one that best suited me. I never expected the house to sell so fast, but I'm glad it did. I don't think I could take people walking through the house for too long, especially since I am still living here.

On to other news. I'm still working on one WIP and editing another. I've put the others on the back-burner for now, since it's the only way I feel I will complete something to send out. I've also decided to serialize one WIP titled 'Sisters of Orion', set in Newfoundland, look for the first chapter soon on it's own blog. I'd also like to stylize that blog to suit the theme, if you know of anyone who can assist with this, please pass my name on to them.

In the future, I'm looking to feature more authors here. If you or anyone you know would like to have a interview, contact me and we'll make it happen.

Author Interview: Adam Slade

I'm pleased to welcome Adam Slade, author of "A Reaper's Take - The Undecided", published by Lyrical Press.

Adam was kind enough to answer a few questions about his newly released book, and the publishing process.


R - Tell us about your latest release.

A - My latest (and first) book, titled "A Reaper's Tale - The Undecided," was released by Lyrical Press back in May. It's a humorous urban fantasy revolving around a Grim Reaper named Mal, who's soul is somehow attached to the soul of a troubled yound woman named Amy. The story revolves around Mal trying to save her from the various nasties that are after her soul, and trying to separate himself from her before she's sent to the afterlife, lest he has to go with her.

R - When did you start writing?

A - I started a few years ago, though I've always had an urge to write. :)

R - How long did it take you to get published and what do you have to say about the publishing process.

A - I was VERY lucky, in that my submission was accepted for publishing six days after I submitted it. Most submissions take a lot longer than that. From submission to the date it came out was around six months, I believe. I learned a great deal from the whole process, especially the editing! :)

R - What advice do you have for other writers pursueing their dream of being published?

A - Keep at it, and keep reading, too! You sure as hell don't need a degree to write, but I'd recommend getting a book on the process (Stephen King's On Writing is my favourite), as it'll make your life a lot easier. ;-)

R - What can we expect to see from Adam Slade in the future?

A - I have a science fiction novella named "Strand" coming out toward the end of the year, or possibly early 2011. I'm also working on a sequel to "A Reaper's Tale," and have a few other irons in the fire, too.

Thank you again Adam, for taking the time to share your insights. We look forward to your next release.

To buy Adam's book, see the following links:

http://http//www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=147

http://www.amazon.com/A-Reapers-Tale-ebook/dp/B003GVUPSW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1271201165&sr=8-6

Adam's blog can also be found here: http://www.editinghat.blogspot.com/

Online Serial?

For a while, I've been pondering about putting one of my completed WIP's up online as a serial. I've seen this done before and was wondering what you think of it?

I've heard it said before that doing this, may attract an agents interest. True? False?

I'm interested in hearing others opinions.

Interests

Most of us write. Of course, it's a huge interest of mine that I hope someday will take me far.

My question is: Do you have any other interests/hobbies other than writing? I also dabble in photography and I quilt.

Whirlwind

Since deciding to move to the UK to be with Adam, my mind had been constantly swirling with things that have to be done before I go.

The house is on the market as of Tuesday,if it sells fast that would be a bonus.
After leaving the city, I plan on staying with my mom for a bit before I make the jump, to give me time to sort through the immigration crap, along with getting my cat ready to take over there (yup, there is a strict protocol in place).

All in all, life is getting very darned hectic, yet in the end, it will be so worth it.

And how was your week?

Current WIP, 'Dirty Bastard'

My current WIP had the tentative title of 'Dirty Bastard'. It may change as it progresses but it's what I have for now that best sums up the story as a whole.

The MC, is a young gay male who has just started out on his own journey of self discovery. He quickly finds himself thrown into the social scene of gay life in the early 1980's.

I guess if I were to category the story, it would be gay lit with dark undertones. I tend to like dark themes and characters who are flawed.

I do float from genre to genre. I write romance, horror and dark lit. At this time I am also editing my first zombie full length novel. I'm a huge zombie fan

To end this post I have two questions to ask you:

1.What genre do you write?

2. What are you currently working on?

I'm interested to know!

Point of View and a Life Changing Moment

This past year I wrote a novella in the first person POV (point of view). Two out of the five places I submitted it, rejected it because they didn't like first person POV. They both suggested that I rewrite it in the third person POV, and then resubmit. Is this a common practice?

Which POV do you prefer writing in and why? I'm curious to know.


Life Changing Moment:

I'm happy to announce that my boyfriend (Adam) asked me to marry him and I accepted!

As many of you know, we did the online deal for almost a year and then met in person. Our meeting, finally cemented what we knew was in our hearts for so long. We still have a huge distance factor between us but we're working on closing the gap and hoping to soon be with each other for good.

Books and Things

Myself and Adam took a trip to the local Chapters Bookstore. I was delighted to see many a Awer's books on the shelves. This lead me to wonder what it would be like to see my own on display.

It's a dream that's for sure and a goal I have set for myself. I've taken some time away from writing since Adam is here for only two weeks. When he heads back, I plan on becoming more motivated to reach said goal.

How do you stay motivated with writing or anything of importance in your life?

I've also included some pics of the Awer's books that we found at Chapters, that alone provides me with great motivation.

Happy Canada Day 2010

It's Canada Day here and I am happy to say I'm sharing it with my muffin(Adam). Finally after eight months of online romance, we are together, face to face.
They weather is ok, so we'll get out and about to see some of the sights here.
Do you have any special Canada Day plans or any for the Fourth of July?

Are You a Good Person?

With everything that's going on in this world, we always seem to hear about the negative in the media.
Locally crime is up, along with violence. This leads me to wonder what type of people are involved in this? Do you think that some people are just naturally bad?
I consider myself to be a good person, but I have to admit I have little faith left in humanity as a whole.
Do you consider yourself a good person?

Plans for the Summer

Summer is here and even though the weather hasn't been seasonal here in Newfoundland, people appear to have their summer vacation plans in full swing.
My question is: Do you have any special plans for this summer?
My Bf Adam is arriving next week from the UK, and for the two weeks he's here we plan on being lazy, enjoying each others company and taking in things that interest us in the area. Other than that, I'll just be doing my usual work/home routine for the rest of it.

Mojo and a Warning

I've yet to regain my writing mojo. It's been about two weeks now, and I still lack the interest to add anything to my WIP's. I've tried, yet everything I write seems either overly done or bland. I hope this dry spell ends soon.
On another note; I was quite pissed today when I checked my bank account to find that Mastercard had went into my bank account to take a payment that was slighly overdue. Is this even freaking legal?
The reps from Mastercard (I spoke to two) were useless. Between their stuttering and trying to back themselves up, they said I had signed in my agreement a paper giving them permission to do this. In eight years I've never had this happen with them and my account has been overdue on a couple of occasions in that time period. I am pissed off and if I could have reached through the phone.... *SIMMER DOWN* I feel violated that they did this. I demanded a copy of the form that I 'signed' to be sent out to me in the mail. After the rep sighed a bit, he said he would. I look forward to getting it, but for some reason, I don't think it will ever show.

Lost Interest

For the past couple of weeks, I've lost interest in working on my WIP's. Perhaps it's burnout. For a bit, I found, I was pushing myself much too hard and stressing on making my writing perfect with the utimate goal to be published.
Of course, my goal is to be published and if possible at least on a mid-list level. I don't care if I become huge like S. King, but it would be great to write for a living enjoying a modestly comforable lifestyle.

Goals for now:
Finish current WIP's and to get them out there.
Stop stressing so much over writing.
Keep in mind that the main reason I started writing was because I enjoyed it.

Introduction

So, I've went ahead and done it. I finally started a blog. I guess a short introduction is in order. I'm 33 soon to be 34 this coming August and I'm a aspiring writer. I write romance, horror and some lit which is usually dark in theme.
This blog will become my place to rant, ramble and write about stuff that comes to me, even when it's completely out of touch with reality and definitely outside the box.