Writing Through the Rough Spots

Rough drafts are always difficult for me. I constantly worry that the story isn't going the way it should or that things aren't ever going to come together. The more books I write, however, the easier it becomes to trust my process. SHADOW DEMONS is my fourth book in the Peachville High Demons series, but overall, it will be my sixth completed novel. I feel like after several years and all those manuscripts, I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.

But every day isn't sunshine and puffy clouds. I set a plan to write 2,000 words a day, but there are some definite rough spots. Today, for example, I had planned to write like crazy. I even set a goal on Twitter to write 8,000 words. It's now 4:30 in the afternoon. Guess how many words I've written today. ZERO. Well, not counting this blog and all the emails and chat I've sent today. It's been a rough day.

Sometimes I hit days where the writing is rough simply because I have no good feel of what the next scene is going to be. I sit down in front of a blank screen and start to freak out. No fresh ideas come to me, and I panic. Other days, it's personal and emotional issues that keep me from writing like I should. Today is one of those emotional days. I won't go into the personal stuff, but I will say that I found out some very upsetting news today x 3. Three completely separate things, all of which made me cry like a little baby. It's so tough to step away from that emotional side of myself and push aside the personal concerns in order to write about what's going on in Harper's world. You would think it would provide a much-needed escape, but for me, it doesn't really work like that. I've never been good at reaching a point of detachment between my writing and my personal life.

So how do I push through and keep writing? I think the most important thing is to just go easy on myself on days like this. Instead of beating myself up for not reaching my goals, I should give myself a little bit of a break. If I want to indulge in a little TV watching or something, I should go for it. No guilt. But the second part of that is to pick myself up and keep pushing forward. A break is good, but wallowing in self-pity or beating myself up over the little things isn't going to help me get this book written.

In a way, I guess it all comes down to balance. I have to learn to give myself the time I need to heal or deal with whatever's upsetting me or keeping me from my writing, but I also have to recognize when that time is up and the writing is ready to flow again. I'm not perfect, but that doesn't mean I can't reach my goals and strive to be a better person and a better writer. I'm going to give myself a couple of hours to read and relax, and then I plan to get back to my writing full force tonight. I still might make at least my 2,000/day goal. As for the 8,000 I was hoping for? There's always tomorrow.

And as Scarlet O'Hara would say, tomorrow is another day.

A Walk on the Pink Side

It's Friday, yay! I've been working hard on Book 4, and am almost 1/4 of the way finished with the rough draft. Right now, I'm easily on schedule for a mid-May release! I also have some exciting news waiting in the wings about my next series! Stay tuned.

For fun, I decided to color my hair again. As you know, it was purple, then I went teal, and now, I've gone PINK! Here's a pic I took right after I finished this morning:

Sometimes, you just need a change. I love that I have the freedom to change my looks whenever I want to. Just another perk of being a writer without a full-time office job or desk job or teaching job or whatever. It makes me happy :)

Also, we have a house full of poodles. A friend of ours went to Vegas this weekend with his wife and parents, and his parents have three poodles. They don't do so well at the kennel, so they asked us if we could keep them for a few days. How could I resist? They are super cute! I love their little waddly bodies and their super curly hair. Here is a pic I took of them a few minutes ago, all tuckered out from playing with me for a little while.

I'm excited to have them here for a little while. Snickerdoodle, my pom, doesn't really know what to make of them. She's decided to stay in her own room upstairs most of the time, but she's being sweet when she says hello to them. No doggie fights or anything yet, which is good.

In other news, G and I are playing Everquest II again. <3 As anyone who's been following my blog for a while knows, G and I first met playing that game. It's an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) sort of like World of Warcraft. Only better. When we first met, G and I spent a lot of time playing together. Doing quests. Helping each other. Raiding and grouping. Etc. Then, we moved to a station exchange server where you can buy and sell money and characters for real world cash, and we kind of switched our focus to making money for a while. It helped us pay for our wedding big time! The downside there was that we were spending less time just playing together for fun.

Last fall, we stopped playing all together. Canceled our accounts and everything. Then, over Christmas break, we bought World of Warcraft and decided to give it a go. Well, G maxed out his character in less than a month. Due to me writing a lot and not having much time to play, I was still stuck in the 40's. That game doesn't make it really possible to group and quest together in low levels that way EQ2 does, so we weren't spending any time together playing, which sucked. Sooo, long story short, last weekend we decided to go back to Everquest II! This time we're playing on a regular, non-exchange server, and we're leveling up together. He's playing a tank, and I'm playing a healer. It's been fun. We're back to doing the things we used to do together when we first were long-distance dating. Only this time we're sitting next to each other. :) It's awesome.

I'm looking forward to a good weekend of poodles, gaming, and writing!

A New Series

I've started kicking around the idea of releasing the first book in a new series. I have this fear that if I put out the last two books in the Peachville High Demons series without starting something new first, people will write me off. Forget me. There won't be anything for my growing fan-base to look forward to and I'm worried I might lose momentum.

Here's where the tough part of the decision comes in. I don't want to postpone my last two books in the PHD series just to get another book out. Pushing back the release dates would only make me go crazy and would possibly upset some fans who are looking forward to the next books in the series. Of course, the only option that leaves is for me to work harder. And to be honest, I'm already working extremely hard to get these books out every couple of months as it is.

If I did start a new series, it would be my PANDEMIC series. That's the zombie/witch book I wrote last year. It's currently somewhere around 90,000 words long and parts of it are more polished than others. The good news is that the rough draft is already finished. I wouldn't have to start from scratch or anything. The bad news is that it still needs work to make it shine. I was thinking I could possibly cut the book in half and then expand the first part to make it longer - right around 60,000 words, which is about how long BITTER DEMONS turned out to be. If I could release the first book in the PANDEMIC series before I released the last book in the DEMONS series, maybe I could bring in new readers and also give my current readers something to look forward to with Book 2.

It's definitely a lot to think about. I have some very personal reasons for wanting to take the month of August off. I doubt I'll stop writing completely, but I am going to take it super easy and not stress about any deadlines. That means if I want to start a new series, I would have to get three books published before August. Yikes! Part of me says go for it! It would mean more hours and working a lot harder for a few months, but it might pay off in a big way. Plus, it would be a lot of fun to start working on PANDEMIC again. I loved writing that book and still find myself thinking about that story all of the time. I need a new name for it, but other than that, it's actually in pretty good shape as far as rough drafts go.

Any thoughts about whether starting a new series is a good idea? Do you like for writers to have a new series already started before they end the other series? Or would you rather see them wrap things up before starting something new? I'd love to hear any ideas you guys might have about this.

Good Start To Shadow Demons

Tonight, I finally sat down and got started on Book 4, Shadow Demons. Getting started is usually one of the hardest parts. I always struggle with finding the right place to start a novel, but in the end, I always end up rewriting the beginning. Every single time. So this time I've decided to stop stressing about the beginning and just enjoy writing. Enjoy getting back into Harper's world.

My plan is to write at least 1800 words a day. I know this book is going to be a little bit longer than the others since the story continues to get more detailed. I am thinking the rough draft will be about 60,000 words. After a few hours at Panera with writer friends, I ended up with 2622 words, which is an awesome start.

Today made me realize just how much I love to write. It felt so amazing to get back into the story. Tomorrow night, I plan to write with my best friend and critique partner, E. I can't wait to get back into the story. Writing is definitely addictive.

On another note, I made it to 9920 books sold so far since I started self-publishing. That's a combination of all three books. By tomorrow night, I should have reached the 10,000 mark! That will truly be a huge milestone.

How I Plot My Novels

Since I'm at the very beginning of plotting Book 4 of the Peachville High Demons series, I thought I would do a post about the way I plot a novel. In writer's circles, there is a lot of talk about whether you are a "plotter" or a "pantster". Basically, a plotter is someone who plots their novels out ahead of time. Often, these plots are detailed and exact down to each scene and character motivation. A pantster is someone who writes 'by the seat of their pants'. No plot. Maybe a general idea of the central story action, but nothing specific and always open to whatever the writing brings.

So which one am I? Neither. Or both. When I first started writing, I thought for sure I was a plotter. I plotted to death. Literally, I took the life and spontaneity of my stories out by over-plotting. When I finally decided to let go and trust my instincts and trust the process, I realized that I don't need to plot and control every detail of the novel.

When I first start a new project, I set out my story grid. You can see it here in this picture. Usually, I use little sticky tabs in different colors and separate a piece of paper into a 4 act structure. (Yes, I know most people call it a 3-act structure, and it really is 3 acts, but it makes more sense to me sometimes as 4 parts instead of just 3. A big part of writing is figuring out your own personal process, so this is part of mine.) I got the story grid idea from Alexandra Sokoloff. She is kind of my personal hero, and I owe a lot of my organizational skills to her. If you are a writer and want to know more about story structure, please check out her blog or her book, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors.

Anyway, this is how I start, but I don't usually fill out all the scenes before I start writing. I figure out the basic climaxes, the central story action, and how I want the novel to start. The notecards in the bottom right corner are another tool I use in plotting. I put colored stars at the top left corner of the notecard. The color of the star matches the sticky tab on the story grid and each fifth card has a red star to indicate a mini-climax or climax in the story. Some kind of twist or reveal of important information. I fill out the story grid and the notecards as I write, always allowing myself permission to make changes, throw out scenes, move things around or whatever I need to do to make the story better. And yes, I use my hello kitty ruler to create the story grid :).

My personal process is all about exploration and trust. In my first draft, I let myself be free enough to just get the story on to paper. But also to explore possible story avenues. If I thought a scene would go one way, and it starts to go in a totally different direction, I have to trust that my instincts are right. I go with it and let the new scenes take on a life of their own. Characters sometimes surprise me. They don't always turn out to be the people I thought they were. Take Brooke for instance. I never realized how jealous she could be. In Bitter Demons, she sort of took on a life of her own. I don't know exactly where that comes from. Either someplace deep inside of me OR some stream of ideas in the universe I just happened to tap into. But no matter where it comes from, I have to trust that whatever comes out when I'm writing is the right thing.

My first draft is exploratory, but I'm not sailing completely blind. I have an idea of where the story begins, what's generally going to happen in the story, and who the main characters are going to be. After that, I just write, write, and write some more. I let the story consume me and take me over for a while. I live inside Harper's mind for a while, experiencing her world along with her. By the time the first draft is complete, I usually know exactly what needs to happen in the novel. Unfortunately, that usually also means scrapping most of the first draft and completely rewriting the whole novel. It's just part of the process.

I'll try to post another picture later in the week (or month) with more filled in tabs and notecards so you can see what it all looks like when it's finished. My timeline for Shadow Demons is to finish the rough draft by April 15th and to complete the final draft by May 13th. Hopefully, the book will be formatted and uploaded by May 17th.

The Writer's 'Well'

Some people call it the Muse. Others call it the Well. I guess I think of it as Mana, but then again, I'm a gamer, so that makes sense. What am I talking about? That special something that propels and motivates a writer to write and work hard. It's hard to explain it, but it's even harder to find it when it's gone.

Sometimes, an idea grabs me so hard that I have to write about it immediately. Usually, though, the ideas are the easy part. It's the sitting down and writing part that can be tough. Once I've got my butt in the chair and I'm writing, I love it. It's addictive and fun and amazing and magical. But if I take a week off, getting back into the groove of it is extremely tough for me.

Does that mean I have writer's block every time I don't want to sit down or I can't find my motivation? Nah. I'm not sure I totally believe in writer's block. At least not in the sense that there's some mystical thing that prevents you from writing. Okay, so maybe there are times when the writing is slow to come, but as long as my fingers aren't broken, I can always write something. It's not 'writer's block' that kills me, it's lack of motivation. It's resistance. Maybe it's even a little bit self-sabotage.

When I made the decision to self-publish, I knew that I was signing up for some serious hard work. The most important thing for me is simply to get as much quality content for sale as I can over the next year. (which is, in itself, a full blog post I need to write). Getting content out is impossible without hard work. It means long days and hours of putting my butt in this chair and writing my heart out. It means pushing myself to the limit. A rough draft in a month, then revisions in two weeks. Formatting, then publishing. The whole process takes less than 2 months. And then I start all over again. Without motivation and the drive to work, there is no way I will be able to keep up this pace I've set.

So how do I overcome those days when I feel resistance? Those days when my damn muse just isn't showing up? How do I fill up that writer's well when I'm constantly emptying it? In some ways, I'm still looking for the right path and the right method to keep myself motivated. But I think that's the real key. To keep looking. To keep pushing. To never give up. I look for the small things (inexpensive things, ha!) that can make me happy or make me smile. (See my recent post about Hello Kitty things I bought! That was only $10, but it's kept me smiling all week!) I spend time with my friends and seize opportunities for laughter. I stop and think about the joyful things in my life - like my amazing husband and my best friends. These are the things that keep my going. Instead of concentrating on the negative things and the stress of deadlines, I try to stop and think of the blessings in my life.

And most importantly, I write even when I don't feel like it. I'm not perfect. I still have a long way to go until I have cultivated the work ethic I really want to have, but I'm working everyday to get better. Never give up. That's what matters.

Milestone! 1,000 Books Sold!

Since first publishing at the very end of October 2010, I have reached my first major milestone - 1,000 books sold! As I mentioned yesterday, December sales at Barnes & Noble continue to roll in. I'm not sure why they are so far behind on their reporting, but everyday I wake up with more Dec. sales. It's like a little belated Christmas present every morning!

My true total of sales to date: 1,218 books.

Here's how it breaks down:

Beautiful Demons: Book 1 of the Peachville High Demons series has sold a total of 826 books. 124 through Amazon's Kindle store and 689 through B&N. At Smashwords, I've sold 13 copies.

Inner Demons: Book 2 of the Peachville High Demons series has sold a total of 392 books. 37 of those through Amazon and 353 through B&N. At Smashwords, I've sold only 2 copies.

As you can see, I'm barely selling anything through Kindle in comparison, and Smashwords is even worse. I have a feeling that mostly has to do with placement on the site and how many titles I'm competing with in my genre over there. Over the next few months, I am hoping to send out a ton of free books to reviewers and book bloggers in hopes that some people will enjoy the book and put out a good review on their site. Hopefully after more exposure online, word of mouth will get my sales even in both Kindle and B&N stores. We'll see! If anyone reading this has any tips on how to improve sales in the Kindle store, I'm all ears!

I never dreamed I would be able to sell 1,000 books in just a couple of months. (October doesn't totally count for me since my book was published October 30th on Kindle and not until Nov. on B&N.) I'm thrilled beyond words! Thank you so much to everyone who has purchased my books. I hope you enjoyed them!! I definitely am loving this series. It's fun to write, and I love the characters. Even I can't wait to see what happens next with some of them.

I plan to write a blog post for each major milestone. 1,000 books is my first of those milestones. The next for me would be 10,000 books sold. Then 100,000. Any chance I'll someday have sold over 1,000,000? I can't even imagine it right now! The fact that over 1,000 readers have picked up my book and that so many of them have emailed me or left positive ratings and reviews makes me so incredibly happy.

Book 3: Shadow Demons, is coming in February 2011.

So Many Ideas

My head sometimes feels crammed with ideas. I mean, everyone has story ideas right? Fantasies or a spark of a story that you think you could turn into a book or a movie or a tv series? Well, I have them too, and the more I indulge these ideas by actually turning them into novels, the hungrier I get. I want to give each possible story a voice. That's one of the most fun things about writing, because you never know what an idea will grow into.

When I first come up with an idea for a novel, it usually starts with a scene or some kind of world view. I'm not the kind of writer who sees a character first, for the most part. Instead, I visualize a world and then try to imagine what kind of people might inhabit that world. Of course, a spark of an idea is just a tiny kernel of story and the characters I imagine there are just cardboard cutouts at first. It's only when I decide to really write the story that the situation and the people come alive for me. Sometimes, to be honest, I don't even truly know what the story is about or who my main characters truly are until the first draft is finished. Writing is exploration - and it's freaking fun.

There's no way to know what twists and turns a plot might take when I first embark on the journey of writing it. I come to my computer with a scene in mind, but a lot of the time, something completely different comes out. A character will do something I wasn't expecting that will turn me in a new direction. Or a bomb will go off somewhere. Or someone will get murdered. In some ways, it often feels like my story exists somewhere in entirety and my job is to uncover it. I am merely the treasure hunter digging my way through the dirt and mud to find the real artifact hidden somewhere underneath.

I am loving the Peachville High Demons series more and more as the series goes on. Harper has completely come alive for me, and so has Jackson. This town is alive for me. I can see it so clearly in my head now! But on the other hand, there are so many other worlds and idea in my head that I feel a little bit antsy. I'm anxious to get to know those other people and those other stories, too. But I can't leave Harper hanging! Her story must be finished first - and that's not going to happen in Book 3. Possibly not Book 4 either. I'm thinking it will take 5 books to get her story down on paper.

And what comes after that? Hopefully many more series and a lifetime of having the pleasure of discovering new stories.

Rough Drafts are Tough

This month, I am spending most of my time and energy on SHADOW DEMONS - book 3 of my Peachville High Demons series. I know what's going to happen in the book, but none of it is actually written yet.

Rough drafts are tough. Getting them started is often like pulling teeth. Even though I'm anxious to get the story down on paper and discover the secrets hidden in my own mind, there is some unspoken resistance that constantly tugs on me.

When I finally sit down and start typing, though, it's like coming home again. It's like finding my true self. As a writer, I'm constantly working on getting out of my own way and believing in myself enough to know that what comes out on paper is going to be great. Somehow, this mess of a draft will all come together in the end. It's hard to see that at the beginning of a rough draft. All I have in my head are doubts and confusion. The important thing is to write anyway. Write everyday. Write, no matter what the voices in my head may say.

So, Book 3 begins.

Happy New Year!

I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be one of the best years! There is so much to look forward to! My book sales are just starting to ramp up. I've finally found a solid writing process that works for me. I have great friends and an amazing husband. I am so incredibly blessed! Sure, for the moment, we're still on the cusp of poverty (ha, as my husband likes to say), but hopefully this is the year that all turns around. Plus, money is nowhere near as important as having love in your life - and I have an abundance.

My writing goals for 2011:

• Write and publish 6 books this year.
• Keep up with my blog!
• Continue to learn more about my craft so that I can be a better writer in the future.

Those are my three main goals. Writing 6 books this year is going to mean busting my ass pretty much full time. It means basically a rough draft in a month, then revisions and formatting the following month. Rinse and repeat. I know I can do it, but it's going to mean a lot of hard work. This is a year of foundation-building for the rest of my life. I can just feel it. Lots of good things coming in 2011!!

I wish you the best as well. May all of your dreams come true this year!

NaNo WriMo Tip #4: Reward Yourself

We're getting down to the wire here. With less than one week left, where can you find that extra ounce of motivation you need to get to the finish line? In a word: Rewards!

Find something that you really want. Something worth working toward. Something that motivates you. Then set your goal and go for it. For example, if your goal at this point is just to get to the 50,000 mark on time, pick out a great reward for when you hit that goal. Buy a cute purse you wouldn't normally splurge on. Get that new techie item you've had your eye on for months. Promise yourself a night out to see the new Harry Potter movie (plus popcorn!). Or, if you're cash-poor, try to think of other ways to reward yourself. Give yourself permission to spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but watching TV and doing your nails or eating pizza! Reactivate your WOW account and create a brand new character and play 24 hours straight. Whatever you can think of that inspires motivation, go for it. There's got to be something you want, right??

I am currently sitting at 30,069 words. With basically only six days left, I need over 3000 words a day to make my 50k goal. Can I do it? Absolutely. I just need a little push. So what did my amazing husband promise me? The one thing I've been wanting for over a year: a new Android phone! He came home from work tonight and told me that if I can write 9,000 words before tomorrow night at midnight, we can go to T-Mobile on Black Friday and get Android phones. Believe me, I already have mine picked out! For me, it's a reward worth working toward! Of course, it will also double as our one year anniversary gifts to each other (hey, we're not millionaires, hehe), but it's still an amazing incentive to work hard.

Writing an entire novel in a month is not an easy task. It's not something that most people can do. Just taking on the challenge is amazing and ambitious. If you've even gotten halfway to 50,000, you've accomplished something great. Don't forget to reward yourself along the way. We all need to refill our motivation every now and then, and during a month like November, we need extra motivation juice to keep us going. Next year, if you dare to try again, think about setting word count milestones. At 12,500 words, you get a new set of pens. At 25,000 words, you get to go out to your favorite restaurant and pig out on chocolate cake. At 37,500, you reward yourself with that new book you've had your eye on. And save something really special for the 50,000 word goal. Choose rewards you can feel good about that will push you to keep going.

NaNo WriMo Tip #3: Don't Give Up

Here we are just 9 days away from the end of November (if you count today). Obviously, I'm way behind. Not only on my NaNo word count, but also on this blog, cause hey, if I don't have time to write one, where would I find the time to write the other? I thought about doing 10 tips, but let's shorten it to 5. :)

Tip #3: Don't Give Up
This is my mantra lately. I repeat it to myself in the shower and on the sidewalk and in the car. I remind myself when I wake up in the morning and again sometime in the evening when I'm feeling exhausted after a full day. Don't give up! It's not over yet!

Those first few days and even weeks of November can seem so magical. The story you've been thinking about for the past few weeks (months?) is finally coming alive on the page. You see your word count shoot up beyond anything you ever imagined. But then somewhere, life steps back in. Your husband gets sick. Your mom turns 60 and you can't miss that party. Work needs you to work overtime. There's always something that is bound to come up that will derail your word count plans. But Don't Give Up!

With only 9 days left, my word count currently sits at 21,897, not even halfway to the 50,000 word goal. At this point, I have two choices. I can throw my hands up in despair and admit defeat, leaving my word count to sit at that measly 21,897 for the rest of the month and possibly the rest of my life. OR I can spend the next 9 days re-dedicating myself to the goal I set at the beginning of the month. I can try to recapture that excitement and happiness I felt when November 1st finally got here. I might not be able to punch out the over 3,000 words a day I need to win NaNo this year, but I could try. I could refuse to give up and just keep pushing through.

Who knows? At the end of the month, you might still be shy of your 50k goal, but what if you made it all the way to 40,000 words? And what if you persisted throughout December to finish this novel and make it great? Or what if you found your excitement again and pulled out a miraculous win over the next 9 days?? It's not too late, I promise you. I plan to be a winner in 2010, and I know you can do it too.

Don't Give Up. Not now, after you've come so far.

NaNo WriMo Tip #2: Make Friends

We're one week through NaNo. Three to go! How are you doing so far? Have you been to any local write-ins? Last night, I went to an amazing write-in here in Cary, NC. We had 12 people there. We ran period word sprints, got to talk and find out about each other's work, and enjoyed hot coffee and snacks together. It was so much fun! I got over 2,000 words written within the 3 hours we were there, and more importantly, I made some new friends.

Writing is a solitary life. Sure, writers get together to talk about craft and critique each other's work every once in a while, but when it comes down to it, it's just you and the blank page. NaNo WriMo isn't just about writing a 50,000 word book. It's about doing it at the same time as thousands of other people. It's about the collective struggle. It's about the community.

If you're doing NaNo this year, but you haven't had the nerve to go out to one of your local write-ins, you might really be missing something. I know it can be hard to walk into a cafe or library you don't know very well and search for a NaNo sign or a group of writers hard at work on their laptops, but it's one of the most valuable experiences of the month of November.

My first year doing NaNo, I didn't go to a single event. I wrote alone and stayed home. I was solitary. And really, other than a higher word count, it wasn't that much different or more exciting that a regular writing month. But last year, I broke out of my shell and went to some write-ins. At one, I met Jennifer. We hit it off right away and exchanged buddy info and email addresses. About a week or so after NaNo, she emailed and invited me to join a critique group. Through that, I met Erica, and the three of us are still working together. To be honest, they have become two of my best, most valuable friends in the world. And I never would have met them without a NaNoWriMo write-in.

Many of us who do NaNo are full-time, serious writers. Writing is an all year thing. But try to remember that NaNo is about more than just the writing. It's about belonging to a group of people - writers - who share your dreams and fears and interests. So get out there and find a local write-in. Meet people. Exchange email addresses and user names. Make friends. It could change your life.

NaNoWriMo Tip #1: Quantity Not Quality

As I get past the first few days of initial NaNo excitement and head into the really tough part of National Novel Writing Month, I thought I would write a series of posts on my top 10 tips for making it through the rest of the month.

I first started NaNo in 2008, just after I had started taking writing seriously in my life (meaning wanting to make a career out of it). I wrote a book called INTO DARKNESS about a girl whose twin brother goes off to college and disappears two weeks later, leaving nothing but a pool of blood behind in his dorm room. It was an awful horror novel, but when the month was over, it was 50,000+ words, and I had won! In 2009, I attempted a novel called PANDEMIC about a group of teens trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. I only got 30,000 words in by the end of the month.

So what made the difference? Why couldn't I reach my goal the second time around? My answer: NaNo is sometimes more about Quantity than Quality. The first year, I was clueless about what agents wanted or what the so-called 'rules' were. I just wrote for fun. I had nothing more than a basic idea of the plot and a joyful sense of oblivion. I wasn't worried about whether I was writing the great American horror novel or not. I didn't even worry too much about whether the plot totally made sense. I just let the words fly out of me and land on the page unedited.

By 2009, however, I'd been a member of several writing organizations, a critique group, had read a dozen or more books on writing and was avidly following agent blogs and author websites. I was full of do's and don'ts. With every scene I wrote, I worried and obsessed about whether the book was any good. I wondered if the plot was something an agent would find unique or if I was just writing something cliche and overdone. I ruined my chance at winning NaNo by worrying too much about things that honestly don't matter during that first draft process.

Quality is what second drafts are for. There will be plenty of time to revise and shape your first draft once November is done. My advice? Stop worrying about quality. You are a writer. The quality will be there. After NaNo, you'll discover moments of genius you don't even remember writing. Granted, you'll probably also discover complete dreckitude within those 50,000 words, but no one ever has to see it but you. Don't worry about whether an agent will ever think your idea is awesome or not. Just write. Stop thinking about the rules. Just let the joy of writing flow through you for once. Let it come without judgment. Be free to write material of questionable quality. It could be some of the best writing you ever do.

12 Copies Sold!

I know it doesn't sound like much, but a girl's gotta start somewhere! The truth is, I feel on top of the world. My new release, BEAUTIFUL DEMONS, went live in the Kindle and Smashwords stores just two days ago, and without much promotion beyond a few tweets and a facebook post or two to friends and family, I've sold 10 copies on Amazon and 2 on Smashwords.

So why am I this excited about just a handful of sales? Because these are the very first books of mine that anyone in the world has paid money to own and read. One twitter friend of my crit partner Erica's already finished the book yesterday and declared it "A Great Read!" That's a huge compliment and seriously the beginning of a new phase of my writing career.

For the past three years, I have longed to be a paid writer. I've written a total of four books and one novella in that period of time, but this book is the first I have been brave enough to put out there in the public arena and proudly say "This is my book! Go forth and buy it!". Every bestseller starts somewhere, and I'm looking forward to all of the victories (both big and small) yet to come. For me, 12 copies is a victory. Next, maybe I'll shoot for 100 on launch weekend. Some day, I might be able to say I sold over a million copies in the first month of a book release. The sky is the limit as long as I keep writing and keep reaching for my dreams.

If you haven't already, buy your copy of BEAUTIFUL DEMONS now on Smashwords and Amazon's Kindle store for only $0.99. (Barnes & Noble coming soon.)

Beautiful Demons: My First Novel is Out Now!

Haven't blogged here in a while, but this news is BIG. My first published novel is available now! BEAUTIFUL DEMONS is the first book in the Peachville High Demons series. All together, I am planning five books in the series. The second book, INNER DEMONS, is my NaNo WriMo 2010 project. If you don't know what NaNo is, it's National Novel Writing Month where thousands of writers across the globe pledge to write 50,000 words in a single month. It starts tomorrow night at midnight, and I can't wait! If you want to add me as a buddy, my user name there is sarramaria.

Now, back to my book! I made the decision to self-publish at the end of the summer, and I couldn't be happier with my choice. I know it's going to be a lot of hard work and a lot of promotion and marketing, but I'm ready for the challenge. Please check out my book, which is available for only $0.99 in the Kindle store and at Smashwords. (and just waiting for approval in the Barnes & Noble store!)

Here is a brief description:

Harper Madison isn't like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

Beautiful Demons is a young adult fantasy with a dose of romance. It is available for purchase at the following online retailers:

• Kindle Store
  
• Smashwords
• Barnes & Noble (Coming soon!)
  

Note: Remember, you do not need an ereader to buy and read an ebook! Both Kindle and B&N's Nook have free apps for PC and Mac. You can also download Adobe Digital Editions to read books in epub and PDF format, which are available in the Smashwords store. Thank you for your support!

Productivity Booster

No matter how hard you work, there is always more that needs to get done. So much so that it can get overwhelming pretty fast. When I feel overwhelmed or I feel like there's so much to do that I will never be able to finish it or reach my goals, my first reaction is to freeze. I'm not saying it's logical, but it happens. Doing nothing at all is the worst thing I could do, and yet that's my typical reaction. Unless something forces me into action like a payment due or a meeting that I just can't miss, I have a hard time getting out of that paralysis and working hard toward my goals.

As a writer who sets my own schedule, this is a serious problem. I have set a very ambitious goal for myself during the month of September, and frankly, there's just no time for this bullshit. I want to write an entire 50,000 word novel that I can self-publish in ebook form. My goal is to finish it by the end of September, revise it over the first few weeks of October, and publish it before NaNoWriMo begins on November 1st.

For some reason, just knowing it was a huge, difficult goal, made me freeze up, unable to work as hard as I truly wanted to. In a way, I needed to trick myself into working harder. That's where my awesome husband comes in. He came up with this idea of making it into a kind of game. He's playing an MMO shooter called Global Agenda, which has little raids every hour or so that last between 15 and 30 minutes each. So, we decided that each time he went into a raid, I would work on my novel. We decided on a formula to compare his dps to my word count and now we race to see who can be the most productive in that time frame. Typically, this ends up meaning that I need to produce around 500 words in 15 minutes, which works out great for me.

Then, after the burst is over, I get an hour to watch TV or talk to friends on twitter or read a book or whatever. But when the raid starts again, it's go time. When we tried this method on Sunday, even though I was woefully hung over from the bachelor/bachelorette party the night before, I wrote 3700 words! Not too shabby!

We started talking about how I could extend that productivity into the daytime when G is at work. Last night at the Dollar Tree, G pointed out a digital kitchen timer. "Set this for 15 minutes," he said. "Then you can work at home when I'm not there." Aha! Great idea! We tried it last night even though he was here, and I still got six hundred words written before the timer went off. There's just something about knowing that I only have to focus on what I'm writing for a short 15 minutes that gets me quickly into this zone. There's no time to judge myself or my ideas. There's only time for writing. I think for rough draft writing, it's the best way I've ever found to add more productivity to my day in terms of writing. Now, I just need to set the timer for ten minute increments and get this damn house clean.

Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D

Zombies in 3D? Pure awesome. But first, an update on my life.

I haven't been updating much, I know. I'm sorry! I have been working on several big projects and thinking about starting a new blog that is less random and more specific. I have started a new novel I'm calling BEAUTIFUL DEMONS. I put PANDEMIC aside for now and am letting it sit before I go back to revise again. Things are good, just busy. I just wanted to write a quick post to say how much I enjoyed the newest Resident Evil movie. This is the 4th movie in the franchise, and it was definitely worth the $27 for G and I to go see it together. Most of the time, to be honest, I don't really find the 3D movies worth the extra money. Avatar was good, but some others just didn't utilize enough of the cool effects of 3D to make it worth the extra $3.50 a ticket. Resident Evil, however, delivered.

Right from the start, there was this awesome rain effect. On the streets of Tokyo, a girl in red high heels is just standing there in the rain amidst a bustling crowd of people, all of whom have umbrellas (of course). The rain effect was so cool in 3D, with some of the drops looking like they were right in front of my face. Later, there was also a scene where Alice was kicking zombie ass and as she shot a couple zombies in the head, the blood flew out into the crowd. It was awesome. The movie was action-packed to say the least, and Milla Jovovich is always so good at making Alice come to life for me.

If you're looking for something fun to watch and you enjoyed the other 3 Resident Evil Movies, then I highly recommend Afterlife. The 3D in and of itself is worth it. Our local theater just added an iMAX screen too, but we opted for the slightly cheaper regular theater. I'm thinking IMAX might actually be worth it on this one, so if you have the chance, upgrade. :) The ending definitely indicated a 5th movie on the way, and I can honestly say I'm looking forward to it.

Digital Titles at the Library

Yay! My local library has finally started carrying ebooks! I went on their website to peruse the selection, and it's actually not too bad. In fact, I have already checked out 2 ebooks for my Sony reader. 'The Carrie Diaries' by Candace Bushnell, which is the teen life of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. I haven't started reading it yet, but I have loved almost all of Bushnell's books, and we all know how much I love the series her book spawned. I've been dying to read this newest book, but haven't wanted to shell out the $15 bucks or so to buy it. Another book in that same category (the category of not wanting to pay fifteen dollars, I mean) is Nora Roberts' 'Vision in White', the first of her Bride Quartet. I have to say, I actually love the actual trade paperback copy of this book in the bookstores. It's beautiful. Tattered edges, silky cover, gorgeous dress on the front. I love all things bridal, so this book appeals to me without even having to know what's it's about. Still, every time I pick it up, I see that huge pricetag and put it right back down.

Being a book lover is expensive. I support the industry and purchase several hundred dollars worth of books a year. But when the price of a book gets over $10, I often have to put it down and look for something else I wanted to read. Or I have to look for alternate ways to read that book. Does a friend of mine have a copy I could borrow? Is there a copy at the used bookstore for only $4? Do they have a copy at the library? I was extremely happy to find out that the Wake County Library system here in the Raleigh area is now offering digital audio and ebooks for check-out. The audio books are 7 day or 14 day check-outs and the ebooks are 21 days. You can download them to your computer, then transfer them to your ipod or your ereader. After the time has expired, they simply disappear. It's brilliant.

I will continue to support the publishing industry by buying books, don't get me wrong. In ebook format, audio, and paperback. I even buy the occasional hardcover (Mockingjay anyone?) if it's a book I have been waiting for or an author I can't resist. But it's nice to know that for those other books that I want to read, but can't really afford, there's now a digital option. I hope this spreads to all library systems and that more and more selections become available for temporary download. If you live in Wake County and would like to check out their selection, go to the library's digital media page to read more.

Making Character Collages

After this awesome video by Tera Lynn Childs at Writeoncon, I felt inspired to make a few character collages. I'm going to be starting a new project soon, and I wanted to get an idea of who these characters really are. Plus, I got to spend lots of fun time with my friends and critique partners, which is always good. We talked through our stories a little bit and worked out some plot details while we cut things out. I wish I had taken a picture of the living room floor with all of the magazines on it! It was completely packed with everything from Dwell Magazine to Vogue to Martha Stewart's Weddings. We probably had over 50 magazines spread out on the floor to choose from! When you're stuck on figuring out a character's personality or what kind of clothes she wears or what her hair really looks like, heck even what house she might live in, you can always grab a stack of magazines for a visual cue. It's visual inspiration that gets your ideas flowing and helps give that extra spark when you're either stuck or just tired or unable to make some decisions. I highly recommend it.

And no, your collages don't have to be the best looking, most artistic pieces in the world. Seriously. Check out my first collage from last night here. It's simple, but you can easily get an idea of what this character's personality is. Include words, outfits, details like the cheerleader, ice cream, kittens, her favorite handbag, a scarf, whatever. Anything goes as long as it gets you thinking and helps you clarify who that character is or what she likes. You don't even have to show them to anyone else. I plan to hang mine on the wall in front of my computer so that I can look up while I'm writing that character's dialogue or a scene from their POV. I figure it's worth a shot to see if I can get into that character's head a little faster and see things from their eyes.

Happy Friday everyone. Have a great weekend.