Old Friends, New Beginnings

I'm home from the Georgia Romance Writers 25th Anniversary Moonlight and Magnolia conference. What an incredible weekend it was. Close to home. Friends were there and motivation along with inspiration couldn't be tamed.
Awesome!

Here's a photo of the original critique group I belonged to. Me, Meg, Maureen and Missy. It was good to be together again. We had a fabulous time dancing and visiting and eating chocolate!


That is the old friends part---the new beginnings part is just the fact that we're all beginning again, after conference, to do what we do. Write. We're all either revising or creating something. It's incredible the amount of hours we pour out our hearts onto blank pages. It's totally an addiction.
One we don't want to be free of.

We write on, and on, and on. Just like the beat.....
It goes on, and on, and on......

A Conferencing We Go

This Friday is the beginning of the Georgia Romance Writers 25th Anniversary of the Moonlight and Magnolias Conference. (Known as M&M).
I will be there and am looking forward to it. I'll be staying with Missy as usual and we have a lot of fun things planned. Our friend Meg Moseley will be visiting us Saturday nights for the Maggie Award of Excellence Dessert Reception. It will be fun. And I'm sure to learn a lot from all the great workshops being offered.
I know I'll have some fun pictures to post when I come back.
Stay tuned!

Conference Info Over at F.A.I.T.H.

Go on over to for an update on conferences.

Check out Check in Sunday

Check out Check in Sunday at the F.A.I.T.H. blog for news on F.A.I.T.H. girl Jennifer.
Oh, and next week make sure to tune in. Remember the excerpt I posted. Then I posted the revision? Well, guess what. I'm going to revise again, but this is a major revision. I realized his parents don't need to be in this book at all, but I need to introduce Levi's brother Luke. So, instead of the parents showing up, Luke shows up which changes the dynamics tremendously.
So, check in early next week to see how that process worked. Or didn't!

And if you're interested in hearing about trying on wedding dresses check this out. There's even a picture!

Tomorrow is THE Day

Tomorrow is the day. Yes, the day.
The day I'm going to mail my partial to an editor at Harlequin Books. I received the request at the RWA National conference in July. I have a synopsis ready, my chapters are complete. Tonight I will print them out, attached a cover letter and trust the package to the US Postal Service tomorrow morning.
I'm excited, yet slightly anxious.
She asked for a partial not the full. At first I was a little disappointed. Usually, the editors almost always ask for a full manuscript from an unpublished author because they want to make sure they have written a whole book.
So, like I said, when she asked for a partial, I was a little bummed. But then I realized how much better that was for me since I hadn't finished the book yet. I could get a partial (synopsis and about the first 50 pages) off to her much quicker than if she had requested the whole book.
So, yeah! That part rocked.
Now, I have to pray she wants to see the full manuscript after reading the partial. If she doesn't, then there goes that book with that editor. And that house.
But, I'm not going to borrow trouble.
I'm sending the partial, writing to the finish like crazy, entering the Golden Heart contest for unpublished authors, while I wait for the request to see the full manuscript.
Ahhhh.....the joys of writing!

Perpetual Inspiration

Today's post is taken from my devotional I'm reading by Andrew Murray. The book, Daily In His Presence is an awesome book and I have mentioned it here before.

This is what is says for September 13th.
Perpetual Inspiration
"I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever." John 14:16
Then in the text is this:
"It is a mistake to confine inspiration to particular times and occasions, or to prophets and apostles. Inpspiration is for every Christian who trusts to be continually led and inspired by the Spirit of God."

What I take from this is that God inspires us as we continually pray and ask God for guidance. He is our inspiration--the author of our ideas--then he sees them to fruition. Completion.

If you're a writer and are stuck on a certain area of the manuscript, lay it down, pray it up, and see where you're at. I love it that we can rely on such a creator for our creations.

Oh, and one last thing--
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a fun day my friend!

Directions?

Need a little direction? Check out F.A.I.T.H. to see which direction is good for you!

Contest Winner and Word Count

Yeah to anonymous!(Wendy!) You are the winner of the word count contest.

I wrote 3015 words over Saturday and Sunday. Which brings my total manuscript up to 20031 words. 97 pages.
I'm going to continue to work a little longer tonight, hoping to cross the 100 page mark.
Thanks for tuning in Wendy!!! You know I love you.
There will be a dedication to you when I publish a book. I promise!

Revising the Excerpt-Contest-Seeing Who's Checking In

The excerpt I posted Thursday was a rough draft. Totally. I had just finished typing the words five minutes before on my wip.
Now, if you're a writer this is old hat to you. If not, it might be interesting---might not. But I'll share anyway.
What comes next is revision. We take the story, revise, and voila!! Hopefully a better version of the idea will come across.

Let's try it here.
Old version:
“Eat up, Son. I’m sure this is a far cry from those frozen pizzas you’ve probably been eating.”
Levi sat with his parents in the Lawson Lodge dining hall. The food was always excellent and tonight was no exception. Except his stomach didn’t feel good.
His treatment of Summer ate away at him. How could he have acted like that? Why had he acted like that? Other than feeling like he still owed his parents for his brother’s death. Although that thinking in itself was crazy, too. They still were bitter toward him. The excuse that they were worried about him was just that, an excuse.
They wanted to come and see if he’d changed. Felt any worse than he already did. Because they couldn’t get over losing their baby son, and his death was all Levi’s fault.
“What do you think that girl wants from you?”


New version:
“Eat up, Son. I’m sure this is a far cry from those frozen pizzas you’ve probably been eating.”
Levi eyed his father who always tried to smooth over a situation with meaningless small talk. "I'm eating."
In reality he hadn't made a dent in his meal. His mother on the other hand, had no trouble in finishing off the famous Lawson Lodge chicken salad.
No amount of atmosphere or good food could change the way he treated Summer. His behavior ate away at him. How could he have acted like that?
Okay, so he still felt like he owed his parents for his brother’s death. Owed them what he wasn't sure. His apology seemed to hang in the air. They neither accepted it or rejected it. They still were bitter toward him.
Yes, they showed up to see him. But the excuse that they were worried about him was just that, an excuse.
They wanted to come and see if he’d changed. Felt any worse than he already did. Because they couldn’t get over losing their baby son, and his death was all Levi’s fault.
“What do you think that girl wants from you?”
His mother's words brought up the situation his father's small talk tried to avoid. The ironic part? His mother would never believe him if he told her.

See the differences? Well, I'm not done. But I think it's better. Evokes more emotion. Gives a different (hopefully better) light on the scene.

Let me know what you think.

And now that you've read through the excerpts---thanks for sticking around. I have a little contest running only this weekend!!
My word count on An Unexpected Love is 17,018. Let me know what you think the word count will be by Sunday night. I am going to work on the ms during the day today and tomorrow afternoon.
If your count is the closest--I have a great book to send you. Debbie Guisti's Scared To Death.
So, post a guestimate---and I'll check in tomorrow night to see who is the closest.
Thanks for supporting my vision.

Amy Wallace Interview

Check out F.A.I.T.H. today. Christy LaShea Smith has a great interview posted with Amy Wallace. They talk about writing, friendships, God and of course, chocolate!!
See you over there!

Up and excerpt

Well, the word count for my current ms is going up and up! I love it. The story gets more exciting as I go along. I'm anxious to see what develops between Levi and Summer. Here's an excerpt from a scene I'm working on. Levi's parents have suprised him with a visit and they were the ones surprised when they realize Pop-Princess Summer Sinclair is jamming with their son.



“Eat up, Son. I’m sure this is a far cry from those frozen pizzas you’ve probably been eating.”
Levi sat with his parents in the Lawson Lodge dining hall. The food was always excellent and tonight was no exception. Except his stomach didn’t feel good.
His treatment of Summer ate away at him. How could he have acted like that? Why had he acted like that? Other than feeling like he still owed his parents for his brother’s death. Although that thinking in itself was crazy, too. They still were bitter toward him. The excuse that they were worried about him was just that, an excuse.
They wanted to come and see if he’d changed. Felt any worse than he already did. Because they couldn’t get over losing their baby son, and his death was all Levi’s fault.
“What do you think that girl wants from you?”


Okay, so maybe Levi wonders the same thing? But that doesn't make him feel any better. He feels Summer is genuine, but it's him against the world. What do you think the odds are that these two will make it?

Thanks for sharing.