Friday, July 23, 2010

What have I been up to...

...since I haven't been posting?

Writing mostly. And working sort of. It's very slow around here, which I don't mind on the one hand, but means, on the other, that we are not making very much money. :(

But the writing is going quite well. I wrote 14,197 new words between June 19th and July 17th. That equals approximately 57 official manuscript pages (250 words per double spaced page at Courier New size 12 font).

What's so special about those dates? My RWA chapter meetings. At each meeting we share our page counts. Those with the highest count for the previous month get a little a something at the meeting and then in December our chapter gives out awards for those with the highest cumulative total.

I decided to shoot for 16K words for this month. I crested the 5K mark yesterday and in only a week. Cool, huh? The downside is it's all fan fiction. I can't sell it for money. Not that the interaction and feedback from my fellow fen aren't actually just as gratifying. However. I talked with another chapter mate and he mentioned he was expecting a royalty check. I asked how much, being nosy and said as much, hundreds or thousands? He said thousands. What??? I want some checks like that. And his book was e-pubbed and came out last fall. Hmm... The kicker here is that he writes erotic romance. I'm not sure I can pull that off. But that's where the money is apparently.

I did finally get an idea for a piece of original fiction and will be meeting with my writing friend this weekend to brainstorm. I'm woefully weak in the plot/conflict department.

I know I can churn out the words. I can leave readers hanging on hooks at the end of chapters. My stories are clean--little or no spelling, punctuation, or grammar issues. But do I write the emotion well? Do I capture setting? Can I create my own compelling characters? I don't know, I haven't done it in awhile.

I also need a critique partner who knows the genre and the rules. I think this weekend when I meet with my friend, I may pitch formalizing our relationship into that of critique partners.

And then, of course, I need to start writing original fiction again. Oh, boy...

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Whew!

The boys are back in town. Hubby and son, that is.

Fireworks sales have not been completely tabulated yet, but should be more than anticipated. YAY! Of course, we still have to pay for the inventory we bought, a sizable payment toward the original purchase of the store itself, a payment to our son who hubby has made part owner until he leaves home. He's still debating what he wants to buy: an iPad or a cell phone, maybe both--if we agree to let him get a cell phone. The girls did not get one until they were sixteen and son is only fourteen, so...there will be discussion. Right now, he uses mine when I let him.

The boys are glad to be home in their own beds with access to a real shower. I, on the other hand, have to get used to sharing a bed again. ;) Ah, well, small price to pay for having hubby home.

And now life can return to semi-normal.