Progress

I know editing is important, incredibly so.  But when I'm editing, I feel like I'm stagnant.  It's a frustrating feeling, especially when I have so many things to finish, polish, and improve.

Thankfully, this month brings a different tactic, since I'm determined to make progress with No Sugar Coating, I am writing a little bit every day.  Editing is taking place in my downtime, but it's still happening.  I have so much to do with Where We Collide before I can fully count it as "decent enough to query."  It does stand much better than the original, so I'm happy in regards to that.

RUHE, however, is going to take a complete backseat.  It was my first finished manuscript.  Perhaps somewhere down the road, I'll take it out of the box and dust it off, when I feel like making a darker story, "going there" instead of easing off at the last moment.  For now, I'm quite content to focus on my other two projects.

In other news, I've been reading, a lot.  I've rediscovered the wonders of audiobooks.  I know that sounds silly, but when I first listened to books on CD they were all kind of done in the same, drab narration.  Now, they are punchy, have impact, and it's almost like watching a movie unfold.

The wonders of technology and the world we live in:  I love it.  I can listen to an audiobook, read a physical book at lunch, and take my ebooks anywhere I'd like.  At this moment, I have three books in progress, one in each format.  I think I'm honestly making up for lost time.  So many days of my life were spent hating books because of my "required readings."  But I wonder, now that I'm older and more in love with lyrical writing, if I would get more out of reading the classics now than I did then.

Maybe some day I'll revisit my old, required readings and see what I make of them.  For now, I'm having too much fun getting lost in young adult literature, new and old.

In Edits

Don't forget to check out my giveaway!

Cara Michaels may want my head on a platter for not updating my #WIP500 lately, but honestly, I can't really do it.  No, not can't.  I won't.

Why?  Because I have three pieces that have not been edited as much as I like.  So I'm reworking, rewriting, and keeping track of the new word count (which, yes, I will use, because it is technically still a WIP500), but my word count is... tiny.  Minuscule.

This is why I hate editing.  I feel like I need to be working on The Unanswerable or Kingdom of Obession, not bumming around in the first chapters of Rioss and piddling over my word choices.  I feel like Rioss and Soul Therapy and Ruhe already took so much of my precious time, that I really want to move onto the next shiny new object.

But shame on me.  Because I know for a fact that I sometimes call "Marc" "March" because of the numerous typos throughout Rioss.  And I know that Jessica goes on way too many internal ramblings without enough action/responses in Soul Therapy.  And Ruhe just needs to be longer, the scenes need to have more tension in them.  So here's my wrist slap.  Stay with it, stick with it, and edit it. 

Editing just feels so much like work.  But something that makes it easier?  I got new vinyl from M83, including Saturdays = Youth and Before the Dawn Heals Us (consequently, these are the first vinyls I have ever owned).  Which, for people that don't know me - M83 is my favorite band to zone out to.  It makes doing things that I don't like much more pleasant.  Each week, I am going to attempt to complete at least three hours to editing. 

And last night, I spent an hour curled up on the couch with two cats on each side of me, sipping on wine, listening to M83, and pouring over words.  Wasn't a bad set up, but I still forgot to submit my new word count to Cara Michaels (shame on me).

The Unanswerable

Don't forget to check out my March Giveaway!  Ends March 31st!

A new excerpt from a new project The Unanswerable.  I really really need to stop coming up with new projects and focus on my old ones.  This may be the last excerpt from this for awhile, but hey, it's fun stuff.  Also, my idea for a cover is below as well.  Fun times :)  I love designing, it's a really good way to pass the time.

Here's a project update (you can look at my WIP bar on the left hand side too!):

• Rioss - just passed the 43k mark.  Working towards 70k, then onto editing and possibly book two.  Though, I might pause on book two and go back to it a bit later.
• Ruhe - I really need to finish editing this piece.  Someone kick me in the butt until I get this done, please?  This is on the back-burner, as I focus on Soul Therapy.
• Soul Therapy - currently in two contests.  Waiting for the finalist announcement on Brenda Drake's blog, and waiting for the Amazon Breakout Novel Contest quarter finalist list.  Still need to do some serious editing here too, but it's still written.
• The Unanswerable - new project, post-apocalyptic story.  See below for cover concept and an excerpt!  Just started the brainstorming process.  Possibly an adult novel.
• Kingdom of Obsession - put on hold
• Good Criminal Heart- put on hold
• 2042 - put on hold

Dark clouds rolled across the sky in the abandoned town. The windows were boarded up in the small convenience store that we took shelter in, but the windows were shattered. It was going to be a long night.

Alisha came up behind me, running her fingers along my back. She nestled herself into the crook in my shoulder. “What’s going to happen?”

I sighed and looked at her. Her eyes refracted the darkness of the sky, I could see the clouds rolling over her eyes. A lightning bolt shot down from the sky in the direction we had come from. We had gotten out just in time. Thunder shook the air and a cold gust of wind picked up.

“We go inside, for now. We wait.” I turned and walked in the door. We had found a lot of supplies from an Army Surplus store only a few blocks away. Most people had taken all they could carry. We were probably the last of the crowd heading south. We hadn’t seen anyone yet, but since there were no cars and no food left, we had to assume we weren’t the only survivors.

She shut the door and locked the latch. The whole place smelled of rotten wood. The whole town was like this, but the convenience store had the most solid roof. We weren’t far from the city, far from the explosions. That’s why almost everything was destroyed. Everything had collapsed.

Alisha settled down on her sleeping bag and hugged her knees, burying her face in her hands. She sobbed slightly. I squeezed my eyes shut. If I ignored her for long enough, she would get over it. She would come out of it.

But as another wave of thunder ran over us, shaking the whole building, her wailing only increased. I sighed. Verity would have my head if she knew I was letting a girl cry like this. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t… for her.

I sat down next to Alisha, and she immediately curled her body into mine. As tears rolled down her face, the rain started to pound the side of the store. Little sprays of water got inside the cracks in the boarded up windows and shot onto the floor.

“I just can’t believe they are all gone… my mum…” I didn’t want her to continue. I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to grieve just as much as Alisha did, but we had to get out, we had to survive. I couldn’t stop to think about her, not yet. “My dad, Adam…” She took several shaky breaths before letting another wave of hysteria creep into her. She shook and pounded on my chest with her fist. “Why us? Why me? Why you? Why now?!”

I grabbed her wrists and pulled her face close to mine. I could smell the salt of her tears, I could taste the cherry gloss that she had applied to her lips. “Stop asking. It is us, it is me and you, and there is no other reason. You understand?”

She nodded a little, her dark brown hair fell into her face. She sat up and looked down at the floor, refusing to look at me again. I leaned my head against the wall with a thud.

“I don’t want to blame you, Alisha… but I do.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to look at her, because I needed to say this. I needed to tell her otherwise it was going to eat me up. “If I didn’t help you… I might have been able-“

Her hand touched my cheek. I opened my eyes, and she was an inch from my face. “I’m sorry, Matthew. I’m so so sorry.” Tears welled in the corner of her eyes. “I was so scared… and…” She sat back on her heels. “I’m grateful you did. I don’t mean to seem like I’m not. I’m still scared.” She shook her head.

I took her hand and grit my teeth. It was easier than crying, to feel my teeth pressed so hard against each other that they might shatter out of my skull. I loosened my jaw for a moment and said, “It’s us now, okay? It’s just us, and we both have to learn to live with that. No more whys. I can’t deal with any more whys.”

2012 Goals Update

Successful Goals so Far:

• On average, I have been writing 500 words a day - I'm ahead of the goal, but I'm trying to make a habit of writing every day.  While this hasn't been successful, I am at least working on average 500 words a day. #WIP500
• I formatted my memoir for epub, but still need to edit the darn thing (formatting is a brat).
• Found and applied to a day job (as a Health Coach), now I just need to nail the interviews - but yay on booking an interview!
• Finally created several more light switch plates, which can be seen on my etsy.
• I still have my giveaway for January up.  I will be participating in the YA Giveaway blog hop for February, and we'll continue it from there - one book a month!
• So far, I've read three books this month and I'm moving onto the fourth.
• TBR Pile Challenge has been going - I am almost through my holds at the library, then it's onto books on my shelf.

And I added on a new one for Emlyn Chand's "Books that made me love reading" challenge.  The January post for that one will be up soon.

Additionally, my roommate and I made a video in support of our craft blog.  It's kind of hilarious, so I'll share it on here for anyone that needs a pick-me-up!

2012 Goals

2011 was a successful year:

• Finished my first manuscript
• Did a rough edit of my first manuscript
• Participated in my first NaNoWriMo and won my first
• Finished my second manuscript
• Met a lot of awesome writers and received a lot of amazing feedback
• Got married
• Had my best friend and her new boyfriend move in (also my brother-in-law)

Writing Goals for 2012:

• Complete the #500WIP Challenge (set forth by Cara Michaels) - Write 500 words a day, every day
• Find an agent (or at least query all the agents on my "top" list for my first manuscript)
• Edit my second manuscript 
• Midway through the year (June or July) query those same agents for my second manuscript (if none picked up the first, that is)
• Finish the following manuscripts:
• Rioss Book One
• Kingdom of Obsession
• A Good Criminal Heart
• 2042
• Edit and package Rioss to be queried in the fourth quarter of the year

Personal Life Goals for 2012:

• Find a day job where I work directly with people and/or animals:
• USC, UCLA, or a college position (student services, student housing, student life, etc.)
• Dog trainer, dog walker, kennel worker, etc.
• Finish a few crafting projects
• Sewing/redesigning the purple dress
• Create and sell more light switch plates
• Finish my Legend of Zelda painting
• Finish the tree of life painting
• Finish the sunset painting

Reading Goals for 2012:

• Create one monthly giveaway each month
• Participate actively in the To Be Read Pile Challenge
• Read at least three books a month

I tend to think big and set my hopes high for each year.  But I'm hoping that I can come back to this list and keep myself on track.  It helps that I'm now part of certain groups that will hold me accountable (like #WIP500 and TBR Pile Challenge).

And of course, my ultimate goal:  Enjoy every minute of it.  So far so good.