La-Tessa Montgomery

I try to start my mornings off with a quote to guide my day, a  little something to help me maintain a positive focus for the day.  Today I woke up in a self-reflective mood, however; which put me in a John Mayer “Why Georgia” mind set.  I  migrate towards his music when I have something on my mind.   

As an author, I can acutely convey a wide range of emotions suitable for any given character at any time.  Yet, when it comes to me deciphering and voicing  personal thoughts of my own, I struggle.  That said, here’s what’s floating around in my mind right now.  There’s no rhyme or reason to it, no real organization.  Not sure what I make of it at this point, or what I’ll use it for.  But  for now it simply is what it is–     a thought cloud:

——————
I’m in a mood today
Neither good nor bad, somewhere in between
… more reflective than anything
Not sure I like it, but I realize it’s necessary

I’ve got to face my faults, shortcomings, fears…
My pains and downfalls—failed plans, disappointments
I’m not perfect by a long shot
Never have been, and quite sure I never will

My lack of personal perfection will not stop my strides towards a better me
It can’t.  I won’t let it.
I’ve got dreams, goals, and aspirations
Wants, desires, and wishes

I’m moving on, and will keep moving
Towards my peace
Towards my sun
Towards my happiness

I’m going to have down days, I’m going to have up days
I’m going to have middle of the road days
That’s part of the process
It’s part of the journey

Self. Discovery.

I’m not perfect and never will be
Doesn’t mean I don’t deserve the best
That I don’t deserve to be happy, to see my dreams realized
I know what I want, I know what I need

And no one’s actions—or lack there of— will deter me from my plan
Or make me question my self worth
I don’t like games
I have no time for cowardice
——————-

This is very raw, and I don’t share anything that’s not been through at least a couple rounds of polishing (just ask my cp’s), but what the hell.   You can only judge me negatively for it, and I think I made it clear that I’m no longer paying attention to the negativity.  To quote John, “I got dreams to remember” and random hate has no place in my dreams.

And I’ll leave you with John performing my favorite version of “Why Georgia”, for some reason the majority of the intro is missing, but still…

I just got back from visiting the lovely authors of the Colorado Romance Writers chapter of RWA.  I was invited to their fall retreat last week to speak on blogging and social networking for authors.

I had a blast and would like to thank Liz for inviting and all the members for being so welcoming and bearing with me and my nerves as I did my workshop AND for not booing me when I read my first chapter.

I didn’t get a chance to stay long, but Colorado is a beautiful, peacful place.  Very inspiring.  Once I got over my nerves (and my workshop was done), I was able to really settle in and work on my new story a bit. I spent the weekend doing the character profile for my antagonist, which was a lot of work because in the past year I’ve been “knowing” this guy, I really didn’t know a thing about him.

Now, I know that sentence sounds odd, but I’m sure all the writers know what I’m talking about.  The only thing I knew about this character was that he was a bad dude and wanted my heroine for his own nefarious reasons. 

No, really, this is all I knew about him when I was writing the first draft. In fact, his name is Bad Dude (or some variation thereof) throughout the entire draft.

Never let it be said that I let something as trivial as the lack of a name or GMC  stop me from writing a story, gosh darnit. 

But I had a good time in Colorado.  I made some new friends and have possibly stumbled on a new path. There was a lot of interest in my workshop and I’ve been asked to expand it into a full 4 week course.  So now I have 3 different 4 week course ideas playing around in my mind… (and you all know that being in my mind is not always the best place to be- hahahahaha!).

Here’s a shot of a bit of the artwork from my cabin.  This was on the wall directly by the bed

I dubbed him the Guardian. Well, I sort of had too. If not, I would have freaked out waking up and seeing him first thing every morning-lol. 

Oh, and I got up close and personal with some wild life. Look, it’s Bambi!

And his son (or daughter)

It’s been a whirlwind of activity in the world of writing so far for me in 2010. I’ve written a total of 79,612 words (between 2 wips), placed second overall in my category in Lori Wilde’s “Drive ‘Em Wilde” contest (WOOT WOOT), AND I’ve been accepted into a year long mentorship program with Ms. Wilde.

It’s been exciting (and frantic and hectic-lol) times for me indeed, but I know it is really just beginning. As I type this, I remain about 3 scenes away from my very first completed draft. I am shooting to be done with it by this Saturday, which leaves me a full 2.5 days to knock it all out. Trust me when I say this is a rough draft in the TRUEST sense of the word, but it will be my first completed manuscript.

If I stay on target, I’ll have about a week to fully flush out my main characters (very important), finish the basics of my worldbuilding, and get firm up my overall plot a bit better. Since I am using this story as my project during the mentorship, I really need to have these pieces in place before I spend the next year crafting this story into something I’m proud of that I can shop around.

And outside of the upcoming mentorship program, I have 3 upcoming retreats (one I’m co-chair of and the other I’m speaking at) and 3 workshops on my plate.  YES, 6 events!  I’m crazy, I know… But in my defense, they all sounded like great ideas at the time.    

So I’ve got big, big plans for myself during the next 12 months.  As long as I can get through the next 3, I should be aight.

Without a strong rhyme to step to”

I had to borrow from Eric B. and Rakim to properly set the tone for this post. I’ve been past swamped the past month or so, and I’ve not updated my blog here, or at my personal blog since then.  I’m not upset with myself though, mainly because I made a promise to myself to properly balance all of my writing related activities with those of my personal and professional lives.

But that said, I really want to update my blog at least once a week.  So I’ve decided to commit to updating my blog more often.  While I don’t think have much going on right now that’s really exciting, I have a couple ideas I want to run with.  Namely, doing a series of editorials and some craft related articles.  I’ve not nailed anything down 100%, but I will continue to  brainstorm on it.

I do have a bit of news (not good or bad) to share.  I was asked to re-submit my submission package to an editor that requested it at the Moonlight & Magnolias conference I attended in 2009.  The good news is that I’ve made some major changes in the heroine’s GMC.  While this means quite a significant amount of revisions to the 40,000+ words I’ve already written, I believe the story flows better and I know longer feel like I am trapped with a plot element I just don’t like and connect with.

Anywho, I sent the editor my submission package (which consists of a totally rewritten first 3 chapters).  I’m nervous about her reaction/decision, but I feel MUCH better about the content I sent.

Okay, off to produce some words, I’m out–but it will not be as long in between my posts again.

I came across the Life After Agent, Part 1 article by Dean Wesley Smith via the message boards on the FF&P site.  Now I’m a newbie to this industry, but I found this article very interesting and conversation starting.  (To read it, click on the blue hyperlinked text above.)   

Mr. Smith’s article takes a look at what life would be like if the role of agent just dissappeared one day.  He provides bits of history on the publishing industry and speaks to the roles & responsibilities of agents  in relation to those of the writer and the editor.

It’s a very though provoking article, to say the least.  And it did challenge some of my beliefs about agents and their role in the grand scheme of things.  All in all, it’s given me a bit of perspective, which we all need from time to time.  My main take away is this quote : “YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN CAREER.”

Great advice.

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