Received my 2nd rejection on my contemp IR romance this week. I expected as much, but it still smarts a bit.

The silver lining to this cloud (this thunder cloud that is WFF) is that I’ve been getting revision ideas to implement on the overhaul revision round.  I’m been second guessing myself because the changes (not to the plot, but the actual timing of things) is major.  To implement, it will cause me to let go of 2 ideas that have been with me for 2 years with this wip–translation: not an easy feat.

But, this rejection is making me feel better about implementing them.

One of my writing buddies, Jus Accardo, put together a 12 step programs for any and all writers who are WIP-Aholics.  No explaination neccessary.  You know who you are.  And you’re on the fence about whether or not you’re one, remember,  admiting you have a program is the first step- LOL.  

1.  We admit we are powerless against our WIPs—that they hold our muse—and our hard drives hostage.
2.  We believe something greater than ourselves—the revision process and editing that comes with it—can and will restore our sanity.

3.  We have made the choice to give our lives over to the care of our Muse.

4.  We will cease extensively researching and move forward with the revision process so that our WIP will one day grace the desk of our dream agent.

5.  We have admitted to ourselves, and our fellow writers, our flaws—and will make a conscious effort not to indulge our WIP obsession until we have made at least one submission.

6.  We acknowledge that we are ready to move forward and tackle our enormous pile of WIPs—by focusing on them one at a time.

7.  We offer chocolate, caffeine, and other indulgent gifts to our muse in exchange for urging us onward toward our publication goal.

8.  We have made a list of the WIPs being neglecting, and are now willing to make amends.

9.  We will continue to move forward with our neglected WIPs, admitting freely when the urge to start another surfaces.

10.  We will, through chocolate and coffee, improve our relationship with our muse, begging for her/his knowledge and guidance.

11. We will not make excuses.

12. We will, having had an awakening of epic proportions due to these steps, go forth and spread this message to all other WIPaholics.

I loved this so much, I asked permission if I could share.  So all you WIP-Aholics, take time to review the above affirmations.  Become friends with them.  Then… stop procrastinating & get going. 

My critique partners have been really busy lately racking up accomplishments.  Today, want to give a shout out Carmen Steele for having her flash fiction piece, Kindred Chronicles: The Blood Prophecy, published over at Wicked Jungles. {click link to read it}

Congrats lady, keep it up.

Congrats to one of my writing buddies and critique partners, Mynfel, for selling her book today.

WOOHOO!! Congrats lady

And not only did she sell her book, but she got a 3 book deal in the process.  So big shout out to Mynfel, you go girl.

I want to take a minute and congratulate one of my chapter members on the publication of her first book. Today marks the release of Along Came Quinn by Suzanne Rossi.

Congrats Suzanne!!  

 So I asked Suzanne to share a little about the book  with me & she sent me over the book trailer and a blurb:

     Alexandria Montgomery doesn’t like or trust adventurer, Quinn Rafferty, but needs him to guide her through the jungles of Guatemala in search of her thieving ex-boyfriend who has stolen a priceless treasure map.     

    Deep in the jungle, Alex learns love can strike at any time with the least likely of men, and Quinn comes to the realization an uptight antique store owner, who upon their first meeting shot him, just might be the woman of his dreams.     

    But what will happen when Quinn discovers Alex has lied, and the treasure, earmarked as a way to provide for his mother and grandmother, doesn’t exist? Can he forgive her betrayal, or will he just walk away?  

If you like what you’ve seen and read so far about Along Came Quinn, please visit Wild Rose Press and pick up a copy.  Available in both ebook format and print.  I’ve already ordered mine, I’m getting a sexy “Indiana Jones in the Jungle” type vibe from the trailer and the blurb.  Now come on, what not to like about that combo?

The River City Romance Writers’s (my local writing chapter) annual Duel on the Delta contest is open and accepting submissions in the following categories:

1. Mystery/Romantic Suspense
2. Historical
3. Contemporary
4. Mainstream/Single Title
5. Young Adult
6. Inspirational
7. Paranormal

New this year, the submission process is 100% electronic.  So polish up your first 15 pages and enter.  For complete contest & submission details click here.

2010 marks the 4th annual Chase The Dream contest hosted by Rachelle Chase and Leigh  Michaels.   This year, the final  judges are Alex Logan of Grand Central Publishing, Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks, Theresa Stevens of Red Sage, Susan Swinwood of Harlequin/Mira/Spice, Esi Sogah of Avon Books, Kelli Martin of Kimani, Christine Witthohn of Book Cents Literary Agency, Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency, and Elizabeth Pomada of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency.

For those of you unfamiliar with this contest, weekly winners are chosen from the pool of submissions for that week.  At the end, all of the weekly finalist will be review by the panel of final judges and they will choose a winner.

So if you have a killer first 1,000 words, stop by and enter.  I’ve already submitted my entry for the first week of consideration.

Through tomorrow, January 6, Kelly Martin, Senior Editor for Kimini Romance, is giving you the opportunity to pitch to her.  Click here for details.  You can find Kimanin’s guidlines here.

And in strangely beautiful news,  author Leanna Renne Hieber has posted the official book trailer and 3 excerpts from “The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker” on her blog.  Darkly Luminous is the much anticipated (at least by me   ) follow up to her best selling gothic Victorian fantasy “The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker”.  For those interested, you can find my review of Strangely Beautiful here.

Mary McCall, a fellow RCRW member, wrote an article on the creative process using military lingo that really spoke to me and my critique partner–don’t ask…. .

I really enjoyed the article and gained some insight. From now on, I will let my Scout have it BEFORE  I call my Strategist in for consulation (who and I kidding, I will probably have to drug my Strategist to keep her out of the process until I’m ready for her, but I digress).  And only once the Strategist has had her say, will I present my ideas to the Commander (otherwise known as the bitchy inner editor) for approval. 

if I follow this progress, I bet my Solider will by much happier once I give her the ok to do her job since the Scout and Strategist won’t be interfering nearly as much as they currently are, and the Commander won’t be inclined to make many as visits to check on progress.

Check out her post in full here.

Decided to do a NaNo check in today, so here goes.  It’s Day 6 and I’ve not written today yet (but I plan to, no worries.) 

And I will admit, Day 1 & 2 were more than a bit rocky.  For one, I’m still actively writing and polishing up my contemporary romance (Worth Fighting For), so that keeps me busy.  But determined to get a good, more than good actually, start on my Urban Fantasy, I decided to challenge myself this month and give working on two manuscripts a chance.

It’s also been slow going because I decided to undertake this challenge without a plot overview/outline or character sketches.  Apparently, just jumping in feet first is soooo not my style. 

Now, I knew this going in, but I am always trying to make myself a better, more productive writer; and that means I have to challenge my established procedures from time to time to make sure I’m not bogging myself down with unnecessary processes.

So I decided to spend time during my lunch break this week to work on character profiles for my main characters.  So far, I have 3 out of 5 done, and the story opens up more and more each time I complete one.  Yesterday, I had my best day yet, clocking 700 words on my NaNo project. 

Yes, is far below the daily word goal of 1,667, but I’m very encouraged by it.  Now that I have I clearer view on my story, I know longer have to wonder around in wide circles, waxing poetic about nonsensical things.  (Because trust me, I have.  If you could only see some of what I’ve written thus far-lol) 

I’ve been rolling along nicely, and I hope the trend continues.