Alright, since I wrote about the bone-headed thing that Kyle did, I wante to post the paragraph that really conveyed what he did. I was on such a role when I wrote this paragraph, that I swear I was only typing and it was coming to me from him. I hadn't outlined this part at all!! I love it when a character takes over his story.
Here is the paragraph!
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The firefighter had left Kyle’s side while he was praying and Kyle knew that now was his chance. Without giving it a second thought he grabbed a firefighter’s coat from the back of the truck. He sprinted across the front yard, thrusting his body into the coat as he went. The heat of the flames intensified with each stride, he knew it would only be worse on the inside but it didn’t matter. The only thing he cared about now was getting Elena out of there. Just a few more feet and he’d be at the front door. “God, please watch over us.” With that final utterance, he raced up the front stairs.
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Tell me what you thought!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
WOO-HOO!!!! I did it! I got to 70,000 words before 7:00 pm tonight! I'm currently at 70,068 words and right in the middle of a very exciting plot twist!
I'm very excited right now. I almost had to strange Kyle though, or maybe I should thank him. He had to go and do something boneheaded and almost got himself killed... I really can't blame him though. I would probably have done the same thing. People in love always do crazy things.
I'm very happy to have hit this milestone, now I've just gotta finish everything off and then I can REALLY celebrate!
I'm very excited right now. I almost had to strange Kyle though, or maybe I should thank him. He had to go and do something boneheaded and almost got himself killed... I really can't blame him though. I would probably have done the same thing. People in love always do crazy things.
I'm very happy to have hit this milestone, now I've just gotta finish everything off and then I can REALLY celebrate!
Almost there!!!
Okay, just over 1 hour to go and just under 1,000 words to go....
I might ACTUALLY make it..... Not that I doubted myself in the least!
(Just forget the previous posts about me panicking!)
I might ACTUALLY make it..... Not that I doubted myself in the least!
(Just forget the previous posts about me panicking!)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Panicking a little less today...
Alright, I've got under 23 hours to get 4,000 more words done. Well, 3,995 to be exact...Wait... oh no!! I'm also counting the words Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc, etc... Okay, who cares at this point?
Anyone?? Anyone??
Nope, good. Because neither do I!
I'll hit 70,000 words if I have to completely ignore my entire family for the remainder of the year!! (Which shouldn't be that hard, since there is only 27 1/2 hours until this year is done!)
On a completely unrelated side note, I've discovered a GREAT background music CD to play while I write. It's called "Celtic Music for Stress Relief", it's at Target for only $10.00 and it is DEFINITELY worth the money! It's beautiful celtic music, harps, strings, all that good stuff. (Sorry, but I'm saving my descriptive words for my novel!)
Anyone?? Anyone??
Nope, good. Because neither do I!
I'll hit 70,000 words if I have to completely ignore my entire family for the remainder of the year!! (Which shouldn't be that hard, since there is only 27 1/2 hours until this year is done!)
On a completely unrelated side note, I've discovered a GREAT background music CD to play while I write. It's called "Celtic Music for Stress Relief", it's at Target for only $10.00 and it is DEFINITELY worth the money! It's beautiful celtic music, harps, strings, all that good stuff. (Sorry, but I'm saving my descriptive words for my novel!)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Do I LOOK like I'm panicking?
Because I TOTALLY am! I've got under two days to reach the 70,000 word mark and I'm only around 62,000 words. Yeah... I can feel the pressure... If I make it it will truly be a christmas miracle!
What am I doing blogging about this?!?! I gotta get back to work!!
What am I doing blogging about this?!?! I gotta get back to work!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
My book's pitch
Well everyone, I rewrote my original pitch to the story and posted it on a literary agency's blog. Now I'm just waiting to see if I'm one of the lucky ones that will get their's critiqued! Below is what I posted. If the post is chosen to be critiqued, then I'll post their response here as well.
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Kyle Johnston's world is thrown into a tailspin when his 7 year old daughter is kidnapped and killed. In the year since, the culprit has yet to be caught and as Kyle and his wife Elena try to pick up the pieces they are tormented when a letter shows up from the killer bragging about the act. Every facet of their lives appears to be an open book to this unknown tormentor. As the police continue to search for a suspect, mysterious happenings begin to make them wonder if Kyle is involved in his daughter's death as well as others. When and if Kyle finally comes face to face with the killer will he be able handle the startling revelations that come his way?
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Feel free to post your thoughts on this pitch. Does it make you want to run out and buy the book? Do you love it, hate it or have no feelings either way? Comment away!
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Kyle Johnston's world is thrown into a tailspin when his 7 year old daughter is kidnapped and killed. In the year since, the culprit has yet to be caught and as Kyle and his wife Elena try to pick up the pieces they are tormented when a letter shows up from the killer bragging about the act. Every facet of their lives appears to be an open book to this unknown tormentor. As the police continue to search for a suspect, mysterious happenings begin to make them wonder if Kyle is involved in his daughter's death as well as others. When and if Kyle finally comes face to face with the killer will he be able handle the startling revelations that come his way?
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Feel free to post your thoughts on this pitch. Does it make you want to run out and buy the book? Do you love it, hate it or have no feelings either way? Comment away!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Catching up....
Well, I started off today being about 8,000 words behind schedule. I'm eccstatic that now I am only 5,500 words behind schedule. The story is really coming together and little things just keep popping up that I didn't plan on. I love it when that happens! It's during those times that I feel the words flowing directly from my mind to my fingertips. It's like the story has a mind of its own and wants to be completed (hopefully ahead of schedule!)
If I can keep getting 3,000 words or so a night I will definitely be done by the end of the year. I want to get at least 1 query out before that time though, but I'm a little bit worried about it. I'm not worried about the rejections that I'm sure I will get, I'm worried about the request for the partials or fulls. If a full is requested I wouldn't be able to say that it's in the best condition it can be in. I do tend to edit while I write, but I think one of my flaws is I'm always looking for something to improve when I go through it. I need to learn to just leave it be as it is.
I'll post some more on the status of my queries after they are sent out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!
If I can keep getting 3,000 words or so a night I will definitely be done by the end of the year. I want to get at least 1 query out before that time though, but I'm a little bit worried about it. I'm not worried about the rejections that I'm sure I will get, I'm worried about the request for the partials or fulls. If a full is requested I wouldn't be able to say that it's in the best condition it can be in. I do tend to edit while I write, but I think one of my flaws is I'm always looking for something to improve when I go through it. I need to learn to just leave it be as it is.
I'll post some more on the status of my queries after they are sent out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Definite deadline
Alright, I was reading over several literary agents blogs and I've come to the decision that I will definitely NOT be sending out queries until after the new year. I am planning to have everything ready to go before mid-January, but then I'll have to wait for the readers to get back to me with any comments. I just need to make sure that I get some REALLY fast readers!
Just about 20,000 words to go now... *sigh* I just wish that I could type out everything that I want to at once and not one line at a time. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm writing a line of text and my mind is already telling my hands to type something that's going on 3 sentences away!! 49,335 words is the official count right now. I'll get to about 52,000+ words tonight, hopefully without being up until 2:00 in the morning!
Back to writing...
Just about 20,000 words to go now... *sigh* I just wish that I could type out everything that I want to at once and not one line at a time. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm writing a line of text and my mind is already telling my hands to type something that's going on 3 sentences away!! 49,335 words is the official count right now. I'll get to about 52,000+ words tonight, hopefully without being up until 2:00 in the morning!
Back to writing...
Genre of the Novel
Well, as I sit here at 2:00 in the morning (trying to get caught up) I found myself thinking about the genre that this novel would fall under. At first I thought that it would be a crime/mystery novel, but I think it's turning into more of a thriller/page turner. The chapters have been pretty consistent at about 20-25 pages a piece and they've all seemed to land on mini cliff hangers for the final paragraphs. Not enormously huge in any way, but enough to make you turn that next page to find out what happens next.
I was out at dinner the other night with a few other couples and I brought up how I had listened to "Twilight" on my trip up to San Quentin Prison. Now, I think it's natural for anyone to hear about a prison and wonder why someone was going up there; besides the obvious reasons that is! So, I began to tell them about my book and what it covered. I got some good responses and it's really given me a stronger drive to get the novel completed.
I'm just dying for people to be able to read the completed novel and tell me how they couldn't put it down. I think when this novel is finally completed and a literary agent has taken it on to sell it that I will at last be able to take a break. Well, at least a little break....2, 3 hours tops! Then it's back to work on my next, as yet untitled, novel.
I can't believe that I'm still up and writing something at 2:00 a.m. That's just the joys of something wanting to be written I guess. Sometimes I just have to write around the story's schedule and not my own. I just know that it's going to be a REALLY fun day after I wake up from only getting about 30 minutes of sleep.
Oh well, such is the life! Only 1,000 more words to go and I'll call it a night...mabye less...
I was out at dinner the other night with a few other couples and I brought up how I had listened to "Twilight" on my trip up to San Quentin Prison. Now, I think it's natural for anyone to hear about a prison and wonder why someone was going up there; besides the obvious reasons that is! So, I began to tell them about my book and what it covered. I got some good responses and it's really given me a stronger drive to get the novel completed.
I'm just dying for people to be able to read the completed novel and tell me how they couldn't put it down. I think when this novel is finally completed and a literary agent has taken it on to sell it that I will at last be able to take a break. Well, at least a little break....2, 3 hours tops! Then it's back to work on my next, as yet untitled, novel.
I can't believe that I'm still up and writing something at 2:00 a.m. That's just the joys of something wanting to be written I guess. Sometimes I just have to write around the story's schedule and not my own. I just know that it's going to be a REALLY fun day after I wake up from only getting about 30 minutes of sleep.
Oh well, such is the life! Only 1,000 more words to go and I'll call it a night...mabye less...
Monday, December 8, 2008
Entered the first paragraph into a contest
Well everyone, one of the Literary Agents that I follow, Nathan Bransford, has a contest that if you submit the first paragraph of a WIP (Work-in-progress) novel that he will pick a group of finalists for the readers to vote on. I've submitted the first paragraph from my novel "Feint Impressions" and decided to post it here as well. If I am selected as a finalist (keep your fingers crossed) then I can have the opportunity to have him critic a query, partial or even a 15 minute phone conversation with him.
Alright, to be honest the 3rd prize is really not even on my mind to win. I would just really like to win the query or partial critic. It will be on Friday that the results of the contest will be posted and I'm really hoping that I'll be up there!
Well, without any further hesitations, here is the first paragraph that I submitted:
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The cold breeze blowing off San Francisco bay did not seem to affect the throngs of protestors located outside of San Quentin Penitentiary. They had been at many previous death penalty protests and had come prepared to chant and stand firm for hours. The hundreds gathered here now, lit mostly by candles, marched in place to keep their bodies warm. Every soul standing here tonight, protestors and supporters of the death penalty, along with reporters were waiting with baited breath for the arrival of the witnesses tonight. Only a few times in its history had the grounds of San Quentin Penitentiary been such a hot bed of activity.
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Time to get back to the rest of the novel!
Alright, to be honest the 3rd prize is really not even on my mind to win. I would just really like to win the query or partial critic. It will be on Friday that the results of the contest will be posted and I'm really hoping that I'll be up there!
Well, without any further hesitations, here is the first paragraph that I submitted:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cold breeze blowing off San Francisco bay did not seem to affect the throngs of protestors located outside of San Quentin Penitentiary. They had been at many previous death penalty protests and had come prepared to chant and stand firm for hours. The hundreds gathered here now, lit mostly by candles, marched in place to keep their bodies warm. Every soul standing here tonight, protestors and supporters of the death penalty, along with reporters were waiting with baited breath for the arrival of the witnesses tonight. Only a few times in its history had the grounds of San Quentin Penitentiary been such a hot bed of activity.
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Time to get back to the rest of the novel!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Is that they date??? REALLY?!?!?!?!
Ok, no easier way to say this than I am SERIOUSLY sweating right now! I should be at 47,000 words right about now and I'm only at 43,000. Four Thousand words behind schedule... I'm really trying to get to the 70,000 mark by the end of this month, but I think that the novel will be closer to 80,000+ by the time it's all over.
I might not get around to querying literary agents until the middle of January, but I'd rather have the manuscript at its top form than send out a shoddy draft.
Everyday I write, I have new ides coming to me about how to string everything together and how all the characters will play a role in everything. It's kinda cool, but sometimes I just get so full of ideas that they all cram the door and they can't get out onto the paper. What does that lead me to??? Yep, writer's block... it sucks.
I gotta get back to writing, this story isn't going to write itself! (Although sometimes I think it wishes it could!)
I might not get around to querying literary agents until the middle of January, but I'd rather have the manuscript at its top form than send out a shoddy draft.
Everyday I write, I have new ides coming to me about how to string everything together and how all the characters will play a role in everything. It's kinda cool, but sometimes I just get so full of ideas that they all cram the door and they can't get out onto the paper. What does that lead me to??? Yep, writer's block... it sucks.
I gotta get back to writing, this story isn't going to write itself! (Although sometimes I think it wishes it could!)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Deadline looming
Alright, There have been a few major changes in the story. The cemetery groundskeeper is now playing a larger role, and has taken the place of one of the original characters. I'm a little bit worried about meeting the deadline now though... I'm already over 41,000 words and maybe only halfway done. I want to do the story justice and if I don't do it then I think the characters will beat me senseless!!
I'm still going to push my hardest to get the story done before the end of the year, but my querying might be started while I'm still editing and revising. I know it's not the smartest thing to do, but sometimes it needs to be done. The novel is looking like its going to be easily over 90,000 words, maybe 100,000. Yikes...
Back to writing...
I'm still going to push my hardest to get the story done before the end of the year, but my querying might be started while I'm still editing and revising. I know it's not the smartest thing to do, but sometimes it needs to be done. The novel is looking like its going to be easily over 90,000 words, maybe 100,000. Yikes...
Back to writing...
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