National Pix

What was I thinking? A small purse seemed like a good idea when I was packing, but it meant that I often left my camera in our hotel room. I came home with 12 photos. Twelve! And only a handful of them are any good. Oh well. Everyone else was taking pictures, and I'm sure they will share. :) Here are my favorites. You can click on any of them for a larger view. :)

Here's an adorable photo of Katy, Michele, and Robin (the fantastic children's author, R.L. LaFevers) Thursday night. Seriously. Have you seen three more beautiful smiles, all in one place? My girls are radiant!


Here's a nice photo of our dinner group Friday night. Sorry Kathy. L to R: the fabulously talented author Christine Merrill (yes! She brought cheese curds!), PASIC finalist Corrina Lavitt (who brought booze), Kathy (behind Cory), Jill (who brought me a birthday present!), Pat (in back. A talented jewelry maker and writer), Michele (my CP), Tenaya (a new cherry friend) & me.


Jill & Michele who played tourist all week while we went to workshops. Check out the tattooed "sleeves" on Jill's shirt. She turned many heads at Fisherman's Wharf that day:


Saturday night: PASIC finalist, the wonderful author Katy Cooper in a fabulous dress, befitting one of her fantasy heroines:


More Rita night pix: Tenaya and Michele in black:


The back of Michele's gown had the prettiest details:


Katy & me at the "after party" in our room, which was party central this year:


I had an amazing time in San Francisco. I wish I could have stayed a couple more days, but I was happy to get home to my little family.

Back from National

Well, we're back! I am so tired. We had a lot of fun. I was just surfing the net and unwinding (after I waded through 157 unread e-mails-- ugh!) and found a picture of Michele and me HERE. How cool is that? Thanks, Dee. It was so great to finally meet you in person. :) Once I upload my pictures, I'll be sure to post some too.

On Saturday night, Esri Rose asked if she could take a picture of my shoes for the Shoe Revue on her BLOG. (Note: The pics aren't posted yet.) I am quite fond of my black satin rose bedecked strappies, so I said, "Sure!" After she snapped the photo, she asked me what it would say about my heroine if she wore them. I'm shy and being clever on the spot with a new person wasn't possible, so I told her to let her readers decide. Later, of course, I had an answer for each of my three favorite heroines. Oh well.

I also found a nice picture of my friends Susan and Harry HERE. I ran Harry when I first arrived at the literacy signing, fresh off the bus after an 11 hours on the road. He didn't even tell me I looked like hell. :) Harry is the nicest guy and I am always glad to see him. Two days later, I happened upon his lovely wife Susan (and her gorgeous new shoes) at the Rita dessert reception. She gave me some very nice advice about turning 40 and writing and I'm so glad I ran into her. She is a fabulous writer, mentor, and all-around good person and I admire her very much.

I feel like writing!

Edited to add: I found this BLOG where Olivia (I don't know her but she seems lovely) posted photos of Grace Cathedral. I neglected to bring my camera when we went there Thursday morning and I'm grateful for Olivia's photos. Thank you, Olivia. :)

Goals for 2008

I've been thinking a lot about goals for 2008, and it's sort of stressing me out. LOL! I think I'll keep it really easy this year. So, here goes...

1) Continue on with the healthy lifestyle I began in July of 2007. This includes a balanced, low fat diet with lots of fruits and veggies and walking every night. This will eventually include getting my butt back in the gym, but I won't stress over it. I renewed our memberships this month, so we'll get there eventually.

2) Write 15 minutes a day during ther month of January, and up it to 30 minutes per day going forward. An hour a day would be ideal. Work up to that most nights if humanly possible.

3) Lose 25 more pounds.

4) Throw a blow-out 40th/60th birthday party for my mother and I this summer. (Pick a date and plan it!)

5) Replace all the interior doors in our house, including the closet doors in the three bedrooms. This also includes new doorframes and doorknobs (levers, actually).

6) Have the contractor come to the house and give us an estimate on the room addition we've been wanting. Discuss all the options and set goals to achieve the one that's the best for our financial situation.

7) Paint the bedroom and replace the window treatments.

8) Spend more time with my family and friends. Take our nephews to the movies, attend our niece's dance ricitals, have a tea party with G and play games with A. Take Mom and the MIL and FIL to lunch, a trip to LA, etc. Just enjoy each other's company.

9) Attend RWA National in San Francisco. (I've already started saving.)

10) Complete a manuscript. Any manuscript, whether it be the Healer story, the Witch story, or Adam & Cricket's story.

11) Volunteer a bit of my time to get the Democratic candidate elected.

Go me!

Healthy Lifestyle Update: I'm so jazzed to report that I made it through the last 2 weeks and was still able to lose 2 pounds. With all the baked goods and chocolate that's been floating around the home and the office, and with my week off to boot, it's been a real challenge. I'm really proud of myself. 28 pounds in 24 weeks.

Knitting: I just finished knitting my first skein of yarn (I think that's what it's called) this morning. It's a simple scarf (half of one, actually) with pretty variegated yarn in shades of green and brown. Once I learn how to join the second skein of yarn to the first, I'll be off and running on completing the second half of the scarf. It's taking forever since I'm using #7 needles, but the stitches are tight and even and the scarf should be quite warm as well as pretty.

Writing Update: No writing to speak of in 2008 so far. That's going to change. Today I have a critique to write and then I'm going to read over all the critiques I received on my scene all the way back on the first week of December. Between my mother's eye problems, my father in law's car accident, Christmas, New Year, and vacation, I've yet to give writing the time it deserves. I will, though. I promise.

On Profile Blurbs & Resolutions

I guess it's time to rethink my profile blurb:

2007 is a brand new year, ripe with possibilities. It's my year to get healthy, organized and nourish my creative side once more. I will give myself time and permission to write on a regular basis. I can't call myself a writer if I'm not writing. And so I will. Look out world; here I come!

I wrote that last January, filled with hope for the new year. I shouldn't feel bad about 2007 since I accomplished some of what I'd hoped to. On the "It's my year to get healthy" front, I've lost over 26 pounds. As for the "nourish my creative side" part, I attended a wonderful private writing conference (which ended up being pretty expensive) because I decided I was worth it, as well as joined a new critique group.

Finally, the "I can't call myself a writer if I'm not writing" section... That part's more complicated. I succeeded in finally getting it through my head that I have permission to write every day, but the actual writing is the tough part. I had to put my healer story on the back burner because the plot was going nowhere. I started a witch story, but I can't seem to get my voice right. I have been writing, but not as regularly as I should. December was so busy, I didn't write a single word! That can't happen again next year. I won't allow it.

All in all, I'm pleased with the strides I've made in 2007, I just need to kick it up a notch. I need to renew my goal to write every day, even if it's only for a half hour. I'd like to write for two hours, but most days I don't have that kind of time. Once I have a half hour down, I'll up it to a full hour. I should be able to manage that.

I'm off to mull over my new profile blurb and my New Year's Resolutions. Have you been thinking about yours?

Waiting on Critiques

Friday, it was my turn to post a scene in an online writing workshop. The writer is not allowed to make any comments regarding the critiques for the first week. (Basically, week one is for critiques, and week two is for chatting about the critiques.) So far, two members out of a possible 24 have written crits. I expect to get at least a dozen or more. (We have two scenes per month, but only have to critique one of them, though most of us try to do them all.)

I'm really open to, and interested in, anything people have to say. While the scene I posted is something I've worked hard on, it just doesn't feel right to me. I don't mind writing a really awful first draft, but the first chapter needs to feel right in order to go on and write that first draft all the way through to the end. The first chapter will change once I rewrite the manuscript, of course, but getting that feel of the protagonist's voice (and mine for each particular work) is essential.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the various critiques and opinions and hoping to take a little bit from each one so I can improve my chapter and, in turn, the focus of my entire manuscript.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Success

I've been working on the first scene of my new manuscript for a couple of weeks. For me, the first scene is crucial for wrapping my head around where the first draft is going. I'm sure it will totally change when I rewrite, but, for now, it needs to be what it needs to be. I'm not always certain what it actually needs to be at first, but once it feels right, I can go on and write first draft garbage to my heart's content.

Anyway, I had been working on two different (yet similar) versions of it--one at work on my lunch break and one at home, at night, before bed. It's interesting to compare the two versions, written in different environments and at different times of day.

A couple of nights ago, I printed both of them out and made corrections. Then, I sat down and weaved the two of them together. I went back and forth, hilighting and numbering each scene chunk and I think it all flows together nicely. This weekend, my job will be to type the whole thing up and finish the scene. It might need a paragraph or two--or even a page or two--but I won't know until I have it in front of me.

So far, I think it's 7 pages. Won't know til it's all smooshed together. I have to post it for my critique group on Nov 30th, so I am trying to really get this thing right. I don't want to waste people's time by posting something that isn't as polished as I can get it. Normally, I wouldn't bother to polish it after this, I'd just go on and write the next scene--which I'll still do once this is ready for the crit group. Promise!

This just in

Writing is hard.

That's all.

A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. ~ Thomas Mann

(I stole this quote from Charity's new Blog. Check it out.)

Rough Draft Exercise

Rough Drafts are basically garbage. Stuff you have to get out so you can write something good later. Here is an example. It's actually an exercize I was working on to get into Acacia's (my protagonist's) head. It's often helpful to write journal entires from various characters' POVs (points of view). This is hers at a very low point in her life, just after the first turning point. In a nutshell, her family has been murdered.

----------------------

Numb.

I can’t describe the way I feel any better than that. I’ve lost nearly everything and everyone I hold dear. Can someone please tell me how I can ever recover from this?

I’m not sure if I want to recover anyway. What will it mean if I do? I’ve lost my mother, the only parent I’ve ever known. I’ve lost my Coven Sisters, the only family I’ve ever had. I have no Coven, no family, no purpose in life. There’s nothing left for me now.


Wait a minute--I take it all back--I’m not numb. I’m angry! Why my mother? Why my Coven Sisters? Why are four good and decent women dead? What could any of them have ever done to deserve such a grizzly death? And why didn’t I meet the same fate?


I just don’t know what to think. Perhaps I’m here because I have a purpose? And what would that purpose be? I was a member of a Coven--a family--and now it’s gone.


So here I sit on the morning of the Summer Solstice wondering why I’m supposed to give a damn. Why should I prepare my alter and tools for tonight? Why should I thank the Lord and Lady for my many “blessings”? Why should I anoint my body with oils, put on my robe and climb the hill to the clearing where we cast our sacred circle?


Earth is my element and I like it that way. I never asked to be a solitary witch, damn it, never wanted to work alone. And why should I have to? Says who? The bastards who killed my family had no right to take my magic from me. From us. How dare they?


Damn it. Damn them. I can’t let them take it. I do have control over this.

Tonight, for better or for worse, everything changes. I’ll be north, south, east, and west. I’ll be winter, summer, spring, and autumn. I’ll be Earth, Fire, Air, and Water...and I’ll be Spirit too.

I’ll do it for my Coven Sisters and I’ll do them proud.
-------------

There you have it. Not fabulous reading, but not meant to be. It's a tool that works pretty well. Try it if you need to get deeper into a character's POV and see if it helps you too. It just might. :)

Whew!

Cherry Red does Covington/Cincy is now over and I am home safe and sound. Sorry no posts while I was gone. Too busy with online friends in person for a change! Will post some deets and pics when I am more awake. The con was fantabulous! (Pic is me and my friend Kay at breakfast this morning)

YA: Not just for teens anymore!

I woke up this morning and found this fabulous pic. What a great thing to see first thing in the morning. Here's Barb holding the pretty golden lady.
(L to R: Katy, Barb, Cory, Chris & Ellen in front)



Also, Katy is the winner of a 2007 RWA Service award, a huge honor! She's volunteered tirelessly at her local chapter (where she's served as president, among other things) as well as for the RWA on the National level. Congrats to Katy for her hard work and accomplishments!

Congratulations one more time to Barb (Caridad Ferrer) and Adios to My Old Life for kicking some serious Rita ass!

Congratulations Barb!

Congratulations Barb (AKA Caridad Ferrer) on winning the Rita for her book Adios to My Old Life. This is a wonderful book from a fantastic new author that everyone should put on their "new authors to check out" list.

Barb calls this book "the little book that could." She originally entered her little book in the YA and Best First Book categories of the Ritas. The YA category was cancelled and Barb was stuck. In order to enter the Best First Book category, you also have to enter another category. But none of the other categories fit. The second best category had a word requirement that Adios didn't meet, so Barb chose her third choice, Contemporary Single Title. That meant that Adios, a YA novel, was being put up against adult novels that could have been much longer, but she had no other alternative.

Imagine her delight to find out that she'd finalled in BOTH categories. And now imagine her glee (and the glee of her friends) to hear that she won the Contemporary Single Title Category, rather than Best First Book, which seemed her best chance. But Barb shouldn't be surprised. The little Book that could has been surprising her all along. She should be used to it by now.

Congratulations Barb! I hope you are enjoying yourself tonight. You deserve it!

Ritas 2007

Courtesy of the Smart Bitches. Thank you ladies!

Best short contemporary romance: From the First by Jessica Bird aka JR Ward

Best long contemporary: The Mommy Quest by Lori Handeland

Best inspirational romance: Revealed by Tamara Alexander

Best paranormal romance: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Best romantic novella: Tis the Season from A Nascar Holiday, by Roxanne St Claire

Best first book: The Husband Trap by Tracy Anne Warren

Best romantic suspense: Blackout by Annie Solomon

Best novel with strong romantic elements: A Lady Raised High by Jennifer Ashley

Best long historical: On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn

Best short historical: The Book of True Desires by Bettina Krahn

**Yeah Bettina! She's a Cherry too!**

And finally.... ::drumroll::

Best Contemporary Single Title: Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barb did it! Congratulations Barb! I'm so proud of you! Yeah!!!

Rita & Golden Heart Awards 2007

It's about 24 hours until we find out who the winners of the Golden Heart & Ritas are. I am very excited this year because Caridad Ferrer's (Barbara Ferrer) YA novel Adios to My Old Life has been nominated for 2 Ritas! Best First Book & Best Contemporary Single Title Romance.

The full list of Rita finalists is here.

The full list of Golden Heart finalists is here.

The first time I met Barb was at the 2005 RWA National Con in Reno. I was with my friend and critique partner, Michele (who knew Barb--I didn't) when Barb came up to tell us that she'd just sold Adios. It was a moment I'll never forget.

Last year Adios was published and this year Barb is up for two awards. I even moderated when Adios was our Cherry Forums Book Club pick for January 2007. (I posted a short note in Blogger here.) Barb went through a lot with this book she lovingly refers to as "the little book that could" and it brings me such joy to see her nominated. I'll be much more joyous if she wins at least one Rita, though I'm thinking she'll get both of them. I've read Adios three times and it's a fantastic book!

Her next book is called It's Not About the Accent and it sounds like a winner. YA or not, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Congratulations Barb/Caridad on your nominations! I know you'll be holding that pretty lady in your hands Saturday night. Here's hoping it'll be two fisted!

RWA National 2007~ Dallas

It's that time again! This week is the RWA's Annual Conference. If you've ever attended one of these things, you know what a great time it is. What could be more fun than a 2,500 fiction writers, round-the-clock workshops, free books, great meals, rooming with your buddies, meeting your favorite authors, making new friends, and a moonlight madness bazaar? I can't think of much. Top it all off with the Saturday night Rita and Golden Heart Award Ceremony (think the Oscars for writers) and it's a seriously great week!

The hardest part is being one of the people left behind. I love reading my friends' blogs and looking at the photos they're posting and I thank them for doing it. I'd be climbing the walls if it wasn't for them.

I'm also giving a big shout out to Jude who is once again running Blogging National. If you are going through National withdrawals like me, check it out. It's got a nice list of links to many National attendees who are blogging.

Writing Whine

Oh, for the love of God, where do I find the time? Ack! If we could just have 30 hour days.... Imagine that. I could have 8 hours of sleep and 4 hours of writing! Yeah! Uh, earth to Kim? Reality check time. (Besides, if we had 30 hour days, we'd probably work 10 hour shifts.)

Ok, so 30 hour days are not possible. There must be ways to shave off a little bit of time here and there. What I would really like is 2 hours a day to write, after I do my moderator, blog and e-mail stuff. So, I guess I'm looking for 3 hours of computer time. It sounds grand, doesn't it? It actually sounds very greedy and unrealistic. I guess 2 hours would be more realistic. One hour for e-mail/mod duties/blogs and one hour for the Work in Progress (WIP). Two and a half on good days.

So, what are some good ways to "find" time? I already try to cook 2 or 3 night's dinner at once. Actually, I don't find this saves a great deal of time since heating up various left-overs and replenishing things like salads and steaming fresh veggies still takes time. But it does cut down on the "what the hell am I going to make for dinner?" routine which can eat up a half hour of whining and rummaging through the cupboards and fridge.

Going to work on time is good. Getting home from work at 5 instead of 5:30 or 6 is very helpful.

Having my gym clothes for the week all washed and folded and bundled up is a good way to keep my morning routine speedy. If I leave the gym on time, I have time in the morning to make lunches before I get dressed for work and it keeps me on time to work too.

Weekends are good times to write more. The only thing about weekends is the "to do" list. There's grocery shopping, laundry, and all the errands. People suggest doing those things after work but then I give up my writing time at night since it pushes everything back. It really is a vicious circle, isn't it?

I know I've totally neglected this blog, so I don't expect many of my Blogger pals to still be reading, but if you are, please post your time-saving tips. It doesn't matter if you work a 40-hour week or if you're a stay at home mom (or dad) time is hard to find for all of us. I'm going to think about the topic and post anything else I can think of in a future post. Maybe if we all share ideas, we can help eachother and come up with more.

More Witch Plot Babble

I've been a slacker here lately. Sorry. Sometimes life gets overwhelming for me when there is too much going on.

Ok, I’ve been semi-away from the project for like a month. The biggest problem I solved is that Earth finally has a name, Acacia. I don’t know her last name or middle name yet. Must get her race down.

Now more thought mulling:

Since werewolves are ancient, I want their witchcraft to be ancient too, which creates a problem. I’ve been studying Wicca, but Wicca as we know it today, pretty much began in the late 1950’s. Therefore I need to work on a specific brand of witchcraft--perhaps Druidry--to mix with Wicca. I found a helpful website that tells of people who mix druidry with Wicca and they call it Druidcraft. It’s on my list of possibilities.

Since this is werewolf culture/race of witchcraft, I don’t have to be completely historically accurate, but I do want it to have a backbone of truth. I can’t say Wiccans have been around since ancient times if they haven’t. I can say werewolf magic has, but again, I need a backbone of something that's been around that long to build on. Since I’ve made my ancient werewolves Italian, I may need to look into Roman Gods. Or at least look at what kind of witches existed during Romulus and Remus’s time.

The problem is, I don’t like studying myths or basing my story structure on them because it feels like stealing plots or characters. Years ago, an author friend of mine said it doesn’t matter if I think I’m not stealing things from myths because everything you read has mythological structure.

Anyway, I’ve blocked myths, since Mrs. Knigge’s 7th grade English class. (She’s one of two teachers I've had in my lifetime that made English class not fun--a difficult feat. I love English class.) Because of her, I have no interest in myths. Because of Ms. McKinney’s 5th grade English class, it took me 20 plus years to pick up a mystery novel. (She forced us to write a book report on a mystery and then gave me a bad grade when I said I didn’t enjoy the book in my book report. I never said I was rational.) But I like many mysteries now and I know I should force myself to study myths too.

If anyone is out there reading this--not that I should expect anyone to be. I haven't been reading other blogs--please update me on your current projects, whether it be writing, crafts, or anything else. Please share. I'm interested. :)

Crazy-busy

That's the state of my life right now, crazy-busy. How about you? I'm learning a new job at work, I'm trying to establish a new healthy routine at home--walking Lulu nightly and getting up early for the gym 5x per week--and I'm trying to write too. Michele and I haven't been checking in with each other. Bad girls. Our agreement was 15 minutes per day, every day and checking in every day. Oh well. We've both been working a lot. We'll get with it.

Tonight I'm baking a layer of a sheet cake for my Sister-in-law's grad party. I'll do layer #2 tomorrow and put it all together Fri night. That's my plan anyway. Wish me luck. I have my local chapter RWA meeting on Sat and the party is after that. I want to finish up the cake on Friday if possible.

What else? Lulu has been kind of bratty this week. A few weeks ago she ripped up the couch in the patio and that was when we decided she needed nightly walking. Last night we were both on the computer and ignoring her a bit--I'll admit it. We were going to work for a few minutes and then take her for a walk, but she didn't want to wait. So, she decided it would be fun to bite the corner of the wall. She put her big bully mouth around the corner and started biting. Thank God we heard her and told her no right away. Then we went for a walk! Bulldogs are so funny, so different than Akitas. They like to bite on everything. Aside from that she's an absolute love--everyone's favorite dog at the dog park. Such a sweet girl, so well mannered and friendly.

Just now my sweet girl grunted at us, stood up on her back legs and boxed her paws at us. She wants to go for her walk. Better go.

What's been going on

The day job:
Tomorrow is officially one month since I started training T. She's really come into her own in the last week. I handed over most of my files and almost everyone who usually calls me is calling her now. We have yet to go over every single little thing, but we share an office now, so it's going to be a much easier transition than if we didn't. Yeah! Tomorrow is her birthday and she's taking the day off. I hope she has a nice time. it will be interesting trying to do the job with everything at her desk. :)

Also, today I was given my first lesson at my new job. I totally get what T's been going through this past month. The hour-long overview was a lot to take in, but I'm so excited about learning this new job. I'm a perfectionist and I often get frusterated when learning something new because I feel like I have to be perfect right off the bat. Everything I'm learning will be new so there's no way I'll be close to perfect for a very long time. Surprisingly, I feel ok with it and I'm excited about what lies ahead. It seems I've learned much from T this last month as she's learned from me. Work, the ultimate adventure.

On writing:
My WIP is moving right along. My plotting is nearly done and I've been reading tons of research material. I wrote the first couple of pages Sunday just to get a feel of my Protagonist, the (still) nameless witch. I don't really know her yet (purposely) and I'm going to continue my quest for knowledge of all things Witchy, Wiccan, Spells, Werewolf and the like for a while.

It feels good to work on something new, though. While I dearly love my Healer story, I was stuck for a long time. Working on something else feels like such a blessing to me. I'm actually making progress. Being stuck on the other story made me feel like a failure, but this feels productive. I bet all kinds of ideas will pop in my head for my Healer story as I work on this Witch story, especially since so much of what I'm reading (herbs, spells, etc.) is related.

Life:
Life is crazy-busy right now and will be for the next month. I'm trying to organize myself so it won't make me too crazy. I don't really like it when things are too scheduled, but I'll deal with it. Some of the stuff I'm reading for the WIP about meditating and channeling power is really interesting and I've tried it a bit. It really works. How cool is it that something I needed for research might help me deal with some of my daily stresses? Writing is so much more than just putting a story together. It affects all areas of your life.

Book Fun:
Please join us in the Cherry Forums for Book Club. May 1-May 15 we are discussing Ice Blue by Anne Stuart, the infamous Sister Krissie. :) She will be with us May 1-7 to answer questions and gab. We've already had some good conversation today and we'd love to have you join us too. I am the moderator for Ice Blue and I've read this book, as well as the previous two Ice books, Black Ice and Cold as Ice. The category is romantic suspense and they are very, very good.

That's all for now. I hope you are all having a great week. :)

Teaching, Writing, Rambling

Today is day 9 of the teaching project. :) T is doing very well. I wish I could say she's all trained and ready to go, but the job isn't quite that easy to teach. I was thinking about the comment Dee made on one of my previous teaching posts. I actually do like teaching. It's true, I am a private person and I do enjoy the solitude of being alone in my workspace, but having someone with me isn't annoying in the least. I don't mind answering questions or explaining things to her. I know it's a difficult job and I never expected her to learn it all very quickly. Plus, I really am pleased to be able to teach her. I basically had to teach myself the job and that was very frustrating and nerve wracking for me.

Teaching this sort of job isn't easy, and learning this sort of job must be very frustrating for T too. Basically, there are some tasks that must be done weekly, some monthly, and some quarterly. The phone rings all day and everyone's problem becomes my problem. It is nearly impossible to do one task for more than 10 minutes due to constant interruptions. So, technical data entry or running reports that require flipping back and forth between various screens, etc are very hard to learn. Also, there is a ton of paperwork to keep organized. I know that some of the things I am teaching her make no sense now, but they will later.

Anyway, after two weeks, I am very impressed with T. I hope she is feeling good about the job too.

* * *

I have decided on the opening scene of my WIP. It actually feels odd to call it that since all I have are plotting notes and no story written down yet. The Witch who shall remain nameless (my protagonist) is going to witness a murder. The scene will open with her hiding (somewhere--maybe in some bushes) and seeing one of her Coven Sisters brutally murdered. Unlike Roma (my Fantasy story protagonist) she does not carry a gun, doesn't know Martial Arts, was not raised knowing that it was her duty to protect herself for her people. She is a regular every day Southern CA girl, who has a lipstick and keys in her purse, rather than a gun. She won't be totally helpless, she is a witch after all and she has her Magick, but it won't be enough to help her Coven Sister.

So, it feels really good to know how the book opens (so far) and it helps me fill in the gap between the beginning and middle of the book. (I pretty much had the middle to the end plotted out.)

* * *

I don't think I'll get much writing done this weekend. Tomorrow Barbara Samuel is speaking at my OCC meeting and Michele is coming too. Barbara Samuel is a fabulous speaker and I know I will leave the meeting Saturday afternoon feeling very inspired.

Sunday is my niece Elise's baptism. That should be fun. I imagine the church service and party afterward should take up most of the day. I probably should have done some laundry tonight, but oh well.

I'll try to do my 15 minutes each day. Really, what's my excuse for not doing 15 minutes, right?

Happy weekend everyone. Sorry I've been scarce on Blogs and LJs. Life's been very hectic.