My HEA is Broken

Harlequin has started a vanity press.

They will be adding the website to the bottom of their rejection letters. Because rejection doesn't hurt enough already.

I didn't write today. Somehow, my romance aimed at one of the Harlequin lines lost it's appeal. I keep imagining what it will feel like to read that letter.

A Little Breather

I wrote a little over 10,000 words on my half-nano story. But, I was starting to meander all over the place yesterday and needed to take a little step back.

I know the external plot points but I haven't "lived" with my characters long enough to know how they'll react to them. Should my hero be sorry he slept with the heroine - his PA and best friend? Does he think it's a mistake? Or does he want to continue the affair? And what about the heroine? She's in love with the hero so does she want whatever she can get from him? Or is it too painful to even be around him any more? Does she resign? or try to make him love her?

What character traits are the most dominant in each of them? Pride? Compassion? Anger? Fear? I need to answer these questions first before I can continue.

How are you doing with Nano?

Lest We Forget...

Harlequin Presents Contest Entry

Update on the Harlequin Presents Contest at www.iheartpresents.com.

544 entries!

They plan to respond to everyone, even if it's a form email so that's good.

I hit the 5,000 word mark in my half nano, 20,000 more words to reach my goal for the month. Works out very nicely, since there's 20 days left in Nov and I'm capable of writing 1,000 day without making myself nuts. Last night I left off just as they were about to do the nasty So, consumating that scene should take care of my word count for today.

But, it's in the morning that the real fun starts when everything goes to hell.

Beginning...

It's hard to start something new. That first chapter is all important. You have to cram so much into it without bogging it down with too much narrative and introspection. And you have to make it so inviting that an editor and eventually a reader can't put it down.

I'm doing NANO lite - 25,000 words in November. I completed NANO two years ago and I'm glad I did. It demonstrated how much I could write if I didn't obsess over every word. But, the revisions needed are huge and messy and I just can't get too excited about tackling them. I like the story but I don't know if I'll ever have the desire to fix it. It seems too daunting.

I knew I would start NANO a little late because of the Presents Contest so I don't feel too panicked that I just started writing for real, today. I needed to make notes, complete GMC's, backstory, a little research and write a loose synopsis. I managed over 2,000 words but man, I don't think I'm happy just leaving that nonsense on the page. And I fear that writing 25,000 words of this dreck might be more than I can stand.