Removing the Safety Net

For the past few days, I have been feeling this tugging on my soul. Something nibbling at the corners of my brain. Something that is telling me "do something...now." I wasn't sure what exactly the tugging was.

See, I have many, many, projects on my plate right now. Maybe I am a bit A.D.D or maybe I am just motivated. (I prefer that latter lol). I have ideas in my head, but getting them out is a problem. I never know where to start and just wander around aimlessly until I give up. Or that is how I used to be.

One of the things that has been tugging at my brain lately is to re-vamp my writing business. I want to rework somethings and add new services. I want to take it further than I have thus far.

I am going to be jumping in with both feet on some new adventures here coming up. It is scary. But, I have to do this. I have to take away the safety net that has been holding me back.

I look forward to sharing my adventures with you. :)

Random things

New Project

I have begun work on a new project. While it is a rather large project, I am certain that the end result will be amazing. I am definately looking forward to revealing more as time goes on, but until I have some more details, I prefer to keep it hushed.

Second Drafts And Beyond

I am finally working on the second draft to my book. Which still doesn't have a title. I am printing out all the pages and going through line by line and removing and adding things. Then I will rewrite-which will probably lead to more revision-and have it ready for publication by January. That is the plan. But, as we all know, plans have a tendancy to change in the writing world.

I have decided to include a little about my book in this post. This is more than likely a sample of what will go on the book jacket...

"Two months ago, Bailey Jones' best friend, Kat, was murdered and tossed into the river in this sleepy town of Canton. Now, as Bailey discoveres her entire family brutally murdered, she soon finds herself fighting for her life and the lives of those she loves. She is the only one who can stop the killers. But, how?"

There are some parts of the book that I am in love with. And others that have to go. So, I am sure that the revision process is going to be a tough one. But, the end result is having a fiction story I can market and be proud of.

"It's All About You"

I have the outline done for this book. I am working on a few other things to go along with this book so it is taking longer then I had originally anticpated to get everything in line. My goal is to start shopping it to publishers by March of 2011

Life and Stuff

I haven't had much of a chance to sit down and update this blog in the last week or two. Life has been extremely busy. Not that I am complaining. Because I love it.

I set goals for myself each month. And, unfortunately, seem to come up short each month. Sometimes I think I set the bar way to high and ultimately end up setting myself up for failure. Although, if you ask my husband, he is lible to say "she takes on too much". Which may or may not be true. I don't think I do, but one look at my office and you might think otherwise.

But this is the life that I chose to lead. Days full of work, playing with the kids, enjoying life. I am up each day before dawn and often don't fall asleep until late at night. My mind races. But, again, this is the life that I chose for myself.

Right now, I am facing some harsh realities that are forcing me to step outside of my comfort zone and re-evaluate my life. It hasn't been easy...but it is necessary.

My fiction book is ready for 2nd draft. My non-fiction book is coming along nicely. I am going to be offering some new services in the coming weeks. Life is good.

Embarking on a new journey

It has been a while since I updated this blog. Life has been moving at chaotic pace. I have many projects that I have been working on, new projects in development, as well as life in general. I am up before the kids and go to bed long after they are asleep. My days are packed. My plate is full.

I am full. :)

Sometimes I wonder if I should slow down, take some things off of my plate. But, then I realize that this is the life that I was meant to lead. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by everything, but all I need to do is take a step back and recharge and I am ready.

I am embarking on a new journey. One that I hope will be life-changing not only for me, but for others in my life as well.

Life is about following your dreams, we only live once. I am living my life. On my terms. Are you?

Two Days with no internet equals a book that is nearly finished

Wednesday night, our cable went out. I had to order new equipment and it would take a couple days to get here. After I recovered from my initial withdraw, I had to find a way to pass the time. (3 kids with no cartoons makes for a long, long day) We were fortunate enough that the weather allowed for ample out door time the last couple days.

I still needed to work though. So I spent the last two days writing offline.

I spent the couple hours at nap time and the hours after bedtime writing. I woke up in the middle of the night Weds with the perfect idea for how I wanted my book to...end.

Yes, end. After months of writing and deleting only to write the same thing again, my book is nearing completion. Well the first draft anyways.

I found myself writing with a fever pitch, caught up in the plot line as my main character fought for her life.

I am almost done with it. It is exciting. Exciting to see all of my hard work come to life.

I am still not quite ready to share what my book is about just yet. Soon, I promise :)

Don't ask me about my book

Well, you can if you want to :)

Can I just say, writing this book has been one of the most difficult and consuming projects that I have undertaken. Ever.

When I made the choice to write a fiction book I did it because I had this idea floating around in my head. It manifested after I wrote a short story on a whim for a contest. That short story sat untouched on my computer for 3 or 4 months. I would always wonder if I should maybe go back to the story, add to, make it more complex. But, fear kept me from doing it.

I was afraid of ruining a good short story. (I came in second in that contest). I was afraid of spending my time writing a book that no one would read.

But, the last week I have logged well over 40,000 words in my book. I read an excerpt of my book over the phone to a friend. And she said she could feel the emotion that my characters in the book felt. She said she looked forward to reading the completed manuscript.

There are days, though, like today that make me want to hit the "delete" button and erase the whole damn thing. I knew what I wanted to say, but the flow of the story was all jacked up. I ended up just writing what I wanted to write, reminding myself that this was only the first draft and it could be reworked when I set out to do the second draft.

Even though the thought of doing a second draft on an already time consuming fiction book is totally overwhelming.

Today was one of those days where I was ready to bite the next person who asked me about my book.

It's Like Crack I tell Ya!

Okay, maybe not exactly like crack. And even if it is, I wouldn't know because I never touch the stuff.

Well, now that we got that out of the way...

I am in love.

Writing has always been a passion of mine. I mean, before you can actually make your dreams a reality, you do have to be passionate about it. It is the only way that it will work.

Recently, I have been having a love/hate relationship with writing. I  had so much that I wanted to do, so much that I wanted to say, but I couldn't figure out how to make sense of it all.

So, I decided to do something different. I revisited a short story that I wrote back when I was writing for Associated Content. I played with it a while and realized that I wanted to take it from a 3 page short story to a full fledged book. Novel length would be nice. :)

Once I started writing, the floodgates were opened and the words just came pouring out. So much that I have written about 50 pages in 5 days time.

It is addicting. Taking each character and watching them develop as I write. The ideas flow. I love it.

Not only has writing a fiction book been a renewing experience for me, it has allowed me to be creative in other areas of my writing.

The ideas are flowing, my writer spirit has been fed. Life good. :)

What have you done lately that has renewed your soul?