Hero & Heroine

I'd like to introduce you to my heroine and hero for the Nanowrimo.

First we have Josie Valentine (Cameron Diaz).

She's heard all the jokes regarding Valentine, but she doesn't believe in love. Her parents were not a good role model where relationships were concerned. And after a failed relationship when she was younger her negative opinion of love was reinforced.

A good match for her is the hero - No name yet (Eduardo Verastegui). For him it's lust at first sight, followed soon after by love. He has to now convince Josie that there were made to be together.

Nanowrimo

23 Days and counting for the eagerly awaited Nanowrimo. This is kicking off in November. I say eagerly awaited and truefully it is, but……. I’m also starting to become slightly concerned. I’m not a planner, in life or writing. When writing I come up with a plot and then write a paragraph for each chapter. That’s pretty much the only planning I do. The rest comes any which way it can. Well, with 23 days I don’t have any idea what I’m going to write about. The ideas just ain’t coming.

Memberships

This has been the month for me to join Yahoo groups that are involved with romance writing.

1 Cata Network Writers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CataNetwork-Writers/ This is a discussion loop for romance writers. Single titles, e-book, category romance writers, short stories, screenplay writers. I joined the Cata Network because they had a workshop on how to Analysis a Mills & Boon book. Since this is what I want to write – I though it would be a handy skill to develop.


2 Claytons Conference http://groups.yahoo.com/group/claytonsconference_group/ This is the group for those attending the RWA conference in Australia each year. I was particularly interested in the Short Story/Novella writing workshop by Shiloh Walker. I buy her stories from Ellora’s Cave.

3 Lucy Monroe Classes http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LucyMonroeClasses/ This group is for free online writing workshops presented by romance author, Lucy Monroe. This has really helped me work out what I want to do and come up with a plan.

4 Romance Australia http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/romanceaustralia/ This is a private on-line discussion group for current members of RWA I figure if I’m serious about writing I can’t go wrong with joing the RWA

5 Romantic at Heart http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RomanticAtHeart/ This is a Critique Group. What better way to learn to write then to help others. I’ve never critiqued before so will be jumping in with both feet.

Even though I haven’t been with these groups long. Some for only a couple of days. I feel I’ve grown from doing the workshops and listening to what others have had to say. The only downside I can see is that I’ve not put the hours into my writing. As I’ve heard from others you need to write to be a writer.

One year older

What a busy month.

I’ve been moved temporary at work to another department. Huge learning curve has been involved, have been exhausted at the end of the day. I think only another week or two before I return to normal duties.

The Clayton Conference was held over the 22 to 24 August. This was an online conference for anyone not able to attend the RWA Conference. We had workshops and competitions. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/claytonsconference_group I learnt a lot, I also learnt there is a lot still to learn. I enjoyed it immensely.

I won a Book Bag from Rosemarys Romance Books www.rosemarysromancebooks.com It was full of goodies. Bookmarks, badges, pens, mouse pad, plus heaps more. Love the books I can buy there, been buying books from Rosemary since she opened her shop.

I also had my birthday on the 30th. Another year older.

I checked my e-mails that morning and had another lovely surprise.

I’d won the contest on Annie West’s website. http://www.annie-west.com/index.html
Goodies include
- a copy of STRICTLY BUSINESS;
- a copy of THE SHEIKH’S RANSOMED BRIDE; and
- a SURPRISE (a recent romance by another popular Harlequin author), plus
- a few other little goodies.

It was a nice birthday present.

I went to the Australian Outback Spectacular for my birthday and spent the night at the Crowne Plaza – Surfers Paradise. Had breakfast Sunday morning in there revolving restaurant. Good scene for a story.

How do you approach your writing

I came across the below list from Annie West http://www.annie-west.com/articleslinks.html I found it motivating so needed to share.

After a long hard look at my approach to writing, I made some changes and they’ve worked for me.

Here are some of those questions, plus more that I know have made a difference to other writers. The trick is not to be defensive and find excuses for what you don’t do, but to consider realistically what you can change to help achieve your dreams:

• Do you treat writing as your business? Do you take it as seriously as your day job?
• Do you write regularly? Do you write only when you feel like it? Do you try to write even if you’re out of your routine? Hey, do you even have a routine?
• Do you have a writing plan? What will you produce this year? How will that help you achieve your goal?
• Are your goals achievable given the time you can put into them?
• Do you meet to discuss your writing or instead, just talk about being a writer?
• How much time do you spend surfing the net or on loops, talking about writing rather than writing?
• What are your writing strengths and how are you capitalising on them?
• Why are you targeting your book to that line/editor? Because you’ve heard they may be acquiring, or because your strengths and writing style mean that’s where your work best fits?
• Why are you entering that competition? Is it easier than finishing the manuscript?
• Have you reread the comments on your competition entry even though you didn’t agree with the judges? Did you find any commonality in the comments? Did you attempt to address the issues they raised?
• When will you have researched enough? Can you start writing now, while you research?
• Have you submitted a manuscript?
• Did you leave it first for several months then go back to it with a fresh eye? Was it as tightly written as you could make it? Were you sure there were no rough edges or was it good enough that you hoped the editor would gloss over those bits that might need a little work?
• Does the opening grab the reader by the throat and not let go? Really? If not, why send it off? (It’s awful to receive a rejection, to reread the partial and realise how much better you could have made it!)

Wanted

I can not believe how good this movie was. It's the best I've seen in a long time. Didn't disappoint. It's one I'll be buying as soon as it moves to DVD.

A New Month

Today is the start of a new month.

It’s been a month now, since the 50k in 30 days and I can no longer sit back and bask in the glory of it’s achievement. Especially having only written 4 pages in the whole month of July. We’ll forget about July shall we.

We’ll do much better this month.

CURRENTLY READING

I’m currently reading No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty. The ladies from 50ks in 30 days mentioned it. I can now see why. It’s an interesting read.

MOVIES

Wanted started a the cinemas on Thursday. I’m off tomorrow to Gold Class to watch it. I love Gold Class. The last two movies I saw “The Dark Knight’’ and “Hancock” . I have young teenagers behind us in both movies. They talked non stop and kicked the back of the seats. You don’t get that in gold class but you do get pampered and I absolutely love it. But, back to the movie, I’m hoping it will be as good as I’m expecting it to be. I’ll let you know how it goes.