Holiday Lament

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (should you be among those who celebrate).

Me? Well, yes I did. Good times, great food, wonderful to see everyone again from the far flung corners of the country, and it's great to have a five day holiday, but...

It's also somewhat frustrating when I can't dive into my writing head first and stay there for the entire hiatus. 'Tis the season when houseguests and family activities abound, and sadly, zilch time to devote to my manuscript. It's *gasp* finally! the end of day five, my fingers are twitching and I've developed a nervous tick. Oh yes, writing can be as addictive as anything they sell on the street corner. A writer denied their "fix" is not pretty. (Quick! Hide the mirrors.)

So it's back to work tomorrow...in more ways than one.

Have a great week.

Thought for the Day...

Don't follow your dreams.
Chase them down.

(C) Me :)

Oh, yes. I'm so on the hunt.

I have mapped out (I have mental blocks against doing outlines) the redefined ending succession of events for P2PC and I'm starting to work on the 'deep muscle massage' of the text.

I like the direction this is taking. I like the way it [should] better define the actions of one of my problem characters. (For those of you familiar with the WIP, this is, of course his most obstinate highness, the admiral.) Mapping allows for creative and unexpected things to pop up as I write, and I thoroughly enjoy that element in the process.

On another spacey topic, don't forget the Leonid meter shower tonight. The articles say it will start here at about 11PM (Mountain time). I'm looking forward to staying up for a little stargazing...the real variety, for a change. :)

OK. Nuff said. Back to work!!! *cracks whip*

Quiet? Why Yes, I Have Been.

That's because I just scoured through thirty-seven (count 'em...37) chapters of critiques in the last five days. My mind is fried, my eyes are crossed, and I think I have a touch of carpal tunnel syndrome (can you get just a touch?) but....my final premarket draft is finished. TADA!

Now....I move on to the Market Draft. I need to write a new ending, do a bit more tweaking and finessing, incorporate a few common themes, but I'm in the home stetch.

December 31st is my target date to have P2PC ready to pitch. I can't wait to unleash this one on the world. Make that the universe. :)

P2PC: Moving Right Along

Back on track and back in the saddle.

I'm finishing revisions of the pre-market draft of P2PC, then that gets saved to my P2PC Archives and I begin work on my (fanfare, please) Market Draft. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm almost there.

I've got a character who has given me a lot of problems. He's a stubborn sort. He's evolved from pseudo-villain, to damaged goods, to staunch military man who has to make a decision between what is right in terms of his command, and the welfare of those close to him. Some indepth discussion with my crit partners helped me see what I needed to do with this problem child. He's not a major character in the story, but he's a very important character because of his role and relationship to the MCs. Now I think I have him defined in my head, and lately he's been "talking" to me about some future scenes in a possible second book in this universe. One he'll be an MC in, of course. LOL

But back to P2PC. This novel has only taken a little over a year to write, edit, revise and groom for its debut in Queryland. That's quite an accomplishment considering I have two novels that are already 10 years old and still far from this landmark (though my goal is to have them both ready to market in 2008).

Those of you who are in close contact with me know this story really struck a chord with me. I decided it was the prime candidate as my "first" novel, so it's been my focus. I'll keep posting updates on my progress until this one is out the door.