Tag: first

You often hear writers say their story ideas come from the strangest places. I’m not so sure that’s true. Ideas are all around us … all we have to do is open our eyes (and ears) to the possibilities. The initial idea for “Blind Date Bride” came from a...

After reading my last blog entry, one of my friends from college messaged me with this bit of inspiration about giving characters reasons to love one another: Love isn’t only about the hot sex – it’s about friendship. Cuz when the hot sex goes away (old age, car accident,...

Over at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood, my writing blog home away from home, I read a fantastic post the other day. It was all about what editors want from a category romance. After reading it, I wonder if Brad and Erin’s story is as ready as I thought. I...

Sadly, not much writing has happened since Wednesday (and that writing didn’t count toward my Word Count Countdown, because it wasn’t actually writing on any of my WIPs). I’m at a certain point: Finished MS but no query or synopsis — and since our NARWA meeting next Saturday is...

With just a little more than 8,000 words to write to hit the 90K mark needed for a single-title contemporary, I’m finding words are just pouring out of my head an onto the page. Where was all this enthusiasm last week, when I needed it to end the NaNo...

This time, I mean my Golden Heart entry — all 246 pages of it, plus the disk with  my full MS on it. I dropped it off at the post office sometime between 11 a.m. and noon. It felt like such a momentous occasion. I was so darn proud...

I’m not going to say “wasting,” even if that’s what it feels like. That’s right. I printed out the first 48 pages of my MS, which is where I want to end my GH entry, and my still-6-ish-page synopsis yesterday. I figure that sometimes I see things on paper...

As I get more involved in rewriting Brad and Erin’s story, I’m finding less and less time to blog — both here and on my other blog. I guess I should take that as a good sign, eh? 😀 Today, I had a pleasant lunch (complete with sinful dessert)...

I spent some time this weekend looking through Debra Dixon’s infamous “Goal, Motivation and Conflict,” in case you couldn’t tell. The goal, of course, is “what.” Motivation is the “why.” And conflict is the “why not.” Your character wants _______ because ______ but ________. It seems so easy. Yet...

Got my critique back this afternoon, and I was right: The manuscript definitely needs some help. I’m not going to lie: It was a bit unnerving to see all that “red ink” on my pages. But it was also edifying, because she said a lot of the same things...