Sunday, April 29, 2012

Little Accomplished, With BIG Ambitions

I can't believe it's Sunday already! That means it's another ROW80 check-in!

I don't have too much to report, as I've spent the last few days working on final exams for my students this week. I managed to get in about 2k words on PARADIGM and 1k on my new WIP since Wednesday, which I am pleased to be able to say (with some degree of certainty) that it will be somewhat of a paranormal romance. I don't have a name for it yet, but I can tell you it involves mummies (NOT from Egypt), a girl, and some good ol' fashioned Indiana Jones action (that's all I know thus far).

This morning, I took some time to work on an interview I'm doing for Ty Johntson's blog. He came up with some great questions and the interview will be out sometime in June. I'll keep you posted.

On another note, Sunday means, GCB is on tonight! I know it's a bit controversial because of the religious conotations (I don't think very many folks watch the show, or it'd be a bigger deal), but the hubby and I get a kick watching the show every week. Being from Texas, I know the show exaggerates some (hey, we Texans like everything big, so I guess it's warranted), but in all honesty, there are a lot of aspects of the show that ring true. I haven't read the book by Kim Gatlin, nor do I really care to, but I have to say, the best part of GCB is Annie Potts. I've always been a fan of hers since Designing Women and she really shines as Gigi Stopper, the matriarch of societal Dallas, err, her family. Kudos also goes out to Kristin Chenoweth as Carlene Cockburn, the antagonist you hate to love. Getting to hear her fabulous voice is another reason to watch. Thoughts?


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Fringe Friday

Yes, I know it's Thursday, but I wanted to share this week's Fringe Friday hashtag campaign. For those of you who follow me on twitter or FB, you know that every Friday I like to promote my favorite show, Fringe. If you don't watch, you missed a hell of an episode last week! Can you say, OMG? Anyway, the great folks over at Fringenuity have provided some great icon packs and banner's (created by fans) for this weeks twitter campaign, so I thought I'd take advantage and post them up!


I totally love this banner...one, it tells folks how to participate in the twitter campaign and two, it's just a cool banner. I'll be posting a different one my my FB page tomorrow to remind everyone to get involved. There are three episodes left this season and every tweet counts!

Why is this such a big deal? Well, for starters, I'm a Fringie. I love this show and it is in danger of being cancelled at a very crucial time in the story arc. Imagine how you would feel if your favorite author decided not to publish the last book in a series...basically keeping readers hanging for some sort of resolution. That's how I feel about this show.

So, please, even if you don't watch, don't plan to watch, or have better things to do than to watch, you can always tweet about how you aren't watching...just make sure you use the #WorldsApart hashtag (Note: every Friday has a different hashtag. The one posted is for THIS Friday)!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Getting Back on Track

Happy Hump Day! Yes, it's already Wednesday and that means it's time for another ROW80 update:

Where I was momentarily struck with a case of the lazies a few weeks ago, I have certainly made up for this week. Writing has gone considerably well, and I've logged over 2k words since Sunday. I'm very excited about where PARADIGM is going, as far as plot, so I'm excited about this progress. I don't know about other writers, but once I get over the 10-20k mark in my WIP, the words just seem to flow...(I'm almost there, folks!)

On the editing catastrophe, I received the last of the re-re-edits on Sunday and made all the necessary changes to PARADOX. Like I mentioned on Sunday, it's a hard thing to admit to, that my editing was lacking, but there you go. It's a long story, so I won't rehash it, but needless to say, I was able to find someone to go back and look at my book...better late than never! I have sent the new version to my formatter and hope to have it uploaded on Amazon/B&N later this week. I am also going to request that Amazon send an email out to give those who have already purchased a copy an opportunity to download the new version. For those that I gave an ebook copy to, you'll be receiving an email from me later... And now that that's been done, I can now finally get copies available for print. I'm so glad I procrastinated on the print formatting and was able to make the changes before I sent the file for print!

Now, I'm sure you've noticed my new look (again). Yes, I've gone and revamped my site, for what is now the millionth time, but this time for good reason...I wanted to make all my sites 'match', so to speak. Call it 'branding cohesiveness'. So, I used the same banner I had made for my FB page and added it to my website. That and I finally figured out how to have my social media buttons look nice (which took me all day yesterday to work on).

That's it amigos! I've got a ton on my plate this week and I'm sure all you writer friends do too, so stop reading and have a great ROW80 week!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Recycle, Rejoice, and Re-edits

Happy Earth Day fellow readers and ROW80's! After spending the last week working on my garden and backyard, I feel like I've contributed to the spirit that is Earth Day (I even bought some herbs to plant that came in their own biodegradable pots!).

It's a dreary rainy day, so I'm working out of my favorite coffee shop today. One, it's a great place to work and two, there is a local author doing a book signing later this afternoon, so I thought I'd stop by and offer my support.

On the writing front, I got some great writing done these last few days and today, I have the whole day scheduled to write all day (or at the very least, stare at my laptop screen). PARADIGM is coming along and have all the key scenes figured out (yay!) and I am slowly working on my other WIP, which at this point I still don't know if it'll be YA or not.

Now, this is the part I've been dreading to write about for awhile, but it needs to be said... I had some editing issues with PARADOX that has come to my attention, so I've spend the last week having it re-edited. The typos weren't TOO bad, but it was enough for me to get it looked at again. I anticipate the changes to be finished today/tomorrow and then I will upload the new version later this week. It's a hard thing to admit to, but I'd hate for readers to have a bad experience, due to my lack of professionalism. I'll discuss more on this on Wednesday's post. 

I hope everyone has a great Sunday and for those folks impacted by all the rain, stay dry!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

What's Up 7 Up?

Okay, bad rhyme, but it was the only title I could think of. Anyways, I have no updates/progress to report today, not to mention the fact that it's 8pm on Wednesday, so I'm way behind on my ROW80 update as it is. Regardless, I thought I'd do a post despite my lack of something to report.

Last week, my writer friend Em (you can find her at Loves to Read Wants to Write) tagged me in the 7 Facts Tag. Since I already did a 7 facts tag (which was really the Lucky 7 tag, but because I recently did the Lucky 7 tag, I did facts instead...ugh, so you see? What's up 7?) So, THIS time, instead of doing 7 facts about me (again), I thought I'd try 7 favorite paranormal TV/film. Please note: I use the term paranormal loosely.

Shows/Movies are in no particular order!

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I'm sorry, but you cannot be a paranormal fan and NOT include Buffy.

2. Angel - One word. Spike.

3. House II (The Second Story) - I just think it's hilarious.

4. American Horror Story - Traditional Southern Gothic...only, set in L.A.

5. Ghostbusters - Try as I might, I'm still trying to find copy of the Tobin's Spirit Guide (yes, I know it's fictional).

6. Fringe - Three words. Dr. Walter. Bishop

7. Poltergeist - To this day I'm afraid of clowns.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Lazy, with a lack of patience...

I totally forgot it was Sunday, forgot to eat lunch, forgot it was ROW80 check-in day! Why? Because the weather is so perfect here in Northern Virginia, the hubby and I have been working on the backyard since yesterday. I am actually sitting on my outdoor deck, taking in the nice cool breeze, enjoying the lovely 80 degree weather. Never being one for patience, (it's no virtue of mine), we have opened up the pool and Casa Lefeve is now fully operational! How can we not when we didn't even have a true winter?


On the writing front, I actually brainstormed some more over the last few days on a couple of projects. Again, I don't know where two of them are going at this point, but the voices keep telling me to research. I feel like I'm dragging my heels on any real writing and getting anything productive done because of this. But, not wanting to put Paradigm on the back burner, I've managed to iron out the first scene and usually that's the hardest part for me. Well, that and the ending. Usually, when I have those two scenes figured out, the rest is smooth sailing...

For now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my afternoon (laptop on lap) out on my deck, sipping' me some Pacifico beer, while the hubby fires up the grill for some yummy South Texas style fajitas!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Updates! Or lack thereof...

I've been very bad and missed my first week of ROW80. Time really did escape me this past week, but I'm back on schedule this week, well, somewhat...

I don't have much to report on my writing progress, but I have set aside some time this week in order to get back on track (writing everyday). So, while I haven't been writing, I have been working on ideas in my head. Some of those are earmarked for Paradigm (book 3) and another idea I have is for a new series (or maybe a standalone). I'm going back to the classics on this new one that's rattling around in my head. I'll have more to report on this project, once I figure out if it will be adult or young adult.

About the only thing I've done this past week is beta read for my fabulous author friend, Kate Copeseeley. And even then I've flaked due to time, but I am almost done reading her draft. (Kate, please forgive me!!)

In the meantime, please check out Martha Bourke's blog tour going on right now! She has an amazing line up of guest posts, giveaways, and even some great podcasts! Also, if you haven't picked up the first in her series, Jaguar Sun (which I can't promote enough), you have a chance to pick up a free copy April 15 & 16 on Amazon!!

Monday, April 2, 2012

ROW80 Round 2 is here!

Today marks the beginning of A Round of Words in 80 Days! For those of you unfamiliar with my bi-weekly ROW80 posts, it's a writing challenge that's offered four times a year for writers that have a life! Basically, it keeps us writers focused on our goals when things get a little hectic. This will be my fifth time participating in the challenge (I did 3 rounds last year) and I've found that by stating my goals and posting updates really helps me stay on track. So, if you're a writer, you may want to check it out this round!

Round 1 was spent writing PARADOX and I'm happy to report I was able to complete my goal. For this round, my goals are simple (they usually are):

1. Write everyday
2. Finish writing and publish PARADIGM (book 3)

Round 2 runs from April 2nd to June 21st, so if you should stop by my blog, you'll see my progress updates every Wednesday and Sunday.