Writing mania.

I've been absent. Sorry. Taking an in depth crazy class in how to write crazy fast called NaNoWriMo.

And getting my entry ready for Golden Heart.

And finishing, sending off, and getting back a rejection (already?) on a spring sweet novella. Anyone know another market besides Samhain?

But today I'm up gain over at New Kids on the Writers Block talking about entering the Golden Heart contest this year.

Stop by if you have the chance.
http://newkidonthewritersblock.blogspot.com/

I'll check in later this month.

New Kids on the Writers Block

I'm over at New Kids today, talking about what scares me. Stop by if you have a moment.

http://newkidonthewritersblock.blogspot.com/

The picture here and at New Kids is from St. Louis's Lemp Mansion. A real haunted house. Did you know St. Louis is also the site were the real exorcism of the Exorsist happened to a little boy from Maryland?

What’s going on in my world?

A lot.

I sent my cozy off to the St. Martin’s Traditional Mystery contest yesterday. Murder Me Book is the story based off a picture of an old run down house in Cambia, California. I’d been visiting the tourist towns when I visited my sister ten years ago. The village had glass blowing shops, antiques, artists, ice cream shops, and this really old house that had seen better days. What was I drawn to? The old house.

As I was writing the book, I got the idea that the home was the site of one of the first discoveries of gold starting the California gold rush.

Great idea. Unfortunately the Gold Rush started in Sacramento. Miles from where I’d placed my little town.

Then I decided to add a Spanish Mission. More research, but this time, I had better luck matching the history of the area to my fictional novel.

I’m also pitching the book to Carina Press on Wednesday. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sound intelligent and my book sound interesting enough to grab the editor’s attention. Then the cozy will be out to two different publishers. And I’ll be waiting.

I’m still waiting to hear about my romance set in Idaho that I pitched this summer at nationals. The publisher has a partial of this story, so if they love the partial, they’ll ask for the full. Or send me a revision letter. And I’ll work on the book some more.

My first finished manuscript is on the laptop, being revised. And I have a second book in this Finding Mr. Right series that I’ve started. Events and Adventures was the chapter I sent to the Mills and Boon New Voices Contest. Although I wasn’t in the top ten, or listed on the follow up list, I’d like to think my story was number 51 out of 850. Tough competition that.

Finally, I’m working on a novella. I’m about half way through and I have a deadline of November 1st for the next half. This one is set in my new hometown of St. Louis and deals with the Forest Park and Cancer Center, places I spent a lot of time a few years ago.

In between, I’ve been judging contests and have to prepare more work for two additional contests.

And the day job’s been keeping me busy. Very busy.

Juggling a lot of projects in the air. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. But chasing a dream takes dedication. And a lot of work.

The Year of Me

Last year when I turned…mumble, mumble…on my birthday, I made myself a pledge. That this would be the year of Lynn. I’d do what I wanted the entire year.

And for the most part, I’ve followed that guideline.

I joined RWA and the local chapter, MORWA. I’ve attended most of the monthly meetings, even though I sat in the car before my first meeting alone and thought about turning around and driving the hour back home. Getting out of the car was the best thing I’ve done for my writing career yet.

I’ve read my work twice at our CORE meetings. It’s a critique group where you read fifteen pages then eight people tell you all the things wrong (and right) with the piece. My voice shook my first reading. And I learned, I don’t like conflict. On the page that is.

I flew to Seattle to see my only son get married and to meet my new daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Of course I had to stop at Pikes Market and get a reading from the fortuneteller in the box. Good things are coming my way.

I finished two manuscripts and started learning all I didn’t know when I started editing.

I went to Florida (first time) and attended the RWA National Convention. Being around people who live, breath and think writing for four days was amazing. I lived through my pitch session and got a request from my targeted editor. Now the submission is on her desk and out of my hands. And control.

I sold five short stories to the confessions market. Four to True Love and one to True Experience. Breaking into this market really boosted my confidence about the future of my writing and paid for the above-mentioned trip.

In and around all of that, I lived. I walked the dogs when the weather was nice. My hubby took me to the Grafton Winery and drank wine while the DJ played adult contemporary. We took a trip to Hannibal to see the Mark Twain cave. We drove to St. Genienve and saw a tiger exhibit. We went to a Red’s game and soon will be cheering on our favorite drivers at a Nationwide race.

I think this year on my birthday; I’ll set the same goal. To make this a Year of Lynn. I’m excited to think of all the adventures I’ll be able to report next year.

Getting a Do Over

With my birthday coming up next week, I’ve been pensive, thinking about my life and what I’ve accomplished so far. I was never one of those chicks that said I want to be a doctor and then followed through… I wanted to be everything. Fashion buyer, wife, mother of twelve, lawyer, judge, social worker…

And my life has kind of followed that path. Randomly choosing jobs, not careers. Until ten years ago.

I took a class in the MFA program. I can’t remember the official title… something about learning to work in a publishing environment, but in very big words. The class really was a way to get graduate students to be journal assistants for the university’s literary journal. Main job? Read the slush pile.

I. Loved. It.

Each week we took a pile of stories and rated them for inclusion in the journal. Some, okay, most were bad. Really bad. But some stories had a glimmer that took you away from every day life. Then we discussed what worked and what we were doing on our marketing project. I learned a lot about mailing lists that semester.

I left class each week energized and feeling attached to the world. Something I’d learned to muffle during my marriage. To be happy with something besides my husband was a sin. Yet, here I was, divorced and so happy I bounced walking to my car.

Stephen King says that when you’re doing the think you’re supposed to do you act like a Geiger counter on radioactive crack. (Or something like that…paraphrasing here.)

Writing is my radioactive crack. Now why didn’t I find out that piece of information when I was in high school?

Today's picture is my new granddaugher Lily. It's her first day at school.

Conflict is not picking a fight with your husband...

So today conflict is on my mind.

Yesterday my RWA Chapter hosted the funniest speaker I'd ever heard on romance, Jade Lee. I almost didn't come to this meeting. I didn't know what I'd learn from a historical romance writer whose focus is in Chinese history.

And it's a long drive.

But I packed my meeting notebook into my purse and headed out. And boy, was I glad I did.

My notes are kind of scattered, but here's a few things I learned.

1- Hot sex does not equal happy ever after. (Even though it helps - Jade did demonstrate this point with a teddy bear and a stuffed monkey. The video will be on U-tube soon...)

2- Characters have to change. AND the hero/heroine has to be the reason they change. The one has to make the other better. Think Jerry McGuire and "You complete me."

3- Characters have to have a fatal flaw. This is probably the hardest thing for me to write. I want my people to be oh so nice... but they where's the story. Where's the angst? Why would anyone read more than the opening line?

4-Save the Cat. Your main characters need to do something heroic the first time the reader meets them. Show their good side, even if it's hidden, for most of the book.

and

5-Build an imagery set around your characters. Jade talked about using colors, or animals, or elements. This one I'm going to have to work on some more. But it makes sense as a writer. If I know my heroine is a fire character, she's going to wear red, she's going to react before she thinks, she's going to be hotheaded and maybe stubborn. So even if I don't know what's going to happen in the scene, I know how she'll react.

So thank you Jade for explaining writer terms in a way I could infuse them immediately into my own writing. Now, I have to excuse myself... I have some characters to torture.

The picture is outside the Seattle Aquarium looking at the docks. My son assures me this is not the ocean, but it's the closest I've gotten in ten years....

Time after time

Today I want to talk about time management. Or my lack of time management. I know the drill. Make a list. Prioritize the list. After reading a truck load of books and taking the coveted Franklin workshop, I know how to get things done.

So why do I always feel like I'm overwhelmed? The answer is simple. I think I can do more than I can. I can pay more bills than I have money. I can write a manuscript, edit a first draft, and develop new story ideas all at once. I can clean the house in a single day including giving the dogs a bath.

And somewhere in there, I can fit in a workout so I'll lose some weight and increase my health factor.

I am superwoman.

But I'm not.

I blame my need for perfection on growing up in the 70's. I wanted the career and the family. I knew I could do everything. And sometimes, I can. But sometimes, I wonder if I've taken on more than I can handle.

Those are the nights when kittens roam through my dreams and I'm unable to keep them all safe.

Standing in the middle of the street, I throw my hat into the air. Is Mary Tyler Moore right? We might just make it after all?

The picture today is of the hot springs where Roosevelt visited. The waters are suppose to have a healing property. And of course, there's a ghost. The original hotsprings can be found in. Okawville, Illinois.

New Voices Contest

Stop on by the New Voices contest and take a peek at my new story.

Vote early, vote often... (grin)

Here's the link: http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/27-Events-and-Adventures

Hope to see you there.

Living on the other side

Today we explored our little town of Alton, Illinois. We found the confederate cemetary and the civil war cemetary. The civil war cemetary also has the Lovejoy Monument. Elijah Lovejoy was the newspaper/minister who lost three presses due to his anti-slavery editorials. Then the mob took his life to quiet him.

Our little town is also the site of the Lincoln Douglas debate. We have a monument to the Gentle Giant, the tallest man on record.

The picture on this post is all that's left of the Alton confederate prison site. The prison was a death camp for confederate soldiers, losing eight to ten inmates a day to unsanitary conditions. It's on the hill overlooking the river. The prison was closed July 7, 1865 and the prisoners transferred to Jolliet. Over the next twenty years, the prison was torn down and the stones used to build many of the houses and churches from that time. Many are thought to be haunted.

Could it be the ghosts of confederate soldiers trapped in the quarry stones?

I took lots of pictures so we'll see if a fuzzy spot shows up in any of the shots.

I'm blogging over at New Kids on the Block

The subject? Revisions, the never ending story. Or what I've learned through writing three books.

Stop on by.

http://newkidonthewritersblock.blogspot.com/

Lynn

Welcome back...

I guess that's a welcome back to me. I'm committing to posting once a week so check in frequently.

So, what's been up since December 2008? A lot.

I've sold four short stories to True Love and True Experience magazines. These are fun to write. I'm currently writing a Christmas story which is hard since the weather has been in the 90's plus humitity here.

I've joined RWA, joined a great chapter - MORWA, and went to my first national convention. Amazing program. Lots to do,things to learn and people to meet. I got a fan girl pic with Brenda Novak (from Sacramento, CA) - She writes romantic suspense and is a motivational guru for writers. I learned so much about surving the business from her presentations at nationals. And she's a Utah native.

The cancer thing is doing fine, thanks for asking. My doc says I get to have a well baby check next year rather than the scary oncology appointment. Yay!

I've sent a partial (three chapters and an outline/synopsis) to Harlequin American last month. This is the book I pitched at nationals. A pitch is a ten minute appointment with an editor (in this case I got two for the price of one...) where you tell them all about you, your writing background, your book, and why they should buy it. Kind of like a nerdy sorority rush on steroids.

I'm very proud of the book. It's set in the Treasure Valley. A reader from the area will recognize locations such as Meridian Speedway, Murphy, the Boise foothills, the BSU campus (Go Broncos) and maybe even the small farm where I grew up. I hope the HAR editors love the story as much as I do.

I'm working on a new romance manuscript for submission to an e-book novella. This is a shorter book (20,000 words) and is set here in St. Louis near the hospital where I spent so much time a few years ago. But the story is focused on the amazing park that is across the street. Forest Park was the sight of the 1904 World's Fair and is home to the zoo, the art and history museum, the science center, and miles of running trails. It's amazing.

What's been up with you guys?

Christmas Letter

Happy Holidays :

If 2007 was the year of cancer, 2008 was the year of fun. Or as much fun as we could have and still deal with all the residuals from the cancer. I slept a lot this year, but not as much as last year! We played a lot of darts during the first of the year. I brought my first trophy home from Vegas this year, 2nd place in Cricket Doubles. We would have taken first but we played our next to last game at 12:30 pm and didn’t play again until 3AM. So sleep became more important than darts.

During the summer, we quit darts and going out a lot. We bought a new car and talked about going fishing. (We didn’t.) Next year we are heading to Idaho for our summer vacation. I’d like to take a short road trip around the area, like Kentucky. I’ve never seen Kentucky or Alabama.

On our last full day in Vegas we took the plunge and got married. It was a beautiful ceremony in a chapel that had been built around a series of stained glass they had salvaged from a church being torn down in Missouri. So we had some of our Idaho friends as witnesses and a touch of our new home in the chapel to help start our new life. We talked about stopping at the Grand Canyon on our way home and counting the drive as our honeymoon but we ran out of daylight and vacation time.

One of our Idaho friends stopped by on Halloween during one of his trucking runs so we went out to play darts and then to hear a band at a local bar. Going out on Halloween is always interesting but the next morning I sure felt my age.

Work was good for both of us this year. Jim switched companies when they merged and is now a happy member of the SM & P locator team. He really likes his new supervisor and co-workers. And he wasn’t sent out of town all summer like he was last year. I was promoted to senior license coordinator and came really close to being hired by the corporate training department. Although it was a disappointment at the time, later this year when they laid off seven people in that department, I realized it was a blessing. I am editor in chief for Fleet Op’s newsletter and working on that has enriched my workday.

I have had several successes in my writing career (hobby?). I was published in True Experience in October with an essay about losing my hair during chemo. (It’s funny, really!) I also finally got my copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Divorce and Recovery where I wrote The Tool Box under a pen name.

Avoiding writing

It's November and there are a lot of writers out there trying to write the great american novel in 30 days. I'm hiding. Trying my hardest not to write.

Now I'm not doing it conciously. I'm sneakier than that. Like right now. I told myself I was going to write a scene in Paris or Bust. Just one scene, nothing earth shattering like an entire novel. But what am I doing? Updating this blog instead. This weekend was suppose to me my big push to get the other three chapters done before my friday meeting with my writer muse. (She's a real person, really)

So I'm going to cut this a little short and see if I can get started. Just a paragraph. Maybe only a sentence but something that moves the storyline down the road just a little. And then I have two new assignments. One story that I really have to finish. And three chapters due by Friday. Do I know how to procrastinate or not?

Later.

Thoughts on

I was reading a blog today about how to be successful at writing. One opinion was you have to make contacts. The other was write the best piece you can, submit carefully, and pray. At my day job, social networking is king. It's who you know and your relationships that get you promoted. However, there is a cavet. You have to be good at what you do as well. Yesterday a new chair was announced for our Diversity Team (which is a big deal). It was a woman who has joked with me that we are the two up and coming's and it's a race to see who gets promoted first. I got the senior level three months before she did. Now we are both on our paths to supervisor. We both are on this D team. She was picked to be a chair. I wasn't.

Now, I know I'm busy. I have a huge project that is coming up in November. I have residuals from the cancer issues. I write and edit the company newsletter. But that's not why they picked Helen. They picked her because she was visable.

She attended the off site events. She marched in the parade, moved the boxes for charity, and cheered on the Pinewood Derby car. She was doing.

Now, my takeaway from this is being involved. Yes, conferences are nice because you meet editors, but are you doing? Are you in a writers group? Are you giving back?

I haven't been as much as I know I should be. I've been letting my distance and my health issues get in the way of what I really want. I goal for the moon then wander around the planet looking for pieces to a spaceship, hoping they will fall into my lap.

The Cheshire Cat gives Alice some advice in her wanderings. When she said she doesn't know which path to take, he tells her if she doesn't know where she is going, either path will do. Sometimes I'm too much like Alice. It doesn't much matter where I end up.

With that I have to go wander the desert for 31 more years to find my path....
Lynn

The pool has already closed!

Must be a sign that summer is over. And I didn't even get to go. Ok, I went once but that was the night they were doing a swim meet there and the pool was closed. Bummer. I walk down to the park with the dogs and get to look at the cool blue water every day I walk but now, no incentive.

The work newsletter I edit and write for came out this last month on Leadership to rave reviews from the management. I was really excited about the edition although it was a little long.

I never heard back from Women's World on my follow up on my query even with another follow up so I guess that piece is not going to happen. But at least I got a bite on a query. I have a couple essays rolling around in my head that need to get out so I can send them off.

Great news, I got final confirmation that I will have an essay in Chicken Soup for the Divorced and Recovering Soul in Bookstore on my birthday, October 7th this year. I'm so jacked!

But other than that, I'm not writing much. I sent an essay into the Chicken Soup for the Golfers Soul. I've been thinking about my three novels in process. And I'm close to finishing a story with my mentor's help for True Romance.

So that's the scoop from Illinois. I'm planning on walking down to the local festival this afternoon and seeing if they have any pronto pups. I'm craving one bad.

The things we read

Ok, I'm swamped. My writing is stalled, totally. My fantasy job didn't come to pass. My budget is in the toliet. And my arm is swelling bad due to the lymph node removal.

Now, that being said, good things are also happening. We just bought a new car (didn't mention above that the Nissan decided to stop running for a while, got fixed, then something new broke...), had a nice annual review at work, had major woman's mag editor call me on a query I wrote (need to follow up on my followup...) and have been reading some great books!

I have finished Maggie Sefton's complete back list and now am ready to go out and buy Dyer Consequences. It's part of a murder mystery series that I just love. I can identify with her main character, she isn't the babysitter that goes down into the basement when she hears a noise, but she does get herself into some dicey situations.

I won an ARC of More Than This by Margo Candela. Loved it! Her main character, Evelyn, is a poor little rich girl that you really can like! And the leading guy, Alexander, mmmmm, yummy. The situations that these two find themselves in are fun and interesting and keep you reading to the end to see if they ever even meet.... This book will be out in August, 2008. Put it on your must buy list!

I also won a copy of I Shall Not Want, by Juia Spencer-Fleming. More of a traditional mystery with an unconvential love mixed in. Very topical and based in today's world. Still in my currently reading pile.

So the postman has been nice to me, bringing me great summer reading tucked in with those pesky bills.

And here's an opportunity for you to cash in on the free book train. http://upforgrabs08.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-giveawaythe-heretics-daughter-by.html
The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent. It's a story deep in the Salem witch trial period of the other side. I'm hoping to win the ARC so I can read this before it goes on sale in September. And if I do, the ARC will be passed on to a new winner from my blog site. (Wishing us all luck!)

Anyway, I am going to get serious about writing this fine Saturday morning as well as all the cleaning and shopping that needs done, so I'll sign off here. I also have to hit the library for books on CD for my new CD player in the car. Who cares if I drive 2 hours a day if I'm deep into a story.

Happy summer.

MIA (missing in action) post

I am very sorry it's been this long. March came and went. April it seemed like I was getting ready for the trip to Vegas, and now, I've been recovering. So time (and money) have been my enemy this last couple of months.

The good news is my time has been fruitful. I am deep in the interview process for a job as a training writer. My writing test is being reviewed now and then if I pass that I have one more interview before they make a final decision. I am so jacked. This is the job I was meant to do. Let's hope they agree.

My children's story came back with a thanks, no thanks, again. I need to go research children's magazines to see if I can get it placed it a home. I am in the middle of writing a confession with help from a professional confessor. Of course it's the middle so I'm feeling overwhelmed as ususal. And Hunt Road is stalled as the critique group said I needed to tighten up my first person POV.

And, we got married in Vegas this year, so my name has changed to Cahoon after being with the guy for 8 years this August. So now, I have to change my name in all the bills, bank accounts, etc. It's been a pain. We are trying to clean up our credit so we can buy a house. And put some money away in savings for a down. The nice thing is Jim isn't out of town for weeks like he was last year.

So wedding announcements are addressed and waiting for me to get pics copied and put into the envelopes, then that will be done. I'm working on some book keeping for Jim's old business. And trying to lose some weight and build back some muscle.

So yeah, I'm all over the place with this post. More of a to do list than a post this time. I was going to write about walking in the Koman Race for the Cure, but this is what you get.

Have a great day.... Lynn

March Madness

So I haven't written in a while. I have been writing this am in my Hunt Road mystery/suspense novel. It's going pretty well although I had to go back through all the chapters and make sure I didn't name the cat twice (I did) and get my desciptions and names for my characters. So I've started a hunt road notebook and maybe that will help me track timelines and the story plot. I'm in a critique group and used the older chapters of Hunt Road for my first critique.

Highlights turned me down for a scholarship. What were they thinking? Oh, well. I have had lots of thanks but no thanks this winter, but maybe spring will be kinder to me. I finally wrote and submitted a story for True Confessions. I have three things out for that group of Trues.

I'm interviewing for Senior this coming week after passing the initial screening, the test, and now finally the interview. This process is overwhelming and I'm losing sleep over facing the board for my grille, but I know I'm going to be ready for whatever they throw at me. (I hope....)

Vegas is three weeks away. I'm stoked. I hope we have fun, win lots of money and throw excellent darts. We have another major dart tourneyment the weekend before we leave too. So maybe we will win some traveling money there. :)

Reading: I finished A Jury of One, Laura Bradford, A Killer Stitch, Maggie Sefton and I'm working on The Survivors Club, Lisa Gardner and A Shop on Bloom Street, Debbie MacComber.
I'm lucky to have such great books right now to read.

Well, I better get going and doing all the stuff I need to on this almost warm spring saturday. Happy Easter to you all.

New Year, New Picture

But I always put a pic from the year before, so what's up with that?

Anyway, this is me during the bad hair days of this Chemo summer with my very pricy (thanks Insurance) wig, that still looked like a wig. Sigh.

So GOOD NEWS - Mammo was clear. Went and got the bone density thing over with and next week is the Oncologist. I'm pretty happy. After Tuesday I will start using the R (remission) and S (survivor) words when it comes to the cancer.

So what else am I doing besides running to the doctor? I have my test for Senior in two weeks so I'm making a study book this weekend. I have to have a 90% to go on to the interview.

I have three lunch dates with hopefully future co-workers in the Corporate Training Department between now and the end of the month.

I have my first Open Doors (newsletter for work) editorial staff meeting next week to do assignments for the first edition out in early March.

Writing, well, I was unable to send Matt and the Kangaroo to Highlights contest since my theme was supposed to be stories in the future. Missed that deadline. So I sent it to Cricket instead.

Other than that zip writing this week. I hope to get some in this weekend along with two walks.

I'm reading the ARC (advanced review copy) of News Blues by Marianne Mancusi. Very fun. Maddy is a character you can relate to and love! It will be on sale in March 2008.

Just checking in

I've been a bit freaked lately. I have my mammogram next week. It's been a year almost to the day when I found out that I had breast cancer. So I'll be glad when this week is over and my tests come back clean. We've also been fighting with the budget lately since Jim didn't get his bonus check yet from when he was on layoff. But things seem to be getting better.

My writing is still stalled. I just don't know how to get started and then how to sustain. But I am thinking about writing and I'm doing a lot of reading.

I'm trying to do weight watchers. So we'll see if I can lose some of this weight I've been putting on. I walked on Saturday and then again today. And I went and washed my car today. So I'm trying to be more active.

Reading: Just fininshed, Princess Academy, Shannon Hale. Loved it. Also just finished Sleeping Murder by Agitha Christie.

Writing goals: Finish Hannah by end of February. Write/enter essay for E. Bombeck's contest. I read all her books when I was a kid. and write Matt and the Kangaroo for the Highlights contest. Good news it's only 800 words. Bad news, I have to have it in the mail by Thursday.