Are You Ready to BuNo!?

Say WHAT?

June is the month my writing group does BuNoWriMo. And June is coming, so here is what you need to know.

What's it stand for? Burrow Novel Writing Month.

And what is it? Just like NaNoWriMo, but in a month you don't have to cook a big meal or Christmas shop. 50,000 words in 30 days. We run it from Facebook because I administer it and don't have the skills for a real website.

How can I (meaning you) get involved? Just request to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/120068351365639/

I can't remember if it is open or not, but if not, I will just admit you provided you don't try to sell everybody Ray Bans.

So you are DEFINITELY all invited!!!


As for what I am writing next month... I am going to do my first shot at horror. Well sort of first shot—my very first novel had elements of horror. But this one will have a tiny bit more supernatural (not much, just a little creepy)--but the real horror is always people with evil agendas eh?

Who’s Ready for a bit of MADNESS!?

That’s right, March Madness is upon us! And I don’t mean the broomless Quidditch silliness. I mean the annual WRITING event!

Wanna hear more?

My Writing Group, The Burrow, began this a few years ago… a crunch month, but instead of a novel in the month, it is a push to FINISH something, or EDIT something, or if you want to WRITE something. Your choice. Your goal. But with the support of fellow writers.

If you want to make March a month to get something done, JOIN US! We do our support at Facebook: BuNoWriMo


So that's it! Wanna join!  What do you plan on writing in March!?

Whereby Life Has Gotten Away From Me Again

You may or may not have noticed I didn't manage to blog last week. I will just say day job and leave it at that. We get crazy in summer and I was given a last minute project finishing somebody else's thing, then my own thing, and erm... yeah.

And then there is life...

LAST weekend was AWESOME. I went to Chicago and got to meet a few writer friends in person...

Back: Leigh T Moore, Dawn Ius, Jessica Belle, Bryan Wilson, Susan K Quinn; Front: Me, Rebecca and Samantha

So much fun to meet people in person that I've known for years. Jessica and Leigh, in particular, are some of my original writer friends. Also met with my long time friend Andie who I hadn't seen in probably 20 years.

And then...

My son was at Leadership Camp to prepare for college this weekend. It is just the first of a string of prep things for graduating high school and leaving for college. I am sad and excited for him and a little nervous about how life will change.

In the mean time my daughter, an adult, but still navigating life on the long road, got her wisdom teeth out Friday, so instead of near maintenance activities for my baby who doesn't want to be a baby, I got to pamper and baby the grown up. It was so nice to have time with her—the swollen face the only thing that could keep her from being off acting the social being that she is. Instead we binge watched this season's Orphan Black, caught her up on Game of Thrones and rented three movies via On Demand. I made mashed potatoes for the first time (hubs is normally our cook but he was off golfing) and sold her on my favorite soup (a tomato-red pepper soup from Pacific).

Writing

So while I had been baby stepping my final edit of Medium Wrong, I got stopped up in a new scene that needed writing. I'd gone through the full hard copy edit and was just entering, but “Write this” really stops up momentum. There were two of those, but yesterday I finally hammered them out. It is done... query and synopsis next... 9 days to get 10 query letters sent.

In addition, I really need to find all my plotting notes and organize them... 8 days to BuNoWriMo...


Home? What spring cleaning? That is what I have to say about that. And what gardening? I already gardened this year—two days in a row—total of a half hour. Nobody can say I didn't. And I am trying to learn some new cooking stuff...


So those are my excuses and my “well I'm neglecting everything else, too”s...


But the entertainment has been excellent! Season Finales, shows I really love... that doesn't help my blogging time, but it keeps me from being homicidal at work, so I will take it.

Anybody else feeling overwhelmed?  Got a time turner you can spare? How's everything going?

May Mish Mash

Mother's Day, Prom, Progress, College Looming, and 3 weeks to BuNoWrimo

So there. Tired yet? Maybe I will give you a bit more so you can then decide.

First, I hope all of you who ARE Moms or HAVE Moms had a great Mother's Day! (that was easy)


Senior Prom

(and now for the bragging portion of this blog post)

My son had his prom Saturday. He and his group of friends all got together with their dates for dinner at a country club first, then the dance, and the after party was at one of the girls's houses (a house that seems to always host many of them—I asked my son what was so welcoming and the house is large and they always have good food. So there you go. The trick to being the host house...

Mine's the tall one. A few are missing, but this is most of them.

My son and his date. I hear she was excited to go with him as it allowed her to wear her 6" heels.

The full group

And a windswept pose.

And no arrests or suspensions!!! Erm...


College Prep

So this month son needs to get his dorm sorted, attend leadership camp and June 2 we go to orientation... It's coming too fast!!!


Writing Progress

About two thirds done the LAST fix I am going to do before querying Medium Wrong. It's going slow, but going at all is an improvement over the last few (many) months. I want to get queries sent THIS month (10 is my goal) then July 1, after BuNoWriMo, I can add 10 more.

*muttering about synopses goes here*

And Finally... BuNoWriMo

Who wants to write a book in June!? We manage it HERE and on Facebook and we'd love it if anyone wants to join. My Writing Group began this in 2016 and yes, I know there is Camp NaNoWriMo now, but we had June first... plus, there is no rule that says you can't do both. The nice thing about BuNoWriMo is it is a bit more personal... smaller, so people interact and get to know each other. (we also run during NaNo for that personal touch)

Here is the Facebook link if anyone wants to join there.

March Madness Looms Large!!!

Hallo, fine peoples!!! It is only 8 days until March!!! And around here there is a tradition for March that we call March Madness. Unlike the ball bouncing, hoop throwing, foot tangling thing that is going on among college athletes, THIS March Madness is a self-defined challenge we set to kick ourselves into gear.

Traditional March Madness Projects Include:

* A major edit you want to get done
* FINISHING a book you started at some other time
* Finshing TWO books that are closer to done
* Writing a new book
* Writing a defined number of short stories
* Converting a project (ie, making a screenplay from a novel)

It is anything YOU make of it. We suggest it be about comparable in time commitment to NaNoWriMo, but that is ONLY a suggestion. Mostly what we want to do is give a little adrenaline rush to your writing and create a supportive environment for getting something done.

If you want to join discussions and such on the subject, I manage a Facebook Group, BuNoWriMo, where we can interact more easily. You are ALL WELCOME. Bring your friends. Bring your ideas. Bring some silly shenanigans.

Building the Infrastructure of a Story

So sorry for no 2nd blog last week, and this one is a day late, mostly because I figured nobody was reading blogs yesterday...

So y'all know I've been trying to get writing again, yes? I've been very half-assed about it, but I really AM going to full on write in June, so I've spend the weekend developing character and backstory for my June effort. I don't fully outline, but I do need to do enough work to understand who is on the canvas and what drives them. I also like a bit of a timelie.

This is good. I am planning more than I usually do because I am feeling less confident, but I plan to give myself some leeway to stray, should better ideas appear.

BuNoWriMo begins next MONDAY, so anyone who wants to join is welcome! (we do it on Facebook)


June's Novel: Summer of Bones

This is the second in my Chatcolet series—this is a Young Adult series, each of which addresses a real teen issue, hopefully in a rounded way. The characters don't overlap (at least in my overall plan) and are just joined by broad location and tone. The first (Also Appearing) is about identity. This one is broadly about bullying and pranks (and how it can spin out of control).

So now I have a broad timeline that still needs some work.

I have my MC and her family (and a backstory for her family).

I have a cast of mean girls.

I have a group of boys (that is the reason the MC is targeted by the mean girls).

I have a frenemy.

I have a sympathetic quiet, reluctant person who will lend some guidance.

It just all needs to be a bit more concrete.


I even wrote a scene last night—not one that I'd USE but one to get to understand the relationship between my MC, Gabbi and her frenemy...


What about you? Who is joining me in writing a first draft in June? How much planning do you do? Are you ready?

IWSG May 2015: Inertia

A body in motion stays in motion.
A body at rest stays at rest.

Too long my writing muscles have been at rest. Those of you who've been here in the last few months may know I hit a setback in January and have been spinning my wheels since. Reading a lot—this is good as I once again am in awe of good writing, but because I've been reading bestsellers and award winners I am also feeling unworthy. I am not Maggie Stiefvader. Sadly. I can tell when I read her how much she knows about various mythologies and near magics kinds of things. I can tell she's done her research.

Do you know what happens when I do research?
I fall down a rabbithole and find way too many interesting things that I can't seem to find the willpower to NOT include and I end up with a hot mess of stuff not relevant to the story.

Me.

I definitely have to do my research at first revision. But it looks like having a basic knowledge base would be REALLY nice... ah well.

But rabbitholes aren't my current problem. My current problem is I have been sitting still and getting going is seeming to be REALLY HARD. I think maybe I've turned into a slug.

So my PLAN... I think I am going to PLOT like crazy this month... get my idea files caught up so I don't have scraps of paper everywhere... get my plot for my next book in order, and gear up for BuNoWriMo.

WHAT is BuMoWriMo?

My writing group began in 2010 to do a SECOND WriMo in June. NaNoWriMo has begun a summer camp then and that is all well and good, but we had June first, AND our little group all gets to know each other so the discussions are more personal and encouraging, IMHO. If anyone would like to join, you are welcome. We do it on Facebook, as that is easiest, since I don't have a clue about running a website.

BuNoWriMo on Facebook

To Book in June, or, Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my birthday month. Did you know? If you DID know, you might ALSO know no birthday should be celebrated for less than thirty days, so I am calling the whole month. It might not REALLY happen until the 23rd, but ALL MONTH we are having a bit of a party.

And by party, I mean I am FINALLY starting a BRAND NEW book that has been bugging me for a couple years now. The seeds of it, strangely enough, stem to a couple Veronica Mars episode. I don't get many ideas from TV shows, but every once in a while there is just a breeze of pollen from one that falls on some OTHER idea and makes it explode.

With Shot in the Light the the whole 'near apocalypse' obsession began with the book series Tomorrow When the War Began (to this day, 10 years later, my daughter's FAVORITE book series), but the TV show Jericho gave me a lot of good feed for how communities might cope when the world around them is falling apart. It gave me blocks to build from.

NOT the Castle episode: these are the Tritons. VM hit the theme twice.

So with Undoing... do you remember the Skull and Bones secret society that supposedly the Bushes are a big part of? Those rumors planted this seed. But it got a big dose of fertilizer from the VM epidsode where Wallace is tapped to join Castle. Simultaneously, Veronica is taped getting a little naked with Piz, totally unknown to her, and the tape goes viral so she starts to dig... and finds out some very interesting things about Castle. The kinds of advantages members get. The things the society does to keep its members in check... And Undoing began to take shape.


The teaser for Mere Mortals, first book in the Undoing Trilogy (first draft, forgive me)

 Just days after he graduates high school, Sebastian Childs, grandson to Rockwell Childs, learns his grandfather has chosen him as heir to his publishing empire. His grandfather asks only one thing. He is dying and would like his heir to spend his last summer living with him so he can get to know him. Sebastian's father, passed over in the line of succession is furious, and even Sebastian feels the inheritance should be spread over more people, but if Sebastian refuses, his grandfather threatens to donate the entire thing.

While with his grandfather, Sebastian learns of the secret society that had given his grandfather and so many others their huge advantage over other people. His grandfather has come to believe there is too much power and too little accountability in the system and he charges Bas with gaining admittance and then undoing the society from the inside.


So I have conceived of this story as three books of three acts each. It is possible I will release these serially (that would be nine distinct parts), but unlike last time, I am going to have an entirely solid first draft of all three before I begin making such decisions.

This is planned more than most of my past books because it's been bugging me for so long. I have choreography for when various important characters make an entrance and what the big point of all nine acts is.

My plan is to write book 1 in June... then I have major editing to do on four different projects in July an August for a query fest, so maybe I will write book 2 in September and book 3 in November.

Other News

THAT said, other than special days (IWSG and my 5-year blogiversary, etc) I am only going to blog Mondays this month.

And if YOU want to write a book in June, BuNoWriMo would WELCOME you to join us! We've lost our widget, but we are still an awesome system of writerly social support.

And finally... my learned wisdom... that free day thing? GREAT for two days, but I think that is the limit of increasing returns. Next time I will do two days and save the other three for a different promo...

Free and Cheap!!!

You know, I'd been a little worried with my review that PW reviews were a little easier on readers this year, but then I spent some time on the ABNA threads and I see that isn't so. I got really lucky to get a match for a reviewer who likes my sort of books, but I also feel like I get to feel pretty good about pulling it off for him or her.

To CELEBRATE, for the next 5 days (Tuesday through Saturday) A Flock of Ill Omens is FREE. This is the first in the serial and I think 12 chapters—the Amazon excerpt is only 2 chapters—so it is quite a bit more than was already available for free.

THEN

For the REAL PAHTAY... the whole book, A Shot in the Light, Parts I-IV, is only 99 cents. (normally it is $2.99). I am leaving it this price until Amazon cuts are posted June 13.

If you are confused about WHY I am celebrating, my review I'm so excited about is HERE.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE some help spreading the word if peeps wouldn't mind giving a share or a mention.


In Other News

I had a KICKASS writing weekend. Friday-Sunday I wrote 15K and I should finish my LAST first draft for A Shot in the Light today. It will run about 20 pages longer than the others, but not enough longer to think I should split it into two books.

This is often how I am... The third quarter is hardest, but once I really get rolling into the ending, it flies. I know what I want to happen. I'm excited to make it happen. And I am a lunatic adrenaline rush until it's done.

Hopefully book 10 will be ready by NEXT Monday. Sooner if possible.


BuNoWriMo

And BuNoWriMo starts SUNDAY! Want to write book in June? Have your idea ready? I think it's time to get plotting!!!

An Interview and a PLAN *Buwahahahahahahaha*

So Marcy over at Maine Words interviewed me and asked some GREAT questions. I think the answers weren't so shabby either... largely about my writing journey and cozy mysteries, so I'd love it if you'd come over and see us!

Also, TOMORROW is the first day of BuNoWriMo... and I have some challenges this year, so I feel the need to commit to specific goals, since they aren't the normal 50K in 30 days goals these things are.


First: The CHALLENGES

1: Daughter graduates from high school Tuesday so I have family in town most of the week.

2: On June 23 (my birthday) my family is embarking on our first ever cross-country road trip. (so I will be partially off line, though I do plan on taking a computer... but what we rent MAY not have in car charging (and I get carsick if I don't watch the road)... So I am 8 days SHORT on computer time...

My PLAN *Buwahahahahaha*

Between the two, I don't think 50K is feasible... So here is my hope:


40K before June 22. And then I will take A Shot In The Light with me (hard copy) to decide where I need to break and what needs to be added/cut to release it as a serial next fall... it won't be the actual editing, so much as a read/reminder and rethinking so I can revise efficiently when we get back mid-July.

(with the door open to keep writing this book

My BOOK

This is a brand new, less than a week old idea that was sort of a convergence of thoughts but I haven't SEEN it and I think I can tell this story well, as I LIVED pieces of it:


Title: Also Appearing...
(YA Coming of Age or Finding Self)

Leah XX feels like a bit player in her own life. A supporting actor. An 'also appearing'. She is the 'nice friend' of the popular girls who never gets the guy. The shadow of her pretty outgoing sister. And the afterthought of her parents' summer plans. But the forced summer at the lake isn't all bad. She meets Trey Schreiber, who makes her feel pretty, interesting and wanted. She feels like a new self is born in her summer romance. Sadly, back at home, her friends all see the same old her. Reliable, boring Leah.

She tries to fight her way back to the feeling of being someone special, trying all the tricks at hand: alcohol, sex, a little recklessness. But as her attempts spin out of control, she begins to wonder if it wasn't all an illusion. Maybe she just wasn't meant to stand out in the crowd.


That is what I can share... I have more figured out, but it sounds too spoilerish as I write it... it is a self-discovery of sorts...

Countdown to BuNoWriMo!!!!

HALO, Peeps!!! It's that time of year again!!! Have you been thinking about it? Are you ready?

Ready for WHAT you say? Have you been ASLEEP!?

BuNoWriMo is FOUR this year, if you can believe that. We began it BEFORE they began the summer Camp WriMo, and even during NaNoWriMo, we are a fabulous SUPPORTIVE writing group. During NaNoWriMo in November, it is just a place to talk with people you know better. So you can do this INSTEAD of Camp NaNoWriMo or you can do this on TOP OF Camp NaNoWriMo...

What do you DO? Why write a 50K book in 30 days! (the 30 days of June)  What else.

But we are super bendy and if you want to shake up that goal, that's cool with us. Just look at your MONTH and what needs DOING and set a goal that is a little ambitious... that will get you writing more than you normally do. If you only have part of the month, then only DO part of the month.

What you REALLY need to know is WHERE.

BuNoWriMo is hosted by The Burrow, which is my writing group (made up of 4 score blondes and brunettes between sixteen and nineteen and a half...)

And we host it on Facebook HERE:

There are over a hundred of us there, so it is much larger than just the Burrow—has been from the beginning... and ALL of you are WELCOME!


First year I wrote Kahlotus Disposal Site (currently going through big eval, but this was an ABNA semi-finalist, so it will eventually get out there.

Second year wrote What Ales Me (my current editing project)

Last year I wrote Shot in the Light (or half of it... it is at 120K now and not quite done...)

Not sure what this year's project will be... I may do an evaluation of endangered, restructured as a serial, and try to jam out the rest of that. I am going to miss the last week, as my family is traveling, so I may put a 40K goal instead of 50K... Still thinking... but see... we are flexible that way...

So who's in!?

A Change of Plans

*BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

*cough*

So I started this March Madness thing with ONE book I intended to write... and I wrote Friday, and I wrote Saturday. And I found I was even boring MYSELF trying to force this thing out... I've come to the conclusion it just really needs a lot more stewing than it's had.

Flathead Lake, Montana (my setting)

What is this STEW I speak of?

This is normal for me. I have ideas with some regularity. In fact I put all those ideas in a spread sheet last week, and in addition to the five 'I will write this book' ideas I had on my writing project list, I had another thirty ideas written in some detail, about half of which I think are viable writing projects. But the ideas that work BEST are ideas I have that rattle around in my head a while, then marry new ideas, and sometimes even MORE ideas, until suddenly I have a nice, happily complex plan.

So after forcing out 5000 words of Shooter (which will be named something else), I decided to go with the one I felt compelled to start last week that has been niggling my brain for almost two years now.

Has anyone seen this?

Behind Endangered

Some of you may have heard me talk about the Tomorrow book series by James Marsden. It begins with Tomorrow When the War Began and is about a group of Australian teens who go camping when school gets out... and when they come home, their home town (all of Australia, actually) has been invaded. They become secret guerilla warriors fighting against the (always unnamed, but foreign) invaders. The series caused me to have vivid dreams and my imagination was captivated by the idea of something in the US with similar flavors since then. (and this was before I was even actively writing)--I'd love to see the movie version of this—or is it a TV series? Has anyone seen it?

The next piece of the puzzle happened when my husband was working in his home health job. We only had one car, and he worked 12 hour days... and on the weekend, I definitely didn't want to get up and take him at 7 am, so I was walking to pick up the car at about ten in the morning and a helicopter went over. We normally see the Michigan Life Flight helicopters with some regularity, but other than that, they are a game day only kind of thing. This isn't Portland where every news station has it's own hovering a couple times a day. We're a suburb where it just isn't that common. It was a little weird... I felt very exposed, and I got home and write the first chapter of this book... I knew I wasn't going to write any MORE of it for a while, but I had a flavor... a set up... a feeling of what the first moments would be like if we were invaded.

The book went on my list of possible options, but I kept feeling like I really needed more to it. I wasn't ready for the story... and then last weekend I had one of those wacky dreams that get the ball rolling. By the time I was out of the shower I realized it was a second strand to THIS story, so I came down and got on the computer and started it... Then in my files of potential stories, I found my third strand.

So now I have three primary characters (two of them with siblings), all of whom will meet up in the mountains of Montana by Flathead Lake... and will need to be warriors of sorts (mountain guerillas--see there is the play on words that gets me to 'endangered'), in this brave new world. I don't have my ending yet, which makes me a little nervous. I definitely prefer to know how the story ends, or I can end up with a big floppy thing to sort out, but I will try to put in my thought on that early this month so I figure it out before I get there.

March Madness, Redefined

Because I can't call it spring cleaning... that would imply I LIKED cleaning... Besides, my own version won't be cleaning at ALL...

What am I on about?


Who has a project that is sitting UNFINISHED?
Do you have a book that is partway done?
Got an editing job that badly needs doing?
A book you need to write NOW or it's going to make you CRAZY?

BECAUSE WE KNOW CRAZY!!!!!


A couple of my fellow Burrowers were talking, cuz you know like... itzwhatwedo, yeah? And TARA needs to write her second in a series... and I strong-armed Leanne into editing her Cozy Mystery, and I have a timely book idea that WILL NOT LET ME BE... and we decided March would be our month... with hard deadline for DONE DONE before we reach June and have BuNoWriMo, in which we will ALL be writing.

We threw out the idea and have a couple takers... people who need to finish books..., So I know Theresa and Adina are in... but I thought how could all of YOU KNOW if I don't announce it HERE?

So if YOU have a project that needs a giant PUSH to get done, and you do better under the adrenaline of doing it in a group, we will be keeping pace on Facebook in the BuNoWriMo group (just request to join, I'll add you) 

You're officially invited!!!

Is it Over?

Did I survive June? I think maybe I did.

*pinches self*

OUCH!

Guess I'm still here! I have a few more guest posts left, two this week, then a more trickling schedule, but I had NO IDEA how much harder it would be to prepare material for OTHER people's blogs than my own. I couldn't just sort of fly by the seat of my pantslessness like I sometimes do. I had to be a little more deliberate. It was good for me. I think I had some good posts in there. And I enjoyed trying to match the tone or content of other blogs--think I did pretty good on that front, especially my character ninja evaluation for Alex. But I gotta be honest, I'm sort of looking forward to getting back to being ME. I feel like I've neglected all of you, which I hate doing—sorry about that. And that it's been a little while since I really sort of let loose. I mean you KNOW I'm ALWAYS a little loose... but comparatively speaking.

So PLEASE come by and see me at Writer's Space today! I'm talking about those funny murders. Erm... sort of. Okay, so maybe it is more distinguishing Cozies from other mysteries...

Gorgeous cover by Joris Ammerlaan

In Other News

I officially 'won' BuNoWriMo. I crossed the 50K word line on the 29th—the closest I've ever cut a WriMo (WriMo defined as 50K words in 30 days)--usually I have 3 or 4 days to spare. I ended June with 55,569 new words. When I added it to the little bit I'd done before, I had about 58,500 in the document I am starting July with and I am not calling it done until it's DONE, which I am thinking will be about 90K, but could actually fall anywhere between 80K and 110K to be honest. I WILL finish this month though—keeping that 1667 per day pace going until it is. (note I have TWO graphs up there... One, just to show I finished BuNoWriMo in June--based on wordcount rules, and one adjusted for the more realistic word count of 'finished book'.)


In Other News of a more personal nature

So last week my aunt told her COUSIN I had a book out... and said cousin FOUND ME on Facebook (through the Alyse Carlson page) and we've been chatting and it's SO FUN. She is hooking me up with all sorts of OTHER cousins... these are second cousins mind-you. On my dad's side there is only one first cousin... and she's fabulous, but I knew about her... this new batch is people I SOMETIMES have heard of, but never really knew. I'm loving it. So a big THANK YOU to Janie! [and a note that sometimes the little joys that go with getting a book published have nothing to do with the business]. I briefly debated behaving myself for a while in their honor, but I don't think I can... And they KNOW silliness runs in my genes--after all, my grandpa who connects me to them married into this:

That's my grandma in the middle

So WELCOME, July! Hope you all enjoy it! And I think I won't actually take a blog break this week like I thought: Wednesday and Friday are musts anyway, and I surely can't keep myself from having something important to say one other day...

Bring it on!

More Than I Can Chew

I'm thinking it might be impossible to write a book, edit a book and promote a book all at the same time. I'm giving it a go, really I am. But one of these tasks has to go. I'm trying DESPERATELY to have it be wiping the editing off my plate. I only have 100 pages to go, and since the book that needs PROMOTING comes out tomorrow, I'd like this one GONE.

So that is my primary priority on THIS, day #1 of my vacation.

Fun News Related to Promotion (Sort of)

HWMNBMOTI threw me a little pre-release party Saturday at Wolverine Brewing. It was neighbors, friends, co-workers, and it was really fun. The cake was amazing, but alas, I can't share it with you until my daughter sends me the pictures she took (she was designated photographer).

I WILL share them though; it just might take a few days.

And Aunt Agatha contacted me yesterday... Well, Robin, really, but she is one of the (owners? Manager? I think owners) of Aunt Agatha's book store, one of our local independents that specializes in mysteries. So I am going in to talk to her Thursday about either a signing or a book club talk.

Let me tell you, it was SO NICE of her to contact me. She is (apparently) one of my Facebook friends—I am terrible about remembering who they are if they don't post all the time so I'm reminded... in fact I suspect I TALK to people all the time that I don't exactly know their roll. It's sort of the way of my memory. But I've been really nervous about real live, direct contact. The online stuff, I'm good—all of YOU I am happy to ask for stuff. But I have a phone phobia, and it's really even worse in person—not once there is a purpose, but to make that first contact.

I feel like now that I'm GOING on it, maybe it won't be quite so scary. Maybe.


BuNoWriMo

My story is making progress. I killed two people right off the bat (well within the first 20 pages). I need to confess there are a lot more dead than that. And my heroine has noticed a pattern that doesn't look like the natural spread of a disease... She's gone to Atlanta to track down her brother (who is under quarantine lockdown at the CDC). It's promising to be good.

A Shot in the Light
is 14% complete



7436 / 50000 words written

And FINALLY—Don't FORGET!!!

Tomorrow is our Crazy Cozy Blogfest!!! A chance to win both my book, and Elizabeth's!!! We'd love your help promoting and think this is a fun way to go about it! If you are willing, all the info is here, and posts go up tomorrow for a good time!!!

If you CAN'T participate, we'd also love any spreading the word you can do. Tomorrow is a HUGE book release date, so breaking out of the pack will be challenging. (though hopefully, it will just be a whomping huge book sale day)

On Your MARK! Get SET! (BuNoWriMo TOOLS)

Which is NOT to say people doing BuNoWriMo are tools, but rather to GIVE tools to people doing BuNoWriMo...

 Countee Countee Bo Bountee
 (the two here are from last year)

What Ales Me
is 30% complete



15000 / 50000 words written

The first year we did this, Jason, the only man in the Burrow, did some fancy schmancy programming and turned the lovely GRAPHIC, designed by Joris (an official FRIEND of the Burrow) and turned it into a word count meter.

What Ales Me
is 80% complete



40000 / 50000 words written

I love how it builds up... I am showing you a few from my last year's entry, just to give you a feel...

You can share directly to Facebook or copy the code for htlm to add to your blog. It can be FOUND, HERE: http://www.the-burrow.org/create_meter.php


Heavenly #Hashtags

Now most of this activity is done on Facebook—it just was infinitely easier to 'start a group' than design, upkeep and pay for a website. But we've done a little Twittering in the past.

Well this year, we've had a special request. Our buddy Alex DOESN'T Facebook, but he wants to join. So I thought maybe we could pull Twitter in more officially. Discussions there are A-Okay, but I thought ESPECIALLY, at the end of our writing day, check in to Twitter with your #BuNoWriMo Word count—both a day total and a cumulative would be FABULOUS!


Writing Sprints

The first time I engaged in these was last NaNoWriMo and they are AMAZING. Word sprints are just setting a timer, shouting GO and dropping everything for the hour (or half hour). I find what this allows me to do is ignore the world without guilt... I will get BACK to it when my SPRINT is over. I know people who do these on Twitter—not sure what the hashtag is, but if you wanted to do it under the #BuNoWriMo, have atter. We ALSO have a Facebook Group: Writing Sprints R Us

BuNoWriMo Graphics

If you search my label BuNoWriMo, you will see a huge variety of our image in various color. You are free to use them, though we would appreciate it, if featured in a blog or someplace outside of the Facebook setting that you attribute Joris Ammerlaan for the design.


And finally... If you've been slow to commit but want to join: BuNoWriMo on Facebook

Plotting Sideways

So for BuNoWriMo this year, I am trying something I've SORT of done, but not really. I've dappled in the idea of it for mysteries, because it seems to make sense, but this is the first time I am coming at it for a suspense (which admittedly has mystery underneath it, of course, but it is more a 'what the heck happened' than a 'whodunnit'... though who dunnit matters quite a lot, but the finding the what and the who will happen simultaneously). All they KNOW is the AFTERMATH.

So what is this crazy idea of mine? I timeline more than outline normally—you know that, yes? This is because outlining makes my writing sound canned (but pantsing writes me into a sad corner of abandoning my book). I need more room to meander than an outline, though. But see... with a mystery, there is an underlying story that needs uncovering.

So I am outlining THAT. What really happened before the book ever starts? Who is involved and how do they execute it. I've done a lot of this (for this book--not much prior to this), but NEXT, I am going to go through and figure out how my MC learns of it.  Use another color of pen and write in how somebody SHE gets involved with learns it.  Then I can sprinkle info by manipulating when she meets people, rather than having them hold back anything (that often irritates me--seems contrived). I really think I am getting there.


So WHY would this be so urgent? BuNoWriMo starts FRIDAY!!!!

If ANY of the Following Apply to you, PLEASE consider joining us for BuNoWriMo:

۞ You want to write a book in June.
۞ You want to FINISH writing a book in June (ideally that has at least 50K left, but you can finish one and start another if you prefer. (have I made it clear I'm easy?)
۞ You want to do a major rewrite in June
۞ You want support for some OTHER large writing project and would like to declare your commitment and do it as part of a group.

Joining is EASY PEASY if you have a facebook account: Go HERE and request to join. I let anybody in... I just can't find the button anymore to make it an open group, but besides that, I like the convos to be between members, even if ANYBODY can be a member.

If you need more information before making a decision, you can see HERE.

BuNoWriMo, Blogfest and Beelzebub

Time is FLYING and I am feeling a bit frantic, but I think it will help if I throw out some reminders...

First, BuNoWriMo

...starts in 11 days!!! Is your stuff adequately wound up?

My May projects seem ENDLESS, and I am still not done. I've made very good progress on Kahlotus Disposal Site. I am on the LAST read through before I send it back to Amy to send out for submissions. I think the improvements are good. My task was to add some SPARK to my MC, Helen. Helen is a ghost, and the narrative spent a lot of time in her head, as only a few people can see her, so I added a second ghost—a crotchety old man who never leaves the room where he died—who sends her away every times she tries to engage him. But what it allowed me to do was have SOME of her narrative be told to HIM, and SHOW a little more of her personality because there is a chance to interact.

I also tried to address my other weak point—too little dimension on the 'villain'. I show a little more behind the WHY of his awfulness. Hopefully it is the boost the book needs to sell.

My LAST editing round (well, before June, anyway) is another revision of Chrysanthemum Campaign. I've gotten feedback from Colene, and have it coming very soon from Tara on 'big-picture stuff (confusion, consistency, too much, too little)... I will respond to what they notice, then send it to readers for a slightly more fine-toothed read.

Can I do all that in 11 days? I REALLY hope so... fewer, even, as I'd like readers to have it a couple days before they start BuNoWriMo, if in fact they are... (I think one is, one isn't).

So if YOU want to write a Novel in June, HERE is more information on what it entails and how to join us.

Blogfest: Crazy Cozy Blogfest, I mean

It is only FIFTEEN days until MY FIRST BOOK RELEASE!!!!! I'm so excited! (and nervous as heck, and not adequately organized), but ONE of the big plans is The Crazy Cozy Blogfest! It should be super fun, both to participate and to read. I could REALLY USE some widespread participation so the entries have some variation. We are giving away book prizes and I'm very excited to see what people come up with.

So what I'm asking is twofold: Please JOIN US (here is how and the signup is below), and will you also please help spread the word?

Not attractive, but Satan is a little harsh.

And finally, Beelzebub

You know... Beelzebub was a minor deity, minding his own business until Christianity coopted his name as a synonym for Satan. The was Lord of the Flies. Seriously. I wonder if Golding knew. It seems so fitting, doesn't it—to name a book for a minor god that then has Satan imposed upon him... I like that the book about that island that brought out the very worst in those boys is named for something that in a certain context is just pesky, but in certain circumstances can become the very worst of humanity—that we all have it in us, if we don't fight it back.

I should probably disclose that I don't actually believe in Satan. I DO, however, believe in that darkness. And I do think almost everyone is capable of it. And in this Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies interpretation, I suppose that is fitting.


So are you BuNoWriMoing? Are you Crazy Cozy Blogfesting? Do you look up arbitrary things and try to see if you can turn them into wisdom?

Have a great week, everyone!

I'm NOT WORTHY!

Welcome, Insecure Writer Friends!

You ever have something SO COOL happen that you're SURE you can't live up to it? Well that's what happened to me this weekend.

Saturday morning, in that hazy wake-sleep right before I get up, the 'set-up' for the pitch for my next book formed really nicely. I've been thinking about this book for almost a year, maybe longer—but I haven't felt I had the chops to face it. This spring I started doing some plotting and wrote a couple scenes (cheating on my endless editing, if you will) and the ideas were coming together nicely, but it was STILL so hard to DESCRIBE concisely... so this set-up really got me going. I stacked the pillows, grabbed my notebook and pen, shooed my husband who had come in to see if maybe I didn't need a little help in the bedroom *cough* and wrote it out.

I couldn't finish the pitch because I couldn't even remember what I'd called my primary MC (I say primary because this book actually has several PoVs—first time I've done this in AGES) and the VERY first time I'm attempting a bona-fide thriller. She's Sidney, by the way. Sidney Knight.


So when I sent that first paragraph to my friend Joris, he was excited about it—he liked the sound and I could tell he had ideas... But I had NO IDEA how INCREDIBLE his idea would be. We went back and forth with some clarifications, but OHMYGAWD what he came up with!

Take the time to make it big. Look at the map of the US—just SEE if it doesn't give you chills. But I love ALL of it.

And now I am TERRIFIED I will not write an adequate story. How COULD I write an adequate story? I mean even the set-up is huge... but THAT COVER!!!  Even HWMNBMOTI loves it! (and he's very hard to please, but don't tell him I said so)

Here is my VERY first draft of a pitch, but note that the first paragraph just came to me. The rest is still forced and will definitely have to be improved:


A Shot in the Light

Men in a back room have decided the future. They've spotted the problem, a drain on the system: the old, the poor, the sick. And they've constructed a solution. A vaccine. A vaccine that is a death sentence. But they have not thought the plan through, for who is always vaccinated first? Health care providers. Teachers. Those on the front line. Those we cannot afford to be without. Especially when viruses mutate and the plan is no longer contained.

Sidney Knight has her first encounter with the flu outbreak while she pounds out a couple freelance articles from a cheap hotel room on the Oregon coast. She calls her brother at the CDC to discuss the beach full of dead birds and he suggests she wait to get a flu shot, as he thinks the current batch was premature Back home in Portland, a roommate dies from the flu and another frets, because as a nurse, she is being forced to get the shot. When Sidney tries to reach her brother again for solutions, he can't be reached. The CDC has locked down under quarentine and Sidney smells a far bigger story than just the flu.

She flies to Atlanta where she tries to work with her brother's roommate, who was ironically locked out of CDC with the flu, and a mostly drunk reporter friend who has somehow worked out a communication system with her brother.

They work hard to find both cause and solution as the population panics with a healthcare and protection shortage and the righteous and the greedy trying to profit from the aftermath.


So that is what I'm working with. I've written maybe 30 pages (so I will be a BuNoWriMo rebel) but I really need to go through all my notes to make this a manageable book.

Joris blogged yesterday about HIS process of it if you are interested. And he DOES have his shingle out if you want him to be amazing for YOU, too...

You ever receive a gift that intimidated you to try to live up to it?

Are you READY!?

Ready for WHAT, you say?

Why BuNoWriMo, of course! But you don't have to be QUITE ready just yet. You have ONE MONTH to tie up loose ends and prepare!

What the heck is BuNoWriMo, you say? (Like how I'm just putting words in your mouth here? Call me a control freak... or just a freak, I'm easy...)


BuNoWriMo stands for Burrow Novel Writing Month.

Most of you will recognize the 'novel writing month' bit from NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month, which happens every November. But clear back in 2009, my writing group, at my prodding, decided to participate... we had two members who finished first books that month, so it was a grand success on that front, but we had a graduate student and three teachers among us, plus the student and one teacher were additionally working RETAIL in bookstores, and we reached the easy consensus that November, as months go, is sort of bad TIMING for people with anything to do with either education or retail. Why not do this in the SUMMER?

Because of the tag 50,000 words in 30 days, we chose JUNE—yeah, school is still going for the first half for a lot of people... but it also isn't yet into the solid 'flee for vacation' part of the summer. People are motivated.

So we decided to host a WriMo for ANYONE who wanted to join us. My post on the matter was my first experience with a post going viral... well not viral viral, but at the time I was getting about 200 hits a day with my newish blog... that one got close to 700 and was my top post for a LONG time... the Key? Deb Ohi (who is FAR more famous than ME—she is a writer and brilliant cartoonist) saw and retweeted me to her bizillion followers.

So our newbie, novice writing group (well, we'd been together 3 years, but we were VERY new at the social media thing) managed to collect 108 people to participate! Last year it jumped another 20. We hope to have even more this year. So... if you are so inclined, and we hope you are... if you'd like to participate, Here is how:

WHAT: 50,000 words in the 30 days of June. (that is 1,667 words a day—about 7 pages)
WHERE: We coordinate from Facebook--a group. I THINK it's open, but if not, request to join, I get the request and approve all comers. BuNoWriMo
WHEN: Erm... June...
HOW: Just add yourself! I will be talking about it HERE about once a week, and giving info THERE about as often--not enough to feel spammed, though once it starts, there is discussion, but that is sort of the POINT, yeah?

And tomorrow I will give you a sneak peak as to the novel I plan to write (and the gorgeous cover I fear I could NEVER live up to)

And for anyone curious about the Burrow, we are four score blondes and brunettes between ages 16 and 19 ½... We blog here, and do a couple projects a year here.

[All BuNoWriMo graphics designed by Joris Ammerlaan]--and there is a bunch... once you join the group, so you can choose something you identify with.