Hee Hee

I won the prize for scariest costume.

It was all in the makeup and cobwebs....

Last Day of Freedom

So tomorrow it begins.

I'd love to know, how many Nanoers will stay up late and start writing at 12:00 midnight on Nov. 1st. I'm tempted. Maybe take a nap and then wake up and do a few hours of writing. Just to see if I can do it.

Just to get a word count in early early in the day.

Of course then I'll be useless for the rest of the day.

Well, its Halloween. We've got good food and a costume and cubby decorating contest going on. I wasnt' going to dress up. Getting the kids ready for Halloween is enough, but I managed to pull something off. I'm covered with cobwebs and gray makeup. Yah, dead data entry clerk. Well, maybe I'll get something. I deserve it after draping myself with these annoying cobwebs.

Just want to get through the day so I CAN START WRITING!!!

So Not Ready...

Well, I am, chomping at the bit to get this Nano started (thinking Pink right now), but I have more to do over the next few days that I'm praying it doesn't overflow into Nov. 1st. Got laundry to do... drivers license to renew by the 2nd, layaway to pick up.... my son's room to clean (he's only 6, he needs help).

But at least the majority of the housework is out of the way and I don't have to worry about that too much.

I need to do some other things for prep, but that is stuff that can be done in the evening.

Yesterday we were going to go to my father in laws for lunch but his entire town lost power in the wind and rain we had all weekend, so instead we spent the morning cleaning the place.

Okay, off I go to work. Another early morning.

What Have I Done?

Found this on my friend Nancy's blog. :)

All you have to do is copy and paste then highlight in bold the things you have done:

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you” and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
9. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111.Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Nano Prepwork continues...

Well, the planning continues. I have tons and tons of notes and switches and changes in family dynamics. I guess this is the time to do that. I've changed the thorn in Gideon's side from being his aunt to being his sister.... possibly a twin sister? And his grandfather may be Gideon's father instead. Maybe they won't be building ships, maybe they will have a resort, but a resort that has basically shut down and Gideon wants to revive it and keep it in the family but sis wants to sell it to a huge hotel company. They could butt heads over that.

So many things revovling in my head. I need to keep my notebook with me at all times to jot these things down.

Its Friday. Everyone have a spectabulous day! Nor'easter is on its way.

New Nano New Computer

My husband just got his new computer yesterday and was up til about 4:30am setting it up and setting up my "new" computer. We shifted computers so the kids have my old one and I get my husband's old one, which is a vast improvement over my old one. I now have a Dell instead of a mutt. Its a few years old but thats okay, its a lot younger than the other one and it much more spacious. And it has a flat screen monitor. So I'm rarin to go to use it and fill it with my creativity. I plan on using it a lot more for my Nano than my laptop.

Now if I could just get a television in the room so I can watch my news in the morning while typing. NOOOOO!! I don't need the distraction. And thats why I have the laptop.

So, I finished Gideon's character sketch. Another regular guy from a previously wealthy family. He builds sailboats. I'm afraid that its sounding suspiciously like another book I've read (written in 1949) so I'm still playing with his issues. But I have a week

A WEEK!!!!!!!

I'm feeling faint.....

Rethinking Ryan

First of all I think I'm going to rename him Gideon. I love that name and I've never used it before.

I had thought that I'd make him the owner of a resort. Okay, not a huge luxurious place, but a nice laid back summer hotel. But then I thought, Ben and Hayden in Sweet Forever were both in the hotel/resort/guest ranch biz. I really want to bring some secondary characters into the story, so I thought up Edmund Harriman. He's Gideon's grandfather and was one of the big men in town. Used to own a shipbuilding business, lives in a huge old mansion on a hill overlooking the ocean. His wife was killed in a boating accident and ole' Edmund blamed himself, gave up on the shipyard and basically became a hermit in the mansion. Gideon's cousins want Granddad to turn the place into a resort (okay, had to have the resort here somewhere). Gideon doesn't want the place to be sold. He wants to revive the shipyard. He builds sailboats and such to make a living.

Thats the jist of the idea.

But I still have a week to change my mind.

My Hero

I've pretty much figured out my Nano heroine but I have very little clue on who my hero is. Okay, model picked out-check, his role in heroine's life-sorta check, career-so not check. I don't have a clue right now. He lives in a small coastal town in Maine. I don't want him to be a lobsterman or fisherman. I don't want him to be a cop, got a story with a cop. I was thinking that he owns a resort in the town. That would give him some free time during the winter months to be a caretaker for some of the summer homes in the town. Thats my best idea right now. I really have to do his character sketch soon.

I haven't done much of anything with writing the last few days. Too much family activity. Tomorrow everything should return to normal and it'll give me a week or so to get everything in order for Nano. Yeah!!!!!!!!

And I'm going to get a better computer soon. My husband is upgrading his puter so I'm getting his "old" computer which is a lot nicer than my current desktop. I can't wait, but got to get some stuff organized to make a home for my current desktop which'll go to the kids.

I can't wait to play with it. And just in time for Nov. 1st.

Baa Humbug

Yesterday I took the day off work and took the kids and my husband to the Keene Pumpkin Festival. We brought our 2 pumpkins to help out. It was a fun day. A bit cold but it was sunny. A very good crowd was there. We stayed til just after 5pm and on our way back we were commenting on how many people didn't bring pumpkins with them to try to break the current Guinesss Book of World Record record that Keene has always held. They were hoping for 30000. When we got on the road home we were shocked to see the line of cars waiting to get in. It stretched a good 4 miles, bumper to bumper. Even when we got to our own town there was a huge line of cars heading in that direction. I've never seen that much traffic, so we're guessing that the majority of them were heading to Keene.

On the news it was announced that we only got just over 24K and Boston took the record with 30k. Poo. If every person who came to the festival brought one pumpkin we wouldve kept the record.

There's always next year......

Dreamer's Sea

So, here's my newest Nano project idea.....

D-Dreamers Sea-Sarah has inherited her maiden aunts cottage on the Maine coast. Timing couldn’t be better. Her marriage is in shambles and she needs the escape that the small town offers so she can rebuild her confidence and her heart. It seems that Sarah’s aunt is reaching out to her from the otherside to help the healing along.

I belong to a writing group that occasionally does exercises (not often enough, I'm afraid). One exercise is to take every letter of the alphabet and come up with a title and then a blurb for it. I've found it to be really fun and stretches the mind, and I've come up with some definite wip possibilities, such as the above idea.

Of course it needs to be majorly fleshed out.

Sarah is in her early 30's. All she ever wanted to do was to be a writer (sound familiar). When she was in college she fell in love with one of her professors, Dr. Maxwell Eagan. He was charming, brilliant, handsome and when she graduated they started dating...yada yada. Well, he moved up in the academic world and they got married and he wanted her to be his assistant, housewife instead of pursuing her own dreams.

Finally, after nearly ten years of being his wife and slipping further and further into the background of his life and dealing with the fact that he doesn't care about her position, her dreams or anything beyond his life at the university, she decides to move out. She's inherited a cottage on the coast of Maine from her maiden aunt. She goes up to get her life going, to write, plan her divorce and rebuild her old dreams.

When she gets there she finds she's not alone in the cottage. Apparently the spirit of her aunt is still around but it doesn't take long for Sarah to get used to her. But her aunt seems to be trying to play matchmaker, something that Sarah isn't interested in, even though her aunt's "choice" is local Ryan Westwood. Ryan is handsome, sweet, concerned for Sarah's welfare but also has no desire to be hooked up by a spirit.

Things get harder for Sarah when she discovers that she's pregnant. Maxwell has made it clear that children are out of the question so Sarah isn't sure whether she should even try to include him in the baby's life after the baby's arrival.

Throughout her pregnancy up in the cottage, Sarah becomes a member of the community and Ryan steps up to help her out. Despite their best laid plans, they both feel the attraction rising between them. They don't act too much on it, although they may share a kiss or two, but there's a definite longing between them that they're fighting.

Sarah is ready to give birth any day and the weather is bad. During a storm she starts having contractions. She can't drive herself, the electricity and phones are out but Aunt reaches out to Ryan and he comes to Sarah's aid. She's having complications but Ryan manages to get her to the hospital. Nearly losing her jolts him into the realization that he loves her and wants to be a part of her life and her babies.

Though the divorce is final I'm sure I'll have to drag Maxwell back into it. Maybe he'll come visit the baby (maybe baby will be a preemie) and Sarah and he'll offer to take them back, not out of love but out of duty, and she'll tell him to take a hike.

Anywho, thats the basics to this story. It may make 50,000 words. It won't be steamy in any shape or form, which is what I want, but I'll have to build on the tension. Maybe at the end I'll give Sarah and Ryan a nookie scene-or maybe not.

So, maybe it'll be an okay thing to put the other story on the back burner for awhile. :) I'm feeling better.

Writing Sequels

My writing group has been sharing ideas we have for the upcoming Nano challenge. I gave a brief blurb about my story and have been getting lots of support. Then I got an email that made me slam on my brakes. My writing buddy commented about how people really liked sequels ESPECIALLY IF THEY REALLY LIKE THE FIRST BOOK.

Well, the first book hasn't even been released yet, so how the heck do I know if people like it. What if it tanks? Who's going to buy a sequel to a book of they hate the first one?

I really don't want to waste a month of writing on something that may never be a viable product. I think it'll be a good story, but not if the base crumbles.

So, I'm basically going back to my big bag of ideas to see if I have any others in there that I can do instead of this one. This one can keep until next year after Finally Home has been on the market for awhile.

Well, I'd rather figure this out now instead of on November 4th.

Too Many Words

Well, I'm still working on my short and I've discovered that I'm already over the maximum word count for the line I'm aiming it for, which only wants 5000-8000 words. And I have a good bit more to go before this baby is done. So I guess I'll just have to look for a different place for it. I don't think I'll be able to edit it down enough to meet their requirments. Dern.

Nano is looming and I think I'm all set as far as details go. Everything else, I'm sure, will fall into place as I go. Man, I make it sound so easy! It sure isn't. I've no doubt I'll discover the pitfalls along the way. But there'll be plenty of time for editing after November is gone. Until then all I have to worry about is getting the words down.

I Shouldn't Gripe

Over the past two days of being on the dreaded phones I've been able to write an entire scene for my short story AND do some research on my Nano project. The phones were really quiet. So, had I been doing the data entry I wouldn't have gotten any of that done. So I shouldn't gripe about it. Well, until the phones start getting busy with Christmas Shoppers. In the afternoon I was taken off the phones and went back onto data entry. I cast longing glances at my notebook.

Now I've got to work on a stee-mah scene for my short (yah, I know, I said I wasn't going to do that, but I'm aiming it for WCP Torrid line and well, they're stee-mah. Won't be going there with my nano project.

Not going to get much done tonite though. Its open house at my son's school and when I get home its WEDNESDAY TV NIGHT!!! We got America's Next Top Model, we got Dancing With the Stars result show, we got Jericho, we got Lost, we got Ghost Hunters, we got Project Runway and we got The Nine. OKAY TV SCHEDULING PEOPLE, HOW BOUT MOVING SOME OF THESE SHOWS TO A DIFFERENT NIGHT! Thank goodness for tivo.

Time to drag my son out of bed and face the sink of dishes. Ugh

Lord, Save Me From School Fundraisers

Its getting to be ridiculous. First, last month my stepdaughter brought her school fundraiser packet over. Fine, I bought something. Then it was my son's turn, along with school pictures, then my daughter's school pics, and her fundraiser. And then my stepdaughter brings YET ANOTHER school fundraiser over! 2 in 2 months??? This is nuts. I know that soon I'll have to deal with the first Girl Scout fundraiser. Oh, and then there was my daughter's school trip to Maine that hit us within the first week of school.

Does it ever end?? I mean, we have to deal with all the school shopping, getting kids their clothes, shoes, pens, paper etc.... I'm not rich, not even close, but I feel obliged to buy something from my kids and I just pray that my bank account can handle it all.

Off to work I go. To a dreaded day of phone calls. I hate the phones. With a passion.

Oh well. Such is life. I knew that when I signed on to this job I'd have to answer phones (kind of like joining the Army and knowing that there is a possibility that I'd see combat.... after all, its in the job description.)

The Research Continues...

So, I think I've picked out my hero model for my Nano challenge. Paul Walker fits into Daniel's character as I have him described in Finally Home. Sorry Paul, you'll have to have brown eyes, though. I think. (I need to go back and find all the Daniel scenes. Please someone tell me there's an easy way to do that!!). I've also been looking at some Competitive Trail Riding websites, but I don't know how much I'm really going to use that in the story. My heroine used to participate, but no longer. I'm sure I'll have to know something, but not everything. Still, its good to have the info.

I tried to start a blog specifically for this story, but I bombed at it (it didn't like me) so maybe I'll start one elsewhere.

Or maybe not.

Rotten day at work. I've been taken off data entry because they "need the coverage on the phones". But the phones have been dead today and there's SOOO much data entry piling up that its sickening. What kind of sense does this make??????? None at all.

I just want to go home. Now.

Oh, yeh, I forgot....

I haven't updated my homepage in ages. I hope I can find a few minutes tomorrow and get going on it. Maybe a page on upcoming stories, or a 'whats new' page. I honestly don't know what I can post as far as blurbs go for the two stories that Samhain will be publishing. Finally Home has a blurb on the cover, so thats all set.

I was also looking into getting my own domain name etc. Maybe for my Christmas present to myself. I want a more professional look. I'd like to do as much as I can by myself (with my husband's help-he knows more than I do).

I was doing some outlining on my NaNo story and have a few more ideas. Been coming up with names. And I know why Casey (my heroine) goes to NYC and accepts the job as the nanny with the people in NH. She's being paid very well and she needs the money to help with her brother's medical expenses because she feels she's to blame for his physical state.

Okay, I'm sure nanny's don't make tons of money, but, well, she can't be a high priced call girl. And money is no object to the woman who hired her.

I'll think of other reasons, but thats what I have so far.

Lost was awesome. I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad that its back on!!! Still more mysteries. And Sawyer, yet again, cracked me up, trying to figure out the whole system to get fed.... and ends up with a "bear bisquit" and a pile of kibble. But, oh, the look on his face when he saw Kate.... *sigh*

Off to bed I go.

Its Coming Along

Plotting that is.... for NaNoWriMo. I'm so excited! I've been brainstorming and trying to figure things out and I'm praying that this'll all come together and I'll have a marketable manuscript.

One of the first things I do is pick out my character models. This story is going to be a sequel to Finally Home, due out in June of 2007, so I'm using one of my secondary characters as the hero in the story. I haven't found a model for him yet, though I do have a general idea of what he looks like.

My heroine will be new to the cast of characters. I think I've decided on a Katie Holmes kinda gal, young looking, sweet, trying to be something she really isn't while hiding away from what she used to be (not that Katie Holmes is trying to be something she really isnt...)

Gist of her situation... she was a nationally known competitive endurance rider (competitive trail riding) who was involved in a horrific accident that changed her life. Now she's afraid of riding and had to move her life in a different direction. A nanny. The irony, she's hired by the mother of a horsewoman and her husband to care for their daughter. (should be interesting... said mother completely alienated her daughter in the first book. The nanny is a sort of peace offering).

Its up to my hero to figure out who she is, what happened to her and get her involved with horses again.... after trying to convince the baby's mom that she's crazy to have a horse-hating nanny on a horse farm.

Should be interesting.

More later.....

Copy Cat?

Last night, as I was trying to get to bed I was, instead, thinking of my Nano project, getting those nerves jumping. Can I really take this story idea to 50k? So I began to think about my characters, my heroine in particular. First of all, I'm planning on writing a sequel to a story that is going to be published by WCP. The hero is a nice guy, my heroine's (in Finally Home) best friend. I don't think I'm going to have a tough time with him.

But the heroine. Who is she? Where is she from? She's not from the little town that my story is set in, she's not from their "world". I know what she did before she came to the town, she'd been a competitive trail rider (its another horse story, folks). I'm also considering having her being a Sioux from South Dakota originally.

Then I thought, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. First of all, I have another story set in SD, (though this one is set only in NH and none of my characters in the other story were Native American) and I have a writing friend who is writing a story who's characters are Lakota. Would that be copying? The stories aren't going to be one bit alike, just to set that straight. I want my heroine to be different from the women I usually write about.

I just don't want to be called a copy cat.

Well, I'll think on it some more.. I still have about 28 days to go.....