Update Day: May Day! May Day!

Hey all! Today is the last Friday of the month, which means that it’s Update Day! But before I get into that, I just wanted to mention that one of the main characters from Endless, Ryan, is over at Libby Heily’sblog, getting interviewed.

So, for those of you who are new to this blog, Beth Fred and I host this bloghop. All the entrants share their big/crazy/crazy important goals. Then on the last Friday of the month, we all get together and share updates and encouragements.

You’re more than welcome to sign up. Just fill in your goal instead of your name…

http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=FF64F07D-7C24-4F9D-9F74-B5AFA89E3BCC

I have to admit that May was actually a bit of a terror for me. Within the first week of its start, I got hit with levels of anxiety that I haven’t experienced since the day I finished university. (In other words, it had even me worried.) Interestingly enough, the stress had slowly been receding, but I guess the exhaustion I’d been powering through caught up with me.

Add to that my blog tour and the surprise news that I might suddenly be without a job next month…

Yeah. May sucked. I’m glad it’s over.

But the thing is I changed my priorities from my goals to survival and then recovery. So… overall, I didn’t get much done.

In summary:

Goals for May:

1) 60k words written, 60 hours spent on edits or some combination.

Just over 22 hours on edits.

2) Find Crit Partners for Wo6C3. Any takers? It’s book 3 in The War of Six Crowns…

I didn’t get to this, because I took ages just to finish my round of edits.

3) Wo6C3 rough edits.

Got this one done.

4) Edit ES1.

Didn’t touch ES1 itself, but I’ve slowly been immersing myself in research, movies, books etc set more or less in that era so that I can get more of a feeling for the “world” of 1850s Texas.

5) Prep BvB2 rewrite.

Didn’t get there.

6) Finish Revisions to O1.

Didn’t get there.

7) Rewrite SS1. (Yep. This one’ll be sticking around for a while, I suspect.)

I was completely correct.

8) Add 10k words to StW1.

Didn’t write a single word of fiction this month.

9) Work on CdW concept.

Nope.

10) Start Sci Fi project. (Acronym still forthcoming.)

Nope.

11) Edit Untethered Realms Anthology short story.

I only got the editor notes back a few days ago, so I’ll get to this one in the coming month.

Reading:

Read 6 books.

I read four.

Read some chapters of Les Trois Mousquetaires.

This wasn’t one of them.

Networking and Marketing:

1) Get through blog tour for Endless.

Almost there. Only two more posts to go.

2) Regular updates to social networks.

This I can sorta call done, but I have to say, my whole anxiety experience is making me re-think my approach to social networks. Namely: I’m wasting precious time with most of them.

Life:

1) Find and maintain a balance between work, writing and life.

Kind of getting there, although the feeling like I had more balance *might* have been caused by circumstances more than any active decision on my part.

2) Find an exercise that I actually can do without the weather getting in the way. Balance is one thing. But let me just say that jogging just won’t happen if it’s cold and raining, and the wind blows hard enough to topple a link truck.

Done. I’m going to start dancing again, starting on Monday.

Goals for June:

Writing Goals:

 1) 60 000 words written, 60 hours of edits or some combination of those.

2) Find and submit to Critique Partners for Wo6C3

3) Critique works by critique partners.

4) Edit ES1

5) Prep rewrite for BvB2.

6) Complete revisions to O1

7) Add 10000 words to StW1

8) Work on CdW concept

9) Start Sci Fi Project. (Still thinking about an suitable acronym.)

10) Work on concept for a new story that came to me while I rested.

11) Edit my Untethered Realms anthology story.

Reading:

Read 6 books.

Read some chapters of Les Trois Mousquetaires.

Networking and Marketing:

Rethink Social Network Strategy

Regular updates to at least some of the social networks.

Confirm new covers for Wo6C series.

Life:

Maintain balance between life, writing and work.

Go to dancing classes once a week.

Get into the habit of eating more frequent, smaller meals. (Stress and an ulcer don’t mix, so I have to help where I can.)

How are your goals coming along?

The Muse Party Blogfest

Hey everyone. Today me and one of my characters/muses will be heading to a muse party for a blogfest.

The rules are simple: 

I have to bring a muse/character to an (Anti-) Valentine’s Day party. It can be the same one as before (last year), but it doesn’t have to be. 

And then we have to answer the following questions: 

1. Who did you bring to the party? Is he/she your Valentine or anti-Valentine?
2. Which one of you is the more romantic person?
3. What gift are you giving to your (anti) Valentine?
4. Are you guys wearing red or pink (or black…)?
5. Did you bring any Valentine’s Day treats?
6. Name a song for our Love Playlist or Anti-Love Playlist (or both)!
7. Got a great anti/Valentine party game?
8. Feeling the love or just feeling nauseous? How will you have fun at the party?
9. Has your muse been a good Valentine?

To see who else is taking part and to sign up, please click here.

So those are the rules, but I’m going to make the thing my own a bit.

Misha: *Pacing as she waits. A little nervous because she arranged with Nick at the last possible moment.*
Nick: *Stops his car next to her and gets out, running his hand through his slightly disheveled blond hair.* Sorry I’m late. Had to get these… *Ducks in and pulls out a bouquet of roses.*
Misha: *Grins and takes them.* Thanks so much for stepping up.
Nick: No problem. You owe me a packet of-
Misha: *Takes a box of Cuban Cigars out of her purse.*
Nick: I love you.
Misha: *laughs as she hands it over.* Hey! You put on red. Didn’t think you would.
Nick: *Glances at his shirt* Yeah… not a fan of the color, but hey, I’m supposed to be above politics. *Looks her over, his blue eyes dancing with mirth.* Darrion will kick himself if he finds out you wore a pink dress.
Misha: Yep. And it’s unlikely that anyone will see me in it again. Being Valentines and all. Usually I just avoid these things.
Nick: So what’s his problem anyway?
Misha: Oh, you know. The usual “You should be prioritizing my story”… thing.
Nick: Ah. Shall we? *Guides her around the car and opens the door for her.*
Misha: *Little smile at the old-world chivalry. Settles in while he gets behind the wheel.* Who do you think is more romantic between the two of us?
Nick: *Driving them to the party* You.
Misha: No… I think it’s you.
Nick: Misha. You’re the one who writes romances.
Misha: And you’re the one who’ve been in love with one woman for about 500 years.
Nick: *scowls* Not the same.
Misha: Oh?
Nick: Nothing romantic about that. Trust me.
Misha: Okay… *Sensing that this probably isn’t the best topic to continue on.* We’re supposed to pick a Valentines Day game.
Nick: Spin the bottle.
Misha: *Laughs!* No. Too awkward.
Nick: *Sing-song voice* I brought vodka…
Misha: Yum. But… no. *Can just imagine the party sinking into chaos thanks to vodka and spin the bottle.*
Nick: We’ll leave it as an option.
Misha: *Laughs and just shakes her head.* Okay… You dance, right?
Nick: *Snorts* Better than most mortals. Got plenty of practice.
Misha: You got a song for us to dance on?
Nick: Nah you decide. Pick a song you write those romance scenes to.
Misha: Okay… Flightless Bird, American Mouth. It makes me think of you.
Nick: *Long-suffering sigh* What are you bringing to the party?
Misha: You brought the ingredients I asked for?
Nick: Yep. In the back.
Misha: We’re going a bit early so I can make us chocolate fondants. Nothing more Valentine’s Day than that.
Nick: *grins* Sexy.
Misha: *gives his head a playful shove.* Stop.
Nick: But it’s true! Trust me, when you spend most of your life hungry, watching someone cook is amazing.
Misha: *chortles* You better behave.
Nick: *rolls his eyes* Of course. I’ll be the best behaved Valentine you’ve ever had.

Oh dear. Somehow, I’m not feeling all that reassured. Think he’ll be a good Valentine or will all the romance bring out the little devil in him?

Lost and Found Blogfest

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to take part in this blogfest. When I entered, I actually worried a little because I wasn’t sure if I would have time to create something. But then I thought “Hey, I actually have the perfect scene for this.”

AND the added bonus is that it comes from my upcoming book, so even better.

The reason why I like this scene for this blogfest is simple. The mission is to write about love lost or found and this scene is a little bit of both. Hope you enjoy!

Click the button to enter or find the other people taking part.

The Problem with Immortality

“Well hello there, beautiful.” Luc’s lovely voice caressed the back of my neck and I squealed, giving him the biggest hug I could.

“You followed us here?” I asked, holding on to him as if he might disappear at any moment. When we’d left France, I’d left Luc behind and with him, my heart. Oh how I’d cried that day. He’d looked my age back then.

I stepped back and looked up at his face. At somewhere in his twenties he now looked older than me, while I barely seemed old enough to go to my first Carnevale party. The realization sent a stab through me and I lowered my gaze.

He was a man now, and I…I didn’t even know what I was. A woman trapped in a child’s body? A freak of nature. Either way, it wouldn’t do to seem overly familiar with someone in public. It wasn’t proper. Venice might have been home to Casanova, but in reality, life here was strict. I sent a furtive glance to my companion, who at least was kind enough to stay at a discrete distance for the duration of this conversation.

“We’re both here,” Luc said. “Armand tired of France.”

I scowled up at him despite myself. “Please tell me he’s not going to the Doge’s party.”

He frowned at me. “What if he is?”

“Well he’ll spoil it,” I said, causing Luc’s frown to deepen. He always was devoted to his twin.

“I do wish you two would get along.” Luc said.

“And I do so wish he’d stop being an ass.” Or that he’d stop breathing, for that matter. I turned back to the display of Carnevale masks. I still needed to find a mask that would match the dress I planned to wear to the party.

I heard Luc’s heavy sigh behind me. “At least you’re still glad to see me,” he said and joined me by the window. “I missed you.”

“I–I…” I wanted to say I missed him too, but if I had never before realized what a difference our lifespans made, I felt it keenly now. He’d be reborn long before I was, and then he’d outgrow me again and again. When I had my rebirth, it could take centuries for us to be together again.

It wasn’t a way for us to live.

I swallowed my words and went to the next window, dashing at my tears. I tried to hide it, but Luc was too perceptive.

He caught my arm and forced me to face him. “Don’t,” he murmured, pulling me closer to him. “I’m here now.”

I sobbed and held onto him. Body-to-body, he stroked my back and whispered loving words into my ear. I felt the strength in his body, the play of his muscles beneath my fingers. But no matter how close we were, we’d never be together.

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Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

I have today the great pleasure of announcing the coming of:

Realms Faire 2015

It is a Faire not only restricted to medieval themes, but to all times and themes. The organizers are still looking for participants in two events.

Do you want to battle an immortal? 

Or would you rather duel with other bards? 

Both still have spots open.

Then, we the organizers are looking for a wide variety of prizes and will be most grateful for your most gracious offerings.

Perhaps you only want to watch the fun. (Or you missed entering one of the challenges.) 

That’s wonderful too. There is nothing as fun as having an audience, and all are welcome to spectate the spectacle. We also have a variety of open games:

Velociraffle

Drench-a-Wench/Soak-a-Bloke

Hall of Doors

Riddle Me This

A Unicorn Hunt

The Hero’s Dilemma

Phasers

Who Roams Here

Stockade Brigade

All have prizes to be won and will be great fun. 

Remember This Date

For more information, to enter or to submit prizes, click here.

Who’s in?

One last thing. Michael D’Agostino interviewed James from The War of Six Crowns today. I’d love it if you all came to say hi. 

The Muse Party Blogfest

Hi all! Just because I felt like doing something a bit different, today, I decided to take part in Sarah Foster’s Muse Party Blogfest.

Basically, it’s a virtual party where writer’s and muses go. Or characters, if it comes to that. I’m dragging a character along, because he’s been veeeeery vocal while I’ve been editing the book he’s in. (If you’d like to join in or to see who else is at the party, click here.) Now without further ado, time to get going.

Misha: *Checks outside while she finishes getting dressed. Stifles a laugh because Darrion’s scowling while leaning against her car.*
Darrion: *Tugs at his collar, so not into this casual-not-taking-weapons-with outfit, but Callan and Kaela both insisted, so…*
Misha: *Heads out as soon as she’s done.*
Darrion: *Brightens slightly.* We can still skip the party.
Misha: What? No. I said we’re going and just not arriving is rude. Besides. I didn’t get dressed for nothing.
Darrion: *Looks her up and down* Well…you do look nice.
Misha: …Thanks.
Darrion: And I do so appreciate you not trying to make your dress match my shirt.
Misha: *squints, trying to figure out if he’s being sarcastic. Goes with… not.* Yeah. Not the matchy matchy type. *Gets into the car.*
Darrion: *mutters* Thank God. *Takes two bottles off the car’s hood and gets in as well.*
Misha: Says the guy who spends more than three quarters of his life in uniform.
Darrion: *Sing song* Not the same.
Misha: *Little shake of her head. Just drives.*
Darrion: Are you sure you have time for this? I mean–
Misha: Do not bring up all the editing I have to do. It’ll get done.
Darrion: *Tiiiiiny smile. Secretly loves winding her up.*
Misha: I should have invited my muse. *Glances his way.*
Darrion: Now why would you say that?
Misha: Or maybe I should have brought Gawain. He’s always a hit at parties.
Darrion: *Peeved* I can be a hit at parties too, you know. We’re friends for a reason.
Misha: Okay… What are we going to sing for karaoke?
Darrion: *Scowls*
Misha: See? You’re too uptight for strange parties.
Darrion: And yet, I’m a great conversationalist.
Misha: If you can resist hitting someone. *Groans* You’re not going to hit someone.
Darrion: *Scowls* Why am I coming with you again?
Misha: Because you won’t leave me alone, remember? You follow me around everywhere.
Darrion: Right. *Crosses his arms, making his shirt strain at his shoulders.*
Misha: What party game are we going to suggest?
Darrion: Is Quin coming? We can maybe tie him up and–
Misha: Don’t…
Darrion: *Grins* We only need to stop somewhere for sticks.
Misha: Gaaaaaaaah you’re incorrigible!
Darrion: *Chuckles* You love me for it. *Seriously thinks about a game that’s actually safe for everyone to play*
Misha: Musical Chairs it is.
Darrion: …
Misha: *Explains*
Darrion: Oh…kay?
Misha: It’ll be fun.
Darrion: If you say so.
Misha: What’s in the bottles?
Darrion: Mulnich for me and… since you definitely can’t handle mulnich, liquid chocolate for you.
Misha: *Grins* Enough to share?
Darrion: *Nods*
Misha: *Grin widens* And that is why I love you.
Darrion: *Little smile back.*
Misha: *Sighs when they arrive at the party.*
Darrion: *Frowns at the entrance where people are milling around.* No one’s seen us yet. We can still escape.
Misha: Oh for the love of — *Gets out of the car.*
Darrion: *Follows* Can’t blame me for trying. You know I don’t generally do well with crowds.
Misha: Nonsense. You’re charming. You’re good looking. You’ll be the heart and soul of the party as soon as you smile.
Darrion: Exactly what I’m not looking forward to.
Misha: …You realize becoming King means you’ll deal with crowds for the rest of your life, right?
Darrion: Worth it.
Misha: *Can’t argue with that* Well…if you really don’t want to go… I’ll just go alone. Just…try and stay out of trouble, okay? *Heads in.*
Darrion: …*Sighs and catches up to her at the door, hooking her arm through his.* This is worth it too.
Misha: *Beams and kisses his cheek, then looks around for people she knows.*

An (Delayed) Update Day

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING.

It’s a terrible thing when the thing being forgotten is my own bloghop. I profusely apologize!

There’s a good excuse though. Two, actually.

See, you remember I mentioned that we’re importing 5000 pairs of shoes? Yesterday we had to start unpacking them. I did this while riddled with flu yet again. So we started at nine, got home at seven.

I ate.

I showered.

I crashed.

And it took me to almost noon today to realize I completely forgot I was supposed to post. It’s a disguised blessing for you all, though. Because after I ate and showered, I wasn’t all that… how shall I put it? Rational.

But here I am on just enough pain meds (hurts to swallow and… well… breathe. (Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s just the flu.))  to actually function, so let me update you.

What I achieved in October:

1) I finished drafting the sequel to The Heir’s Choice. 
2) I managed to pretty much do nothing writing-wise for the rest of the month.
3) Unless you count critiquing. I critiqued three books.

My writing break did bring the writing-lust back, though, which means I decided to join in for NaNoWriMo this year. I probably won’t win, though, because I have a ton of stuff to get done.

1) Edit The Heir’s Choice and Birds vs Bastards once the last of my critiques come in.
2) Sort out formatting. Screw it. Hire someone to do the formatting for me.
3) Write 50k words. Write a nice respectable amount of words and see if I can finish any more of my rough drafts.

Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? My user name is iceangel if we haven’t buddied up, yet.

Update Day

Hey all! Welcome to yet another update day! It’s scary to think that next month we’ll be half-way through the year.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a list here of people who have big goals and every month, we update each other and the world on how we’re doing. Anyone’s welcome to join, so do go sign up! 

So how did I do? 

Basically, I gave up on doing any edits this month about half-way through, since my mind just wouldn’t fall into line. So instead I got back to doing needlepoint with my writing music blaring in the background. And I did farm-related work (of course, being my job). Also, I pretty much got into the car whatever opportunity I got to escape for a few hours. 

You’d think I’d be here saying that once again, I got absolutely nothing done. 

You’d be wrong. This month I finished cleaning up The Vanished Knight for publishing and revised nine chapters (out of 26) of The Heir’s Choice. 

So, still not at last year’s levels of productivity, but hey, I’ll get there. At least I can say I got started. 

Hopefully I’ll be able to finish this round of revisions within the next two weeks. If I do, I definitely want to get some drafting in. It’s way past time. 

Which means, my year (past and planned) looks like this: 

How are you doing? 

Finding the Write Path

Hey all! I stumbled across this blogfest a while ago and thought it’ll be a nice, inspiring activity to take part in. Except, well, here I am on Friday and I’m not quite sure what to say. So instead, I’m going to just start and let the dice fall as they may.

Carrie, you’re welcome to use my letter. 🙂 

Info: 

Name: Misha Gericke
Writing Blog: http://sylmion.blogspot.com

Right. Now it’s time for me to get into the letter… wish me luck!

Hey Kiddo,

I’ve been grappling with what to put in this letter and.. Honestly I still am.

See, this is a letter to tell you about stuff you could do better, should do better. Things you should jump for and things you should change.

And you’d think there’d be a lot. I mean, you’re thirteen and I’m twenty five.

Except there’s not.

The book you’re writing right now… It’s going to get lost when your parents rip out the mother board and insert your grandmother’s so she can write. And that’s okay. Because you’re going to write it again, and lose the rewrite when you’re twenty two. And that’s also okay because you’ll rewrite it again and realize you learned so much that you would have been embarrassed if that book had actually been published.

You’re going to write seven false starts before writing the book you’ll publish. And your publisher will turn out to be more than a little sociopathic. But that’s good, because you’ll learn that no amount of validation is worth the pain and fear that comes with the thought that you’ll lose the rights to a book you worked on for seven years. To any book, for that matter. And you’ll act accordingly.

You will learn that you never finish first drafts to books if you plan them. You’ll also learn to cling to writing because that’s what keeps you sane. You’ll learn to be (even if I say so myself) amazing at writing and editing, and you’re going to learn it all by going through all these bad things that happened.

You’re going to be strong. And we will succeed. 

And all of this will be thanks to the lessons you learned. So do stupid things. Dare. Find what doesn’t work so you can work out what does. Keep striving. Keep going. And yes, do keep getting pissed off at negative people who act like they know about writing when all they’ve ever written was an e-mail.

Because you are better than what they say. And you knew the day you started writing the thing that I still know now:

You’re awesome, and awesome people write awesome books.

Love,

Me.

Update Day

Hey all! Today’s Update Day for my Big Dreams (or any one of a million things you want to call it) bloghop. Basically, if you have big dreams or hugely important goals for your writing, this is the place for you. Go here, if you still want to sign up. Or even if you want to see how the rest of us lunatics are doing.

Okay. So… January wasn’t my most productive month. I only wrote about 6000 words.

I did, however finish a short story I’m going to send to the Untethered Realms anthology. And I’m pretty dang close to finishing edits to Birds vs Bastards. So close, that I’m probably going to start querying before the end of February.

Of course, as the year develops, so do my writing goals.

My timeline now looks like this:

With my editor gone, The Heir’s Choice (War of Six Crowns Book 2) is in limbo while I wait for the publishing house to find a replacement. Which means that Book 3 also has to wait. Honestly, this is breaking my heart. I’m dying to get back into that story.

In the meantime, I need to get some of my other projects done. That way I can focus on the Wo6C series once I have an editor again. I also need to keep busy while I query BvB.

That’s why I moved up one of the rewrites and why I’ll be drafting as well in February.

Also, researching the Afrikaans story is turning into a pain in my ass. (As any research would if all you get is “They were glorious.” and crap like that. Oh and if my local library employees give me empty stares when I say I need something for research. Want me to find it myself? THEN MAKE SENSE IN YOUR SHELVING!!! Stick up markers so we know what goes where. ANYTHING!!! Sigh. I hate useless people.) Ahem. Point is I basically lost a whole month out of my already short schedule trying to get the books I need for research. Which means that I don’t know if I’ll manage to write the story by September (never mind edits). Not giving up on it, but it’s now lowest priority and stuck on “research/conception” until such a time that it’s actually realistic for me to even consider writing the damn thing. I’m going to stop here, but expect a post on this in the near future. But let me just say I now know why NO ONE seems to write about this time period anymore. (One book in the past ten years.)

Anyway.

This month I want to:

1) Add words to at least one of my running rough drafts.
2) Rewrite my western romance.
3) Research my Afrikaans story.
4) Put together an agent list for Birds vs Bastards.
5) Finish edits to Birds vs Bastards.
6) Query some agents.

Tell me you’re getting along better with your goals than I am. Please.

News Day December Edition

Hey all! It’s been a while since I did News Day, but I thought these tidbits were too good to share.

First of all, Mark Koopmans is hosting 50 States of Pray. Here’s what Mark’s asking:

“I’m calling it the 50 States of Pray event and I’d love to find at least one person (but the more the merrier) from each U.S. state to participate.

But wait… as they say on TV… This is absolutely open to anyone, anywhere. Imagine if we got one person from 50 independent states (countries), too. That would be amazing!

All that’s required is to take a moment and about 100 words. Then, on Dec. 24, 2013, please share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope and even a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future.

If you can’t post on the day… it’s Christmas Eve, Mark… (I know, I know 🙂 feel free to schedule your post to go live on the 24th.
I’m *NOT* expecting people to comment – my only hope is that people can stop by to read, relax and reflect for as much time as they can spare :)” 

Sounds amazing, right? Click here to join up. 

Next, Milo is hosting a Christmas Giveaway for every Friday in December. So if you have a book or story to give, why not spread a little Christmas Cheer? Click here to sign up. 

Last but not least, Nutschell is trying to raise funds for the relief efforts in the Philippines. You can help by either buying a book, or a t-shirt. Click here to find out more.