A Brand New Year!!

It's the last day of 2008 and I'm thinking ahead to a brand new year. But first, I thought I should review my writing goals for 2008 and see how much I accomplished. Here are a few of the goals I did make.

• cut scenes from my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel


• sent the query to The Wild Rose Press


• got a request for a partial, then the full


• signed contract for Erin's Rebel and it will be a July 2009 release!


• entered my other CW romance, formerly titled Katie Rose in contests


• completed line edits for Katie Rose


• after changing the title to Confederate Rose, gave it a final proofread and sent the query and synposis to my editor & got a request for the full


• signed contract for Confederate Rose


• wrote short story for Civil War romance anthology called Angel of My Dreams


• submitted AMD to editor


• signed contract for AMD!


• outlined science fiction romance titled Moons of Cynara


• started first draft of Moons


• started outlining short Civil War Christmas story for historical romance anthology

I've got a good start on that first draft. By today's count, my word total is 36,525. I'm almost at the midway point. And although I started the outline on the short story, I haven't yet finished. But otherwise, I think I accomplished a great deal in 2008. Now, to figure out what I'd like to accomplish in 2009.

Trying to Get Back in Gear

The holidays aren't over yet, but I haven't been doing much writing over the last few weeks. The reason wasn't entirely Christmas though. The galley for Confederate Rose came in and I had to proofread it and mark mistakes. I just turned that in today and started back on the Civil War Christmas story I'd started outlining. I put in 2 1/2 hours on it this afternoon and feel like I'm back into the story. I still want to try to finish the outline this week, so I can start on the first draft after the holidays. I'll see how it goes.

Merry Christmas!!

Just want to wish a merry and peaceful Christmas to all my readers who celebrate and happy holidays for all!!

Free Christmas Story!

My free Civil War Christmas romance, A Kiss Under the Mistletoe, has just been released from The Wild Rose Press.

Samantha Harrison is preparing for her wedding day. Trouble is, she’s marrying the wrong man. The man she loves and whose child she carries, has disappeared months ago in battle in the last days of the American Civil War. On Christmas Eve, Doug Mitchell shows up at her door only to learn she’s marrying another man in two days.

To get your free download, visit the TWRP site at: http://thewildrosepress.com/ and click on FREE READS. If you don't have an account there, you'll have to set one up, but the story is completely free. You can also check out all the other free reads at the site.

This Just Isn't Working!

This month I thought I'd try something I haven't done before. I seem to have no trouble writing a first draft or outline one story, while doing edits on another. So, since I have two new projects I'm trying to work on at once, I thought I could write a first draft for one and outline another.

But it just doesn't seem to be working. Could be that the creative part of my brain just can't create two stories at once. Once I'm done working on my first draft, I just can't seem to switch to the outline. So, for now, I've decided to work on the first draft on weekdays and outline on the weekends.

Don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a try.

Blogging at Slip Into Something Victorian

Forgot to tell everyone that I posted a blog on Slip Into Something Victorian about period photography. Click the link to view: http://slipintosomethingvictorian.wordpress.com

December Goals

A little late, but here goes.

1) Get my word count for the first draft of my science fiction romance up to 40,000 words by the end of the month.

Since my word count now stands at 26, 673, I only have 13, 327 words left to go.

2) Complete the outline for a short American Civil War Christmas story by the end of the month.

I've already gotten a start on this one too.

And my contracted edits are out of the way, so I don't see any problems in completing these two goals. I'll let you know how I did and also list my 2009 goals at the end of December.

November Goals Update!

Well, seems I've outdone myself on this one, despite tons of distractions this month. My goal was to complete the first 20,000 words of the first draft for my new sci-fi romance story. And by November 30th, my total word count ended up at 21,568.

A great start!

Release Day for Erin's Rebel!

I finally got it. My release day for Erin's Rebel is officially set for July 17, 2009. I am so excited, because it will be released in both digital and print on the same day. So, it's time for an excerpt. Hope you enjoy.

Erin's Rebel

Time Travel Romance

The Wild Rose Press

Blurb: Philadelphia newspaper reporter, Erin Branigan, is engaged to marry an up-and-coming lawyer, but dreams of a man from the past, a Civil War captain, change her plans and start her on a journey beyond time. After a car accident, Erin wakes to find herself living in the 1860s in a Confederate army camp.Captain Will Montgomery, the man of her dreams, is now a flesh and blood Rebel soldier who sets her soul aflame. But the Irish beauty holds a secret he needs to unravel before he can place his trust in her.Can she correct a mistake made long ago that caused his death and denied her the love she was meant to have? Or is she doomed to live out her life with nothing but regret?

Excerpt

"Ma'am," someone called, startling her. "I'm mighty pleased to see you're up."

She turned in the direction of the deep voice. Am I dreaming? She licked her dry lips as she stared into the dark eyes that had haunted her dreams.

"Ma'am? You look a might peaked."

As he moved closer, her knees turned to jelly. Strong, hard-muscled arms embraced her, offering support. Her head spun. She lifted a hand to stop the motion and encountered wool, a double row of metal buttons and a rock-hard chest. The enticing aroma of sandalwood mixed with a musky, masculine scent, plus a tinge of wood smoke invaded her senses. Had she hit her head harder than she'd thought?

She gazed at his lightly tanned face. Firm lips tilted upward slightly at the corners surrounded by a thin chocolate-colored mustache curving into a neatly-trimmed beard covering only his chin. Thick, dark hair brushed his collar and curled from beneath a broad-brimmed black hat. Her pulse raced as she leaned against his long, solid frame. Night after night in her dreams she'd run her hands through those curls.

"How can you be here?" she murmured.

"Pardon me, ma'am?"

"I don't understand." She tried to wrench from his grasp, but he gathered her close, lifting her into his arms. "What are you doing?"

To read the opening chapters, click here: http://susanmacatee.com/erinsrebel.html