Stuck in Edit Mode

Besides working through edits on my contracted story, I've been revising my new Civil War romance, Katie Rose, all week.

I turned in my first edits of Erin's Rebel last Friday and while waiting for my editor to send the next set, I thought I'd get as far with the KR revisions as I can. I've gone through roughly 100 pages of revisions over the week, and I'd already polished up the opening chapters for a couple of contests, so I don't have that much more to revise.

Maybe I can actually get the revision done before the edits for the other manuscript come in.

If not, I'll at least have a big head start.

Release Date!!

I got the release date for Eternity Waits just last night.

It'll be a digital release from The Wild Rose Press on April 23rd.

In honor of my impending release, I'm posting the excerpt I promised.

Excerpt for Eternity Waits
Black Rosette, sensual

Alexandra rose from the cave where she'd slept and stretched luxuriously. The moon beckoned, a pale, silver glow. He awaited her.

Her mind called out to him. Dimitri.

And he answered her. Alexandra, lyubof, come to me.

A chill raced down her spine as she thought of her lost love. How could it be him? Was it possible for the soul to be reborn in a different body? Her mere existence proved stranger things possible. Was she deluding herself? The young American couldn't possibly be Dimitri. But she'd felt his presence since the first time she'd come upon Caleb guarding the outposts of the Rebel camp. She watched him from the shadows, his body taut, on alert. He stared at her, then lowered his gun and reached for her.

She moved toward him, a question in her eyes.

"Dimitri, my Dimitri," she murmured into his ear. Their lips met. She took his mouth greedily. Memories of Dimitri lying beside her, his body entwined with hers, sent her passion soaring. She slid her lips along his throat.

Blurb for Eternity Waits

Well, we've completed work on the final galley for Eternity Waits. Now I'm waiting for my editor to get back with a release date.

In the meantime, I thought I'd post the official blurb to wet the appetite.

Alexandra Ivanov has wandered the night alone for the past three hundred years. The only man she truly loved had been taken from her on a bloody battlefield centuries ago. Now she finds herself drawn to Caleb Weathers, a virile soldier who sets her heart racing.

Caleb, a Confederate soldier stationed in Gettysburg in 1863, is intrigued by the beautiful, exotic woman who calls him by the name Dimitri. When she touches him, she sets his body on fire. But is she the devil in disguise?

Next I'll post an excerpt.

March Goals

It's leap day and time to post my goals for March.

I've decided to go easy on myself this month, but I did complete the workshop I was taking all of last month and I just turned in my edits for Erin's Rebel to my editor. She told me she'll get back to me in about two weeks.

That gives me two solid weeks to work on my new writing projects.

So, what I want to try to accomplish this month:

1) Enter Katie Rose in my chapter's Romance Through the Ages Contest.
Mainly to support my chapter. I entered Erin's Rebel in this contest twice and didn't final either time. But since I'm allowed to enter even though I have a contracted book, I thought I'd give it a try. It would be nice to at least final and would get attention for my new Civil War story.

2) After polishing up those opening chapters for the contest, I want to make a clean printout of Katie Rose and start on my revisions for the entire manuscript. Maybe I'll even have time to complete them, if not I'll get a good start.

3) I worked out the bare bones of a new short vampire story in the workshop I just finished. I'd like to work out an outline for it this month.

I've decided to leave my sci-fi outline sit for now, so I can complete my revisions and whatever edits I have to do on Erin's Rebel. I'll get back to it eventually.

So, let's see what I can accomplish this month.

What Happened with those February Goals?

Since it's nearly the end of the month, I thought I should go over my goals to see how I did.

This month has been crazy, I completed rewrites and edits on Eternity Waits--and just received the final galley--sold Erin's Rebel and have just started edits on that.

Had lots of excitement with cover art, too, and needed to fit in updates on my blog and website to reflect my great news.

Finally getting published brings on a lot of new work, but it's all worth it. But as a result, I didn't get much work completed on my original February goals.

The first goal was to complete that sci-fi outline. Well, I did complete a basic summary outline and made a start on the detailed outline, so I guess that's something. The main thing is, the outline will be there when I can get back to it. And it's always a help to have the basic plot and character motivations in front of you, rather than starting a story completely from scratch.

As for the revisions to Katie Rose, I haven't had the chance to do a complete read-through yet, but have revised a couple of chapters for my critique group. Once I finish the preliminary edits for Erin's Rebel--they're due on Monday--I'll get to work on that read-through and get started on revisions.

So, although I didn't meet my goals for this month, I've been able to get at least some work done on each project. I'll try to post my March goals before the first of the month.

Blog On Slip Into Something Victorian

I have a new blog up on Slip Into Something Victorian on Victorian hair jewlery. This was an important plot point in Erin's Rebel.

A Victorian brooch containing a lock of the hero's hair was the catalyst that sent the heroine, Erin, back through time.

Here's the link: http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com

Another Great Cover!

The Wild Rose Press did it again.

Here's my cover art for my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel.

Isn't it fantastic?

WICKED WOMAN

Every once in a while, I like to do a review of one of the great books I've read. I just finished reading Denise Eagan's WICKED WOMAN.If you haven't yet read this book, you're in for a treat.

The story's set in Victorian era Boston. The heroine, Morgan, is the daughter of an English Earl and has run away to escape an arranged marriage to a man she doesn't love.

She marries a sailor, who dies. She then quickly goes through two more marriages, both to men who also die. The last husband, who she lived with in Philadephia, abused her. Trying to avoid an attack, she hits him on the head with a statue and he dies. Afraid she'll be charged with murder, she flees to Boston and earns the reputation as the 'Wicked Widow of Philadelphia'.

The hero, Ward Montgomery, is a ship captain. He catches Morgan breaking into his office to steal food and recognizes her as the widow of two of the sailors who'd served under him. He takes pity on her, a girl of twenty-one, takes her to his home and feeds her. He hopes to lend aid by finding employment for her.

She suggests he take her on as his mistress. He doesn't know about her aristocratic background and sets her up with a house. And a sensuous adventure begins.

Morgan is a young woman with a strict upbringing in England, who now longs to experience all the wicked delights she's had to repress. She's young and reckless, but very believable. Ward is a society bachelor, who isn't ready to settle down with a proper wife. He delights in Morgan's nonconformity, until he finds out she's the daughter of an Earl.

This book is fast paced, Victorian-set romance, and a real page turner. If it weren't for time constraints, I never would have put it down. When I did have to put it aside, I looked for every opportunity to pick it up again.

My rating: 5 stars out of 5. And it's going on my keeper shelf.

Fantastic News!!!

I just got another contract from The Wild Rose Press for my full-length Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel.

I've been submitting and entering this story in contests for the past five years, went through a major revision starting at the plot level, and received another rejection for it last fall.

I am so thrilled that everyone will now have a chance to read Erin and Will's story.

Here's a short blurb to wet your appetite: 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. The man of her dreams is now a flesh and blood Rebel soldier who sets her soul aflame. Can she correct a mistake made long ago that caused his death and denied her the love she was meant to have? A love that lives beyond time?

I'll keep you all apprised as this project moves along.

My Cover for Eternity Waits

Here's my cover for my short vampire story, Eternity Waits, coming soon to The Wild Rose Press.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Rejection

Just got my first rejection today for a partial I'd sent out after the holidays for Katie Rose .

They said my story didn't dazzle them. I got annoyed for about two seconds, then decided I really didn't care. Rejection wasn't going to ruin my day. I just filed the letter away and marked that publisher off on my itinerary sheet.

I think I've finally developed that thick writer's skin where I can put rejection in perspective. That publisher didn't like my story, but one day I'll find the one who'll love it as much as I do.

How do you all handle rejection?

February Goals

I'll make my February writing goals short.

The reason is, I'm taking an online workhop on Plotting via Character Motivation this month and want to be able to fully participate. I plan to use the workshop to help plot out my sci-fi romance, Moons of Cynara.

So here are this month's writing goals:

1) Complete (finally) outline for Moons of Cynara.
I'll use the workshop to move this plot along.

2) Start revisions for Katie Rose, my historical romance.
I've already revised and polished the opening chapters, sent partials and entered the Sheila contest, but most of the remaining chapters are still in first draft stage.

I'm sending chapters of this story to my critique group, so have started going over a few chapters, but noticed I started a subplot thread that I think I may have dropped in later chapters.

So, these are the two goals I want to concentrate on for this month.

What Happened to January!

This past month just flew by. Seems like it was just Christmas!

I realized it's time to review my January goals and see how I did.

1) Send out partials for Katie Rose.
I got them out and actually got the reply postcard back for one already.

2) Complete Moons of Cynara outline.
Well, I stalled out on this one, although I did make some progress. This month I'm taking a workshop on Character motivation and plot development, so that should movtivate me to get moving on this project. Hopefully, I can get the outline done by the end of February.

3) Prepare and enter Katie Rose in a late January contest.
Done! I entered the opening chapters and synopsis in the Valley Forge Romance Writers Sheila Contest.

4) Cut scenes for my time travel romance, Erin's Rebel.
Not only did I cut those scenes to bring the manuscript page count down, but I sent a query with synopsis, got a request for the first three chapters, then the request for the full from The Wild Rose Press. It's currently under consideration there. So, although I faltered on the outline goal, I got way ahead on this one.

Guess I didn't do so bad.

And February's a short month. I'll see what new goals I can come up with.

Blogging At Slip Into Something Victorian

I'm blogging over at Slip Into Something Victorian today. The blog's about my husband's search to find a Civil War soldier ancestor and the interesting results.

Here's the link: http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com

Starting Something New

I've finally found the time to get started on the outline for my sci-fi romance. For now, I'm using the title Moons of Cynara.

The love story is between two members of Earth military who are sent to the planet to prevent a war between Earth colonists and hostile aliens.

Although it's a lot of work--I have to create an entire world--I'm having fun working on a brand new project. My other stories are all either going through revisions or edits, and I'm waiting for responses from a few publishers.

So, I'm going to spend as much time in my new world as I can and see where my imagination takes me.

It's My Birthday and I'll Blog If I Want To

Today's my birthday. I won't say which one.

Another year gone by and I'm feeling really good about it. After years of writing, submitting, taking workshops and studying my craft, I've got a contract for my first romance. Eternity Waits, a short vampire story, will be released by The Wild Rose Press.

Although I've been published in the past, it's been quite a while since I've sold anything new. So, this year feels like a turning point for me.

Besides Eternity Waits, my Civil War time travel, Erin's Rebel, is currently under consideration by the same publisher.

I've just gone through my first round edits for my short story and feel like all the work and rejections I've dealt with in the past were worth it.

I think 2008 is going to be my year.

Feeling Good!

Here we are in mid-January and I just realized I've met all of my goals for the month but one.

I sent out my partials for Katie Rose, my historical romance, and already received the reply card from one of the publishers.

I cut scenes in Erin's Rebel, so it would meet my target publisher's guidelines, sent the query and synopsis, got a request for the first three chapters, and now they have the full under consideration.

Yeah, way ahead on that goal!

I sent out my contest entry for Katie Rose yesterday, well ahead of the January 31st dealine.

So, all that's left is that outline. I spent an hour world-building today. I would have done it yesterday, but my editor wanted me to get the manuscript information sheet in for my short vampire story, Eternity Waits, so the cover artist can start working on the cover and the marketing department can start planning how to promote my story.

A cover for my short story! Can't wait to see it!

Working It Out

While writing and promoting my writing are very important daily activities, the most important thing I do each day is spend an hour working out.

My morning workout consists of 25 minutes on a stationery bike, the last 5 minutes is my cool down. I spend the next 10 minutes stretching, then I alternate between one of two workout tapes that include exercises with small hand weights for my upper body, lower body exercises and abdominal workout.

I do this every day during the week to give me energy to get through the day, keep me healthy and keep those extra calories from creeping up on me.

No matter how much else I have to do, I always make time for my workout.

New Blog on Slip Into Something Victorian

I just posted a new blog on Slip Into Something Victorian.

Since most of my stories so far are set during the Civil War, I talked about the different weapons used during the war and how the war advanced the technology used both in weapons and in warfare.

By commenting there you also have a chance to win a gift basket.

Click on Slip Into Something Victorian and check it out.

January Goals

I posted my writing goals for 2008, but I haven't yet posted my goals for January.

Here they are:

1) Send out partials for my Civil War romance, Katie Rose.

2) Complete outline for Moons of Cynara, my sci-fi romance.

3) Prepare and enter Katie Rose in a late January contest.

4) Cut scenes from my time travel romance, Erin's Rebel.

I'll let you know by the end of this month how I did.