May Goals - Revisited

Well, it's the end of May.

How did I do on those May goals?

1) Continue first draft of Katie Rose. I'd hoped to complete at least the first 200 pages.

I just made it. I'm exactly at page 200 in the first draft. I got a little sidetracked on this because I've been revising the early chapters for my critique group, so I've been going back and forth. But I'm where I wanted to be.

2) Start basic synopsis outline for my first sci-fi romance, Moons of Cynara.

I actually did start this, but again, got sidetracked. But my goal was to start, so I did accomplish that.

Guess I did all right.

I'll be back later with my goals for the month of June.

The Trials of Historical Research

While I love reading about history and always find interesting tidbits that help to make my historical characters more real, I also find that looking for a particular historical fact that's important to my story can be frustrating.

In my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel, the hero is seriously injured while in the trenches surrounding Petersburg, Virginia. The trench collapses on him and he breaks his leg. He's taken to the home of a Petersburg citizen where his friend, a Confederate surgeon, has set up a hospital.

My dilemma was, what did they do for broken bones at the time of the Civil War?

I looked in my Civil War medicine books and searched a few websites, but could find nothing about the care of broken bones. But I did find tons of info on amputations.

Should I just put my hero in a splint, or did they have casts back then?

I did a search on Plaster of Paris and found it was in existence since 1852, nine years before the Civil War. They also had an earlier type of plaster cast that they used during the Crimean War.

If they had casts in that war, why not the Civil War?

Since my character was being treated by his friend, I decided to give him a cast. It made moving around a lot easier for him as he recovered.

But later, I wondered about shortages during the war. Could his friend have gotten the materials to make the Plaster of Paris mix?

Oh well, the manuscript's already at the publishing house, so I won't make any changes for now, but this points out the problems of historical research.

Sometimes, you just can't find out what you need to know. But what if you guess wrong and somebody calls you out on it?

Trying to Slow Myself Down

I've gotten into the habit of taking on too many projects at once. While I wait to hear back from the publisher on my first romance novel, I'm writing the first draft of the second one, while having my critique partners go over the early chapters. I'm also critiquing their chapters.

I'm trying to keep up with two blogs, this and my group blog, Slip Into Something Victorian. I want to post something new every few days on my blog and at do at least two per month for the group.

I've also started outlining my first futuristic romance. And, since I type manuscripts for other writers, I've got two clients whose projects I'm working on.

All work and no play. You know the drill.

My main diversion is baseball. I love to read, but that ties in with my work, so it's not really a pure leisure activity for me.

Watching baseball is one activity that totally takes my mind off writing. I can get caught up in the game and forget everything else.

Since I work from my home, there's no such thing as leaving work at the office.

So, now it's the weekend . . . bring on a baseball game.

Last Parent-Teacher Conference

Thursday night I attended my last ever parent-teacher conference. It feels like a right of passage.

I have three boys, young men now, and my youngest is a high school senior. When the boys were young they took up a lot of my time, but lately I've been able to devote more and more of my day to my own projects.

No more school volunteer work, scouts, little league baseball or other activities such as field trips, family vacations, children's birthday parties and other varied activities.

Will I miss any of this? Hell, no!

I've done my time to help my children become the young men they are.

Now it's time for me.

Memory Problems

In my former life, BK (before kids), I used to be a bookkeeper. I was very detail oriented, was skilled at crunching numbers and could even balance my checkbook to the penny.

After the boys came along, I became a stay-at-home mom. After the two oldest started school, I became the family record keeper, keeping track of school projects, and other important school functions, doctor and dentist appointments, little league and cub scout activities. I always knew what was coming up, how long I had to get ready for it and I never forgot a birthday or anniversary.

Now, my sons are grown. The youngest is now a senior in high school and I've immersed myself in my writing projects. I'm at the point where I can remember every detail of my plots and characters, but often don't know what day of the week it is.

My husband says I'm living in my own little world. I guess I am. I love my stories and characters. With no young children to care for anymore, it's my time to do what I want. And I've never been happier.

So what if I can't get that darned checkbook to balance?

I'm living my dream.

May Goals

My May writing goals are for two big projects.

1) Continue the first draft of Katie Rose.
I hope to write at least 60 more pages. This means I should have at least 200 pages done by the end of the month.

2) Start basic synopsis outline for my first sci-fi romance. I'm calling this first book Moons of Cynara.
After getting the character and setting sketches completed, plus a plot synopsis, I hope to start on my detailed outline by the end of the month.

That's it for this month.

How'd I Do On Those April Goals?

It's the end of April. Time to reasess my April goals.

Well, I only had two for this month. Let's see how I did.

1) Complete world-building for my futurisitc romance series.
Well, I fell down a bit on this one. I did read the book on world religions, but haven't yet completed the Native American book. But I did take a workshop on building the beginning of a novel, and wrote a blurb for the first book, that you can check out on the Current Projects page of my website, www.susanmacatee.com. I also developed the two main characters, as well as two supporting characters who will be the main characters in the second book, and I wrote the opening of the first book as an exercise for the workshop.

2) Start the first draft of my Civil War romance Katie Rose. I wanted to get at least 60 pages written.
I'm happy to say, I've surpassed this goal. I have the first 154 pages written and with the help of my critique group, have polished up the first two chapters.

All in all it wasn't such a disappointing month.

Trying To Keep Up My Momentum

I'm writing the first draft of my Civil War romance, Katie Rose and feel like I'm on a roll.

I did get stuck at one point, but fixed the problem by working in a few extra scenes and viewpoint characters.

Now, life intervenes to halt my momentum. I've been idle in my day job, typing manuscripts and other documents for writers. My regular clients send me things in spurts and I haven't had any regular work for awhile. More time to work on my own projects.

But now, the work is coming in and, frankly, I need some extra cash. I don't want to lose momentum on this new book, though.

So, what do I do?

I split my time between working on their projects and mine.

So far, it's working out, although I have fallen down on my blogging.

Oh well, something's got to give. Hopefully, things will get back to their regular pace soon, and I'll have some extra cash to spend on writing expenses.

Writing Another Love Scene -- Oh My!

I've gotten to the point in my new Civil War romance, Katie Rose, where I have to write the love scene.

I always feel nervous writing such scenes and have a hard time getting the mechanics and emotions in place, so that they blend together in a beautiful, romantic scene.

The love scene I wrote for Erin's Rebel needed help. My critique partners insisted it wasn't as bad as I thought, just needed more emotion. Their suggestions greatly improved that scene.

Now, I have to do it again. I won't even look at the Erin's Rebel scene until after I've written this new one. I'm afraid of repeating myself and don't want to do that. These new characters have different personalities and I want the love scene to evolve from their unique backgrounds.

The good thing is, before I'm ready to submit this new book to a publisher, I'll have ample time to have my critique partners look at it.

For now, I'll just do the best I can. After all, it's only the first draft.

Stuck In the Mucky Middle

I was moving along great on my Civil War romance, Katie Rose, until I came to what I call the mucky middle.

All of a sudden I felt like I was moving too fast toward the first big love scene. Something just didn't feel right and I had to stop.

I reread the manuscript from the beginning and realized what was wrong. I didn't include enough essential scenes to build up to that point. Part of the story was missing.

So, I went back to the drawing board, my outline, to see where I needed to insert scenes as well as different points of view.

After doing that, I went through the manuscript and wrote the scenes. Now, I just have to type them into the file.

Now, hopefully, I should have no more trouble writing the rest of the story.

Working On Katie's Story

Now that I've got my first romance, Erin's Rebel, in an editor's hands, I'm trying to get as far ahead on my new story as I can while I wait to hear back from Medallion Press.

Katie's story that I'm calling Katie Rose is my woman soldier romance tale. So far, I've got about one quarter of the book written, and I've sent the first chapter to my critique group.

I got a little stuck on Friday, but realized that I'd forgotten to insert a few vital scenes, so I did that today, and now I'm unstuck and moving ahead.

I've been wanting to start on this story for awhile, but had to get Erin's Rebel edited and proofread for Medallion. Now, it feels good to get this far ahead on my new story.

April Goals

As promised, here are my writing goals for the month of April.

1) Complete world-building for my futuristic romance series.
As part of this goal, I plan to read two books; one on world religions, the other on Native Americans.

2) Start the first draft of my Civil War romance Katie Rose.
I want to get at least the first 60 pages written.

Since both of these are big projects, that's all I have on tap this month. I'll let you know by May 1st how I did.

March Update

Well, it's the end of March. Time for an update on how many March goals I've achieved.

1) Enter Erin's Rebel in Hearts Through History's Romance Through the Ages Contest.
I actually had already accomplished this one by the time I posted my goals. But I won't hear any results on this until about mid to late April.

2) Finish final edit of Erin's Rebel.
Done.

3) Print out a copy of Erin's Rebel and proofread.
Done.

4) Send complete manuscript of Erin's Rebel to Medallion Press by March 30th.
I got ahead and sent out the full on March 20th by priority mail. They should have it in their hands right now.

5) Continue World-Building for futuristic.
I'm moving ahead with this project. I've named the planet where the story will take place. Came up with a title that may or may not change. But I like to have a title in mind before I start serious work on a new project.

I also named the hero and heroine, and two of the supporting characters, who will be the hero and heroine of the second book. Now, I'm working on the characters themselves.

I wanted to get started on character development now, because I'm taking an online workshop next week on characters and can use the ones I'm working on here for examples in my homework postings. I may even learn more about them by the end of this workshop.

So, it looks like I got everything done for March and even got a little ahead.

Next up, I'll post the goals I want to accomplish for April.

Thinking Baseball

It hit 82 degrees yesterday in Philadelphia. And it's almost April. It's started me thinking about baseball.

I've already caught a few of the minor league games on tv played in Clearwater, Florida by the Philadelphia Phillies.

They've become my team.

I say become, because in the past I had never been interested in baseball or any other sport. This baseball obsession started with T-ball.

You see, I have three boys. When they were small, I looked for things for them to do that would burn off some of that small boy energy. T-ball was the first organized sport I exposed them to.

Then came little league. Since my husband couldn't always accompany them to games, the job fell to me. I spent many a Saturday afternoon perched on the bleachers with a book, so I wouldn't get bored.

Then my middle son, who's now 22, got onto a team that was very good and very competitive. They won the championship that year. Suddenly, I started watching the games, even when my kid was on the bench. I learned the rules and started to get excited. I'd cheer and yell when something good happened and groan when games went downhill.

As my boys got older the games got even better.

Then they grew up and stopped playing. What was I to do now? I was going through withdrawal.

My solution was to watch and root for our local team, the Phillies. So far, they've been more a disappointment than anything else. But I still like to watch. And cheer. And groan.

For better or worse, I've become a baseball fan.

Batter up!

Work Out the Body & the Mind

As a writer, I do a lot of sitting. This doesn't sit well with a middle-aged body. So, the most important part of my day is my workout.

I do this religiously every morning. I start off with a twenty minute ride on my stationary bike, followed by a five minute cool-down. Afterward I do about five to ten minutes of stretching.

Then I vary the routine by alternating between two workout video tapes. One is lifting light weights, for both upper and lower body, followed by an abdominal and back workout.

The other video concentrates more on abdominals, with a few leg and back exercises included.

During the warm weather months, I also add in outdoor walks for variety.

After the workout, I pour myself a glass of orange juice and check my email.

My workout wakes me up, makes me look and feel great and stimulates my mind for whatever writing projects I have to work on that day.

So, if you're in a slump, try working out. It really gets the creative juices flowing.

Taking A Break From Contests

In the past I've entered numerous contests for my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel. First it was for the feedback, then to get an editor or agent's attention.

And while I've won a few contests, I usually get one judge who just loves it and two or more who like it, but think it's just so-so or outright hate it.

Before getting the request from Medallion Press, I had entered three more contests that I hadn't gotten the results of.

I just got one back and, as I said, one judge loved it, the other thought it was so-so. And some of the comments I got were baffling. One said I had relied too much on spell and grammar check. Huh?

It's time to take a break from contests. For one thing, I'm now a member of an excellent critique group. They give me all the feedback I need. And I've gotten the attention of editors at Medallion Press with my partial.

So, I'll save my time and energy for writing my next book.

My Baby's In the Mail

I finished and sent out the full manuscript of Erin's Rebel to Medallion Press this morning.

Now, I've got that nervous butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling. While the manuscript was here, I could still go back and change things. Now, the book has to sink or swim.

Time for me to get back to my other Civil War romance, Katie Rose. I have about five chapters done and had put it aside when Medallion requested the full of my Civil War time travel.

I'm also world-building for my futuristic series, so I've got a lot of work I can do while I wait.

What I'm Reading Now

I just finished In Sunshine Or In Shadow by Cynthia Owens. The publisher is Highland Press.

Cynthia is a member of my group blog, Slip Into Something Victorian. We talked about starting a critique group among our blog members and did a trial session a while back. I read the beginning of this book before it was published and looked forward to reading the entire thing.

The book is set in Ireland in 1850 just after the potato blight. I love Ireland and stories of the Irish and I fell in love with this story.

The heroine, Soibhan, has lost her husband and younger brother after they were hanged by her landlord. She's also lost other family members to the famine. She would do anything to keep her young daughter and grandmother from starving.

The hero, Rory, has come from America to take over as new landlord after the old one dies. He's lost his wife and has a young daughter. He also has a secret.

As these two come together, danger and secrets surround them. This story is a good old-fashioned historical romance.

For a great read, I highly recommend it.

For more information on Cynthia's book, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW, click on the link below.

http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com

Trying to Get That Love Scene Right

As I prepare my romance manuscript to send out to the publisher, I worried about my first major love scene that comes just before the middle of the book.

Is is sensuous enough? Will the editors thinks it's lame?

My solution was to put out an SOS to my critique group. And am I glad I did.

I got so many great suggestions to make my chapter shine. Now, I can send the book off with confidence to the publisher.

Thanks to my critique group, the Scandalous Proofers.

Happily Working On Two Novels at Once

I just got the good news that Medallion Press is interested in seeing the full of my Civil War time travel romance, Erin's Rebel.

So, I'm working through final edits and have promised to get the full manuscript to them by the 30th.

I've also started on the opening chapters of my new Civil War romance, Katie Rose. I was afraid that working on two different books would confuse me, but the characters and stories are so different, even thought they're set in the same general area in the same time period, that I'm having no problem switching between them at all.

I'm glad it's working out, because if Medallion likes the book, I'll have to work through more edits and revisions with them, but also want to keep moving ahead on my new book, while also continuing world-building on my planet for the futuristic series.

I'm as busy as I've ever been, but loving every minute of it.