August Is Over Already?

I can't believe this month is over.

Time to see how I did with my August goals.

1) Finish revisions on outline of Sweet Redemption and write first draft.

Since SR is a short story of about 70 pages, I was able to get this one in. I just wrote the ending of the first draft on Wednesday. Now, I'll let the story sit for a little while.

2) Go over anthology story again.

I did a final revision and edit of my anthology story and now my critique partners are going over it.

3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.

This is my full-length young adult that was formerly published as Under the Guns. I finished the proofread and got a request for the full. Now, I'm waiting to hear back on it.

So, I think I deserve a few days of R and R. But I did do some updating on my website. If you'd like to see the results click the link: http://susanmacatee.com/News.html

Tuesday Ten at Slip Into Something Victorian

I posted the Tuesday Ten today on facts about Victorian clothing over at Slip Into Something Victorian.

http://somethingvictorianblog.blogspot.com/

Erin's Rebel Excerpt

Since I've turned in my final edits for Erin's Rebel, my Civil War time travel romance, in to my editor, thought I'd whet everyone's appetites with an excerpt.

Erin's Rebel

Time Travel Romance

The Wild Rose Press - American Rose

The sound of her name on his lips made her skin tingle. She tore the paper off the package. At the sight of the brooch, her breath caught.

"Do you like it?" he asked anxiously. "I had it made just for you."

Eyeing him, she had a hard time finding her voice. This was Erin O'Connell's brooch, the very one that had sent her back in time. It shone in her hands, new and unworn from time and wear.

What did this mean? She must be following Erin O'Connell's footsteps. As far as she knew her being here hadn't changed anything. Will was still destined to die this year.

"I didn't mean to upset you, Erin. If you don't want the brooch--"

"No." She clasped the pin against her chest as the meaning of his gift sank in. "It just means so much to me."

His look of concern softened into a lopsided grin. "I'm happy you feel that way."

"Thank you, Will." She slipped the brooch into the pocket of her wrapper, then stood on her toes, lifting her arms to circle his neck. She kissed his cheek, inhaling his musky scent.

His mouth was on hers, hot and urgent. The softness of his moustache and chin beard tickled her lips. She opened to him, her tongue slipping inside to taste him thoroughly. He groaned, pressing the length of his body against her.
___

Hope you all enjoyed. Keep you posted on further developments.

Things Are Finally Slowing Down

Wow! I finally have time to think of something beside my work. After juggling several clients for months in my home business, I actually have no work in at all.

I'm also in wait mode on several of my writing projects. Erin's Rebel is finished! Just waiting on the galleys. All I have left to do when they come in is proofread for mistakes.

And a few of my other projects I've been switching between are also in wait mode now.

I've decided to use all this free time to finally start writing the first draft of my new vampire story, Sweet Redemption. This one will be longer then Eternity Waits, but still a short story. Like Eternity Waits, it takes place during the Civil War. An ex-Catholic priest turned Union infantry captain is attacked by a vampire. He must save his soul from the vampire, as well as a beautiful Southern widow, who takes him in when he collapses across her back stoop. I'm having fun writing the new scenes. I'm trying to get myself out of edit mode though, to keep the words flowing. I've outlined the entire story scene by scene and am following it as I write the first draft.

If things go on as they are, I'll have no trouble completing the first draft by the end of the month.

August Goals

Finally figured out my August goals.

First and foremost, I have to complete final edits for Erin's Rebel, but I'm almost finished. So, here they are:

1) Finish revisions on the outline for my new vampire story, Sweet Redemption and write the first draft.
Since this is a short story I should have no trouble completing the first draft by month's end.

2) Go over my anthology story, Angel of My Dreams, again.
I already did one revision, so will mostly be doing final edits.


3) Complete proofread of Cassidy's War.
The editor is reading the first three chapters, and I'm almost finished proofreading the remainder of the manuscript.


So, I think I should be able to complete these goals by the end of the month, especially if my home typing business continues in a lull. Frees up that much more time for writing.

My Blurb Won Third Place

My blurb for Confederate Rose won third place in The Wild Rose Press blurb contest. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look.

http://americanroseblurb.blogspot.com

My Goals for July

I checked over the goals I'd set for July and have gotten them all done early.

1) Revise anthology story.
Done.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
Done.

3) Complete self-edits for Cassidy's War.
Done and I've sent the query and synopsis to The Wild Rose Press, gotten a request for the opening chapters and sent them out.

So, next up I'll be listing my goals for August.

Haven't Blogged In a While

I've been neglecting my blog. I've been so lost in edits on all my projects, I haven't had much time for anything else.

But I now have a break in Erin's Rebel edits. And I've completed self-editing both Confederate Rose and Cassidy's War. I think I need a break.

Since I've completed all my projects for the month of July, I think I'm going to start reviewing the outline for my new short vampire story, Sweet Redemption, next week. I'm beginning to like the idea of switching off between long and short projects.

My plan is to write the first draft of that story in August. So, why not get a jump start?

Extra Time On My Hands

Well, after months of nothing but work and balancing clients, my home business has finally eased up. I had nothing to do today, but work on my own writing projects.

So, what did I do? I watched a baseball game.

I did manage to get some proofreading done on Confederate Rose. Keep finding little things I want to change. But I'm getting to the point where I may be changing things back and forth.

Time to stop fiddling with it and get that query out. I hope to have that ready to go by the end of this month.

Blogging at Slip Into Something Victorian

I'm blogging today over at Slip Into Something Victorian about the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg.


Join me there: http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com/

My July Goals

It's getting more complicated. I have so many projects in the works, I've decided to concentrate on a few this month.

1) Revise my anthology story. This is the one I've titled Angel of My Dreams. It's a Civil War ghost story.

I finished the first draft mid-June and decided to take a break away from it before I start revisions. It shouldn't be too hard because I used an outline and it's a short story. So, I'm going to get the revisions finished by the end of the month.

2) Proofread Confederate Rose.
I actually started on this, but ended up doing more editing. I really want to get this story done and send out a query. I already have a synopsis written, since I'd been entering it in contests that required one.

So, I want to get the proofreading and query written by month's end.

3) Complete edits for Cassidy's War.
This is my young adult out-of-print book formerly called Under the Guns. I decided to re-title it before approaching another publisher. I'm about halfway through edits and am really getting caught up in the story. I haven't read it in a long time.

I want to get the book completely self-edited by month's end.

So, there are my writing goals for July.

Goals for June

Since we're nearing the end of June, I thought I should review the goals I made at the beginning of the month.

My only goal was to complete the first draft of my Civil War anthology story, Angel of My Dreams. That's finished and waiting for revision.


Despite all my computer problems, I'm pleased that I've also kept up with the edits for Erin's Rebel. I have until July 14 to complete those. And I also finally started self-editing my young adult out-0f-print book, Under the Guns. I've retitled it Cassidy's War and am almost halfway through editing the manuscript.


I'm also getting ready to proofread Confederate Rose. My critique group still has few more chapters to go over, but I thought I could at least start on the proofreading.


I'll be back next with my goals for July.

Been Neglecting the Blog

I've been neglecting my blog lately, but I had a good reason. I spent last weekend camping on a Amish farm in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.


I had nothing to do but socialize and read, just for enjoyment. No computer, TV, mail or my three sons and their endless laundry. Just me, my husband and two great books.

The one I finished while there was Nicole McCaffrey's The Model Man, from The Wild Rose Press. I don't usually read contemporary romance, but Nic is a friend of mine and who can resist a romance between a romance writer and a male cover model? Yum.


And Nic didn't disappoint.


The other book I started is science fiction by Elizabeth Moon. It's called Marque and Reprisal. I read and loved the first book in this series. There was no romance in the first one, but I loved Moon's lead character, Kylara Vatta. She's such a strong female and captain of her own ship.


I'm not quite halfway through this one, but enjoying it immensely.


Beside the books, I had such a relaxing three days in the heart of Amish farmland with Amish children and young people constantly going past our campsite, and nothing to do but relax.


Ahh!


Now, I just have to get myself back in gear.

What's In a Title?

I've just changed the title of my new Civil War novel again. This is the one about the woman Confederate soldier and the Yankee spy.


When I first started entering it in contests, I titled it Irish Rose, and won a contest under that title. But then I found out Nora Roberts had a book by that title and decided I needed to change it.


I settled on Katie Rose, because that's the main character's name and stuck with that, but now I'm at the point where the manuscript is nearly complete. My critique group is still reading chapters, but I want to start proofreading the opening chapters to get it ready for sale.

But, I went online and discovered a couple of young adult novels have the exact same title and a few romance novels have similar titles.


So, I've decided to make another change. I made a list of possible titles and sent them to my critique group. After all, they've read a great deal of the story and know what it's about.

And the vote was unanimous. My new title is Confederate Rose.


My next announcement for this story will be the completion, which hopefully will be soon.

Yay! Computer Problems Fixed!

After three very long weeks, I finally have my computer back in working order. I'm still in the process of putting all my files back in, but have the ones I'm currently working on installed.

It feels so good to have my own computer back, after doing all my work on my husband's.

How do all of you deal with the inevitable challenges of computer glitches and breakdowns?

What's Up For June?

Haven't worked out my goals for June yet. Computer problems are still hanging around. Hopefully, they'll be worked out soon.

But I do have one project I want to complete this month. I'm writing the first draft of a new short story for an anthology of Civil War romances. I've just started and have already completed over 2000 words.

My goal is to complete the first draft by the end of June.

I also have to start the next round of edits for Erin's Rebel, but I have until July 14th to complete those.

Despite Computer Problems ...

In spite of not having a working computer since Mother's Day, I've actually managed to complete both my May goals.

1) Finish outline for my short vampire story.
Done and put away to gel.

2) Complete edits for Katie Rose.
Also done and put away, except for the chapter my critique group's just gone over.

While the computer problems did hold me back a bit, I'm feeling good that it didn't get in the way of those goals.

Now, I've got to come up with some goals for June.

Blogging at Slip Into Something Victorian

Blogging today at Slip Into Something Victorian about the Victorian origins of Memorial Day.

http://slipintosomethingvictorian.com/

Pulled In a New Direction

Well, I'm still working on my husband's computer, while mine sits gathering dust. I've completed the outline for my new short vampire story and have set it aside to gel.

I'm also working on those edits for Katie Rose. I'm getting near the end, and think I'll meet my end of the month deadline if nothing else happens to set me back.

I've also been approached by my critique group into writing a new short story for a Civil War romance anthology. Despite my plate being full, I just couldn't resist such a project.

I'm devoting this weekend to at least get a start on an outline for this new story.

Come Monday, I plan to get back to Katie Rose, but the diversion from editing will keep me fresh.

Technology - Arrrgh!

My brand new computer went down this week. It was only six months old.

Fortunately, it's not the end of the world. I had all my stuff backed up. So, I'm back to working on my husband's computer until mine gets fixed.

Since my old computer didn't have internet access, I was used to doing all that on his anyway. And since my new computer has MS Word instead of WordPerfect, I don't have to convert my files the way I used too.

So, all in all, I guess I can deal with this. It won't stop me from getting work done. But now I can't use my new laser printer, plus I've grown used to my new computer. I'll be glad when it's up and working once again.