I'm back - and I'm writing!

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It's been a long time since I posted on this blog, so here's an update :)



NANOWRIMO:

Yes, I did finish NaNo '08 at 50,848 words. This was my fifth consecutive NaNo. I got bogged down between 25,000 and 35,000 words (as I usually do), and I actually gave up the idea of finishing - for about a week and a half. But then, as always, I came back around to writing, and I found a way to get through to the ending I had in mind.

NaNoWriMo - always fun, always something to learn.

I did, however, think that this NaNo would be my last. After all, I'd proven to myself that I could write a 50,000 novel in 3o days five times over. Why do any more? It didn't take long for me to answer that question. The answer is that I have one more NaNo in me. (Well, at least one more. LOL!)

How about you? Any NaNos out there? Thinking about NaNo '09 yet? I know I am!




WOMAN'S WORLD:

I received a rejection for a very short romance I'd sent to Woman's World magazine. I've had rejections from them before, but this one hit hard, and I was so disappointed that I didn't want to think about writing any more pieces for them. Months went by, and a couple of weeks ago, just before meeting with my writing group (yes, Martha, that's you!), I pulled out a manuscript I'd written but hadn't submitted and polished it up. Once I get a cover letter written, it will be on its way to Woman's World. I'm hoping this one sells!

If you're interested in writing romances for Woman's World, here's an article with lots of helpful information. As far as I know, the current word count is 800, and the pay is $800. Sounds good to me!



WHAT I'M READING:

I just received "Writing the Christian Romance" by Gail Gaymer Martin. It cost me only seventeen cents (yes, you read that right!) rather than $16.99, thanks to the amazon.com gift cards I've been earning simply by doing searches through swagbucks. (If you want to earn swagbucks that you can exchange for gift cards, join here. It's free, and you don't have to download anything.) I can't wait to read that book! I really appreciate Gail's helpfulness to writers. Here's a link to her website, her blog, and her writing blog.
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A new day...

The sun is out, and it looks like a beautiful day. A new day. A day to start a healthy lifestyle with the goal of losing this excess weight. Wait a minute...this isn't a diet blog, this is a writing blog! Okay, there is a connection between my wanting to lose weight and writing. Scratching your head yet? Come on, now - every writer wants to look her best for the dustjacket/author bio photo in her books, and so do I. Am I that confident that I'll get published? As a matter of fact, I am (well, most of the time). Glammin' up for my photo is one way to keep up the motivation and momentum - seriously!

I'm right in the middle of the college class I'm taking on copyediting and proofreading. It's been helpful. My goal for the next couple of months while I'm completing the course is to find the short stories I 'put in a safe place' by emailing them to myself in case anything happened to my computer. Then I'll dust them off and submit them. I'm planning on getting back into writing once that class and another I'm taking on American Sign Language are over.

Hmmm...what could you do to glam up?