The WIP (formerly known as The Prophet) and now renamed TIN GOD is completed. Now, it’s just a first draft of a very complex plot, so after my vacation, I will be digging in for some serious editing. But I’m celebrating because I set the goal of having it complete before vacation, and I made it with two days to spare.

Ironically, INTO THE DARK (my debut from MuseItUp Publishing) was complete a year ago this week. My life has changed so much the last twelve months, and I’m so grateful to all my writing friends for their help and support.

I’ve got some big things coming up at Turning The Page. If you haven’t heard of Kristen Lamb’s #WANA Love Revolution or her new venture, WANA International, take a few minutes and check it out.

I recently asked fellow suspense/thriller writers in my Suspense, Mystery, and Mayhem group, “how can we help each other?” Well, I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve been inspired by Kristen’s WANA methods, and I have not one but two big surprises for you all this summer. Stay tuned!

Finally, I’m excited to announce the release date for my suspense novel INTO THE DARK is November 30. Merry early Christmas to me! I just returned my content edits and am looking forward to the line edits. To celebrate, I’m sharing the first ever excerpt of INTO THE DARK with you all.

He sees her when she’s sleeping. He knows when she’s awake. Her life he’s determined to take.

Crazy seemed to understand this. He paced the room, reminding Emilie of a caged tiger she saw in the zoo as a child. The animal’s huge paws had worn a bare path in the green grass as it constantly circled its enclosure. Like the tiger, the man’s eyes shifted from person to person, spot to spot but never settled. He knew he was as trapped as the hostages.

But the man sitting next to her was calm. Serene. And he scared her to death.

“Why are you here?” Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. Sweat rolled down her forehead and stung her eyes.

Laugh lines appeared at the corner of the man’s eyes. Was he smiling underneath the mask? “You don’t know, Miss Emilie?”

Her heart skidded to a stop. How did he know her name? Throat constricted, she shook her head.

“For you, Miss Emilie. I’m here for you.” 

How is your summer going? Are you all close to meeting your Row80 goals this round? Have you joined the #WANA Revolution yet?

But I had to post today, because I’ve kicked it into high gear on the WIP. As of yesterday, I was at 9K for the week. I’m nearing the second plot point and writing scenes I’ve really been looking forward to, so it’s exciting. Plus, my June 15 deadline is rapidly approaching.

My goal for the rest of the week is at least another 8K. My best friend is visiting Friday-Monday, so the weekend will be a wash, but I’m confident I’ll have a productive rest of the week.

How’s your week going? Are you still loving Row80?

Here are some of my favorite links of the past couple of weeks:)

The Importance of Editing by Elizabeth Spann Craig.

The WANA Plan to Save Bookstores & Revive Publishing by Kristen Lamb.

Aggressive versus Obnoxious in the Land of Publishing by Bob Mayer.

Story Structure – The Climax (I recommend her whole series on structure) K.M. Weiland.

Self-Publishing is NOT the Easy Way. There is no Easy Way by Mhairi Simpson.

But it was a good feeling! After a late start, I ended up with just over 10,000 words. It’s been a tremendous help to have the scene by scene outline, and of course, the Row80 Sprints are great motivation.

I also had an epiphany about a series I’m planning to work on after the current WIP, and the adrenaline rush that came with it was exhilarating. It’s going to be an intense plot, and I’ve come up with a killer way to introduce the whole concept. I’m very excited and can’t wait to start writing. I’ve already done some brainstorming, but I’ve got to keep the current WIP as my main focus.

I’ll be going back to child care part time next, and Grace also gets her cast off on Tuesday – yay! Hopefully I’ll be able to stick to my 1600 words per day goal.

Some of my favorite posts this week:

Lisa Hall-Wilson: The Details Make The Story.

K.B. Owen: The Chocolate Diet. Heaven it is.

Make A Difference: An Interview With Melissa Foster.

How was your week? Are the Row80 sprints helping you? Have you tried one?

That’s pretty much how I feel right now. Took the weekend off and now have way too many things to do.

Row80 Report: I had a great week, especially since I didn’t get started until Wednesday. I managed to get in a little over 7600 words in three days – that’s huge for me. Hoping to keep up the pace this week. Grace is off school today, so I’m not sure how much I’ll manage.

All the rest: hanging in on blogs and working on a personal Thriller Thursday post. Healthy eating went really well until yesterday. Easter yummy’s just proved to be too much for me. Starting over today.

I also beefed up my Pinterest board, including some of the graphics for INTO THE DARK. Sounds like Pinterest is making some changes on the copyright issues, so it’s much less worrisome to post. I really think Pinterest is a great place to branch out to potential readers and show more of who we are as people. Feel free to check out my boards and follow me if you’d like.

Great links: lots of very good blog posts this week. Here are a few I enjoyed.

August McLaughlin: How to Pin Without Getting Arrested. Great breakdown of the Pinterest copyright issues. Must read:)

Robin LaFevers guest posting at Writer Unboxed: The Writer’s Life is Full of Second Chances (or: Abandon Despair, All Ye Who Enter Here). One of the most inspiring posts I’ve read!

Joanna Penn Interviewed on Pub Slush: Quick Tips on Publishing and Marketing.

Marcy Kennedy: How to Keep Strong Female Characters Likeable.

Catie Rhodes: A Glimmer of Red Lights. Fascinating post about New Orleans district where prostitution and all sorts of debauchery were allowed by law enforcement.

How are your Row80 Goals coming? Did you have a fantastic Easter Weekend?

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter, Twisted Minds and Dark Places, for exclusive content and fun contests during INTO THE DARK’s release month.

I can’t believe it’s April 2nd (only twelve days away from my thirty-fifth birthday, a day of equal celebration and mourning in our house) and time for Row 80, Round 2.

Some big goals for me this time around. INTO THE DARK releases from MuseItUp Publishing in November, and I’ve got to have “The Book Formerly Known As The Prophet, But Now Needs A New Title, a WIP” ready to query by then – or earlier. Whether you self-publish, go with a small press, or by traditional means, having more than one book out is a big key for a new author to build their readership. That means WIP needs to be done asap.

Round 2 runs from April 2nd – June 21st. 
Goal: Finish the first draft of WIP by then. That’s roughly 85,000 words, depending on how much I’ll need to cut with the new plot adjustments. I’ve got until June 13th, as we’re going on vacation shortly after, so in a five-day work week (weekends are always iffy), I need to average at least 1600 words/day to get it done. Thanks to Catie Rhodes, I’ve got a fifty scene outline, something I’ve never had before. So I WILL get it done. I’m determined. This means you’ll be seeing me at the Row80 Sprints on Twitter!

Additional Goals: I’ve also got some ideas for a series to work on after this, so I’m hoping to find the time to study up on forensic psychology. If you have any good resources, please share.
Continue to blog and market Thriller Thursdays.
Continue to promote fellow authors/bloggers.
Continue to work on marketing plan for INTO THE DARK.
Continue to maintain healthy eating regimen.

What about you? What are your goals for this round?

Want more Thriller Thursdays, Giveaways, and other Fun Stuff?
Sign up for my newsletter, Twisted Minds and Dark Places.

P.S. Bones returns tonight. Woo-hoo!

2012 Round 1 Goals:

Write 2000/week on The Prophet
Continue to query Into The Dark
Implement Dark’s theme of stalking into Thriller Thursdays **
Exercise minimum of 20 minutes/day
Comment on at least two new blogs/week.

First off, the good news: I finished querying INTO THE DARK because I signed a contract with MuseItUp Publishing, as you all know. I’m thrilled to be a part of such a supportive and talented group. Cyrus Keith, author of Becoming Nadia, just won an EPIC award for best suspense thriller, and cover artist Delilah Stephans won for two of her covers. Muse authors Heather Haven (A Wedding to Die For) and Rhobin Courtright (Crewkin) were finalists in their categories as well. I’m honored to be working with the same publishing house as these talented writers.

Blog Commenting: I did pretty well with that and commented on several new blogs over the past few months. I think Triberr has been a big help in providing new blogs and helping my own gain exposure. I’m also honored to have been the first stop on Donna Galanti’s blog tour for her debut novel, A Human Element.

I did do one post on stalking for Thriller Thursday, but decided to hold back on doing any more until closer to INTO THE DARK’S release date. Stay tuned!

The Prophet: I did write about 8000 new words, but ran into several plotting issues. This was frustrating to me because I spent a fair amount of time plotting and outlining before starting to write. My goal was to get the first act completely set so I could solidly write the rest of the book. After sorting out a few back story issues, I think my critique partner and I have finally ironed things out. Reading K.M. Weiland’s book helped quite a bit, and I do suggest it to anyone with plotting questions. My goal for this week is to finish getting all my index cards for the entire book done in Scrivener (a feature I love) and do a (new) rough synopsis. I want to start seriously writing next week.

Exercise: Meh. My own personal demon. I’m still struggling with the ten pounds I desperately want to lose. I lose five, gain five. For some reason, I’m having a hard time finding the willpower I once had. I thinks it’s because it royally pisses me off I have to watch everything I eat. It’s one thing to be healthy, but another to have to worry about every carb, etc. I do think I can get past this once I lose those 10 lbs, but it’s hard. Somehow I’ve got to get into the right mindset.

So all in all, I’m calling this round an altered success. Since signing with Muse, I’m feeling some pressure (not from them). I’m just beginning to realize ALL the work that goes into promotion, and figuring out where to focus my energy is an all day job. I know I’ve got to get a good draft of The Prophet written before the marketing kicks into high gear, so I’m going to buckle down soon.

News and Links:
Major congrats to Row80 founder Kait Nolan for her performance in DABWAHA. She was the only indie-pubbed writer in the bunch and held her own against Veronica Roth.

The lovely Amy Shojai just announced her thriller, LOST AND FOUND, will be published this fall from Who Dares Win Publishing. Congrats, Amy!

Roz Morris is one of my favorite bloggers, and she wrote an AMAZING post defending indie publishers and the quality of their work.

How did Row80 go for you? Did you accomplish your goals or have to readjust? Are you planning for round 2?

Thriller Thursday is ready to go for tomorrow’s post.

I’ve managed to write just under 2500 words on The Prophet. And then I discovered an issue with scene continuity that I need to work on before going any further. I plotted this book out in much more detail than I have with others, but I’m still learning, so I’ve got a few kinks (read: scene rewrites) before going further.

Today isn’t allowing for much writing as I’ve got a little one who loves to talk:) I hope to get some more work done tonight, but tomorrow is busy and then my bestie will be here for a visit, so I may not have much to report on Sunday.

I have ordered K.M. Weilend’s Outlining Your Novel. I’ve heard some great things about it, and I’d like to nail down my issues before going much further on The Prophet.

How’s your week going? I’ve seen some awesome word counts on the #row80 hashtag. Keep it up!

So the writing is going okay. No defeat to admit there. Things are moving along with INTO THE DARK (hopefully I will have some news for you in the next week), and after ironing out the plot issues I discovered with THE PROPHET, I wrote about 1500 words of Act 2 this week. Not a lot, but a good start.

The defeat comes with diet and weight. Most of you know I lost 65 pounds on the Ideal Protein diet last year and have been in maintenance phase since May. Keeping the weight off has been a lot harder than losing it. I put on around seven or so during the summer, and then another eight during the holidays. I’ve been trying to lose “the normal way” with exercise, but it doesn’t work for me. After months of fighting it, I’ve finally figured out how to maintain, accepting I can’t eat carbs like other people do, and figuring out what kind of exercise will keep it off. But I can’t lose it. I’ve been stuck with these extra pounds for months.

So on Friday, I finally admitted defeat and went back to my dietician. I felt humiliated I couldn’t keep it off, but she was understanding and gave me a huge boost in getting back on track with the diet. I’ve accepted that for me, going the Ideal Protein way is the best approach. I can moderate it and having someone to check in with every week – a cheerleader of sorts – is a big boost for me. So in the next month, I’ll be following the strict diet, shedding pounds, and getting healthy. I also got a major lecture on pop, so listen up.

Diet pop – whatever the kind – contains aspartame, a sweetener. The body can’t tell the difference and processes it like sugar, meaning the liver produces enzymes that make your body gain weight. Aspartame is now being looked at as carcinogenic, a cancer causing trigger. Remember, we ALL have the cancer cells in our bodies, it’s just a matter of triggering them. Finally, my dietician told me about kidney failure. Did you know that our generation is predicted to deal with renal issues – including renal failure – in their fifties and sixties because we drink so much sodapop? As soon as I heard the words “renal failure,” that was it. That’s something my mom is fighting, and I won’t put myself in that position. Haven’t had a pop since then.

For artificial sweeteners, go for anything with Sucralose in it, like Splenda. There are a lot of choices out there, including flavored water that will give you the carbonated “pop” you’re looking for in a much healthier way.

So my goals for next check-in:
Stick to the diet
Drink 72 oz plus of water/day
Write 2000 words on The Prophet

Who’s with me in getting healthy in March? Anyone else willing to give up pop? Remember, there are healthier alternatives – tea and coffee, in MODERATION, to help with the caffeine headache. How’s your Row80 week going?

Yes, I’m talking about two different things. First, plotting murder. It’s a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. INTO THE DARK’s bad guy is a stalker, and the murder he commits was fairly straightforward. But the antagonist in THE PROPHET is all sorts of angry, and there are a total a four murders (one part of the back story) to plan. He’s a serial killer, but not with the usual motivations, so he’s not a classic repeater. Which means every murder is a bit different, and I’ve had a really hard time keeping track.

Enter the lovely diagram above. I probably could have found a better quality copy, but this one had the anatomy I was looking for. My novel kit for THE PROPHET now includes four of these babies, with the details of the murder in red pencil.

How creepy am I? Honestly, I don’t care. While Scrivener is great, I still need to visualize things, and I take a lot of handwritten notes. So these sheets will work great when I need to reference the murders.

As for my Row80 check-in, I’ve only got about 700 words written this week, but I have been revising the plot quite a bit. The basic structure is still there, but thanks to my critique parter, I was able to pinpoint some character motivation issues and fix them before the book progressed. The main issue was my bad guy, and I had to spend a lot of time revising his back story. It’s amazing how key it is to our novels and how little page time it actually receives. I think I’m on track now, and I plan on shoring up Act 1 before writing any further. I think this will writing the rest of the book a lot easier.

I’m traveling this weekend, so my short-term goals are limited:

*Finish Scene Changes in Act 1.
*Finish Tomorrow’s Thriller Thursday Post.
*Don’t eat my weight while I’m out of town.

Now, onto #WLAuthor.

If you’ve not heard of the World Literary Café helmed by bestselling author Melissa Foster, go check it out. Previously the WoMen’s Literary Café, the community is a great place to bridge the gap between readers and authors. Melissa has extensive experience in publishing and marketing, and her goal is to help authors grow and promote by uniting them with readers. I’m just learning the ropes, but it seems to be structure for authors in all stages, and Melissa is eager to help everyone navigate social media to get their best results. World Literary Café also has a Twitter hashtag: #WLCAuthor. Stop by and say hello.

How’s your Row80 week going? Are you creepy like me and diagram your book’s murders (if they have one)?

Happy Hump Day, everyone! Things are going well here. I managed to get back into working on The Prophet and have written 2300 words this week. The Row80 sprints at 1 central are a big help for me to focus–thank you guys for your encouragement.

Yesterday I also did some revisions in the plot, because I’ve adjusted my bad guys motivations, which meant I needed to work on his background. I’m still wrestling with a couple of ideas, but I’m getting there.

I’m also forcing myself to start exercising because I’ve got to get the winter chub off before spring hits. Last night Rob and I did the Insanity workout. Almost killed me, but I got through it.

I had to share the above cartoon with you all because I know it’s something every one of us deals with. Reading is essential to the craft, and yet finding time to fit it in along with social media, life, and writing our own books can be tricky.

I’ve been reading Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series, and I recently started Dead Witness by Joylene Nowell Butler. It’s a suspense thriller and is keeping me on the edge of my seat with an every day but strong heroine–a wife and mom thrown into the most frightening of circumstances.

I’ve also been reading my friend Donna Galanti’s ARC of her novel A Human Element, which releases in March. It’s paranormal suspense with a cool sci-fi twist. I’ll be the first stop on her blog tour, so make sure you stop by on March 19th for Donna’s interview.

Finally, the must read post of the week by Kristen Lamb – Bracing for Impact: The Future of Big Publishing in the New Paradigm. Anyone thinking about querying, considering Big Six vs. small press, or self-publishing needs to read this.

How’s your week going? What books are you reading? And how do you fit in reading time with writing?