Back on Track

So I finally broke through my block and got some writing done last night. It wasn't my best, not even my "good", but it was a start I really needed to make.

And yet...though I was excited about the concept of this piece, I'm not enthusiastic about telling the story - yet. I don't know, maybe that will change with a little time, and I'm just going to write in the meantime and see if the kinks work themselves out. :)

Falling off the face of the Earth

At least, that's what it's going to feel like. On any given day, I can be on the net - surfing, checking my groups or emails, killing time - for four to six hours. I don't understand this compulsion to digest useless info or join yet another group, and I came to a conclusion the other day: I'm avoiding my writing under the guise of research.

Hubby  asked e the other night how my writing's coming along. Um...I haven't touched a MS in...going on two weeks now. I don't know what let all the steam out of me, but I just haven't been able to pen anything. I'm stuck in a loop of plot-construct-research-research some more-try to plot...

You get the idea :) I'm a natural pantser, mind plotting my piece along the way, and trying to actually plot this next piece has completely gummed up my mental works. In any case, this has made me realize that I need to cut back my web browsing time. I'm going to try to limit myself to surfing for only two hours a day and spend the rest of the time in front of the computer spitting words onto page.

This should be interesting.

~Hetal

I'm so Mad!

How did life manage to completely sidetrack me from a chat I was really looking forward to participating in? I missed "speaking" with two agents from The Knight Agency tonight and am now completely bummed. If I ever start querying for an agent, this company is one of my top picks, and I really wanted to get that invaluable info they provided tonight.

I don't even know if I can start the piece that's occupying my every thought - even though I figured out the opening scene tonight.

Silly Monkey. Mama loves you but really wishes you'd trip daddy sometimes instead. 

When Ideas Take Over

For the last few days I've been researching and *gasp* plotting a series of new stories. I've had these particular mythical creatures in mind for months but couldn't find a way to create a story around their lives. Then, just reading up on backgrounds, I was smacked in the face, and almost every detail fell into place. The best part? I will finally be able to incorporate another set of creatures I love yet hadn't found a fit for.

Isn't it great when everything cooperates? Let's just hope my plot is compelling enough. I would love to let you in on my little secret, but I'll be guarding these men and women with my life. Paranormals are hard enough to make fresh and I might have just hit on something new. Not for sure, though, so I guess I'll be looking around some more.

~Hetal

Dust off that Manuscript

Knight Agency Agent Nephele Tempest is offering you the opportunity to pitch your complete, ready for submission MS for her "In the Mood for Love" submissions festival. If interested please visit her blog (click on name above) for all the details.
Also, Thursday, Feb 9th, two wonderful TKA agents will be hosting a chat to answer all of your publishing questions. Whether or not you're in the market for an agent, I believe they'll be providing valuable information to the masses.

Good luck!

~Hetal

Finding Your Fit

A question for writers...Or writer-wannabees like myself   ; )
 
How do you balance your voice with a (very) particular line...or do you? Do you find yourself curbing your  natural tendencies in the hopes of making an easy **ha! scoff!** sale?

This is the conundrum which has been tripping me up through edits and rewrites of my current WIP. I'm struggling to secure my "voice" amidst strict writing guidelines and am now up in the air about completing "Divine Deception" as it began. I have admitted that I don't do well with shorter pieces, but is there more to this than I originally thought?

Maybe it's not only the shorter word count tripping me up as much as it's the taming of my natural writing voice. I haven't perfected it yet, trust me, but trying to write for one specific line is making my mind vomit very formal - even boring in my mind. I'm not hoping to insert excessive cursing or anything like that, but I tend to think and first-draft write as I would talk to my sisters. We're a pretty vocal group and we tell it like it is, always with love and affection...yet I haven't stretched myself to try writing in this manner.

I think I'm going to have to set aside "DD" for now and focus on me: what I really want, the roller coaster a few new characters want to drag me on, and what I'm ultimately hoping to accomplish. Who knows, maybe I'll do something right.

Oh, and I've talked about them a lot, but here we are for your viewing pleasure:  1, 2, 3, and 4 - but not in that order.  : )

Finding Reasons not to Write

It happened last pitch-time round, and history's repeating itself. Though I came away from the NB pitch with a "down but not out" attitude, I have yet to make significant strides in my edits. Instead I find myself surfing or reading, anything but writing.

Not good, Hetal. Get on with it.

I think the biggest reason for my change in perseverance is this: I'm not writing to my strengths. I love portraying the artistry of fight scenes, looking up cool weaponry, imagining the fantastical in ordinary places, and twisting the H and h in my web until they cry uncle. Plopping my H and h and in bed for the sake of time doesn't appeal to me one little bit. Even with a shared history - as in the novella I was pitching - my H and h were giving me a hard time about hitting the sack together.

Looking back to every short I've written there is one blatantly obvious trend: I write fantasy more than romance. I've suggested as much to my sisters, my original CPs, and they were pretty on board with my process, except I felt something was lacking in my writing that other fantasy author's nailed.


World building (love Wikipedia). Maybe my imagined venues weren't intricate enough, the locals not flavorful, the paranormal played out...

And then it hit me a couple of days ago. Some of my favorite UF authors manage to thread the unreal through the everyday, connecting two schools of mind with little effort. Yes, I still enjoy getting lost in made up settings, but I am personally more interested in threading what I know with the unimaginable.

Eureka!

So what now? Well, I promised myself that I would send in this NB, so I need to knock it out and send it in by Feb 10th. That's it, I will hold onto it no longer. Then the fun can begin. Two potential fantasies = two new worlds to explore!

~Hetal

The Results are in

But I unfortunately did not win this round. I wish all of the pitchers, including my CP Ju, the best and hope you get request for fulls from Anne Leslie Tuttle. As for me, I'm going to finish this story and send in through slush - with a whole new blurb.

I realized my fatal error when I read through it again today. If you read only the blurb, my story sounds more urban fantasy than paranormal romance. I knew it was kind of leaning this way, and I thought I fixed the problem, but I didn't. Instead of focusing on the love story, my blurb highlighted the plot which drives the romance.

Why didn't I catch this sooner!  Aargh!

Oh well. Like I said, I'll finish, but I'm waiting until after the editor chat with ALT (Feb 9th at 1 pm) to make sure I've covered all of the points she's looking for. Onward!

~Hetal

Return to Reality

This weekend was spent cheering on baby sis at a dance competition, eating A LOT of crappy-for-me food, some laughs, some bad moods, with cold drinks (gotta have those), and family. It was nice to take a break from my writing after agonizing over a two paragraph pitch blurb or an entire week. I even bounced it off of my non-romance reading brother and sisters - thank goodness too, they pointed out ambiguities I hadn't even noticed - and finally sent off what I thought was a pretty concise, action & romance packed blurb.

I managed to keep it at 178 words, no small feat for me as I tend to overthink and therefore overwrite, and I was fairly happy with it. In a moment of "I just can't look at this anymore" I sent it off, now it's time to play the waiting game.

I really need to get back to the MS now, but having just got home means catching up after the weekend. Oh well, as always, writing comes after life. Usually, late at night after baby's down for the day...

Speaking of Monkey, she's trying to play peek-a-boo with me, which means she covers my eyes instead of her own, so I've got to go. Mommyhood calls.

~Hetal