It's NaNo time... almost by Kaye Spencer

National Novel Writing Month begins in two days. (Yay!!!)


I'm participating again this year, which is my sixth year in a row. The only year I crossed the 50k finish line by November 30th was my first year, 2009, and the story I wrote will NEVER see the light of day. 0_o It wasn't even worth revising, so I've wisely relegated it to the dungeon of my computer's files.


So, for the past five NaNo marathons, I've fallen woefully short of the goal. This year I'm determined to reach the winner's circle. To accomplish this, I've changed my strategy. In years past, I arrived on November 1st with an idea and just went from there.


This year, I've taken the time to do planning and plotting, so I'm going in with more writing ammunition than before. If anyone wants to by writing buddies, look me up on the NaNo website as KayeSpencer. I'll buddy right back.


Until next time,


Kaye


Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer

A Holiday Anthology, Genesis of a Story, and NaNoWriMo from Kaye Spencer

November was a darn good month writing-wise for me, and that feels fabulous after nearly a year of sailing around in the writing doldrums. As you read on, you’ll notice I’m a bit ‘link happy’, and I apologize for that, but I just have so many wonderful places for you to visit. ;-)
 
So, first on my happy writing list is how excited and honored I am be a part of an anthology of 15 winter-themed, family friendly stories that are offered as a FREE download on Smashwords. The anthology is A Holiday Anthology, Volume 1 from the international author group, Exquisite Quills. Rose Anderson, Exquisite Quills author, compiled the stories, and Carey Abbott of E-Book Cover Designs by Carey designed the gorgeous cover.

 
Romance author Victoria Adams invited me to her Blog to talk about my anthology story, Gifts to Treasure, which is set in America during the Great Depression: http://victoriaadams.blogspot.com/2013/11/kaye-spencer-shares-snippet-from.html 
 
As a way to help all of the authors in the anthology do a little promoting, I created a book trailer. Watch it on YouTube: http://youtu.be/yTph6-UV7mg
 
Now, for the most important link… Download a FREE copy of the anthology on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374815
 
For the second point on my list, on November 28th, I shared my "Genesis of a Story", on the Exquisite Quills Blog (Genesis is a weekly feature). I shared the influences and inspirations for my first published novel, Lonely Places, which is a western romance. This book is published under my other pen name, A.L. Debran.

 
Read my 'Genesis' here: http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-genesis-of-book-lonely-places-by-al.html

And, finally, my third point is I made it through another National Novel Writing Month. Since I’m still writing madly, because midnight hasn’t arrived at my house yet, I’m anticipating I’ll cross the finish line with around 35,000 words—just a tad shy of the 50k goal—but that's all right. I'm just tickled to be writing with more and more forward motion again.

Until December 30,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romance

www.kayespencer.com

Twitter: @kayespencer

November: It's Quantity, Quality Comes Later

I know a lot of writers undertaking NaNoWriMo this month. I'm doing it too. It's my fourth year, because I skipped 2012, although I do participate in Camp NaNo.

I have the feeling I'm in for some serious rewrites when November is over. My project this year is the second book in a three book series. It's paranormal/historical romance about three half-demon brothers trying to keep evil from rising because they learned from their full-blooded demon father that love can change everything.

There's a lot of rehashing what happened in the first book in the first and second chapters. Yep. I'll have to thin that out when everything is said and done. Even at the end of week 1, I'm perfectly happy keeping the trash sentences because they count toward my daily word goal. Later, I'll look back and shake my head at my folly. I'm also keeping track of my word count for the year and I'm in par to finish over 300,000 words in novels alone. It's a big deal for me because I often wonder how I'm going to get from point A to point B of a story.

December for some people is all about Christmas. For a word-crazed author, it's about tying up the loose ends and digging into edits after a caffeine-fueled November! The strong bones of the story are in place and I know it's filled with witty dialogue and most importantly, a great love story. It's just going to need some fluffing later.

Whatever your writing goals are this month, or for the rest of the year, good luck with them!

RJ Halloween Reads and NaNoWriMo from Kaye Spencer

With Halloween only a day away, there's just enough time left to hustle on over to Romance Junkies and browse through the list of 80 spooky reads they've put together. My western romance, Gunslingers & Ghostriders is on the list (written under my other name, A.L. Debran)

 http://www.romancejunkies.com/halloweenreads.jpg

Here's the story behind my ghostrider story.

In 1948, Stan Jones wrote a song called Ghostriders in the Sky. A little research turned up the roots of the American ghostrider legend probably hailing from old European legends. There are several renditions: the Wild Huntsman, Herne the Hunter, the Gabriel Hounds or Hellhounds, Odin followed by the Souls of the Dead, and the Orkney Islands' fairies driving stolen cattle ahead of them.
It is a bad omen to witness the Wild Hunt in any of its manifestations, and strife and death always follow if you are unfortunate enough to see it. In all of the legends, the supernatural forces travel the night skies bringing evil with them, or they are searching for those who must be punished in the afterlife to atone for the wrong they did in their lives.

The song, Ghostriders in the Sky, is about spirits of damned cowboys doomed to chase a herd of phantom cattle for all eternity. With that basic idea in mind, I crafted a western romance, Gunslingers & Ghostriders. The hero, gunfighter Matt Caddock, has to face the violence he wrought in his past when the ghostriders come to claim his soul. The heroine, widow Brenna Stirling, is the key to Matt's salvation.

Gunslingers & Ghostriders - http://tinyurl.com/pr948js

***

Now, about National Novel Writing Month...

www.nanowrimo.org

I'm participating again this year. My plan is to make a good run on the rest of the stories in a sort-of-series (more like theme-linked episodes) of western romances revolving around different women who leave their questionable pasts and identities behind in hopes of starting new lives out West.

I'd love to hook up with writing buddies. Look for me as KayeSpencer.

Until the 30th of next month,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances

www.kayespencer.com

My Big Fat Busy New Year

January is going full-on. I mean, that's expected because the Earth revolves around the Sun and days bleed into nights and on and on. But for me, January in full swing means I'm super-busy. I plan on making 2013 an even better year for writing than any year before.

I started by registering my own imprint. Why, you may ask (someone did ask)? Okay, I have reasons that go beyond, ooo, pretty graphic on the cover page of a book.

1) In Missouri (hi, Missouri!) it's really easy to start a sole proprietorship. There's not a lot of paperwork involved, no need for a federal employer id number, and you don't have to apply for a line of credit. Makes tax work way easier.

2) It looks nice inside the book and on an ISBN registration.

3) It looks professional on a business card. (Note to self: update business cards)

So, you can see the logo there. And what's with the bug? And the fancy French? Demoiselle translated into little lady, more or less. But that's not why I wanted to use the word. I'm fascinated with dragonflies because of a Native American legend about how dragonflies carry messages from our world the the next. There's a mention of that in the third book in my series. While I was researching dragonfly species, I found out about a damselfly, which is a little smaller and they hold their wings differently. But they're known as colorful, predatory insects. I think we all know you have to be a little colorful and predatory to stand out in the publishing world. I loved it immediately. A little graphic perusing on a stock photo site, and I found that one. Boom. Logo.

Some people will argue that using an imprint name on self-published books is dupping readers into believe they're real books published by real houses. Let me stop you right there--it is a real book. We're real authors, whether we have the Big Six behind us, a little known e-publisher, or are self-published.

Aside from getting my imprint going, I've been participating in a program similar to NaNoWriMo to help finish up the fourth book in my series. It's been a loooooong process. After accidentally (but possibly subconsciously on purpose) deleting the first 70,000 words of it in November, I've been struggling to rewrite and take it in a different direction. Rewriting it has been a pain, but I know I'm better for it. It's not the first time I've rewritten a book. I'm closing the gap at almost 70,000 again. Just a little more to go and then it's back to editing.

This year will also bring me to the end of my 5 book series, Legends & Lovers. I have a plot in mind and character names in place for rounding off the last book. I even have a cover. Because I'm a procrastinator. And I figure if I buy the images and make the cover, I have to write the book. Maybe I should hire some big beefy guys to whack me on the kneecaps if this book falls through. One second thought . . . maybe not.

Argh. Might've taken a little too much
off the left side of my head. And, I
admit it, I made my arms a little skinnier.

One other thing I'm working on right now is raising money so I can go to the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City this May. I set up an Indiegogo page for my campaign, RTKC or Bust! It includes horrible Paint cropped pictures of me, so you'll want to check that out. If I don't raise all the money, I promised to donate half of what I earn to the Ozarks Literacy Council here in Missouri so others can learn to read and improve their reading. But if you donate, you have the option of picking a prize from me including e-books and signed artwork related to my series. I think it's kind of cool. If you can't donate, that's okay, because you can still help me spread the word through your social network sites.

When I'm not begging for money and blogging here, I'm at my own blog, Have Novel, Will Edit, on Facebook, Twitter, and G+.

My month of NaNoWriMo-ing 2012

Greetings!

Last month, I said I'd post an update on the status of my National Novel Writing Month endeavor. Well...

Less than 24 hours remain to make it to the 50,000-word finish line, and I'm not clearly not going to make it.

I'm at 38,922 and holding. But this is okay with me, because I wrote. I created. I fleshed out a story that I will finish because I'm deeply into the characters and plot now. When this historical romance ends, it will surpass the measly 50,000-word goal for NaNoWriMo. :-)

Yes, I had family interruptions this past month, illness, my demanding day job to contend with, and overall exhaustion, but I still persevered. I had been in a writing slump on November 1st, but I'm pumped with writing adrenaline now, and I have the creative steam to see this story through.

So, I'm content with my performance. How did you do with your NaNo 2012 novel?

Until next time,

Kaye

Fall in love...faster, harder, deeper with Kaye Spencer romances
http://www.kayespencer.com

Writerly Words From Them Who Know

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I figure I put in that time (although I lost) in June for camp and I planned to spend this month editing that novel. But I do follow along in my NaNo mail, checking for pep talks from other writers because it reminds me that I'm not alone in the writing world, no matter how frustrated I feel sometimes when the muse won't play.

November is a tough time for writing. Thanksgiving is just two weeks away and then there's that Christmas rush coming. Oh, I can't wait for all the stores to get crowded. I'd rather stick it out at home with a cursor blinking at me while I struggle to think of the next words to put on the page. Or how to arrange them so it doesn't sound like a kindergartner wrote them anyway.

So today I'm bringing you some writing quotes from authors who know what a challenging business this one is. Enjoy and feel free to leave your favorites too, because I love adding to my collection!

The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress. - Philip Roth


We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings. … Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting. - John Updike


There is only one plot—things are not what they seem. - Jim Thompson

You know, what may appear from a distance as success is really, closer up, a series of failures punctuated by occasional achievements…. You’ve got to be stubborn about it, keeping faith with your work in spite of all the distractions and the people around you who don’t understand the value of what you do…. So no excuses. Just write. - Wesley McNair, Poet Laureate of Maine


It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and beings to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does. - William Faulkner

A real book is not one that’s read, but one that reads us. - W.H. Auden

“Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise. - Philip Roth (again)

Writing—the art of communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye—is the great invention of the world. - Abraham Lincoln



We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. - Aristotle

Writing a novel is like making love to a gorilla. You’re not done until the gorilla is done. - Craig Ferguson



I collect inspirational and writerly quotes on my Pinterest board, so seriously, toss 'em my way. When I'm not here, I'm blogging at Have Novel, Will Edit, hanging on Facebook, G+, and Twitter.

NaNoWriMo: Holiday Wrap-Up

Welcome to Part 3 of my 3-part series on NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Now that NaNo is history for another year, let me reflect a bit on how things went.

First, here's my find word count for NaNo 2011:


Yep, I did it! But I must say, this was the toughest year ever--and hitting the goal took longer than any of the five prior times I'd participated. In fact, I crossed the 50k mark with only 6 hours to spare. But hey, success is success!

Had I not made it past that magical number (which, by the way, did not mark the actual end of my book), I still would count my participation a success. The fact that I can and do write through all manner of distractions, life dramas, work schedules, and assorted upheavals means books get finished and royalties eventually find their way into my wallet (for far too short a time, ha!). Hitting an arbitrary word count does not a winning writer make, but it's good for me to have a goal to shoot for at least once a year. It forces me to pull my write-to-deadline skills out of mothballs, and remember that I can't always wait around for my muse's whim and good graces. He's a sly trickster who takes great delight in popping up at inconvenient times, and then dashing off to chase the next pretty skirt just when I need him.

I hope that those of you who participated in NaNo this year were able to further your current project, whether or not you hit "the mark". Getting to that finish line happens in its own time, whether a book is 20k or 100k, but we can't get there without making the journey! So here's celebrating all of us who are making the journey to our next book, whenever we might type THE END.

Next month, I'll be stopping in with another updated on my G.R.I.P.E. (GReat Indie Pub Experiment). Until then, Happy Holidays to all, and a joyous New Year!

NaNoWriMo: Take The High Road

Welcome to Part 2 of my 3-part series on NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. Last month I talked about what NaNo is and how it can help your writing. Now that it's mid-NaNo, let's check in and see how it's going and talk about some pitfalls and how to get things rolling.

First, here's my personal word count as of this writing:


Not shabby, but not phenomenal. The accompanying picture pretty much sums up how my NaNo has been going this year. My word count has been blowing me the big raspberry almost every day this time, when every other year I'd be way ahead of the game by now. Still, aside from a few days where my count dipped below the daily goal, I've stayed on track and look to be finishing right around the end of the month.

The reasons for my personal worst performance this year are many, and some may wonder why die-hard NaNoers such as moi bother plugging along despite the myriad crap life throws our way. More on that in a moment.But first...

Five Good Reasons I Have For Quitting NaNoWriMo This Year:

1. My daughter got sick and had to go to the Emergency Room. Spent all night there with her and had to take care of her at home afterward.

2. I had edits due back to my publisher for my latest book, which naturally turned into the most involved, time-consuming batch of rewrites I'd ever encountered in my writing career.

3. I got an infection and wound up missing some work to visit the Urgent Care.

4. I had committed to write several short stories this month, plus edit and release one per week for my husband.

5. My car decided it didn't want to start this week.

None of this counts the holidays, shopping chores, work schedule, or other things that put dampers on the muse. Really, most any one of the above was probably enough to say, "Meh, forget NaNo this year. Better luck next time." No one would have made me feel bad about it. In fact, I'd have gotten nods of understanding and pats on the back for trying. After all, writing can take place all year. So it's no big deal if it doesn't get done today.

Or is it?

Five Good Reasons I Stuck With NaNo Anyway

1. My next book can't get written until I finish this one

2. I can't get royalty checks on a book I haven't written yet

3. Getting the same "flow" going in my story again will be tougher if I drop it now and pick it up later

4. The sense of accomplishment for sticking it out when the going gets tough puts a major happy in my step

5. (And most important of all): If I let my writing get derailed every time a legitimate, reasonable excuse comes along, I would probably never write another book

NaNo is a great practice ground for Taking Writing Seriously As A Life Choice. It gives us an excuse to lay things aside and put writing first. There are always things that can get in the way of this. We get sick, our cars break down, our kids and spouses need us to help take care of them, and our muses take unscheduled, unapproved vacations. As busy as all these things make us, it can be very difficult to "fit writing in" to our lives.

I like to tell people who want to go next level with their writing output to take the NaNo approach. Don't fit writing into your life; fit your life into your writing. See what happens. You needn't treat every single month as a NaNo month, and of course there are times when other things must and should take priority over the whim of our muse. But adopting the general mind set of NaNo month can set up a winning strategy that will increase your productivity all year round. Really. You'd be amazed.

So, you decided not to do NaNo this year? I have a challenge for you. Start tomorrow with a do-or-die dare to write 1667 words per day until November 30. If you do this, you will be halfway to a full length novel by the time you're through.

Next time, I'll be doing a post-NaNo wrap up post and we'll see whether I succeed in putting my money where my mouth is this year. To those of you who are mid-NaNo, hang on; we're halfway there! To the rest, what is there to lose by starting your next project tomorrow? November will come and go regardless of whether you write a book. But wouldn't it be more awesome if you had?

NaNoWriMo: Should You? Why and How

Welcome to my next 3-part series! The topic this time is NaNoWriMo. I’ll be blogging this month about getting ready beforehand, offering go-getter advice during the event in November, and I’ll wrap up with a post-NaNo blog in December.

**What the Blazin' Heck is NaNoWriMo?**

This mnemonic—and time of year—is familiar to many who have been around the writing community for a while. In short, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, an event that has been going on every November since 1999. The goal: write a novel (or 50k words of one) in 30 days during the month of November. Impossible, you say? Preposterous? Nay, says I. NaNoWriMo reported that close to twenty percent of its participants reached the 50k goal in 2009. (Data for last year was unavailable as of this writing.) This year will mark my sixth consecutive NaNoWriMo, and, I hope, my sixth consecutive “win”.

**What’s the Point? (Or, “I Write All Year.”)**

A lot of writers feel that the hype about NaNo is vastly overblown. After all, fiction writing takes place every day around the globe. Why make a special event out of it? Well, here are a half dozen advantages I have discovered about climbing aboard the NaNo bandwagon.


1. Many of Us Write Well to Goals.
Sure, you can set a word count goal anytime, but an official, national (really, global) challenge to make 1667 words per day for 30 days can really jump start your next project.

2. The Speed Challenge Can Improve Your Productivity
Having the incentive to pump out a daily word count can teach you a great deal about streamlining your first draft process. That skill won't end with NaNo--it will stay with you into future projects. The faster you write, the faster you will hopefully get another title available for the market.

Some “Nay-NoWriMo” critics argue that writing a fast novel results in a crap novel. That might be true for a few who pump out whatever just to drive up their word count, but for the rest of us, that extra push does nothing more than get a first draft out of our brains and onto (virtual?) paper. Who cares if it isn’t perfect—it’s a rough draft! That’s what editing is for. If your first drafts consistently take longer than 1-2 months to write, NaNo can transform your life. Every year that I participate, that push brushes up my drafting skills for the coming year’s projects—and I get an extra book done in the process. What’s not to love?

3. Write-ins and Community Can Offer Friendships and Networking
Not only does the NaNo site feature regional and worldwide forums in order to socialize with others bold enough to undertake this ambitious task, but there are live write-ins, kick-off parties, “we survived” after-parties, and the like that can allow you to meet other like-mindeds in your area. Also, Twitter has a #NaNoWriMo hashtag that goes like gangbusters as people share their questions, ups and downs, and tips throughout the challenge. You might well meet folks who could wind up as crit partners, friends, or networking associates long after November has passed.

4. The “Official” Atmosphere Can Boost Your Writing
It’s hard to explain the feeling of being immersed in an event taking place simultaneously, yet while you’re alone at your desk (when not at the write-ins). It’s a fun time not entirely unlike the atmosphere of a writing convention, where everyone involved is focused on a single purpose for the month. There’s nothing quite like it all the rest of a writer’s year, and that camaraderie can help push you through that challenge and help you get that novel finished by November 30.

5. NaNo Participation Makes for Interesting Marketing Buzz
Granted, tons of writers post the “I’m doing NaNo” stuff on their blogs, sites, and social nets. Generate pre-buzz about your latest book by posting word counters and progress updates. Or get more creative and host write-ins or put our local press releases about the event.

I do something a bit different...I host a “Best NaNoWriMo Line Written” contest each year. People submit their favorite sentences, and I pick winners weekly and at the end. If you’re interested in this, NaNoMail me (see my info below in the how to section) at the NaNo site with Contest News in the message, and I’ll send you the official thread link when it goes up.

6. Even if you lose, you win!
Say you sign up for the challenge, write for a week or two, then something happens. Thanksgiving rolls around, you catch a nasty cold, or Aunt Bessie decides to come for an unexpected two-week visit. You stop writing, and November 30 comes and goes with your novel “only” 10, 20, or 30k complete. That’s word count toward that book that doesn’t end when November does. You’ll be that much more ahead when you do get around to finishing. November is going to pass whether or not you sign up, but why not give NaNo a shot and invest that scheduled time into your writing career?
In a nutshell, I highly recommend NaNoWriMo for anyone who wants to try their hand at writing a novel or improve their drafting productivity.

**Okay, I’m In! How Do I Do It?**

Get thee hence to the official NaNo site: http://nanowrimo.org and read the official rules, then sign up. It’s free! From there, you can establish a profile, add friends, and post in the forums. My NaNo user name is lisalogan (an old pen name I still use occasionally) for anyone who wants to add me or ask about the contest. Then come November 1 (some say midnight on Halloween night), jump in and start writing! Have fun with it and I’ll check back in on November 15th with my next blog to see how it’s going.

Any NaNo success or other stories? I’d love to hear your comments.