works in progress – Page 12

Four years ago today I never once had it enter my mind that I was going to have written four going on five books. My first book – Friends of Choice – was just a pipe dream. Now I am able to say I am closing in on the first draft of Along Came Neil. I have a minimum of 14k words to go. I never even thought back then that I would consider writing a romance.

My book, Friends of Choice, it was written for me. I had fears living deep down inside me that needed to come out. This book banged around in my mind after my daughter left home unexpectedly when she turned 18. A friend of hers told her that now that she was 18 she could move out on her own and not finish school.

Things have a way of not turning out the way you plan. I had planned on going to my daughter’s graduation that never happened. She still has not passed her test for her GED either. I hear she is close but I don’t know how close she is to getting a high enough score.

You see, things didn’t turn out the way she had expected. She figured getting her GED would be easy Peasey. Not –

Then when I started writing Aaron & Keja, that book was just for fun. It was my way of toying with writing and publishing and just having plain old fun with my stories.

Witch Book came next. I enjoyed writing that book so much that I had the first draft written in sixty days. Almost a NaNo Wri Mo achievement, I just missed it by a month.

With Road Salt, my writing took on a more serious note. With this book I was on a mission after my son entered a residential drug rehab and had been in the program for almost six months.

He had been so proud to tell all the counselors that his mom wrote books he had me passing Friends of Choice around his rehab house. His counselor liked it so much she asked me what are you going to write next. I gave it some thought. There were topics in the news to choose from that dealt with substance abuse. The first one I thought of was snitching.

I presented the idea about snitching to his counselor – she didn’t like the idea. I didn’t give up. I was determined to come up with a new topic that she would approve of. It wasn’t like she was my publisher or editor. It was more about the beliefs of the program he was in. I wanted to write a book that his counselor would find acceptable.

Then I saw her – one Sunday morning on the local TV news station. She was talking about the dangers of Bath Salts – a new designer drug that was having devastating effects not just in the US but world wide. It was being sold globally in our own store fronts legally and online.

So the next time we met with her I told her what I came up with. I pitched it to her and she loved not just the idea of the book but also the name.

That is how Road Salt came to be.

I look back on that past year while I was struggling to come up with the next title and how my desire to write began to change.

Call it inspiration or desire – I now call it a need because each story has made me feel good when they have been completed.

How is your writing week going?

Tell me I’d love to hear from you.

What has inspired you to write the book you are working on? Is there a cause that is a driving force in your life?

Cheer on other ROW80 writers by visiting the Linkey List.

Facts About the GED (adulteducation.answers.com)
Helping a Family Member through Drug Rehab (casapalmera.com)
Getting Your GED (adulteducation.answers.com)

For the past few weeks I have had a little bit of trouble thinking of how Along Came Neil was going to progress. I just couldn’t figure out how to get them from point A in the story to point B. Then there was that missing twist element. I always have to have a twist in the story and the fact that I don’t want my readers to see it coming.

I was just plain stuck.

I’ve never really written a romance before. I have read a few and found them to be kind of humorous. Especially the romances from Stephanie Bond, I like her stories.

So when it came to writing Along Came Neil, I really have to plot and think about what has to happen. It has to be just so or else it isn’t going to work.

I guess it is kind of like how an artist who normally only sketches with a pencil decides to try their hand at painting. They know the technique but they also have to take care with their brush strokes or the picture won’t come out quite right.

If I sat down to write a fantasy it would be a different story. I know I could whip through that in a matter of a couple of months. Reading and writing fantasy is just me. I can really get deep into the story once I start letting go of my imagination. I know the story is all make-believe.

But writing a Contemporary Romance seems too close to home. The characters tend to be more realistic and everyone has their expectations and desires.

Last time I was stuck my friend Linda Kepner said blow something up. I did, I made the kids catch the kitchen on fire.

Well that worked for a bit. Then I got stuck again. Something unexpected and dramatic had to happen. So, on my Facebook author page I ran a poll. What can go wrong with a car while taking a date to the semi-formal dance?

I got some good feedback that helped me brain storm. Thanks – fans! Your help was greatly appreciated.

Then I bounced the same question off of Mike and he gave me a great brain storm. I won’t tell you what it is and spoil the story. What I will tell you is that once again I have drawn from an incident that happened to one of my kids in the past year or two. Still I won’t tell you about it and spoil the story. (lol)

Now I am getting much closer to the end of the story. I have a minimum of 17k words left to go. How hard can it be to write 17k words? It should be a piece of cake.

I estimate that I should be done with this first draft – time to set the final goal – by the fourth of July.

If I don’t make this goal than ~~either~~ there is either a dramatic event that has happened in my life (something to use in a future story) or this book is going to be longer than any of the books I have ever written.

Stop by our ROW80 Linky List and cheer on the progress of other fellow writers – Linky List

June NHRWA meeting:

LOL- this blog is written backwards this month. Usually I begin with the meeting tidbits and end with my ROW Update.

I hear it is okay to be different once in a while…

So yesterday our speaker was Hilary Weisman Graham. She is a writer/award-winning filmmaker/screenwriter from southern NH.

Hilary spoke to us about how she had gone about marketing her book Reunited. By the way, I won this book in the chapter raffle. I am looking forward to reading this YA book about a road trip taken by 3 ex-best friends after they have graduated from High School, only their road trip is not based on dark matter like my on road trip book Road Salt. It should be a fun read.

She told us about her marketing plan she used on her new release from a year ago and told us how she had gone a little bit overboard with expenses but she had fun while doing it. When she was asked if she would do it that way again she said she probably would not.

– Good to know – It is alright to put a spending limit on your marketing plan. There is such a thing as a little bit too much.

The best tidbit she shared was how she had better book signing success when she teamed up for book signings at bookstores with two or three other YA writers like herself. It gave the audience more of a selection to choose from. – Good to know –

Now I just need to find a few more YA writers in New England and network with them on book signings and I will be all set.

Things happen in due time – so if any of you YA writers are in NH or Ma, even Vt – I would be very happy to join you in a book signing event. Just contact me and I’m sure I can fit you into my schedule.