It’s almost here!

Golden Heart finalist calls will come out in less than three months.

But that’s not the “it” I’m talking about (yet). It’s almost time for the annual Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival.

The festival starts on Jan. 11 and runs through the end of February — an extra day, with this being a leap year.

Okay, I cheated: This is the 2011 badge, from my old writing blog. But I will be participating again this year. I plan to give some serious thought to my goals before posting them here.

That’s the great thing about the WWF: You determine the goals. If you want to throw in there “get a massage,” you can. Of course, it makes sense to have most of them be writing-related — it is the Winter Writing Festival, after all, not Relax-a-palooza.

Come, write with me and the Rubies. You can get a lot accomplished while having a blast.

The power of persistence

Had you asked me last week whether I was going to win NaNoWriMo this year, I’d have laughed — most likely right in your face.

With two entries for the 2012 Golden Heart competition to polish, I’d pretty much written off finishing NaNo. When I popped my last GH entry in the mail on Monday, I had 15,000 words left to write and three days in which to do it.

And here’s where that old power of persistence kicked in. I didn’t want to fail. I had Monday off, so I spent most of it at Starbucks, writing away — and then did some late-night word sprints with the Power Writing Hour Facebook group I belong to. On Tuesday, I did as much writing as I could until it was time to go to work … And on Wednesday, after working until 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and then sprinting until 12:30 a.m. or so, I hauled myself out of bed at 8 a.m. so I could put in a full day at Starbucks before heading to work.

The persistence paid off. At about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, I crossed the finish line with 50,094 words. (Yeah, I was supposed to be at work by 3 p.m. — but I was too close to give up. Lucky for me, my hours are somewhat flexible.) The NaNo validator came in slightly lower, at 50,016 … but still enough to declare me a winner.

Finishing something I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do felt great. I have to give shout-outs to Jamie Raintree and Anne Marie Becker, my writing buddies who wouldn’t let me give up. (They both hit 50K, too.) My new Power Writing Hour friends helped, too.

Another shout-out to the new CPs who helped me whip those GH entries into shape. I received confirmation just this morning that the second of two was received — so all that’s left is to wait …

And to keep writing, of course. I already have a new challenge in my sights: Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest. Its mid-December deadline is creeping up fast.

A writer’s Thanksgiving

With today being a time to give thanks, I thought it’d be fun to reflect on some of the things I’m thankful  for in my writing life this year.

  • My Golden Heart final. Having “Beauty and the Ballplayer” final in the GH did more than open new doors. It introduced me to a group of supportive sisters. (Hi, Starcatchers! Even when you don’t hear from me all that much, I treasure the time we spend chatting, whether it’s on our loop or  Twitter.)
  • The chance to go to RWA Nationals in NYC. I learned a lot at the sessions I was able to attend, bought the CD so I can listen to the ones I had to miss and was inspired by more than one keynote speaker. My credit card didn’t fare nearly so well, but that’s another story.
  • Chatting with some of the authors whose books I’ve been reading, and loving, for years. That was a great experience, if a little surreal. Even greater? Realizing that they pull their pantyhose on one leg at a time, too. Wait — does anyone ever wear pantyhose anymore?
  • A great RWA chapter. The ladies of NARWA are cheerleaders, sounding boards and, above all, friends.
  • Finding not one, but two CPs. The relationships are still new, so we’re feeling our way — but I’m hoping they’ll lead to more success for all of us.
  • Time to write. Whether I’m writing alone or with chaptermates and other friends, I cherish time with my trusty iBook. (I am, however, ready and willing to upgrade to a new MacBook Pro as soon as I win the lottery … or sign a book deal that advances me enough cash to augment my paltry “buy a MacBook” savings account.)
  • Starbucks. You knew I couldn’t leave the Bux off my “what I’m thankful for” list. I spend so much time there that all the baristas know me by name. I should probably count that as more curse than blessing, no?

Yes, my writing life has truly been blessed in 2011. Here’s hoping 2012 will be just as great.

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo

I’m pretty sure pre-planning was the reason I powered through 53,000 words in 30 days in 2010.

So as much as I hate to sit down and “plot,” I spent part of the weekend doing exactly that.

I’ve had the idea for this story for a while, ever since reading a story about a state legislature (I think it was in Oregon) that passed a law saying health care facilities needed to hire an interpreter for any language a patient spoke — including Klingon.

My first thought was: Wouldn’t it be funny for an uptight health care administrator to be forced to hire a Klingon interpreter? Melissa and Donovan were born. (Except I had to change her name to Allyson because I just finished writing a heroine named Melinda and didn’t want to get the two confused.)

Allyson — don’t dare call her Ally — is the uptight health care administrator; Donovan “Van” is the laid-back, happy-go-lucky guy who taught himself Klingon one long, boring summer. While she tries to get him to follow the rules, he makes it his project to get her to loosen up.

I’ll be trying something new with this MS — Scrivener. I downloaded the free trial Saturday and started playing around with it. Looks like it’ll be interesting.

I’d like to be able to say that won’t be around as much this next month while I immerse myself in the craziness that is NaNoWriMo. But considering how little blogging I’ve been doing lately, I don’t need to say it. Once or twice a month is already “not around much.”

So I’ll just say “sayonara” for now. After a month of writing dangerously, I’ll see you on the flip side — with a brand-new manuscript for editing/submission.

Hard truth

What do you do when one trusted friend tells you to scrap the first chapter of one of the stories you plan on entering in the 2012 GH?

If it’s a chapter you love, chock-full of hilarious lines and
you’re not ready to hear the fateful directive to “chop it,” you seek a second opinion.

And when the Starcatcher sister offering said second opinion concurs, saying that she, too, thinks the beginning makes both hero and heroine look less-than-heroic …

Well, you bite the bullet and cut your beloved first chapter, which began life as a prologue to begin with. (I should have known that no one would be fooled by my slapping it with a “Chapter 1” header.)

It wasn’t easy to cut a chapter that starts out like this: “When Melinda’s now-ex-fiancé admonished her to grow up, she doubted playing tonsil hockey with a man old enough to be her father was what he’d had in mind.”

Okay, maybe a wee bit of “ick factor” lurks in that beginning. (Thanks, Anna, for putting your finger on that one. It may be why I didn’t final in the Rubies’ first line contest this time.)

Finally, I was willing to admit to myself that the pages didn’t paint either of them in the best light — even though they you see right away that Mel was overexaggerating Dave’s age.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t as painful as I expected. I plan to work in some of the funnier bits as part of the backstory — and when this novel makes it to publication, don’t be surprised to see Dave and Melinda’s “how it all began” pop up on the blog as an online extra.

I will survive my MS’s massive surgery — without too much bleeding, I hope.

I’m glad to have friends who’ll tell me the cold, hard truth — even when I’m not quite ready to hear it.

So long, Steve

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a Mac girl — always have been. So it’s no surprise that I, along with the rest of the world, was saddened by Steve Jobs’ death.

The man truly was an innovator, and we wouldn’t be who we are without his creations. I’m typing this blog post on my iPhone right now.

Since I’m an almost-40-year-old dinosaur, my first experience with computers was in a nine-week eighth-grade computer class. They were old gray Radio Shack computers with green screens and big floppy disks. About the only thing I remember was typing in lines of code to run a Frogger-type game.

I didn’t think computers were for me. Same thing happened in college when I took my first journalism class. We had IBM computers with blue screens and c: prompts. I hated using those things.

Then I visited the college newspaper office and had my first experience with a Mac. It was one of those classic one-piece Macs … And it was love at first sight. It was the first time I could see a computer becoming part of my life.

Did it ever! I became an editor at the paper, so I had a key to the office and could often be found there late at night, writing papers and jamming to Depeche Mode.

By the time my campus opened a snazzy new Mac lab, I was doing all my papers on the computer instead of the Brother typewriter my Mom got me for Christmas while I was in high school.

Sadly, I left the Macs behind when I graduated. My office used a Sun system until a few months before I left, when they switched to iMacs.

When I bought my first computer for my place, in 1995, there was no question it’d be a Mac. I replaced it with an iMac in 2000 and a laptop several years later.

I’ve completed all of my MSs and many great research papers on Macs. Thanks, Steve, for helping me become the writer I am.

Featured in ‘Media Monday’

When opportunity knocks, you listen. So when an encounter through the day job led to a chance to be profiled on a Phoenix PR firm’s website, I seized the opportunity.

I was in contact with Alison Bailin, a senior account executive at HMA Public Relations, about a new Subway restaurant opening in Flagstaff. As we exchanged e-mails, we discovered a mutual interest in romance writing. (She’s read every Jackie Collins novel published and would love to take Collins’ place on the bestseller list.)

HMA Public Relations’ blog features Media Monday, posts about members of the media (that’s me!) doing cool, non-media things. Here’s mine.

You can find a link to past Media Monday posts here.

Reassessing my goals

Longtime readers of my weight-loss blog know that when I go AWOL from the blog, it’s because I’m not doing so well at the whole diet and exercise thing. That’s not the case here. I’ve been writing up a storm — I just haven’t had any time to blog about it.

With my 40th birthday looming — as well as the 2012 Golden Heart contest deadline and the NaNoWriMo, it’s time to reassess.

Unless I sign with an agent and get a publishing contract in the next two weeks, I’m not going to be published by 40. That’s okay. I know I’m getting closer. It shouldn’t be long now.

I can’t believe September’s almost gone, leaving the big-40 just 13 days away, on Oct. 7. Where did it go?

But I’m beginning to think it’s impossible for me to write another 25,000 words on my single title WIP and prep it (and another entry) for GH entry by the end of October so I can clear November for the NaNo.

With that being the case, I might end up throwing two contemporary series MSs into the ring — thus competing against myself (and hundreds of other entrants). Yikes.

Guess I’ll see what happens with the Rubies’ Make it Golden first line contest. I entered three first lines — from three potential entrants — on Friday. Finalists will be announced Tuesday.

I have a sneaking suspicion that my best first line is the one I hadn’t been planning to enter, from Dave and Melinda’s story. Beth and Cody (single title) and Kenny and Kristi (CS) were going to be my go-to entries. But Dave and Melinda’s story might be the strongest of all.

Who knows? Maybe I can write 10,000 words this weekend.

Yeah, right.

Venturing into romantic suspense

… Not writing it, thank goodness. Although I love watching “Dateline” and other true-crime shows on Investigation Discovery (“Deadly Women,” anyone?), I don’t think I have the chops to write RS. Keeping that thread of danger running throughout isn’t for me.

However, I can enjoy reading romantic suspense, when I’m in a certain mood. (That’s the way I am with historicals, too. I love to read them when I’m in the mood.) And I have just the book to put me in that mood: NARWA president Anne Marie Becker’s new Carina Press release, “Only Fear.”

The blurb:

After a violent incident with a patient leaves scars on both her mind and body, psychiatrist Dr. Maggie Levine craves isolation. A radio talk show host seems to be the perfect profession, a job where she can help people from a distance while staying safe. When a strange caller begins stalking her on the air and murdering people to get her attention, Maggie realizes she can no longer close herself off from the outside world.

A personal security expert, former Secret Service Agent Ethan Townsend is no stranger to tracking down the most violent monsters of society and bringing them to justice. Still, it will take all of Ethan’s skills to protect his new assignment, the irresistible Maggie, from a man intent on teaching her the ultimate lesson in fear…

Sounds intriguing, right?

“Only Fear” stands alone, but is the first book in a planned series revolving around the employees of the Society for the Study of the Aberrant Mind (SSAM).

“I was excited to hear that Carina Press would like to work with me on the series I have planned. We’ve even come up with a name: the Mindhunters,” Anne Marie said.

She hopes to have the second book in the series, tentatively titled “Avenging Angel,” submitted by the end of September for a summer 2012 release.

You can order “Only Fear” at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Carina Press.

Connect with Anne Marie:

Twitter: @annemariebecker
Facebook:  AnneMarieBeckerAuthor
Blogs:  Not Your Usual Suspects (Carina Press suspense authors): www.notyourusualsuspects.blogspot.com and The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood:  www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com