Monday Miscellany: What I Want as a Writer

Yesterday, I went back to see The Avengers one final time before it leaves theaters and we settle in for a two-month wait until the DVD release. (Unless those rumors of an extended cut are true, in which case, I will probably go back one more time.) I haven't seen a movie that many times in theaters since Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. (Shut up, okay, that was a great movie!) It really got to me. When I was able to concentrate yesterday, it hit me: it was the writing. There were no gaping plot holes like there usually are in big-budget summer blockbusters. It was such tight, tidy writing. Of course it was, Joss Whedon was responsible for it. But it's still just really inspiring for me. My poor husband doesn't understand why I needed to see it four times and why I'm seriously considering pre-ordering the Avengers Assembled collector's set. He's not a writer or much of a nerd, so I can't explain it to him. Mostly, I just settle on telling him that Cap has a really nice ass that is best viewed on the silver screen. That isn't a lie. (Seriously. Chris Evans has an amazing rear end and in the new Captain America costume especially, his shoulders-to-hips ratio turns my biological clock into a ticking time bomb. It's unfortunate.) I'm lucky enough to be married to a wonderfully secure man who just rolls his eyes and shakes his head whenever I mention a crush.

Anyway, when I got home of course I felt inspired and ready to work on making my own writing just as tidy, so I managed to churn out an action-draft for a writing exercise and then tackled a little more of the short story anthology I'm working on. I've done so much writing in the last week or so it's kind of crazy. I have two novellas outlined/action-drafted and two more with only the barest outlines, all four of those with very clear beginnings and ends and very clear word count goals. I have the first sequel to Please, Sir in the works. I've finished the first draft of three of the short stories for Lost and Found and I'm looking at completing the fourth tonight or tomorrow. I started up again with The Guest and started thinking about something I'm calling VietZombies for right now. I even started work on the novel I hope to take on for NaNoWriMo.

I did the math and have been practicing meeting the word count goals. In the three nights I've attempted to write 1,667 words (the approximate daily word count you need to meet in order to write 50,000 words in thirty days), I've succeeded. The first three nights are easy. It's the last three nights that'll be hard. I'm hoping to be ready to take on NaNo and win this year. I've never written a novel in a month and it's been a long time since I attempted a story longer than about 30,000 words.

Short stories are kind of My Thing. Novels? Not so much. But I'm kind of stubborn. I like to push myself to learn and master new writing things.

And then I like to do what I can to perfect the things I've already learned.

So... I guess that's the point of today's post, then. Drive. Knowing what I want to accomplish with my writing. Having written things to look at and take inspiration from and model my work on. Not that I want to write a superhero movie, but I certainly want to write lean, clean stories. I want to write characters that make my readers root for them--or against them. I want to be good.

SitRep Saturday: One Good Cowboy and Book Covers

I actually did get a little bit done this week on One Good Cowboy. I did about a page and a half of editing, wrote out several pages of meta, and redesigned the book cover.

It needed some work since the story is no longer a novelette.

In that vein, in order to prepare my work for upload to AllRomance (a goal I had for the week, a goal I completely missed), I did a little bit of work to the cover for Cass Gets Her Kicks, too.

I felt like the cover needed a little more information for potential readers. 

The Cowboy Next Door also needs some cover work, and I hope to add taglines to the covers of both Please, Sir and Better with You before I upload to AllRomance.

Self-publishing is a learn-as-you-go business, no matter how much research you do beforehand, but I really enjoy the experience I get these days.

Release News: Please, Sir

Paige finally has her life together. Her boyfriend just proposed, she's set to complete her nursing certification, and they just moved to Kansas City--within an hour's drive of her fiancé's childhood home, where his widower father still lives.

But upon meeting John, Paige's newfound self-control slips. He is temptation she cannot resist.

Please, Sir is a short story of approximately 10,000 words featuring adult characters, explicit sex between an older man and a younger woman, and spanking.

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Now available at Amazon.com and at Smashwords. At Smashwords, you can use coupon code NV22M until December 6 to download it for free.

SitRep Saturday: Please, Sir

Please, Sir will be available on Smashwords today and it will be available on Amazon within the next few days. I'm putting the finishing touches on the formatting today. It has been edited, beta-read, ignored, and agonized over. It's ready.

I'm going to take a day or two off after this and maybe write up a few more blog posts (that's what I did while I ignored the story for the last half of the week), but I have already started work on the next project. It's another cowboy romance that looks to be longer than The Cowboy Next Door.

SitRep Saturday: Please, Sir & Other Projects

Yesterday, I posted the cover and the "back cover" summary for Please, Sir. The summary needs some work, I know. I've downloaded the file to my Kindle for reading/editing/note-making while I'm away from the computer. I'm pleased with the way the draft turned out and I'm very pleased with the cover (especially since I got it 20% off thanks to Dreamstime's Black Friday sale). The short story will be finished and available soon.

I have my next project planned. It will be another cowboy romance, this one about a dude ranch. I haven't worked out the specifics, but I've been doing some character work and some preliminary dude ranch research, and I'm confident that it can be good.

The project after that is hazy. I've been so inspired lately that I have pages and pages of outlines, character charts, plot points, summaries, and titles written down. Right now, I think I'll be alternating between romance and erotica. Alternating gives me a nice internal balance, I think.

Cover Reveal & Coming Soon: Please, Sir

Paige finally has it together. The boyfriend who turned her life around just proposed, she's studying to be a nurse, they just moved to Kansas City for Jesse's new job, and she is going to meet his father.

Her old instincts kick in when she meets John. She tries to control her desires, reminding herself that she loves Jesse and that she wants to be a real part of their family. But when her car breaks down and John is the only one available to help, self-control abandons her.

Please, Sir is a short story of lust and betrayal. It contains scenes of explicit sexual situations between a younger woman and an older man. All characters are consenting adults. The daddy complex is explored only implicitly, though the mild discipline (spanking) is explicit. It is intended only for mature readers.

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SitRep Saturday: Titles & New Projects

The new romance novelette has a title! I'm going to call it Better Together. Now, if only I could finish editing it. And find the right cover image for it.

This week, I also action-drafted a short story that, when finished, will be around 10,000 words. It's slightly different from the work I've put out so far, but I'm still very proud of it. The working title is Sir but, as usual, that is subject to change.

I even outlined a six-story anthology and started the outline and action draft of the first story for that one. It has a working title--Duct Tape & Pancakes--and each story also has a working title. It is always a good sign to me when the titles come easily.