Monday Miscellany: WIPs, Recipes, and Blogging

So I have fleshed out the action draft of the new WIP and made some changes and, now, it will be decent to share under my current romance/erotica pen name. I just have to, you know, actually write it. Since it's a short story and I'm only shooting for 10,000 words it should be easy peasy. Well, that, and the fact that I really like it. I've even already found the cover art for it. Once I have a mockup I'm happy with, I'll share.

Last Friday, I made whiskey cookies. I used this recipe, but I would suggest the following changes: use half as much baking soda, add about 1/4 tsp lemon extract, and add an extra tablespoon or two of whiskey. I didn't add the nuts or fruit, but I planned to drizzle them with chocolate. They were still pretty good. Because writers don't have enough ways to ingest booze!

In the draft stages now I have a post on where/how to learn about the publishing industry. I am also planning a post on how and where to buy e-books and a post containing tips on cover design (the last one because I have seen some truly awful self-published covers recently).

Even though I'm not in the States, I'm still celebrating Thanksgiving this week. The hubs and I aren't doing it traditional, either. We have a brisket and a squash and we're planning mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, and some cherry cobbler. Nice and low-key and delicious.

And speaking of giving thanks: for a brief span of time, The Cowboy Next Door was on Amazon's Top 100 contemporary romance list. So a huge THANK YOU to everyone who bought the book!

Monday Miscellany

After my SitRep Saturday post, I ended up writing another thousand words or so on the vampire WIP and then inspiration really struck and I set the novel aside to action draft one short story and outline a novelette.

The short story is the first I had planned to write for another three-story erotica/romance anthology. I've had the basic outline and plot for it written for a while, I just hadn't gotten around to writing it.

And then, once I was finished with that, inspiration really took over. Between Saturday evening and yesterday, I ended up writing 6100 words of an action draft of a romance novelette. Hence the photo you see to the left (available here): I'm looking for another book cover. I mean, I still have work to do; I need to finish the action draft, then draft it, then go through the revision and editing process, but since book cover design is such a tricky thing, I thought it couldn't hurt to get started.

But wait, there's more to this post!

This week is All About Editing week here at From the Writer's Desk. I'll have a guest post from an editor going up tomorrow, then we'll discuss self-editing on Wednesday, then beta-reading on Thursday. Right now, the Friday schedule is still a little open and I may very well decide to discuss editing next week, too, but I'm very excited about this. Editing is such a huge part of the writing process. It's just as important as the idea and the actual writing itself. I want to share tools and resources. I want to direct you, my lovely readers, toward some wonderful editors.

And I want to do this now, before NaNoWriMo, because while writing a novel in a month is a really great thing, chances are that novel is going to need some editing. Sharing the information I have, giving a couple of editors the chance to shine a little, is going to get you thinking (I hope) about how you're going to edit (should you choose to participate in NaNo).

Having this specific series of posts to think about is also serving to kick my lazy butt back in gear. The husband will be home from training this week and that means my vacation is over. I've slacked so much that my blog hits have really taken a nose dive. How am I ever going to meet my goal of 600 hits now? Le sigh. This just means I'm going to have to work harder.