IWSG: Have Heart

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means ... it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group meeting. IWSG was created by the awesome ninja captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can find out the other members of the group here.

Have Heart

Since the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference, I haven't been able to get Kathleen Grissom's "What doesn't come from the heart, can't reach the heart" line out of my head. It's had me reevaluated what I write and how I write.

After my critique partners' comments on Act I of Starred, I had to reevaluated the story. The heart is still there, but it needs more. A different starting place, perhaps, and have the characters already know each other. That requires more pondering and simmering. Plus, I still need to solidify the musical I'm writing for it. I hope to get back to this novel in August, unless plans change again.

Then, there is Twelve Days of Foxwick. It's a Fantasy Romance set in my Foxwick world. I was going to write it last year, but I ran out of time. I had planned to start writing it again in April, but every time I think of the story, it makes me feel ill and nervous. I do like the idea of it, but my heart isn't in it. It's not exciting me the way The Loveless Princess does or my short story collections set in Foxwick's world do. So, for now, I'm shelving the idea indefinitely.

Instead, I'm putting my heart in the projects that are calling to me. I hope to have The Loveless Princess finished soon. Well, the first draft, that is. It'll be awhile before it'll be ready for people to read beyond my critique partners. I'm excited to keep working on The Phoenix Prophetess as well as the short stories in Men of Foxwick. I have added Neighbors of Foxwick, a short story collection, to my list of 2013 goals as well, since I may have extra time to start those short stories.

True, it'll mean a bit less to publish this year and will take a few projects longer to be ready, but it'll be worth it. I'd rather take the time to make sure they have heart.

Are you following your heart when it comes to writing?

On a side note, Friday's my birthday, so I'm taking the day off from the blog. So no Friday Flash this week. Also, I'm taking some time off from the day job, so I may be a little slow in commenting. My home internet stinks, so I often don't get online much when I'm at home.

Wednesday's Writing Update: September Stats and October Goals

 

Happy Wednesday!

First, I have some really cool news. Rayne Hall contacted me on Saturday. She is the editor of the Ten Tales themed anthologies, and she read Women of Foxwick and thought that "Lady Bard" would be a perfect addition to the forthcoming anthology Spells: Ten Tales of Magic. After making certain about rights and the like, I've agreed. I'm pretty excited about the exposure and the fact that it is the first time an editor contacted me about a story and not the other way around.

Oh, and I've been asked to be on a panel about blogging at the 2013 Roanoke Regional Writers Conference. It'll be my first time on a panel.

Okay, now for the general news. I have September's stats, and I'm pretty pleased with how productive I was last month.

Total Words Written: 24,825

Total Pages Edited: 628

And I published Gravity: The Complete Trilogy in print and ebook formats as well as re-published Once Upon a December Nightmare in ebook formats. I also finished the first draft of Nightmare Ever After, and it's with my critique partners and beta reader. I plan to start editing it for publication on October 15th. The only thing I've completely failed on is editing my YA Contemporary Romance novel Starred.

Here are October's goals:

1. Edit, proofread, and format Nightmare Ever After for publication by October 31st.

2. Read through The Phoenix Prophetess and make lots of notes on scenes, characters, etc. to get ready to rewrite it for NaNoWriMo.

3. Start formatting The Nightmare Collection, which will include "Nightmare at the Freak Show," Once Upon a December Nightmare, and Nightmare Ever After, for print and ebook with a release date hopefully in late November and start figuring out a blog tour for the first full week of December for The Nightmare Collection. Information about signing up to host me during the blog tour will come in next Wednesday's post.

4. Edit Act I of Starred.

5. Make an outline for The Loveless Princess, a YA Epic Fantasy novella set in the world of Foxwick. If time, begin writing the novella.

 

Also, if you'd like to add me as a writing buddy on NaNoWriMo, please do so. I'm bookworm0753 there.

Up until last weekend, I had planned to write Twelve Days of Foxwick for a December release. Day One of the stories twelve days went well, but it quickly fell apart from there. I figured I could push through or re-evaluate this novella. I've decided to stop for now and hopefully Twelve Days of Foxwick will be available November/December 2013. Instead, I'm working slowly on The Loveless Princess for a hopefully January/February 2013 release date.

So what are your October goals? How did September go for you?