A week of editing.

Hello lovelies!

I started this blog post on Tuesday, and now it’s Sunday. It’s been a week.

Since I’ve been so busy and I haven’t done a true, full on ROW80 post since the beginning, I’m going to try to hit it all in this post.

First, what is ROW80 and why am I doing it?

ROW80 is actually, A Round of Words in 80 Days. It’s a flexible challenge to just do stuff during 80 days. A lot of the people doing this are also setting goals for health things, life improvements and whatever — as well as writing. Since I’m a big fan of goals, and this makes goals a social experience, I figured why not join in?

What are my ROW80 goals?

There’s a big list, but the stuff I posted from my initial statement of intent was:

• Get So Inked #2 out the door and to my Critique Partners.
• Hammer out So Inked #2 per my Critique Partners feedback.
• Submit So Inked #2 to my editor.
• Write a short story #1 for an anthology.
• Edit the short story #1.
• Send the short story out to my Critique Partners for feedback.
• Write my 2nd science-fiction romance.
• Begin writing So Inked #3.
• Revise short story #2.
• Submit short story #2.

I’ve since added some about my health, which I’ve posted about apart from the initial posting. Basically, I want and need to eat low fat foods so I can keep my gallbladder. I posted earlier this week, I think, all about my health stuff, so if you really want to know, here’s that post.

What’s been going on?

Last time I checked in was in the wake of Romanticon, which I don’t think I’ve recovered from yet. I haven’t had the opportunity to. This month is all go-go-go do stuff! It’s exhausting, but things are going well-ish. Romanticon was so much fun. I can’t say enough good things about my experience there, and that’s before you start talking about the Cavemen and all the very naughty fun that is hand in hand with the Ellora’s Cave brand.

Left you can see a shot done during the "Fantasy Book Cover Photo Shoot". Yes, that’s me and those are my legs, but I’m wearing stockings. It wasn’t nearly as sexy as it looks. At least not for me. I’m all of twelve years old, so I was giggling like a loon during the shots. The guys are incredibly professional, polite and super nice.

Besides the conference, I’ve been able to scratch off one of the things on my big list up there. I posted already about being able to check off the first items on my list, which is to scratch off the short story #2 lines. It’s off to the editor so cue the blinders. Out of sight, out of mind!

I’m a little sad because the short story #1 on the list might not happen this year. I might need to push it off until January or so. It’s okay, the deadline isn’t until March, but I need to do more research and hands on training I think before I can really get it right, and for a book like this, it needs that tender loving care. So short story #1 is a possible shelf item.

But how about some good news?

The last time I posted about ROW80 I was working on edits for A Kiss for a Cure. Those are done! I’m getting really excited about that book. I’m actually going to start writing the follow up book to that one in November, or next week. Whichever works out with the work stuff this weekend and my on-going edits. I’m going to try to write most of this book during NaNoWriMo. It should be a full length novel, whereas A Kiss for a Cure is a novella. It’s also the big To Do for this ROW80.

Almost as soon as I turned that book in, my Ellora’s Cave editor sent me the edits for Bound with Pearls. I was expecting these since she’d told me at Romanticon she was working on them. Talk about evil! Nah, I adore my editor there, even if these are rough edits. That’s my fault. I wrote this book way last year, I should have sub’ed it early this year, but nerves and other deadlines pushed it back and pushed it back and I didn’t want to mess with it. It by no means excuses those mistakes from happening, but now I know. I really do enjoy this book and the series it’s spawned. But, that’s all honey and roses while right now I have the thorns. Edits. Edits are thorns, but a necessary evil for something really awesome. These were a bit slower going than I’d liked, but I had them turned in on Saturday before I left for the work tradeshow I’m at right now. No, I’m not sitting at my laptop right now. Kinda wish I was, but shhhh, we’ll keep that between us.

Something that isn’t on the list, my book tour just wrapped up, so I’ll be doing follow up’s and thank you’s this coming week. The tour was great, got some really fantastic reviews that made me feel like a rock star and has me even more excited about getting to work on So Inked #3 late this year.

What’s on deck for this week?

Sleep.

Really, I need sleep. After a month of crazy and ending with a tradeshow, I’d like to sleep some this week.

In reality I’ll begin working on revisions to So Inked #2. I have two critiques back and I’m expecting several more sometime between now and next weekend. I’ll probably comb through the two I have and mull them over. I’d hoped to cut about 5,000 words from the book but so far no one sees anywhere to cut stuff, so I could just end up with a monster of a book. I really love this book, I just wish it was shorter.

With NaNoWriMo kicking off this week, I also need to go back through my notes for Sharks #2. No, that’s not the real series title, it’s just what I call it. I have the characters and plot set to go, but it’s been a few weeks since I did all the brainstorming and figuring out of stuff. I need to revisit it and commit myself to writing something that isn’t overtly erotic, just sexy. It’s a fun change for me, since I often get dinged for having too much plot in an erotic romance. Oopse! My bad.

I think that’s it for me. This is a long update, but I haven’t really participated in the last few. There’s either been nothing to say, or else I was away or swamped. Now I’m still gone, but at least I’ve been able to prepare for it this time! I’ll check back in next Sunday probably and report back on my NaNoWriMo progress.

Anyone else doing NaNo this year? What are you working on?