Katie's Musings

2005-06-26T17:19:00.000-05:00

There once was a ramblin' librarian
Who had a bunch a books she was carryin'
In a literal despair
She threw 'em in the air
And metaphorically became a barbarian

2004-03-31T23:19:00.000-06:00

Brief hiatus

Katie's Keepers is going to go on a brief hiatus as I will be spending my time doing a site redesign. As I have many other commitments on my time right now, I can't give an estimate as to how long this may be. Thanks to everyone who has entered the contest over the past year. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring it back at some point. Until then, be sure to check out authors such as my friend Jess Michaels as she'll be running contests in conjunction with the release of her novellas over the next year. I'll still be updating here, just not the site as much.

2004-03-20T23:31:00.000-06:00

Okay, finally back to writing. Yeah! I won't say that the writing is exactly flowing after an unintended month off, but it's not like it's dead either. I am forever grateful for that. I have to mention again what a godsend I find WriteWay's Word Count Tracking feature as the breakdown makes the goal I had set back in January still feel doable. I also had a breakthrough tonight. I finally articulated to myself the book's internal/romantic conflict. I had been thinking about it for the last week and had, for the most part, pinned it down, but it finally coalesced for me tonight. Almost as good as finding out that the drivers for the working printer my dad had sitting around were pre-installed on my new computer and after a year, I have a working printer! I've just had an all-around successful night :)

2004-03-10T23:56:00.000-06:00

I thought some people might be interested in this as they seem to have a great lineup of speakers. There is also a fee-based writing contest associated with the conference if anyone is interested. To get to the menu of topics, click on the "Site Directory" link.

Shepherd College's Fiction Writers' Conference

2004-02-19T18:50:00.000-06:00

2004 James T. Lupton Award Call for Entries

For anyone who is interested, this is a $25,000 award. If you aren't attending their conference at the BookExpo America, there's a $25 entry fee.

Books for Life Foundation

2004-01-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Bits and pieces:

1. I'm really liking the WriteWay program. I have the Pro version, which has full capabilities. There are a lot of neat features that you can use depending on the way you approach writing a novel. I'm kind of a pantser in that I have a general idea as to what's going to happen in the book, I do know how it ends, but I don't really have it planned down to the tiniest detail. I decided to use the character profiles that are available as a prod to my memory, but I haven't really refered to them since I started writing. This isn't really a program for deep structuring of the story like Drammatica, but I think it would definitely be useful for people who are more thorough in their story planning than I am. WriteWay also has a built in word processing feature which took some getting used to, but I'm liking it. I'm currently sans printer thanks to mine blowing up right around this time of year last year. I'm hoping to have funds for my dream one in a few months, but until then, I'm appreciating the fact that you can export your work as an .rtf file so that I can save it to a disk or whatever and print from somewhere else. The program does have a learning curve, and there are a few things that I hope will be added as the program grows, but I like that with so much planning tools available, I really focus on my story.

2. I'm already ahead for my quota for the month. Yeah! Now to keep the momentum going. Luckily, I'm very pavlovian when it comes to stimuli. Stick in a certain movie, and I'll probably fall asleep at your feet. Stick in a certain CD and I fall right into writing mode. It got bad though when I found out this morning that my batteries were dead and I had to scavenge all of our remote controls for a pair that worked. I stocked up on my way home from work.

3. For any super-techies out there, it looks like I now have a feed for this blog. Check it out if you're inclined and let me know what you think.

2004-01-26T23:01:00.000-06:00

Got humor?

I thought I'd point this out because it's a free writing competition, humor is always needed, and my brother will be attending this year's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. There are two divisions with two winners apiece, local and national. So check it out if you write humor!

Washington-Centerville Public Library - Adults

2004-01-25T23:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been playing around with the WriteWayPro, and I'm liking it. It's got this really neat tracking feature that helps you to plan how much you need to write based on how long you estimate your book to be and the deadline to finish it. Since I don't have an editor breathing down my neck for the book, I've given myself an "artificial" deadline of September 1st to finish the new ms. This should give me enough time to do revisions and get it ready for RWA's Golden Heart contest. Since I'm aiming for a 400 page novel with this one, and since Sept. 1st is just over 200 days away, I have to average just under 2 pages per day. When you break it down like that it seems so manageable. And it can be, you just have to stay dedicated to producing that much over the long haul.

2004-01-19T23:23:00.000-06:00

Okay, the website has finally been updated. YEAH!!

I've gotten my hands on a copy of WriteWay Pro, which is a program to help you organize manuscripts, with Christmas cash. The program's author has a romance writer for a wife and he created it from a wishlist of things she wanted out of a writing program. It's pretty cool so far, and I've started yet another new manuscript on it to see how it works. What I'm really liking so far is the scratch pad feature since I've got bits and pieces of dialogue floating around that I can just plop down in there. The only drawback for me is that I won't be able to synchronize this program with my Dana, but I can export an .rtf copy of the file, so I could possibly link that file. I'll see if that's possible once I reach that point.

Since I'm, of course, still waiting to hear from Arabella and with the new issue on the shelf, I'd like to put in a plug for my friend Jess Michaels who has a story in the April/May issue. Be sure to subscribe to be one of the first to get your hands on Jess's story.

2004-01-07T21:42:00.000-06:00

A couple of quick updates: yes, the site hasn't been updated, but a book has been picked: Nobody But You by Julie Kenner. Hopefully this should be up by the end of the weekend.

Second: I submitted a romantic suspense short story on Monday to Arabella Magazine, so wish me luck. Their stated response time is 2-4 months, so let's hope for the 2 months end of the range.

2004-01-04T23:19:00.000-06:00

I swear, I haven't forgotten about you guys, but I got caught up in writing a short story. Attempting to write one anyway. So, site updates got pushed to the back burner which I hope to do on Tuesday or Wednesday. Just an FYI.

2004-01-01T14:09:00.000-06:00

Happy 2004 to everyone. May it be a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year, in whatever form, for everyone.

Also, congratulations to Ani K. of Poulsbo, WA our only entrant, and therefore winner, of the December contest. She'll be receiving a copy of Elizabeth Peters' Die for Love.

Once again, I'm running late on picking a title for this month due to a couple of other projects breathing down my neck. I will post here as soon as one is picked. Remember that to win, you have to enter!

2003-12-21T18:17:00.000-06:00

In case I don't get a chance over the next few days, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season!

2003-12-06T00:23:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know I said that I'd have an update for today, but I've been working both jobs the last two days, and I won't have a chance to do an update until late tomorrow night. I can tell you what the book is going to be, though. Die for Love by Elizabeth Peters.

2003-11-30T20:56:00.000-06:00

Just a note that the website won't be updated until probably Tuesday because of my work schedule tomorrow. I'm still cutting off entries for the contest at midnight my time tonight (ie. the time stamped as received on my e-mail).

2003-11-25T23:45:00.000-06:00

So, I'm sure that you've all noticed that I fell of the wagon with this :D I decided that the tone of the book was getting too weird for me. Not that the tone was weird, just incredibly not me. It had reached about 7500 words at that point, which is pretty darn good in my opinion.

I have since started working on a novella intended to be backstory/introduction to the Untitled book I have listed on my Works In Progress page. The idea I have for the story seems so overwhelming to me, so I'm trying to ease myself back into writing it because it's a story that I really want to do.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving if you practice!

2003-11-04T23:01:00.000-06:00

Daily Word Count: 3000
Total Word Count: 5000

I actually managed to do this. By this I mean, write 12 pages/3000 words today. I'm kind of surprised because I really didn't expect the story to flow as "smoothly" as well as it has. It's going decently right now, but I'm just waiting for that road block to come speeding at me. Maybe it won't though. I'm hoping because I've recognized some aspects to my characters that I didn't expect that I'll be able to manage the story through the rough draft. I am a lot further along than I was last year. I quit at about 3500 words last year, and that's adding up the word counts from the two stories that I worked on. I've already got 5000 for this story and I think I can actually finish. I'm not that far behind what the ideal word count for today is, so I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I'm hoping that things will flow tomorrow night as well, even though I won't be able to monitor my progress as well since I'll be writing on my AlphaSmart Dana instead of my laptop.

Which brings me to group meeting info. Anyone on the Southwest Side of the Chicagoland area who is interested in participating in a writing session for NaNo should show up tomorrow night (yes, I know Matrix Revolutions opens tomorrow. I'm going to one of the matinees.) at the Borders in Orland Park on LaGrange Avenue and 153rd or so from 8-11pm. Paul/storychef from the NaNo boards says that he will be there by the wall of the cafe where the outlets for laptop users are and will have NaNo stickers on his laptop so people will know who he is.

2003-11-04T16:56:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've come to two realizations:

1. I'm an incredibly slow writer. I hate that. I'm usually able to do things pretty quickly once I set my mind to them. I just can't appreciably speed up my writing process.

2. What I'm writing is so not what I originally envisioned it to be. I'm not sure how I feel about it as it feels like it's because my writing style seems to be very different also.

Eh, pondering the significance of this is just another way to procrastinate. Fascinating, but procrastination all the same.

2003-11-03T23:29:00.000-06:00

Daily Word Count: 1500
Total Word Count: 2000

Yeah!! I'm still seriously under for the total word count, but that's okay! The story really started flowing at the end. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the story when I'm done with it, but hopefully I will finish and it will be that shot in the arm that says yes, I can finish these stories that I start.

I will say that the story has quite a bit different feel than I had envisioned, but that's okay. NaNo is all about going with the flow and trying to finish. I'm kind of curious to see how this ends up because it's been over a year since I finished and submitted my last and first novel. I know that I've grown as a writer, and I could see that in the stories that I've started since I finished last year. What I am curious to see is if my growth as a person is reflected in my writing, and if it is, how I've grown.

Enough deep thoughts, it's bed time and the plan for tomorrow is to get to 5000 words for the total, if not higher.

2003-11-02T22:34:00.000-06:00

Daily Word Count: 250
Total Word Count: 500

Yes, compared to some of the other Nano participants, I'm plodding along. But, I'm plodding. While the premise of the story has pretty much been set in my mind for the last few months, I'm still trying to get a feel for the characters. I actually came up with this idea while wandering around in my local bookstore and saw this one book. My brain immediately jumped into the "what if?" game, and the premise was off and running. Now, if I can only get my characters off and running.

This week will be interesting schedule-wise, but I'm hoping to get in 3 hours a day of writing each weekday. We'll see how that goes.

2003-11-02T00:06:00.000-06:00

Daily Word Count: 250
Total Word Count: 250

Tonight (it's still Nov. 1 for me) was the Chicago kick-off party for Nano. I had a wonderful time talking to everyone. I hope to see you guys again. I know I didn't catch everyone's screen names from the Nano boards, so feel free to leave a comment here to clue me in :D

2003-10-29T23:12:00.000-06:00

I'm slowly, but surely getting the things I want accomplished by Friday evening done. The schedule is going to be a bit of a problem, only in that it's possible that I could be called in to substitute at the last minute, or my dad could call me in to get odd jobs done around his business. My goal is to get 10 pages written every day. This is only because I figure the more I can get done in the beginning, the more leeway time I'm going to have when Thanksgiving rolls around. We'll see if that happens.

2003-10-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

Gearing Up

I've spent the last few days, and will spend the next few days gearing up for Nano. What does this mean? It means, creating the basic plot and outline or characters for the novel, doing insane amounts of laundry, cleaning up the living and working spaces, updating the writing and professional websites, and other odd bits of things so that I can, in all conciousness, let about 65% of my life fall by the wayside during November. Luckily this year, I don't have a family wedding in another state to attend. One other thing I plan on doing is drawing up daily and weekly schedules so that I can get what I can't let fall by the wayside as well as the writing done.

The Chicago-area branch of Nanos is having a kick-off party on Saturday at 6p at the Ten Cat which is on the far North Side. I do plan on attending barring any unforseen circumstances which I am not naming in fear of them actually happening. Hope to see you there if you're in the area.

2003-10-26T21:41:00.000-06:00

Hot damn, I'm back in business. This blog will take over from my previous one, until I feel motivated to work out the coding problems that resulted from my webhost switching servers back in May. The old blog is still at http://www.dunneback.com/musings.

The reason why I restarted this blog is because I will be participating in NaNoWriMo during November. This is to record how I'm doing, so keep an eye out for daily or so posts once November begins.

2003-10-26T21:38:00.000-06:00

testing, testing

2002-12-31T22:46:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Katie's Musings. This is part of my New Year's Resolutions for 2003. I hope that by keeping track of what I do, and how I'm feeling about my writing I'll be able to achieve that goal of getting published. I know that actually getting published is primarily the whim of the publisher, but I love seeing my name in print ;) I write romance novels, but I'm still trying to find the area within romance that best fits me. Maybe my voice belongs outside of romance, but as that's my favorite genre to read, I'll stick with exploring it for now. I am a member of the Romance Writers of America and belong to the Prairie Hearts, Heart & Scroll, and Kiss of Death chapters. I have one novel finished, Mind Games, which was requested in full and rejected by Silhouette Books Intimate Moments line. One of my published friends has threatened to kick my butt if I do not rewrite the book with the suggestions made in mind, and submit it to the sister line of Harlequin Intrigue. As I'm currently really sick and tired of the book, that's being held off until March or so. I do have some ideas as to what I can change, so there is still hope. Until then, I'm trying to get myself motivated to getting a significant portion, if not all, written of another novel. I have yet to find the idea that hit me as Mind Games did: "I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but I KNOW I can finish the damn thing." Well, I'll close for now, but if you are a writer, I do have a guide to online research available for perusing at http://leep.lis.uiuc.edu/publish/dunnebac/rwa. So Happy New Year's to all, and good luck in your writing endeavors!