Sunday Speculations

This week's Sunday Speculation is going to focus on the writing challenge to which I've whole-heartedly dedicated myself: Seventy Days of Sweat. It ends September 20th (as everyone so wonderfully pointed out -- thank you!)

I putting my goals out here so that anyone reading my blog can hold me accountable. (Do it!)

We are entering the second week of seventy days of sweat. My end goal is 85 to 90K total words written. After RWA Nationals and some family time, I'm behind. Of the past 14 days, I was off at the conference or vacationing for 8. My average page count for the other 6 "normal days" where I actually got to write was about 4 pages a day. I had hoped for 5 per day, but that's okay. I can still reach my goal by simply writing 5.5 pages per day for the rest of the challenge. Very doable.

You shouldn't expect me to come away with a 90k novel after this little endeavor. I'm working on multiple projects right now, so I interchange the MIP getting my attention. As of today, I have about 18k to go on my Brava Novella contest entry. I'd like to finish it up over the next two weeks so that I can have a few brave souls read it and give me their opinion of the 750 best words of the 25 to 30k. Yikes. Today, I've been working on it. However, it was mostly backstory stuff. It helps to get a ways in -- the first several scenes -- and then go back and write backstory. Obviously, this stuff is just for me, but to get to the end, I always have to go back to the beginning.

I also have to get some of COLD TRUTH rewritten -- about 10k I just have to recreate from scratch and alot that needs rewriting. I've got a request out there now for the first 3 chapters to go to Denise Zaza at Intrigue. But, I've been wading through those Daphne comments from my final and, well, they contradict each other. On a bright point, however, Cindy Gerard, who I LOVE, judged it and gave me some great compliments! Yippee.

Having focused my morning writing time on Jade and Byron from the as yet unnamed novella, I'm now getting Kat and Cris vibes. It seems my COLD TRUTH characters are giving me some gritty low down and I think I have to switch gears and write at least the scene they're handing me. (And all this after dedicating myself to the novella this morning. The best laid plans.....)

And then there's The Circle Series. I've been thinking it might be a good fit with Silhouette's Nocturne line. I went to the spotlight on Harlequin's paranormals, and all I could think of was this sounds like my sort of thing and my voice would fit in here. For those of you who've read my writing, check it out. They want stories that are dark and sexy, entertaining, fast and action-packed, mission oriented, with powerful dark tortured heros, and life and death issues. The thing will be holding it to 70 to 75k. So, even having brought home over 20 free books and 6 purchased at the literacy signing, I hit B&N.com today and ordered 4 Nocturne books (and a Cindy Gerard book, too.) I've already read one Nocturne book and have one ready to go on my Ipod (downloaded from Audible). At least by the time I get books one and two written, I'll have a good idea if it fits or not.

I'm a ways in on Book 2 of the Circle Series. Yes, I'm writing them out of order. So far, the heroine has managed to take the villian's power and turn it back on him to escape her sexual slavery to him. She's found herself in the last place she was before she agreed to the slavery and she's just run into the hero, who should be dead, but who really isn't who she thinks he is. And, honestly, he's about to find out that he's not who he thinks he is, either. Fun stuff.

This leads me to my last speculation for the day. I'm at the point in the Circle Series where I need to do alot of backstory stuff. I have Tara (heroine), Kevin (hero), and the archfiend Vinostoceses who are getting impatient to tell me how they arrived in their predicaments. That means that a significant portion of my word count may be backstory, but that's okay. I'll have to eventually put all that into the book -- when I can't keep it out anymore -- and I'll have it ready to go.

Back to the writing. I'm at the bottom of page 4. Kat and Cris are ready for their scene. Gotta go.
Macy