The Brava Novella Contest aka crap I did it!

I'd told myself that I'm new and I'm not even going to try that. I'm not even published yet. Who am I kidding?

Then I thought, what do I have to lose really? So I took an bit out of a paranormal I'm working on and sent it in before I had time to talk myself out of it. LOL

Wish me luck!

Lauren

Finding a groove...

Last Monday I wrote to you that I was back on track. Well, that didn't happen did it? I did very well last Monday and then for nearly a week it seemed that I found every excuse not to write and when I finally got everything else done and sat down to get to work, I was nodding over my keyboard.

I'm not going to get a lot done this way.

So I spend Saturday writing down everything I have to do each day and each week. I also decided that it's time I go back over notes and see if I can remember when I'm most productive. Then I tried a couple of things.

Sunday I stayed with what I've been doing. I did everything else I needed to do and then sat down to write around 9 or 10 PM. I was tired, I wasn't in to it. I managed to write about 314 words. It was something at least, right? But not the productivity I want and know I'm capable of.

Now, according to my notes, I have had a handful of very productive writing sessions in the early afternoon. I'm lucky that I can shift my day job a little to accomodate that. So I did it. I wrote from noon to about 2:45 this afternoon. My word count was 766. And that was with a couple of phone calls I had to answer. That's more than double what I did the night before. Interesting, huh?

I'm going to continue on right now and again. I'm a little tired. We'll see what I come up with. Maybe the time of day has nothing to do with it. But I was certainly more alert and creative this afternoon than I am now! lol

I'm writing another short story for another submission call and it's due by 9/1. I don't know if I'll make it but I'm going to try. Werewolves, Spanish castles, and menage. You'd think THAT would wake me up, right? lol

Buenos Noches!

Lauren

Back on track

So I had to take a week off to catch up on the day job and other personal things. You know, dog licenses, eye exams, that sort of thing. I didn't write a word last week and it was a good thing really because I was caught between two projects.

One I started out white hot and then just didn't know where it was going and got lost. The other one I plotted out first and I think that's what's going to work for me. So this second story will likely be the next thing I complete. It will be my fourth story.

It's hard to write short and each story I've written so far has been short because that's what the submission calls have been for the publishers I'd love to be with. One full is in at Red Sage, no word, one rejection. One is done and needs some work.

And I'm working on this fourth story which has a deadline on the submission call of 9/1. Wish me luck. I wrote 1,216 words today. Not bad.

Night!

Thus ends another weekend...

So I'm working on a new story. Long story but the fantasy I was working on I put to the side for now. It just wasn't working for me at this moment. That's not to say it won't later. I hope! lol But I started something new and thought it would be great to document the project here. You know, so you can enjoy the rejection with me! lol

So last night I wrote 500 words exactly on it. That never happens. I have no idea of a title either which is something else odd for me. I usually start with the title. So this should be interesting...

The weekend flew by. I'm just now starting to write tonight. Hopefully I'll top 500 words. We'll see how it goes.

Hope it was a good weekend for you.

Lauren

A day off is okay once in a while...

Why do we always feel the need to push on and work some more even when we've met an important goal? Can't we take off at least one day to be all over ourselves and happy? Okay, so if you're not supposed to, too bad! lol I took the day off from writing and I don't feel the least bit guilty. How can I when I've written nearly 10k words in the last week. That's not bad.

The new work is exciting. A fantasy this time and a hot one. I'm thinking that since the wait can be long, I might as well have something nearly done if I get good news. Of course, if I get bad news and get rejected I'll now have three things to pedal - but maybe I'll get lucky.

Did you make those brownies? Yes, I did a little cooking today. What did you expect? lol Here's something to try...

Sangria

Ingredients:
1 large bottle of dry red or white wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 orange
1 Lemon
1 Lime
1 quart club soda
1 ounce brandy
1 ounce triple sec

How to mix:
Slice each of the fruits very thin. Combine with the wine and the sugar. options, Refrigerate overnight. Mix in the club soda just before serving. To serve, ladel into wine glasses and garnish with fruit slices.

Serving glass: Large wine glasses

Buenos noches!

Lauren

I've had the BEST day!

You know, last week ended on a hard note but this week is off to an awesome start and today has just been great! The only thing that could possibly make it better is to get my big break - THAT'S how good today was.

And that's unrelated to writing. =)

On the writing front, I last posted on 8/3 right? Here's what I got done:

8/4 - 611 words
8/5 - 2,260 words
8/6 - 2850 words
8/7 - 2,984 words

I'm feeling pretty good today. Hachachachacha!

I even made brownies and if you want to try them with me, here you go!

Chocolate Chipotle Brownies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter or margarine
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate -- broken into small pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoons chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raisins -- soaked overnight in beer
1/2 cup hazelnuts -- toasted & chopped
confectioners' sugar -- for garnish

Directions:Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until they start tothicken. Add the sugars. Continue beating until the mixtureis light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and chocolate mixture.

Lightly toast the spices in a skillet over low heat, stirringoften and don't allow to burn.! Combine the spices and flour in a bowl with a whisk.

Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently add theraisins and hazelnuts, stirring just until combined. Don'tover-mix.

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 9" round pan.Bake in a 350°F oven just until set 25-30 minutes. Coolin the pan. Turn out and cut into wedges. If desired,dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Night and happy dreams!

Lauren!

SO glad it's Friday!

Remember that situation I mentioned? It ended up worse than I thought. I spent half of today dealing with that situation. Well, scratch that. Person. A person who in my day job enjoys calling me out over how I do things. Then I explain and it's like I never said a word, I just get more insults and feel more put on the defensive. And I hate that. I guess I'm figuring out there are some people you just can't argue with. They have to have the last word, they are always right, and anything you say falls on deaf ears or is twisted around and thrown back at you.

I'd like to tell you that I did the best thing and turned the other cheek. I've finally reached my limit with this party. I told them I found their particular approach rude and if they couldn't be at least passingly civil, that I really wanted to avoid future interaction.

Of course, that met with even more criticism so I just walked away. It saved the latter part of the day.

The shame of it all is that I'm so mentally exhausted, I don't have anything to give my story tonight. Negativity takes SO much energy and I guess some people live in a constant state of it. Isn't there enough shit out there without creating more? Is it just me?

Life's short and it just pisses me off to waste a moment of it on negative bitchy people. The only regret I have is putting up with the situation this long. As I heard somewhere, I don't start fights.

But I can finish them ;)

Night,

Lauren

Ever notice

That sometimes the thing you think you want turns out to be not the thing you need. I had a situation like that today and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I've never been one to make snap judgments - one of my few good qualities lol. I'll mull it over for a couple of days and move on from there.

Not going to be easy.

In writing world, things are moving right along on my new project. I wrote 1,091 words tonight. I don't know compared to other writers if that's good progress or not but I'm guessing as long as I move forward, I'll be okay. lol

Buenos noches,

Lauren