Category Archives: Current WIPs

DONE!!!!

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I did it!

I finished the new manuscript!

At 5:11, Nov. 24, to be exact.

I was thrilled, of course. A little shocked. A little giddy. A little doubtful. And a little sad, really, to have said “The End” to these characters, whom I’ve grown with and loved for a good three years now. (Yeah, three years. I got sidetracked a couple of times….)

Anyway, at 5:11, I threw my hands into the air and said “I’m DONE!” and Superman came rushing over from the living room with his cell phone to commemorate the moment. (Because I’m sure he could hardly believe it either.)

Then I went to pick Rene up from a church activity I’d dropped her off at, at 3 p.m. (and had told her I was “almost done with my book … I think…”). So I was excited to get her just a few hours later and say, “I finished!” I think she was in shock, too.

Then I went home and … uh … opened the file again. It’s like I don’t know what to do without this book open. …  Continue reading →

6,000 Words!!!

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I’m beside myself with joy that I knocked out 6,000 words last weekend!

I think that’s a record for me — 3,000 words a day.

Of course, my house reflects it: My floors are covered in dust, the fridge is empty, laundry is spilling out of the hampers, and it looks like a bomb went off in my living room.

But 6,000 words, people. I’m giddy.

The best part is that I think I only have about 6,000 words left! Until “The End”! I can hardly believe it.

(And if I could do 6,000 words in a dedicated two-day weekend, I can certainly do 6,000 in a dedicated, four-day  Thanksgiving weekend, right?)

So I’m counting down the hours, minutes, until Thanksgiving weekend. …

I might just have this puppy done!

The Next Big Thing

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I was tagged in a writer publicity tour called “The Next Big Thing,” where writers from around the world tag each other to say who they have their eye on as the next big writer. (Whoo-hoo!)

I was thrilled, of course, to be tagged by my friend, literary writer Nancy Freund in Switzerland (more about her below), to answer the following questions about the manuscript I’m working on now.

Here are her answers about her next book, Effort of Will.

And now here go mine:

1. What is the working title of your book?

Making Waves

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

I had this character floating in my head, because I’d been writing her sister’s book for the previous two years. In that book, her slightly-jealous dear-ol-sis says “Giselle looks like Grace Kelly – everyone remembers her.” … But I had the sense that a lot more was going on in Giselle’s seemingly perfect life. … Continue reading →

Sipping Seaside in San Clemente …

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One of the less-angsty parts of writing a novel is doing fun research on your locations.

And the book I’m writing now is set about 20 minutes from me, in adorable San Clemente.

I chose San Clemente because it’s one of the least populated beach towns in Orange County and still has a cool, “old school California” vibe about it. It’s the most southern city you can possibly visit in OC before a long, long freeway drive through nothingness into San Diego County, and therefore it’s too remote for most people. For that reason, San Clemente always has a “locals only” feel to it, which is what I wanted for my novel. Plus, I set it there because it has some of the best surf in OC; it’s home to The Surfrider Foundation, a world-renown environmental group; it spawned the two biggest magazines in the industry, Surfer and Surfing magazines; it houses numerous board-shapers; boasts a chunk of the apparel, gear, suits, boards and more in the $6 billion surf industry; and is home to tons of competitive surfers over the years. Oh, and did I mention the great surf? Since my hero is a professional surfer, this just seemed like his home. Continue reading →

Game-Changer

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Wow. So what a crazy summer this was. And a big part of the craziness was really the whole Golden Heart thing, and how that became an absolute game-changer for me.

I had no idea how big a contest it was. I’d heard of it, of course, around the Romance Writers of America (RWA) classes that I took from time to time, or from my romance-writing friends who are members of RWA. My critique partner Patti had mentioned the Golden Heart several times, and what a boon it would be to final, and I’d seen the designation on several writers’ signatures over the years, or even on their books.

But I’d never joined RWA (mostly because I worried that going to meetings or getting involved in a club would take too much time away from my writing, and I had very little time as it was, narrowed down to just a couple of weekends a month).

So last year, my crit partner suggested I enter “Earning Wings,” since it was finally done and I’d had it beta read extensively, and I thought … meh. I didn’t know if it would be worth the trouble. I didn’t have a synopsis for it yet, and I thought my time would be better spent sending out query letters to agents.

But my query letters were getting me nowhere. A big part of breaking into any kind of publishing is getting your manuscript read by people who can sign you. And man, that’s hard. … Continue reading →

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