Quick Note On My Latest Find

My ending for Danger isn't the ending that my characters want! I've been working on the book for a while yesterday and today. This morning, I realized I have to let go of what I'd orginially planned and run where my characters are taking me. I really have NO IDEA what's going to happen, but I'm off to discover! I'll let you know how it works out.

Rollin' Along

My vacation is starting to wind down and I've finally jumped back into Danger. I intend to have the 2nd draft completed by the time I get back to TX a week from tomorrow. (Yes, while several of you will be watching the Rita and GH awards at the Romance Writers of America Conference in San Francisco, I'll be flying home.) I'm very excited again about working on my story. I've been a good author and accepted the fact that I have a few WONDERFUL scenes that just don't do anything. So, they will go in the "Deleted Scenes" section of the website I'll eventually have. I'm not sure what my revision process will look like once I get home, but I can figure that out later. When I come up to RI for my summer vacation, I always handwrite my work. With the amount of cross-outs and arrows on the notebook pages, it takes me a while to get it all organized when I get home. That will be my first order of business. After that I'll be able to work out a detailed schedule.

Hi, Hi!

I tried to post at the beach house, but the computer didn't work for most of the week and then on Friday the computer wouldn't let me. The Outer Banks of North Carolina were beautiful and the house we rented for all 15 of us was HUGE. It even had an elevator (That didn't work)! I read a lot, swam a lot, ate a lot, but I had a great time. I'll see about getting some pictures for you when I get them developed.

Now I'm back in RI and I'm here for another 2 weeks. It's hot. And we have no air conditioning where I'm staying. But that's okay. I've been running errands with my mom and visiting my grandfather so I'm cool enough. I've read 8 books since coming up here and I'm less than 70 pages from finishing The Bourne Identity. Then I'm getting back to Danger. The 10 days in VA (on the road) & NC were the perfect break from writing. Before we left on the trip, I wanted to write, but I couldn't focus enough to write anything good. Now, after the vacation and reading so much I'm ready to kick serious butt on the manuscript!

North Carolina, Here I Come!

Today starts my vacation within a vacation. Since my family is so spread out (some in TX, some in RI, some in MA) and we don't get much time together, we decided to rent a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week. Today some of us take off from RI and start driving toward NC. We have a couple stops along the way too and I'm very excited about the whole trip. I'll try to find a picture of where we'll be staying and I'll give you more details as the week goes on. For this trip, I saved a Jill Shalvis book called The Trouble With Paradise. I have a few other books to read as well, and of course I'm bringing my notebook so I can brainstorm/ draft scenes and ideas for the new romantic thriller.

Big Bad Bertha

Yes, my flights all went off without any trouble, but the Connor travel curse has reared its ugly head AGAIN. On Thursday I'm supposed to take off for North Carolina. Hurricane Bertha is somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. We don't really want to be in a hurricane shelter for our weeklong vacation! At least now it's looking like she'll skip touring the Carolina coastline. Hopefully....

All is well here in RI. I'm working slowly but surely on Danger. I've read 5 books in the week and a half I've been here and I've got 4 ready for the trip. I may have to go back to the bookstore after NC for reading material during my last 2 weeks here! For the trip I have 2 Jill Shalvis books, an Intrigue called Soldier Caged (sorry, I don't remember the author and I'm at the library with 12 minutes left on the computer!), and....The Bourne Identity. Yes, I finally broke down and bought it. I'm on such an adrenaline rush with Danger, the notes for the next story and the Harlequin Intrigue thrillers I've been reading, I figured now was as good a time as any to read The first Bourne story!

I hope everyone is having a good summer so far (or winter, depending on where you are. Hi Tez!) and you're staying out of trouble. Well, at least until I can enjoy reading about it...or I can join in the fun!

RWA National Conference

How many of you are going to San Francisco to the RWA National Conference? What made you decide to go or not go this year? If you're going, what do you hope to gain? If you're not, what will you be doing instead? And if you're a writer who's not going, what writing related activities do you have planned to keep yourself motivated while so many people are at Nationals?

I'd planned to go, but around the start of the year I got my brain working again and decided not to go. For me, the only reason I'm not going is the expense of the trip. I tend to make it a week-long vacation since I go on the Kiss of Death Pre-conference tour. This year I decided I wanted to try to get myself out of debt and start saving some money instead of spending a chunk more. It was a very difficult decision because I love how motivated I get at Nationals, but in the end I think it is the right decision.

As for what I'll be doing that week, I'll spend my time writing, revising Danger, working on a query letter, reading. (All of this, by the way, will be done at the beach.) Of course I'll treat myself to a visit to the bookstore (maybe to get those Bourne books!), but I'm thinking maybe I'll work on designing (on paper) my website too. I don't think it's an expense I can justify yet, but once an editor falls in love with Danger as much as I have and she offers me a contract, I'll put the wheels in motion to get the website up and running. This way here I'll be doing something constructive to keep my mind off all the fun everyone else is having at Nationals. Of course, I'll also check blogs too and see if I can live vicariously through any wonderful people who posts pictures or details of their Nationals experience.

Happy Fourth!

To all of us who celebrate America's Independence Day: Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, have a safe and happy Fourth of July! I hope you get to see some awesome fireworks displays and I hope you'll sing along with all the wonderful patriotic songs we have!

Thursday

Hey, all! Just checking in. I've been relaxing and reading and thinking about the judge's comments on Danger. I've done a little work on the WIP and I'm looking forward to working more today.

I've also fallen in love with the opening of the next book. I've got the scene written that alerts the reader to who the heroine is and what's going on in her world, but that's all I know for now. I'll keep you updated on that one too as info becomes available.

I finished In the Flesh by Rita Herron. Then I read Forbidden by Suz Brockmann. Today I'm going to start Wyoming Manhunt by Ann Voss Peterson. So far I've read 3 of my 6 books that I brought on vacation. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking a trip to the bookstore will be in order shortly since I still have another 4 weeks here!