Who? Where? What?

Who am I? Where am I? What day is it?

I didn't make the Top Ten on the Mills & Boon New Voices Contest. Good luck to the finalists! If you haven't read them, make sure to do so. I'm sure the contest will be tighter as it gets closer to the day one winner is announced!

I mailed my suspense and celebrated all weekend.

I've been reading and critiquing for a woman in my Austin RWA group. I also got to help both of my CPs!

I've started working on the rest of my Mills & Boon entry, Her Highland Champion. Watch my numbers start to skyrocket over on the side! I'm hoping to complete a really rough draft by the third week of October.

I've got a subbing job for each of the next 3 days. I'm so excited to be getting back into a school environment.

I'm hoping to get a chance soon to finish Elle James' book! I love it, but I've had other priorities the last couple of weeks.

More Squeeing!

HIS RELUCTANT PARTNER is printed and waiting for the post office to open tomorrow morning! I actually printed it, the synopsis and the letter to the editor in time for the post office today, but as I walked out the door I realized I had the old manuscript title on the letter and the current manuscript title on the manuscript & synopsis. By the time I revised and printed the letter and got up to the post office it was closed. BUT no worries! 9 A.M. tomorrow when the doors open I plan to be there to send my latest baby across state lines to NYC!

I already started my celebration with dinner out and some margaritas. Tomorrow is a WHOLE day away from the computer to tailgate and watch college football. Then Sunday I'll work on some critiques for friends and a bit o' reading. Then Monday I start back to work drafting the rest of HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, the latest Scottish contemporary.

What does your weekend look like?

Squuuueeeeee!

His Reluctant Partner revisions are DONE! Now, all I have to do is finish up the synopsis, reread the entire story for any last minute fixes, type up my letter to the editor and then stick this puppy in the mail tomorrow!

Ugh

Must stop whinging about:

getting suspense revisions done. I'm SOOOOOOOO close to being done!

not getting any day job yet. One day at a time, one application at a time.

how tired I am. I can sleep when I'm dead.

Lots O' Little Things

Mills & Boon Contest- I'm ready for it to be over. There are almost 500 entries and I have gone from 30s & 40s back up to #15 in a matter of hours. I spend WAY too much time on this site. Of course, I'd LOVE to make it to the 2nd round! The 10 finalists (yes, only 10 finalists!) will be notified next weekend and announced next Monday.

Partner- I drafted the synopsis yesterday and revised it this morning. It sucks, but not as much as it sucked last night before I went to bed. Luckily a lovely and talented friend is going to critique it for me. Thanks, Rebecca! Later today I'm going to start the revisions my CP sent me. She likes my changes and has some KILLER suggestions to take the story from good to great. All in all, I'm on target to sent it to NYC at the end of this week! I'm aiming for Friday.

Day job- As suspected, there was a glitch in my substitute teacher application and they had been sitting on my paperwork until they received my emails last week. I'm now scheduled to be first into the system tomorrow morning. Yay! I'll actually start working again! Of course, I'm still looking and applying for anything else I can get.

Sports- As much as I love football and enjoy getting together with friends and family to watch college football games, I've realized that if I could only watch one sport from now on it would be soccer. I am a soccer fanatic. I love me some English soccer!

Hola

Yeah, my awesome suspense is NOT going to be mailed on Monday. Why? Because I still have not finished the synopsis. I'm also waiting for my comments from my CP, comments which will help realize what is still missing from my award winning story. Well, I already know what's missing. She's really good about helping me find it and stick it in there before I send it off. (I've always been a plot heavy writer, so finding and bringing out the emotion is what nails me every single manuscript.)

The Mills & Boon Contest is driving me crazy. I love hearing what others think of my story and I enjoy reading other people's entries, but I do waste SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much time on that website! Luckily, the last day for new entries is next Wednesday. Then it's 5 days until M & B announce the Top Ten. I'd LOVE to make it to the next round!

The job search has hit a wall. I stopped applying last week basically because I was focused on getting my revisions done AND because I'd gone to substitute teacher orientation. I was supposed to be added to the sub computer system by last Wednesday. I'm still not able to access it, which means I'm not able to take any jobs. Which means no money yet. Ugh. I really need to be able to access the system just so I know I have that security. I'm sure it's just a glitch and the office is swamped with sub applicants, but they said 5-7 work days and it's now 10. So, I've put in a couple contacts to the office and yesterday I started sending resumes and letters again.

What's new with you?

Withdrawal Already???

9:43 AM:
And....I woke up at 9:30. My first thought was, "Wow, I can't go check the M & B site for comments and rating." The suspense is killin' me.
Better get off the computer to get rid of some of the temptation.

5:47 PM
6 hours and 13 minutes until I can check the site. Okay, it's getting harder now not to check...and yet, it's kind of liberating not being tied to the computer for that.

7:03 PM
Just under 5 hours to go! Whoohoo! How will I keep myself occupied? I'm working on my suspense synopsis and watching a previously played game of English soccer!

Can I Handle It?

I've spent SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much time on the Mills & Boon New Voices website over the last week, with more time spent each day. I admit that I check the comments and rating of my own entry, but I also have spent a lot of time (we're talking hours) reading and commenting on other entries. Now, I can have the vicious thoughts about rating others in my category really low, but I have too much respect for them and myself to stoop that low. In the end, the work has to stand on its own. The entries I've commented on or rated, I did with an honest heart either to support or help the writer. But I've been glued to the site for too long.

SOOOOOOOO........

Tomorrow I will not look at the Mills & Boon website AT ALL. I decided to see if I could walk away from it for a 24-hour period. I have to tell you I have doubts about my willpower. But I'm going to give it a try. So, from 12:00 Thursday morning until 12:00 Friday morning, I will not be reading or rating anything. Do you think I can do it?

Of course, if you happen to check the website and notice that I magically got back in the Top Ten (I'm currently at #15 out of 283 entries), feel free to leave me a comment! I'll check in tomorrow when I'm not on the New Voices website!

UPDATE: At 1, I was ready to come online and check. I didn't.
At 2, I thought, "Seriously? I have to go another 22 hours?
At 2:35, I don't think I'll make the entire day.....
Luckily I'm going to bed now.

Yippee!

I'm D-O-N-E with my suspense revisions! Whoohoo! I'm sending them to my CP for another quick read, and hopefully there will be no major snafus. My goal is to read through it (and make sure everything is as perfect as I can make it) one more time this weekend and then I'm putting it in the mail to the editor on MONDAY!

Then it's on to Her Highland Champion, the Scottish short contemporary that is currently rounding out the Top Ten of the Mills & Boon New Voices contest. Several new stories have been added, and if you haven't gone to the website (and rated/commented for me, if you like my entry), I URGE you to do so! There is such a wonderful group of talented writers there!

I should be able to start substitute teaching by the end of this week. Tomorrow I intend to get back to my full-blast job search too. Oh yeah, and visiting my blog friends that I've been neglecting while my eyes have been glued to the computer this last week.

In the Top Ten!

So, in this Mills & Boon contest I've been in the top ten most popular entries since sometime Friday. I'm SOOOOO excited! I actually had the top spot for a while too! (Now I'm at #4) But more importantly, I have had some amazing compliments on my writing. It's great to hear your friends say nice things, but when complete strangers compliment you solely on the merits of your work, it's very humbling. If you have visited the site for me or the others, thank you for participating! We all appreciate your support! And if you haven't visited the site yet, this round goes until the 22nd so you still have time!

Friday

Mills & Boon Contest- It's going. It's an interesting experience. So far my comments have all been about my use of Scottish dialect. All think it could be toned down. It's funny to me because when I write the rough draft, I write A LOT more dialect in it. I write it the way I hear it. Then, as I go through revision rounds, I take more and more out. I want it in there for flavor, but I'm thinking I still need to take more out. I did have one person comment that she would've liked it to start at another place. This one commenter (who didn't comment on mine) was just MEAN. But most people are pretty constructive in their criticisms. If you haven't checked out the entries yet, you should! The first round goes through 9/22. Then the judges will whittle down the entries to just 10.

Partner Revisions- I can FINALLY see the light at the end of the tunnel. Granted, that light is a tiny speck far in the distance, but it's there! I'm loving the changes I'm making. I expect to send it to my BRILLIANT CP Cat (who recently sold to Desire) next Tuesday. My goal is to send it to the editor on 9/20. Wish me luck!

Work- I'm waiting for the school district to put me in the sub system (5-7 work days) so I should be able to start subbing next week.

My GIANT Leap!

I have entered the Mills & Boon New Voices Competition! If you haven't heard about this terrific opportunity, it's a competition for anyone who would like to get published in one of the Mills & Boon lines. The entrants upload their first chapter of a work to the website and for just about 2 weeks anyone and everyone can comment and rate the entries. After that, the competition gets tougher.

To read my entry, Her Highland Champion, and to comment on mine or any of the other entries, follow this link! You can type my name in the search box and it will bring you right to my "page" or you can browse through the different categories and entries.

Of course, I'd appreciate a kind word in the comment section for my own manuscript, but more importantly, I just hope you'll skim through the entries and comment on one or two. Support the competition. It takes a lot of guts to put your work out in front of the masses and I think that every single person who submits, regardless of her writing ability, should be praised for taking a chance!

More Lessons....

After my second week of work, here are the new discoveries I've made:

1. I am not cut out to be an editor. I need to stick to the creative side of a book. As a result, I am no longer working as an editor.

2. My other career is education. I attended orientation for substitute teaching, which will give me a job, get me in the schools to network, and allow me to do what I do best. I can work as much or as little as I want.

3. I am both excited and nervous about entering the Mills & Boon New Voices Contest. The thought of my work being made public for all to see and comment on absolutely thrills and terrifies me. Yes, I realize I will be putting my work out there when I get published, but this is the first experience I'm going to have with public criticism.

4. I still believe I made the right decision to leave my toxic teaching job. I just wish I'd saved more money for it.

5. Beign a professional writer is definitely the best job. This is my calling, this is what I'm meant to do, and every day I feel my "call" is one day closer.

My Friend Cat

MAJOR CONGRATULATIONS TO MY FRIEND AND CP, CAT SCHIELD !!!!! Cat sold her first book to Silhouette Desire! It's slated to be an early 2012 release!!! I'M soooooooooooo excited for her! As I told her, this is almost as good as me selling. I'm thinking of changing my email signature line to read:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lexi Connor, Celtic Hearts VP
lexiconnor.blogspot.com
DID I TELL YOU MY CP, CAT SCHIELD, JUST SOLD TO DESIRE?



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