And So It Ends....

It is with both joy and sadness I say goodbye to LEXI CONNOR, the name I've used for so long. I hope that those of you who have journeyed with me so far choose to follow me in my next adventures with my new name beginning tomorrow.

LEXI CONNOR

When I first chose this as my pen name, this is how I came up with it.

LEXI came from two women, the love interest of Methos from the Highlander TV Series (played by Ocean Hellman) and the modern day laird's wife from the Monarch of the Glen TV Series (played by Dawn Steele).
Alexa on the left, Lexie on the right








For the last name CONNOR, I used one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, Connor MacLeod, from the original Highlander movie.


If you have not seen Highlander (the original, not the rest of the movies), GET THEE A COPY! It is totally worth it! Sean Connery, men in kilts, sword fights, immortality, gorgeous Scottish scenery and romance...what's not to love?

Almost Goodbye

Thanksgiving is over, my NaNo book is drafted and the finishing touches are about to be put on the new blog & website. In 3 days I will no longer answer to Lexi Connor.

I'm sad about this because it's a special name for me, crafted with much thought, and one I've used for several years. People have asked me why I'm even bothering with a pen name before I sign a contract. I first chose to use a pen name when I was teaching. I wanted to keep those two careers separate. Although I shared my ups and downs with my students on a regular basis, I kept most of my writing life in its own compartment in my life.

People have also asked why I'm starting to use another pen name when someone else could come along and take the name I'm switching to. When I chose Lexi Connor, I didn't think I'd still be unpublished at this point. The same thing applies to the new name. Even on the heels of my latest rejection, I still hope to be published with the new name sooner rather than later.

At the same time, I'm excited about all the changes I'm making. I'm focusing on my romantic suspense stories for a while. I've put together a website for my new persona that I love and I'm excited to change the blog as well. There is also a contest coming later this week to celebrate my move!

For the record, I would have kept Lexi Connor as my writing name, but there is a Lexi Connor who writes kids' books and I've already started getting emails for her. She has 2 or 3 books coming out next year, with the first one in January, so I thought this would be the perfect time to make the changes.

I expect to only have a couple more posts to this blog in the next couple of days. Then we'll be surfing the new website, blog and Facebook page!

To All My American Friends

HAPPY TURKEY DAY! Eat well, drink well and nap well afterward!

I am thankful for:
1. My family
2. My health
3. My talent
4. My friends (online and in person)
5. Books

SQUEE!

I DID IT! I AM A NANOWRIMO WINNER! 50,047 WORDS ON A WONDERFUL NEW SUSPENSE STORY CALLED A RELUCTANT HERO! TIME TO SIT BACK AND RELAX!

Pushing For The Finish Line

Less than 2000 words for NaNoWriMo.

Finally feeling connected a bit to my hero, the older brother Grady. And you know how that happened? I wrote a scene last night where he's watching the heroine work. She's totally oblivious to him watching her and he thinks about her and why he likes her. It's one of my favorite scenes so far in all my 48000+ words. Why? Because it's examining the emotions and THAT makes for good character and a good story.

More later.....

Almost....

I'm 2550 words away from 50K on NaNoWriMo. I'm happy with that, excited I don't have to keep up this insane pace and at the moment I'm pretty sure most of my words are crap.

On the plus side, I've got 2 heroes that are absolutely AWESOME.

The minus side? Their stories are still entwined. At least I've figured out which hero gets which heroine, but beyond that I still feel very far removed from my characters and their stories.

I do intend to keep writing until the end of November, just not as much each day as I have been.

I need to focus, as always, on finding a permanent job. Also, I'm getting closer and closer to the day I drop the name Lexi Connor. I imagine once I finish my 2550 words for NaNo and jump into the final prep for my new name, I'll post here more details about the switch and what it means to me to give up a name I've been using for so many years. AND on top of all that, we have Thanksgiving this week!

But for now, I need to get some sleep. My only sub job for the week is tomorrow at 7:15!

Salvaged

Meet my new hero, the one who single-handedly saved my NaNo manuscript from the trash. His name is Scotty, he's the younger brother of the guy I thought was the hero, and he's mighty ticked off that someone is accusing him of a crime he didn't commit. And who is that someone? Devin, the heroine.

Triple Homicide

I'm ready to commit one. At 36,000 words on my NaNoWriMo book, I'm ready to kill off everyone except the guy who was supposed to be the villain. (The "victim" definitely deserves to go!!) The hero and heroine may be wonderful characters, but they have absolutely no chemistry and should not be allowed in the same room (or on the same page, as the case may be). If I wasn't so close to being done with my NaNo 50,000 words, I'd toss this one and start a new one. Seriously, this book needs intensive CPR. I haven't had this kind of trouble since my 3rd book back around 2002 & 2003. I'm aiming to hit 50,000 words on Sunday. I just hope I learn SOMETHING from this horrendous experience.

And On Saturday?

I don't want to jinx myself, but I think I may have started to figure out the plot! It's at least got me writing again...for now. And anyway, this is an SRD (Sh**ty Rough Draft) and SOOOOO much of it will change before the finished product gets sent to an editor! AND maybe as I write with this plot in mind, the answers to my other plot questions will pop up! Okay, going back to it!

Halfway Through NaNo

I hit the 25,000 word mark today.Unfortunately, I still don't know what the exact external conflict is supposed to be.

Stolen From Pixie (Thanks!)

I saw this on a fellow Austin RWA member's Facebook page and decided to do it here:

Things in 3s:

Three names I go by:

1. Lexi

2. Lex

3. Ms. Connor

Three jobs I have had in my life:

1. Teacher

2. Activities Assistant

3. Travel Writer

Three places I have lived:

1. Austin, TX

2. Grand Canyon, AZ

3. Las Vegas, NV

Three favorite drinks:

1. Guinness

2. Water

3. Coca-Cola

Three greatest accomplishments:

1. Surviving heart surgery at 7

2. Moving across country after college

3. Buying my house

Three TV shows that I watch:

1. Leverage

2. The Mentalist

3. Criminal Minds

Three places I have been: (the coolest ones, I guess)

1. Phuket, Thailand

2. Glenfinnan, Scotland

3. Dublin, Ireland

Three people that text me regularly:

1. Bob

2. Nancy

3. Tracy

Three biggest failures:

1. Turning down a job that would've been perfect for me and would've opened many doors

2. Not saving more $$$ before I quit my teaching job

3. Not choosing the right career path earlier

Three favorite dishes:

1. stuffed shells

2. ham dinner with mashed potatoes, rolls and 2 or 3 veggies

3. pizza

Three things I am looking forward to:

1. Eventually getting a book contract

2. New Year's vacation

3. Finishing NaNoWriMo early!

Live From The Retreat!

Turns out we do have internet at the retreat, although I'm trying not to get on too much.

I'm almost at 11,000 words total on my NaNo manuscript, and I'm in the "this book sucks" stage.

Almost The Weekend

NaNo- been averaging around 2000 words a day. I'm LOVING what's coming from my characters! And they are a very...um....shall we say affectionate couple so far despite the danger surrounding them.

iPod- I spent most of my afternoon playing with my iPod and downloading songs with my iTunes gift cards. WOW! I actually made a soundtrack for Tell Me No Lies! I made 2 playlists, one for the suspense aspect of the story and 1 for the romance aspect. The suspense playlist has alternative, metal and hard rock. Oh, and some tunes from the Bourne trilogy soundtracks. The romance playlist has some songs that fit the characters and some that just make me feel good about the possibility of love.

Weekend- This weekend I'll be incommunicado. My local RWA chapter has its annual retreat. I'm SOOO excited! Last year I wrote my story with a pen and paper and I listened to my $5 cassette walkman. This year I have my laptop and my newly synced iPod. I'm also taking my digital camera. I'm hoping to keep up my 2000 words a day pace as I visit with friends, eat chocolate (and other good food), and have a few drinks. I'll share details when I get back.

Next Week- I've got a 3-day job scheduled already. I'm also hoping to do some more work on my new website so it'll be ready for the launch on December 1st. I'll have my local RWA meeting, where I will be able to dive into the "Broken Heart Chest" because I'll share the news about my latest rejection. And of course, I'll have more Nano.

You- Have a great Friday and an even better weekend!

NaNo Day 3

Oh, I'm struggling today. Actually, I got a chance to write about 444 words during my sub day- mostly during the period where the kids went to PE- and I've been writing some GREAT stuff on and off since I got home, but now I'm getting so tired. I'll make the daily word count, but I'm still behind overall since I fell short on the very first day. I suppose I can crank out an extra hundred or two hundred words if I just get off the Internet.....

AND LATER: I managed to crank out enough words to make my day's total 2038! I was frustrated because I had no scenes in my head, very few plot details and I kept starting and starting a bunch of scenes. But in the process of doing that, I learned quite a bit about my hero and heroine AND I've got some tidbits for GREAT scenes to come. I remembered (and must remind myself daily during NaNo) that this is the way NaNo works for me. I start with an idea, some basic conflicts (internal and external) for my hero and heroine and then I let them take me on their journey! Can't wait for tomorrow!

And We're Off!

NaNoWriMo has begun! Unfortunately, because I had a bit too much fun during Halloween, I only wrote 504 words. Ugh. Nothing like being behind on the 1st day.