Checking In!

It's been pretty quiet around this blog because we've been settling in to our new apartment and dealing with a very busy work schedule! Oh, and did I mention that we're also planning a last minute wedding for February 2013? Yikes!

I have two full weeks from work starting December 21st and I am looking forward to it! I already have my ending to my mystery story, I just need to write it. The plan is to write the ending and start arranging it so I can edit it successfully.

Two things that I want to work on with this manuscript are:

1) Getting through editing quicker. At 50-60,000 words, it shouldn't take me months on end to edit. Now that I've found an editing checklist that works for me, hopefully I can get through it within 2-3 months. And...

2) Perfecting my Kindle formatting. Okay, The Two Worlds was a nightmare. And it's STILL not perfect. I wrote it on various Word versions across a period of seven years. The formatting was all messed up and didn't want to cooperate when it was time to put it on Amazon. But since I will be charging for the mystery story, I need to deliver formatting perfection.


All in all, I think wrapping up the draft for the unnamed mystery is a great way to spend my holiday vacation. What about you? Do you have any writing goals to hit during the holiday season?


(P.S.- Check out my review of Witchling by Ari Harper on Urban Girl Reader!)

Dabbling in the Mysteries

I'm indecisive. While cleaning out my Google Docs queue, I found an old NaNoWriMo manuscript that I had put aside and never looked at again. It's a mystery, something that I had never written before and had a great time writing during NaNoWriMo. After reading it, I decided it was too good to toss back into the shoe box and am now thinking about finishing it, then writing my paranormal romance then turning back to YA fantasy.

I know, I know. Indecisive.

The beautiful thing about me being an amateur writer is that I have total freedom to do things like pick and choose the projects that I want to work on. I'm not bound to a publishing contract, and I don't have a slew of fans chomping at the bit to find out what happens next with a character. I'm also not sure if I want to deviate from the self publishing route right now. So I can create my own writing schedule and as long as I finish the project that I'm working on, I have no qualms.

Of course, this type of mentality works best when you're not trying to make a living writing. :) My goals are to continue finishing manuscripts (edited, published, marketed) for the next few years. I want to get better at ALL aspects of producing work and that comes with practice. If I snag an unsuspecting agent, awesome. If I *gasp* get a publishing contract, fantastic. But it's not on the top of the to do list.

That type of thinking is freeing and inspiring all at the same time.
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My mother gave me sound advice a few weeks ago when I was fretting over not being able to do everything at once and it fits my writing attitude perfectly: "It's your life, dummy. You make the rules."

Good point Mom.