Oh yeah…
We gots us some news. Way back last winter one of my peeps and I decided to try our hand at writing a category length romance. These are the time-tested Harlequin-type stories that are beloved by generations of women. I love romance but really never tried my hand at writing this popular genre. So, I did. I’ve been taking NY Times best-selling author, Lori Wilde’s mentoring class at SavvyAuthors. Lori writes some of the best Harlequins around. Really, check them out! What a surprise to find this neat genre and have a world of books to read, not to mention write. I figured I had this great opportunity, why not learn from the best? So, I did, and so my first category-length romance, The Internet Millionaire’s Copilot was born.
Copilot, as I fondly call it, is a 50,000 word (category length) romance about the love affair between a socialite-turned-relief-pilot and an internet entreprenuer. 
Nice! I finished Copilot a couple of months ago and began working on the other books in the series which focus on the interesting people who populate high tech startups and the men (and women) who fly their corporate jets.
So what’s the news? Well, Copilot finaled in the Greater Seattle RWA’s Emerald City Opener Writing Contest in Category-length romance. HOLY MOLY! Was I ever blown away. I mean, wow! Anyway, Copilot is now being reviewed by the final judge, Melissa Jeglinski from the Knight Agency. Well, I could not be more thrilled!
Oh, BTW, since Copilot is seriously on a roll, I also entered it in the Mills and Boon New Voices contest. You can read and comment on the first chapter of Internet Millionaire’s Copilot here. Not to mention a bunch of other books by talented new writers!
***Queue music……Ta..Da..Da….Daaaaaa!
Okay, okay they are LATE! Sue me. I posted my results from last year’s goals in the previous post. Well, I’ve been busy. Not slacking, working! Yes, yes on my goal targets. Hey, I had them I just didn’t POST them!
This year’s goals are presented by: my sons Thelen and Walker (no name comments, please), my dog, Kyra, and my Nelson’s Albino Milksnake, Audrey Lou.
Tis the season for checking in with last year’s goals and thinking about the new ones for next year! Why should you care about goals? Well, everybody who said they’d have that book done in May…then August….then November raise your hand. And, is it done yet? I thought so. Setting goals is one way to help yourself finish what you start.
I set goals last January like I do nearly every year. I use SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. An example of a smart goal is: I will write 1000 words per day 28 days of the month. Or: I will complete the first draft of my novel by December 31. What these goals have in common is that I control the outcome. I didn’t add a goal whose outcome teetered on something out of my control like: I will land SuperAgent Mary Jones by June 3. That’s not a good goal because I can work as hard as possible and still not succeed if Mary doesn’t want my work. Don’t write goals whose outcome depends on the actions of other people or forces.
The best goals are measurable in simple ways and can be tracked on a regular basis in something like a spreadsheet or calendar. Daily word counts that you log and monitor are one example, but you can also think about how many potential agents you need to research, classes you want to take or critiques you want to do. When you think about goals think about how you will measure your success.
Finally, make sure your goals are attainable. Nothing is more depressing than a goal that is beyond your current skillset. Stretch goals are great and encourage you to reach just a bit farther but not so far away that you fall out of the tree.
So onto my goals! I always have fun with them. This year I used animal pictures taken during my African vacation for fun illustration, and used a comic layout. But for the goal report, I’m keeping it simple.
So what did I learn? I seem to be able to write at a pretty good clip; however, next year, I likely need to focus more on finished output and less on piles of words. lol. Averaging 2,000 words per day is a decent goal, and I am likely to keep that for next year as I know I can do it and plan to continue writing 2,000 words per day.
I need to focus on getting more critiquing done. I fell short on this and that’s not good because an excellent way to learn is to review others’ works. And I would like to take an in-person workshop next year.
The next step is to use these goals and their results to develop next year’s goals. I’ll take a few days to do this, but you can be certain that when I publish my 2011 goals they’ll be SMART… and will include completing a finished manuscript in less than 5 drafts. ROFL.
A few weeks ago I entered A Fault in Time into a contest at SavvyAuthors.com. I was hoping to get some feedback. To be honest, I was feeling a little wobbly about my baby. Gulp.
For new readers, A Fault in Time is the work in progress that was started in a LibertyHall MidSommerMadness camp last summer, achieved first drafty status in 2009 NaNoWriMo, and has been my baby and albatross through FIVE..(5) full, bottom to top revisions. You cannot say that I am shy about taking a weedwhacker to my words. (hehe alliteration..I am feeling spunky).
So two weeks ago, much to my astonishment, I was told by Liz over at SavvyAuthors that my baby had made it to the final round. Whhhuuuuuttt? No shit? And there was a lot more cussing and some hyperventilation.
The judges’ comments were useful, wonderful, and insightful and I felt truly happy! They liked it! They saw where it could be better! YAY!
So today, you could have nearly dumped me over with a fracking feather….A Fault in Time (OK, the name, she sucks.) won in her division. *&())()*(*(*@#$^ Lordy Lucy– and the agent who read it wants to see more? For real? Now I’m extremely grateful to this amazing person for wanting to look a my manuscript, and if this is as far as it goes, I will still be happy. Because I know that I have a shot. I really effing do.
Who knew? Evidently my most amazing husband who just smiled and said, “Of course.”
Shiny
A Fault in Time is getting very shiny. The real question is…
Am I polishing a fabulous, vintage 1964 Airstream Globetrotter trailer or a turd?
OK, to be fair it’s not an either/or question. It could be something in between. It could have a plot that is close and needs tweaking, or a great plot but be light on characterization. Or it could have great voice and lack detail, or….
“Last boarding call for the spiral staircase of doom to Obessoland.”
Yes, well. Harrumph.
The first set of beta readers get their mitts on it Sunday. Oh shit, that’s tomorrow. I expect that it will have problems since finding great crit partners has been one of the more challenging things I have attempted this year.
I am prepared for problems. I am prepared for rewrites. I am prepared to go to a coarser grit, take off the shiny top coat and rip into the subsurface to make this story right.
I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Bring. It. On.
Gulp.
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