#IWSG for November 2017

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Tonja Drecker, Diane Burton, MJ Fifield, and Rebecca Douglass!

November's IWSG optional question: Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

I love NaNoWriMo. I'd been doing it for years before my son was born. These days, November has too many family events going on for me to participate, but I still cheer for all the participants.

I always finished my NaNo projects, and the majority of them I finished in November. Were they all good stories? Nope. I have most of them shelved where they will likely stay forever. But I have published one of them, and it is my most highly rated book: Of Blood and Sorrow. It was my 2011 NaNo project. Notice it wasn't published until 2015. A lot of work went into fixing it up and prepping it for release.

This month's insecurity: I'm currently writing the sequel to Of Blood and Sorrow. It's heavy and dark, and oh, how I torture my poor protagonist. I worry that this new book isn't going to be as good as the first. I dropped one of the main characters, and I don't know how readers will feel about that.

I'm also trying to tell myself to be patient. I might be able to finish the first draft quickly, but to polish it up like first book, it's going to take time. I want to set myself a deadline for release in spring of next year, but I know I shouldn't. Not until I'm certain that's realistic. Plus, I want the third book in the trilogy written by the time the second is released too.

#IWSG for March 2017

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Tamara Narayan, Patsy Collins, M.J. Fifield, and Nicohle Christopherson!

IWSG Question of the Month: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

I keep all my old stories. On occasion, I'll go back and read one, and most of the time I come away laughing or stunned. It is shocking how far I've come writing-wise. Some of those old ones are really, REALLY bad. But I keep them around just in case I ever do want to rewrite one or take an idea from it for something else.

I have one character that has been with me for over a decade. I wrote a trilogy for her many years ago and queried agents with it. I had no idea how to market myself properly, and so it didn't get picked up. Plus the writing was not as strong as it could have been.

This character would not leave my head. A few years ago, I started to rewrite the trilogy. I couldn't get it right. I tried a half dozen different beginnings, but nothing was clicking. So I pushed it aside again.

She's still with me. I have a new idea for her. One I think will work. She'll have to get into the queue with my other stories, though. Yet I believe she's strong enough to wait around. Maybe not quite so patient, but she's going to make certain I write her story eventually!

Wicked Wednesday - sign on the dotted line

Now that you know my awesome news, I can share with you my experiences being accepted by a publisher. It's incredibly different than self-publishing. One way it's different is the whole signing of a contract deal.

I had a few bumps in the road with it. With my publisher, the contracts department is separate from everything else. My editor was not allowed to be involved in anything to do with it. I filled out all the paperwork (general information, tax forms, book outlines), sent them to the editor, and she forwarded them on to contracts.

Then I waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

A month later, I still hadn't received anything.

I asked my editor about it, and she suggested I email contracts to see what was going on.

They had sent out the first copy of the contract, but I had never received it. I checked in all my folders, checked them dozens of times, but nothing. I assured them I didn't receive it, and three weeks later, they sent out  the file again.

I read through the contract carefully. It was 12 pages, but there was nothing I didn't understand. I filled it out, re-read it, and had my husband go over it. I signed it, copied it, and emailed it back.

One month later, I received the finalized contract.

I was moving along at a good speed with my editor, doing edits and filling out my cover requests, I even had a release date, but I couldn't announce it until the contract was complete.

I felt agonized with how slow it was going at times, but this is typical with a publisher. Self-publishing allows you to go as quickly as you want to, but  with a publisher, you can only move as fast as the business can move. Patience is key in signing with one.

If you have a publisher, what has your experience been involving contracts?

Reading entries and a bit of the naughty

Welcome to all my new followers and hello again to the great people already here! The Campaign has been a lot of fun so far. I was nervous, but I'm over it now. There are so many encouraging and inspiring participants. I've visited all the talented folk in my Paranormal Romance group. I'm slowly working my way through the list of people who have completed the first challenge. It's slow going, but I'm having a lot of fun reading everyone's work. There's over 300 entries now. Wow.

I've done some more revising on my latest WIP this week. The fourth round is almost finished. I have the itch. I want to submit it. I want to get it out there and see what happens. It's taking a lot of will power to resist. I want to make sure it's the best story it can be. It's so hard to be patient, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

I have other novel ideas bouncing around in my head. It seems they all want attention this week, but I haven't even picked the Cheerios off the floor yet. I also need to write a little something for my writers' group. I have to have something in by the weekend if I want it critiqued. I want to write some science-fiction, but all my ideas are too big for short stories.

Last but not least, Erotica Quarterly #4 published by Pill Hill Press is now available. My short story, "Snow Strangers" is included in this anthology. My first erotica publication!