2016, Day 7: or Done Reading PFHP!

Mr. Benny

Mr. Benny

ETA! AH!!!!! I completely forgot comments go to moderation the first time you comment! I just found a bunch and am headed back to them! AH!!!!!! (Yes, it’s been that long since I’ve had comments on my blog :p. I’ll pay better attention from now on! Promise!)

YAY! I finished the first full re-read of Prince from her Past and my other first reader (Ginger V.) was right – it’s not as bad as I thought ;). It does have some issues with story threads dropping or starting out of nowhere, but the overall story arc is pretty okay.

(Yes, I have two first readers. Emily N. gets everything as I write it. She then texts me her thoughts (usually – sometimes email). Ginger V. (one of three Gingers involved in my writing process ;)) generally gets the first draft as soon as it’s done and gives overall feedback having not seen any of it beforehand. The other two Gingers? Ginger L. and her hubs are good friends of ours and they let me write in their rec room pretty regularly. Ginger S. is my fantastic proofreader! I might, um, accidentally text the wrong one occasionally…)

Mr. Benny is my 5lb Shorkie. He’s also the template for the dog Jonathan finds on the opening pages of his story. This is him last night. Until he got sick last fall, he had no trouble eating from his bowl. Since he got sick, notsomuch :p. In fact, the top picture is his “Mom, the bowl is too scary – put the food on the floor” look. So I do. Then he got super brave and drank out of his water bowl without huddling next to me as I sit on the floor. A bit much? Probably. But this poor doggy was abused before he came to us (it took a year for him to be comfortable around my husband – even if no one else was around) and it’s not that hard to sit there. I read while I do it usually. We even bought new bowls! Because SNOOPY! 😀 Sometimes, he’ll eat or drink in their regular space. Maybe we’ll get back to it regularly soon…

So today…It’s been a tough week around here. I’m sure I’ll mention some of it sooner or later, but not all of it. Today was tough. Tomorrow will be tougher. Everyone’s fine, just life stuff. If we cross your mind, though, prayers would be appreciated. God knows.

Quote of the Day:

“You don’t have to shovel sunshine.” – my dad, circa 1980-2000 when we lived in Phoenix (but you don’t have to turn on the air conditioner to build a fire in your fireplace on Christmas Day)(This showed up in my memories feed on Facebook today because we’ve had snow on this date for several years.)

Today, I’m thankful for: my husband. He’s a rock star on so many levels. For real. And he takes such good care of me. I <3 him.

Today’s progress:

No writing done (though I may try to get a few words in before I actually go to bed)

Reading done:

Pages 70-161 of Prince from her Past and notes made (I print small with small margins and not double spaced – it’s probably 300-320 pages in reality at the moment).

Tomorrow’s goals:
*There’s gonna be a lot of life stuff tomorrow
*Maybe putting some of those edits into the computer
*Maybe a thousand or two words
*14yo’s first pep band experience so all of us at a high school basketball game or two

2016, Day 6: or Oil Changes & Chick-fil-A

Jonathan from Chick-fil-A

Jonathan from Chick-fil-A

Busy day today :). But a good one! Started with sitting around then heading to get an oil change. Realized in the McD’s drive through (hello, Dr. Pepper!) that I left my wallet at home, but had enough cash for breakfast and Brent and Kacie love me enough to change my oil anyway :D. The shop, Yocum Automotive, has been in several books because they rock ;). The best around! I ended up taking a kiddo to the doc, so we hit Chick-fil-A for lunch and saw my buddy Jonathan. I’ll often see 4 or 5 people I know (the owners are good friends as are some of the employees), but today it was just Jonathan and the manager guy I’ve met once but knows my hubs. I thought Jonathan was making a more fun face, but this is what I got ;).

In between all of it, I got a fair bit written. And dealt with a leaky washer (hoping it’s just the rubber seal/gasket on the front of the front loader) and a bunch of other stuff :p.

On the upside though, I’m loving Jonathan’s (the fictional Jonathan, not my CFA buddy Jonathan) story so far!

Quote of the Day:

“I hate math. I’ll never need math!” – 14yo Moncado child

Today I’m thankful for an honest auto shop. Brent (owner) & Kacie (office manager) are the bomb diggity. 😉

Writing Report:

Tuesday: 1068
Total: 3276 (3.85%)
To Go: 81724 (96.15%)

Today: 2533
Total: 5809 (6.83%)
To Go: 79191 (93.17%)

Tomorrow’s plan:

*I’m gonna read some of PRINCE FROM HER PAST tonight
*Read more PFHP tomorrow
*Write 3500 words (one of these days I’ll make it ;))
*Hang out at home and do nothing else, except maybe attempt spaghetti in the pressure cooker 😀

2016, Day 5: or Long Day

12yo sleeping after the first day back
12yo sleeping after the first day back

I got the 8yo to the dentist, but after a night of little sleep, I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. I did get a nap though. And my first reader, Emily N., (she gets a new file every night I write something new ;)), loves Jonathan’s story so far. That make me happy :D. Plus I think I’m going to bed early.

Tonight has been full of “real life” stuff so not much else accomplished. I did get some words in but I’m on my phone right now and don’t want to go check how much it was ;). I think about 500 words.

Maybe a bit more.

I don’t really remember.

So today’s other stuff:

Quote of the Day:

 

“We’re on Gallifrey. Death is Time Lord for man flu.” – The Doctor, Hell Bent, Doctor Who Series 9

Thankful: friends who let me vent and don’t judge (you know who you are ;))

Writing report:
Um…I read some pages and wrote some words. More detailed stats tomorrow ;).

Tomorrow: Oil change for the van, writing 3500 words, editing 60 pages, kids to Awana

2016, Day 4: or An Update

Goofy 8yo after his haircut

Goofy 8yo after his haircut

All righty. Day 2 of this accountability through blog posting thing…

Kids were home today, which means not as much done as I’d have hoped during the day, but a productive day nonetheless! Plus Jonathan met his heroine and she’s totally adorable!

Something I’m thankful for: My family. I know I said friends yesterday, and many would argue family comes first – and they do, but I’m talking about specifically today. My 14yo came and sat with me for a while and we just talked. My kids got along well (almost) all day. My husband is a rock star.

Writing Update for Jonathan’s Story:

Today: 1485
Total: 2208 (2.6%, I know the numbers don’t match up from yesterday, though I’m likely the only one, but there was an error somewhere yesterday…)
To Go: 82792 (97.4%)

Other Stuff Done:
Formatted Gifts of Love for paperback, though it won’t release until next fall. I need it for gifts for some very special people. Also finished the Gifts of Love paperback cover. We’ll see what the CreateSpace file gurus say about them when they look them over. Hopefully, they won’t need edited again, but we’ll see… I’m also planning to go read PFHP for a bit before bed.

Tomorrow:

*Take 8yo to dentist and hopefully to school
*Write 3500 words
*Saxophone lessons for 14yo
*Read 50 pages of PFHP
*Deal with any GoL issues needed, hopefully quickly

2016 Day 3: or Let’s Try Something New

My sweet doggy when he was found 18mos ago; My sweet doggy a couple weeks ago - in his Lion King pose on the towels

My sweet doggy when he was found 18mos ago (and what the dog Jonathan finds looks like ;)); My sweet doggy a couple weeks ago – in his Lion King pose on the towels

So here’s my new plan. Yep. I have one. That’s about all I got but here we go ;).

Not every day but a lot of days, I think I’m going to blog or post on Facebook or something – I’m not sure what’s going to be best. Just a quick check-in on what I’ve accomplished, especially writing wise, that day. Accountability. Not to try to get lots of new blog followers, or even lots of comments here on on Facebook where it’s shared, but just to keep myself on track.

Because I have a super ambitious 2016 planned and if I don’t get stay accountable and motivated, it won’t happen :p. That 2016 includes:

Prince from her Past, releasing February
* A new, but related series, set in Serenity Landing – Jonathan William Langley-Cranston IV is the hero of the first book
* The Grace series (not sure of it’s official title yet) and my favorite hero ever (book 1 is already written but needs some polishing)
* The beginnings of a new royalty series – not sure where it’ll be set just yet though – probably Western Hemisphere…

Anyway – in that daily-ish post will be…

* A picture
* A writing update (or editing, etc.)
* Something I’m thankful for

So today…

I’m thankful for friends who stick by me. (Many more things of course, but I’ll go with that one today ;).)

Writing Update for Jonathan’s Story:
Today: 610
Total: 1023 (1.2%)
To Go: 83977 (98.8%)

Plus I printed off Prince from her Past so I can start the read through tomorrow.

That’s all for now! Ciao!

#NaNoWriMo 2015 or Two books. Too Many?

Hey out there in reader land! I’m supposed to be working on Prince from her Past but words aren’t flowing easily tonight. :p

did write 1725 on a NEW book this morning, one I’ll likely send to my agent to pitch for traditional publication. I then spent hours staring at the file for PFHP. Sigh. Not sure if I’ll be able to keep up with both, but I don’t think it had much to do with my lack progress on PFHP…

Today

New WIP: 1725
Total: 1725

Prince from her Past: 401 (so far, still trying…)
Total: 28492

#NaNoWriMo2015: Day 1 or Too Many Clothes

Hey all! I haven’t been blogging regularly, shock I know. But I try to do two things every November – NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). I’ve won NaNo lots. I’ve never won NaBloPoMo. See, the posts can’t be prewritten and scheduled. So sometimes, I get going in my day, writing along, or not writing because…life…and suddenly I’ve missed a day mid-month. So usually, I try to post after midnight so it counts for the next day.

But for the first time, I didn’t start NaNo at midnight. In fact, I was in bed by 1130 (which was really 1030 since we gained an hour). So this post comes at the END of day 1.

But I did get 2086 words in. I’m a bit conflicted, because I’m a NaNo purist. That means I think it should be 50K on a NEW manuscript. So this year, I’m “cheating” a bit and trying to finish Prince from her Past. I’m contemplating trying to write 1667 (the minimum to ‘win’) a day on a new project (a non-indie project, most likely) and then spend the rest of the day on Prince. We’ll see.

Speaking of NaNo…Winning the Queen’s Heart came out yesterday! It’s doing VERY well! And it was my NaNo novel a couple of years ago!

Okay. Now, I’m off to bed ;).

ETA: Forgot to add about the too many clothes :p. We went through dressers and closets in our room today. That took a while. Otherwise I would have started earlier. But I have fewer clothes now that I don’t wear anyway, so it’s all good ;).

What I’m Working on Now – October 2015

Hey all! Thank you so much for popping by! It was a busy summer and it’s a busy fall, but that means a lot is getting done! (More some weeks than others… :p).

Right now (October 11), I’m working on my website, but I think I’m about done (for the moment anyway – I need to fix the sliders but that takes graphic design work I don’t have time for because…)

Kiss groom and happy bride in wedding walk

Queen Christiana and her groom

Winning the Queen’s Heart will be out in TWENTY DAYS! So, I’m working on final edits for that! YAY! What else am I working on?

First, there’s Protecting the Prince. It’s a novella centered around Tony, Queen Christiana’s head of security, as he tries to discover what really happened to her little brother and their nanny after the car accident that killed her parents. Did they really drown like everyone has always believed? Or is there more to the story? It’s written, but needs some edits done before I can give it to y’all.

Tony and...

Tony and…

That’s right! Give! It’ll be for sale on Amazon, but if you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll get a link to download it FREE! when it releases next month!

And what about Princess Yvette? Her wedding to the long-deceased Prince Nicklaus has to be planned and prepared for…I’m working on her story, Prince from her Past too!

After that? Well, November, is National Novel Writing Month. I’ve participated for the last eight years and LOVE it! It’s how I write best! This year, I’m working on a project set in the town where Tony ends up in Protecting the Prince. I’m planning to pitch it to traditional publishers, but we’ll see how all that goes when the time comes.

Jonathan

Jonathan

The first book in the next series set in my indie universe should be out early next year – probably February, but I’m not sure yet. I’m also not sure what book it’s going to be. I know who my three heroes are. I know who two of the heroine’s are. But I’m not sure yet what order their stories go in…

The good news?! JONATHAN! Jonathan Langley Cranston IV gets his story in the next series! I can’t wait!

#FirstDraft60 – Days 1&2

It needs a fun cover. Obviously.

The Master Style Sheet, Name, Calendar Binder. It needs a fun cover. Obviously.

The fabulous Kaye Dacus is hosting a #FirstDraft60 challenge over on her blog. I’m sort of shadowing, in that I’m not following the game plan she’s using because of what I need to get done in the next 60 days. But I am using it for accountability ;). (The pics are all from they day 2 thoughts.)

So…here’s the day 1 questions to think about:

  1. Why do you want to write?
    Because I have to. I can’t not tell stories – even if it’s just to myself when I’m bored. And now that I’ve gone indie I have readers waiting for the next book! How cool is that?!
  2. What will finishing this project in sixty days mean to you? Do you think that completing this challenge will change you? How?
    It will be a lot of stress off. I want to get two more novels out this year. One won’t be a problem because it needs edits, but is pretty well done. I’d like to have it out by the end of October, which means edits need to be done by the end of September.
  3. Front of the interior. Eventually, those lines will have notes about what goes where. I think.

    Front of the interior. Eventually, those lines will have notes about what goes where. I think.

    If this is your first attempt at completing a manuscript, how do you think finishing it will impact your life?
    OR, If you’ve completed multiple manuscripts, what will finishing another one mean to you?
    The full manuscript I want to work on will be my 14th (I think – plus two novellas). It will be good because I NEED it done by the end of October so I can do NaNoWriMo!

  4. What will happen if the people closest to you don’t understand, support, and encourage you during this challenge?
    Fortunately, now that I’m an indie, my family is much more understanding about my writing time (and they were pretty understanding before). But now, I’m making money with it which helps pay for things they want/need. (Mostly need…)
  5. Imagine how you will feel on October 31 knowing that you’ve completed this challenge. How can you use that to motivate you during the next sixty days?
    A yet-to-be-used name sheet - includes first book appears in and subsequent appearances.

    A yet-to-be-used name sheet – includes first book appears in and subsequent appearances.

    I think “elated” will be one way I’ll feel. This will be the first novel I’ve written start to finish while doing this indie thing. I’m still trying to work out how this is going to work with new manuscripts and not ones that were already partially or nearly complete when I put the first one out last November.

  6. What is the ONE thing you think you’re going to need the most to help you accomplish your goal for this challenge?
    Focus. I need focus. I’m perfectly CAPABLE of getting done what I need to. I just need to do it ;).

From Kaye’s blog:

FirstDraft60 Day 2 Assignment:

Overview Calendar - birthdays, anniversaries, important events - for all characters.

Overview Calendar – birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, important events – for all characters. This year Princess Jessabelle and Prince Nicklaus were born. King Antonio was crowned.

Your project for today is to figure out how you’re going to keep track of your revisions, style info, and research—and to go ahead and set them up. Then come back and let us know how you are planning to do it and how you’ve set yours up. Links to images would be great (e.g., Instagram, your blog, photos on Facebook shared publicly so we can see them even if we aren’t connected, etc.).

My answer:

I have a big binder (see pics) that I’m working on organizing all the stuff she mentions into. I have calendars for each book, which helps make sure we don’t have 52 weeks of “spring.” (Yep. Happened once.) Because everything is in the same universe, I have sheets for names (first and last) which will, eventually, let me know what names I’ve used and what books they appear in. I’m also debating a master list from each book along with brief description of who the person is (heroine’s best friend, school principal, etc). In theory, Mrs. Brown will be in the name list with 2.1 as the first book she shows up in. If I look at the master list for book 2.1 (Good Enough for a Princess), it’ll tell me she’s the principal of Lindsey’s school.

First page of the Montevaro Monarchy Calendar. You probably can't see all the eraser marks ;).

First page of the Montevaro Monarchy Calendar. You probably can’t see all the eraser marks ;).

At least that’s how I think it’ll work :p.

I’m still debating the best way to do this. I think I’ll just keep all the master-ish stuff for each series together, including the calendars. It’s going to take some doing to get it all done – the style sheets and all that stuff.

Fortunately – I have a couple of fabulous friends who are helping me as they read through the books. They rock! I just need to KEEP doing it as I go forward ;).

2015 Pre-Conference Mix and Mingle

Name: Carol Moncado

Location: Southwest Missouri

What you write/tagline/trademark: Romantic Dramedy in the Ozarks…and the Alps!

Place in the book world: Indie published with my own company, CANDID Publications. Still pursuing traditional publication with at least one manuscript and represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

On a scale of hugger to 10-foot-pole, please rate your personal space: Hugs! Hugs! More hugs!

The unique talking point that will get you going for hours: Books, Dr. Who, NCIS, Big Bang Theory, my kids, indie publishing, American Government (I teach it, but let’s just not go there, m’kay? ;))

Loved ones at home you’ll be missing: Husband of 18 years, 4 kids (girls: 13, 11, 10; boy: 8), 5.3lb Shorkie who is my snuggle buddy, 48 students who will probably prefer watching the movie ;).

Conference goals we can pray for? My goal is to chill this year. (This is where I get really real.) I’m not pitching, but I’m also a bit worried about not being considered/accepted as a “real author” since I “went indie” instead of waiting for a traditional publisher. Now, my bank account, while begging me not to quit the day job, tends to say “you’re making money now – that makes you a real author!” ACFW, like most writing organizations, has a procedure to qualify authors who are strictly indie so they can enter things like contests, etc. I am THIS CLOSE to reaching that mark by the end of this month. If I do, I may be able to get qualified to be a “real author” at conference (more a question of timing than whether or not I’m qualified – it takes time to get approved). Most of the time, I’m pretty secure in my indie-ness. I’m trying hard not to be worried that others (mostly people I barely know, I’m sure) will think I went indie because I couldn’t hack it and wasn’t good enough for traditional publication. That’s not it (though I won’t get into the whys here), but it still bothers me…

Anything we can celebrate with you? I have had a GREAT first indie year. I’m THIS CLOSE to qualifying as an indie publisher with ACFW. I have six novels out, one releasing this weekend, a novella out, two more novellas coming by Thanksgiving, one more novel by Thanksgiving, and possibly one more by the end of the year. I’m not making the kind of cash where I can quit my day job, but it’s very likely I’ll double my non-writing income (which, given how part time I work, isn’t insanely hard), and I can dream about the day where I can write full time.

One or two ways we can help you build your platform? You can “follow” my Facebook profile (it’s my friend page, too, but following it means you won’t get all the local stuff like weather updates and snow days ;).) Plus you can sign up for my newsletter. I promise not to spam or give away emails, but will only send them out when there’s news – like sales, preorder special pricing, or a FREE novella coming this fall for newsletter subscribers! (And it’s a LONG novella too – nearly Heartsong length! Book 2.5 in the the Brides of Belles Montagnes series!)

So now what? Copy and paste the questions (or some subset thereof) into your own blog, paste the direct link in the comments here, then go to Laurie’s page and click the “An InLinkz Link-up” link to share it there – it’ll pop up with everyone else who’s participating!

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